Religion in Europe: Women

Sources

Place in Society. The Catholic Church venerated women. Although in the Old Testament it was Eve who led Adam into temptation, Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Ann, her mother, were lauded as examples of virtue and godliness. In the Church women’s roles were circumscribed; they could become nuns, not priests (although nuns’ contributions were valued). Some women, such as Teresa of Ávila, were valued (and feared) for their mystical visions and reform activities during the Counter-Reformation.

A WOMAN SPEAKS OUT

It seemed so funny to me, it made me laugh, because in this matter I was never afraid, it was well known that in matters of the faith, I would die a thousand deaths before I’d go against even the least ceremony of the church, or against any in the Sacred Scriptures. And I said that... if I thought there was any reason [to fear the Inquisition], I would go to them myself, and that if such an accusation were raised, the Lord would free me and I would profit from it.

Source: Gillian T. W. Ahlgren, Teresa of Avila and the Politics of Sanctity (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1996), p. 44.

The Reformation. The Protestant Reformation both enlarged and diminished women’s opportunities. Often the best time for women was in the few years after a town had adopted the reformed faith. Institutions and structures were somewhat fluid, and women had some opportunity to create a place for themselves. Both women and men participated in the religious wars and riots which characterized the sixteenth century. On the one hand, women’s increased activity angered men; many cities prohibited women from gathering to discuss religion. On the other hand, reformers such as Calvin and Luther needed and cultivated relationships with women. Calvin looked for the support of noblewomen, and Luther corresponded with several women. In each case both relied upon female converts to bring their influential male relatives, such as local rulers, to reformed religion.

Changes. Unlike Catholicism, which celebrated women as saints and pious believers, Protestantism aimed to strip away such externals, which were considered unnecessary to faith. Calendar days which honored women were eradicated; so were processions and other activities which allowed women’s participation and gave women an active role in religious life. Joining a convent, long an option for women (and one that gave them a degree of autonomy), was no longer a possibility as marriage and motherhood were women’s highest callings.

Fear. Protestantism and Catholicism shared a basic fear of women: that they, more than men, might be agents of Satan, as witches. As Protestant teaching spread among the laity, so did popular superstition, including that of the woman as witch. Women without a proper place in society—older women, single women, widows, poor women, and childless women—were especially feared. Without social ties and limits, these women were particularly appealing to the Devil. The changing legal system permitted larger witchcraft trials. Once accusatory, the system became more inquisitorial. Whereas before the accuser had to stand before the accused, the system became more anonymous and official, and legal authorities could bring charges. Curiously, the Roman and Spanish inquisitions acted with lenience on witches, for they pitied those whom they thought bedeviled as mere pawns of Satan.

Witches. Witchcraft was not only a fear in Europe. In 1585 Jean Lery, a French explorer, wrote about how Brazilian native women, like their Christian counterparts, were prone to giving in to the Devil. The Puritans of New England were especially on the lookout for witches, culminating in the Salem trials of 1692 in Massachusetts.

Sources

Robin Briggs, Witches and Neighbors: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft (New York: Penguin, 1996);

Merry E. Wiesner, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).

“THE PEOPLE FROM HEAVEN”

In a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain dated 4 March 1493, Christopher Columbus wrote:

Nowhere in these islands have I known the inhabitants to have a religion, or idolatry, or much diversity of language among them, but rather they all understand each other. I learned that they know that all powers reside in heaven. And, generally, in whatever lands I traveled, they believed and believe that I, together with these ships and people, came from heaven, and they greeted me with such veneration. And today, this very day, they are of the same mind, nor have they strayed from it, despite all the contact they [the Spaniards at La Navidad] may have had with them. And then, upon arriving at whatever settlement, the men, women, and children go from house to house calling out, “Come, come and see the people from heaven!”