Women and the Reformations: A Global History - Hardcover

by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks (Author)

A compelling, authoritative history of how women shaped the Reformations and transformed religious life across the globe

The Reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, have long been told as stories of men. But women were central to the transformations that took place in Europe and beyond. What was life like for them in this turbulent period? How did their actions and ideas shape Christianity and influence societies around the world?

In this rich and definitive study, renowned scholar Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks explores the history of women and the Reformations in full for the first time. Wiesner-Hanks travels the globe, examining well-known figures like Teresa of Avila, Elizabeth I, and Anne Hutchinson, as well as women whose stories are only now emerging. Along the way, we meet converts in Japan, Spanish nuns in the Philippines, and saints in Ethiopia and America. Wiesner-Hanks explores women's experiences as monarchs, mothers, migrants, martyrs, mystics, and missionaries, revealing that the story of the Reformations is no longer simply European--and that women played a vital role.

Author Biography

Merry Wiesner-Hanks is distinguished professor of history and women's and gender studies emerita at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the author or editor of thirty books, including Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, What Is Early Modern History?, Christianity and Sexuality in the Early Modern World, and The Marvelous Hairy Girls.