If a grown woman does not know who she is, perhaps it is because she did not have the love of her father when young. Such was not the case of Anne Dudley Bradstreet.

Born in Northampton, England, in 1612, Anne Dudley was the first daughter of Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorke. Of Puritan good standing, she was fortunate to grow up under privileged circumstances, receiving a rich education at her father’s behest. Not only did he devote time and attention to his inquisitive daughter, Thomas Dudley doted upon Anne as his favorite, delivering upbraidings and challenges that would carry her from the cradle to a brave and sturdy womanhood.

At 8, Anne’s father became steward to the Earl of Lincoln, rendering the grand manor of Sempringham their new home. Tutored within its paneled walls, she excelled in theology, literature, and history, with a penchant for language that shone in her aptitude for not only English, but also Greek, Latin, French and Hebrew. Learning to compose verse came at age ten; about the same time she began practicing how to use a quill. Her father, a “devourer of books”¹ himself, told Anne that “writing and Christianity went hand in hand, that the poet’s job was not simply to invent a line of pentameter but to consider how best to serve God while reading and composing.”² Taking his words to heart, she understood “that poetry reading and writing should not be simple intellectual or emotional acts. Rather, they should be like ladders to God, like prayers.” ³

Having survived two serious illnesses in her youth, including the deadly smallpox, her soul was tried by limitations set by fever and weakness, but she never despaired. She believed she was in God’s hands, treating her fears with prayer. But when she met good-natured Simon Bradstreet, assistant to her father in the management of the Earl’s estate, their budding friendship gave way to newly discovered passions both overwhelming and disturbing, leaving her soul bereft and tried afresh in a whole new way. She was falling in love.

At 16, then considered old enough, Anne married 25-year-old Simon at a time when England’s throne was imploding, yet still wore the crown. Failed efforts to modify the King’s policies dimmed Puritan hope, forcing them to look westward in hope of religious freedom. Though loath to sacrifice their pedigreed comforts, Anne and Simon, along with her parents and over 300 other Puritan emigrants, took leave of the motherland, setting sail aboard the Arbella for the New World. Enduring an arduous 66-day journey, they arrived upon the rocky shores of New England, landing in Salem, Mass., on June 12, 1630. Further and bitterer hardships ensued, including sickness, food scarcity, threat of Indian raids and the necessity of having to live with the Dudleys in a single wood hut as a first home.

But as Providence proved faithful, through stalwart courage and perseverance their circumstances improved. Simon’s business skills and rank as diplomat continued to gain him favorable status, eventually rising to become governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Over the years, they moved to several different locations, including Salem, Boston, Cambridge and Ipswich. They finally settled on a farm in North Andover, in part to acquire property and to protect his vulnerable family from Indian attack.

Marriage to a man of such prominence, however, meant for Anne long days and nights alone at home. Though she suffered great bouts of loneliness, she did not allow it to cage her. Resourceful, she found occupation for her talents in the midst of rearing eight children. Her only need — a pen. At a time when writing was considered the chief domain of men, she managed to carefully work within the confines of orthodoxy, gently challenging the status quo, as echoed in the seventh stanza of Prologue:

“Let Greeks be Greeks, and Women what they are.

Men have precedency and still excel;

It is but vain unjustly to wage war.

Men can do best, and Women know it well.

Preeminence in all and each is yours;

Yet grant some small acknowledgement of ours.” 

For a woman who happened to be intelligent, a writer and a Puritan, Anne met with her share of conflicts within and without. Well-known for her couplets, including the more ambitious heroic couplet, poet John Milton later criticized her for being simplistic and amateur, casting “the chain of rime” as the culprit that kept English poets from rising to literary heights. But to her, “[R]hyme was a discipline that helped elevate the writing of poetry to a religious meditation.”⁴ Poetry was not a means of escape as much as it was a form of communion, and a  way to resolve issues of faith and politics — even love — that otherwise went unspoken. Her poetic appeals on behalf of women were perhaps not so much an outcry of injustice than a plea for men to have a more complementarian view. Aware of her place in society, she often would offer apologies in her poems in an attempt to deflect charges of inaccuracy, usurping male authority and plagiarism. 

At 38, Anne Bradstreet’s first book of poems, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, was published in London in 1650 and received favorable reception in both the Old World and the New. She continued to write despite suffering paralysis in her joints before succumbing to tuberculosis in 1672. Of her personal assets, there is left no portrait or headstone, except that of her writings and a house in Ipswich.

Six years after her death, a digest of self-edited works entitled Several Poems Compiled with Great Variety of Wit and Learning” was posthumously published in America, and included one of her most famous poems, To My Dear and Loving Husband .

Anne’s father made the first imprint upon her soul, and his lasting effects are found in a voice of ever-rising confidence at a time when women were thought to be weak, much less heard.

Her Flame, a Muse

Whatever the endeavor, someone must always go first.

Dudley’s daughter, Simon’s bride,

Of England stock and Puritan pride,

—Plain and Stoic, the mainstay.

Trained upon a trellis,

Sown among the strong,

Thirsty, taut, versatile,

—Bearing neither thistle nor thorn.

Sometimes, whenever turmoil decides,

Reluctance is a strong child.

But ‘twas hers to be braver still,

Escaping flames of earth and unwelcome sea,

New worlds met in soliloquy.

Of whom we know and where arose

—America’s first poet. 

   ♦               ♦              ♦               ♦                                                                   

Loneliness, my Teacher!

Grasp firm my Pen.

Take firmer grasp, my soul, while I poke for light.

Children need warmth

of Truth, home and bread

—As well do mighty men.

Morning bestows herb, breast, needle and thread.

Yes — I am these things, too.

Loneliness, my Muse!

Candlewick lit,

Shall tears and groanings refuse?

Bring me words

of Solace and Humour, Polity and Wit,

Before the wax is gone, bring me couplets

—Must I fight for those, too?

O, wrestler of words,

I am also this.

Sufferer of knowledge, wisdom, sickness and plight,

Poor in spirit, deep in love

—As in death, rich in life.

-Elizabeth DeBarros  © 2011

Her Works

Before the Birth of One of Her Children

A Dialogue between Old England and New

A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment

Another

Another (II)

By Night when Others Soundly Slept

Contemplations

In Honour of that High and Mighty Princess, Queen ELIZABETH

In Reference to her Children, 23 June 1659

Prologue

The Author to her Book

The Flesh and the Spirit

The Four Ages of Man

To Her Father with Some Verses

To my Dear and Loving Husband

Upon a Fit of Sickness, Anno 1632 Aetatis Suae, 19

Upon Some Distemper of Body

Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 18th, 1666

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The next post in this series is Renée de France by Barbara Ann Wyatt

About the Author:  Between homeschooling and homemaking, Elizabeth DeBarros finds time to study theology, laugh with friends, and share the love of God to as many she meets. At findingthemotherlode.wordpress.com she writes to honor God by sharing her observations, meditations, and on rare occasion, her poetry. She resides in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains in Northern Virginia with her beloved husband, two sons, and their new kitten.

Sources

1. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/anne-bradstreet

2. Mistress Bradstreet, The Untold Life of America’s First Poet, Charlotte Gordon, (Little, Brown   and Company, 2005): 37.

3. Mistress Bradstreet, The Untold Life of America’s First Poet, Charlotte Gordon (Little, Brown and Company, 2005): 37.

4. Mistress Bradstreet, The Untold Life of America’s First Poet, Charlotte Gordon (Little, Brown and Company, 2005): 236.

5. http://www.annebradstreet.com/

The sun never shone on a nobler band of women than those who labored in the Reformation. There is little need of literary embellishment, their sublime faith and heroic deeds throw a halo of glory around them, and they stand with the Master on the mount of transfiguration. The simple story of their unselfish lives comes to us across the centuries with power and pathos to stir the dullest heart to sentiments of gratitude and veneration. Remarkable alike for their great personal charms, extraordinary leadership, masterly mental powers, sublime heroism, and entire consecration to God and humanity, the women of the sixteenth century have never been equaled. – Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer [1]

October 31, 2011

Welcome!  We are so delighted that you have joined us today at the start of our new series, “Women of the Reformation.”

Most of us are familiar with the great figures of the Reformation such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli to name just a few.  But what about the women?  Just as the men threw all that they were into Reformation work, so did the women.  They lived to see the gospel advanced and the Reformation triumph. Far from being passive observers, the women of the Reformation were active participants. Yet their story, as demonstrated by the lack of information that is available, remains largely untold.

In the upcoming days, you will be introduced to several prominent women of the Protestant Reformation by twelve Reformed women passionate about, what Martin Luther called, “the church’s true treasure” – that is, the gospel. While the authors of this series hail from various backgrounds and geographical locations, our differences are overshadowed by a shared love for Jesus and a deep yearning to see a new Reformation in our own day.

Our aim in this presentation is twofold. Firstly, we desire to remember our Reformation heritage. It has been said that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. At the time of the Protestant Reformation, Christianity had become hijacked by false doctrines, man-made traditions, superstitions, corruption, and all kinds of spiritual abuse. What’s more is that most Christians were illiterate and had to rely upon those who did not have their best interest at heart to teach them. It was out of these muddied spiritual waters that God raised up Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, to father a movement that would bring the church back to the apostolic faith.  The opposition was fierce – coming from within and without. But this was a cause worth fighting for! When we study Reformation history we remember how God brought about a triumph at the most pivotal time in Church history since Pentecost.

Secondly, we are compelled by the biblical principle that calls for the older to teach the younger. The women of the Reformation have left the body of Christ a beautiful legacy of faith and endurance. Are we not surrounded by “so great a cloud of witnesses”? When we fail to uphold the women of the Reformation we rob the household of faith of the benefit of our great legacy.

The Reformation generally chronicles two categories of women. First there are the Reformers’ wives.  Many of them, such as Katharina Von Bora, were ex-nuns. Some were widows. They were ordinary women permanently altered by Luther’s bold proclamation of justification by faith in Christ alone.  The second group of women is royalty.  These were noble women who, for the sake of Christ, employed their rank to promote the Protestant cause. In doing so, they stood to lose (and many did) all earthly wealth and honor. Some were forced into exile. The bodies of others were tortured and mangled in unspeakable ways. And still others paid the supreme sacrifice for their faith.  Like their male counterparts, the women renounced everything that stood in competition with Christ no matter the cost.

Like all true Reformers, the women of the Reformation were passionate about the Word of God. They astutely grasped the doctrinal issues of the day and could hold their own (and then some!) in sophisticated theological discussions. They skillfully handled the Word of God at a time when owning your own copy of the Bible could be punishable by death.  They read theological books, wrote letters, published tracts, and courageously proclaimed the gospel.  When describing their commitment to the Word of God, one author explains, “They were steeped in Scripture and even the comparatively uneducated, who appear in the martyrologies and the heresy trials, gave their judges a terrific run at any point involving the Word of God.”[2]

You will also see that the women of the Reformation had hearts that were overflowing with mercy. Many opened their homes and out of their own sustenance provided for those fleeing religious persecution. Moved with compassion they turned their homes into safe houses and acted as ministers of comfort to the persecuted. Whether they penned their consolation or delivered their comfort by way of personal visitations, the women of the Reformation excelled in charity and good works. There can be no doubt that their active service refreshed many a weary soul in their day.

We recognize our little series to be a tiny scratch on the surface when it comes to acknowledging the whole of the contributions these women have made. However, it is our sincerest prayer that these brief sketches and reflections will strengthen your heart and increase your zeal. Moreover, we desire that you be inspired to be about the same business that our Reformation sisters were — the building up of our homes and our churches.

We thank you for joining us and invite you to enter into Reformation history to meet the women of old who have left the church a legacy of undivided devotion to Christ. May we follow them as they have so faithfully followed Christ.

They did not seek a cause; they were overtaken by it.    There is much in common with the statement of Martin Luther, “Here I stand I can do no other.” These are not women trying to write their names into the history books. They are simply witnessing to what they believed to be true: the scales had fallen, the light had shone, and they would die rather than deny it. – Mary Zahl[3]

We will start tomorrow with none other than the lovely Katharina Von Bora, wife of Martin Luther, affectionately referred by Luther as, “Katie, my rib.”

Introduction
Katharina Luther
Idelette Calvin
Anna Zwingli
Joan Waste
Ann Bradstreet
Renee de France
Argula von Grumbach and Elizabeth of Braunschweig
Jeanne D’Albret
Katherina Zell
Olympia Morata
Lady Jane Grey
Catherine of Willoughby
Anne Askew
Closing
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To kick-off this series we will be giving away one copy of Roland H. Bainton’s, “Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy”.  Leave a comment to let us know you are interested in participating. Winners will be announced at the conclusion of our series sometime during the week of November 14th! International entries welcome for this contest.

History records that on 1^st August 1556, Joan Waste became one of the nearly 300 souls burnt at the stake for heresy during the Marian Persecutions during the reign of Queen Mary I.  Her life and death is so much more than a statistic in the Kingdom of God, however, for she was a willing vessel in the hands of her God, allowing herself to be shaped and used by Him for His Glory’s sake. This unknown woman of the Reformation, neither of noble birth nor of learned education, epitomises for me the hope I have in my Lord and God. Her testimony rings out across the centuries of the glory that our Great God is able to bring forth from our lives for the sake of His Name if we too are willing to take up our cross and follow after Him.

The life of Joan Waste was a mere 22 years in length, but during that time she was the subject of 4 different monarchs at a time of great upheaval in English history. She was born, with her twin brother Roger, during the reign of Henry VIII into a poor family, her father William was a barber and rope-maker. She was blind from birth, yet even so, between the ages of 12 and 14 she had learnt not only to knit but also the art of rope-making herself. When her parents died, she and her brother took care of one another.

When Joan was 13 years old, King Henry VIII died and was succeeded by his son, Edward VI. The Reformation that was making progress on the continent through the teachings of Luther and Calvin had only made partial progress in England during Henry’s reign. The advent of the Protestant boy king, Edward VI to the throne in 1547 brought royal approval to the Reformation, and the Church of England became increasingly Protestant. For the first time, church services were conducted in English, the language of the people; the 1549 Prayer book taught the reformed doctrine of justification by faith alone, and the 1552 Book of Common Prayer removed any notion that the real presence of God was in the bread and wine.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation” – Psalm 27:1

So it was that during the reign of Edward VI, when God in His divine providence enabled the Word of God to be made more freely available to the people of England through both the spread of English language Bibles and the use of English in the services, Joan Waste began attending daily services with her twin brother, Roger.  As she heard the Word of God preached, faith was born in her heart through the power of the Holy Spirit, and she soon desired her very own copy of the New Testament. Hunger for God leads to a hunger for His Word. Despite her poverty, she was able to save enough money from her rope-making to purchase a copy.

“Teach me your way, O Lord” – Psalm 27:11

Her desire for the Word of God overcame the fact of her blindness, and she made haste to the local prison where she befriended the 70-year old John Hurt.  Lonely and with little to keep him occupied during the day, when Joan approached him and asked him to read a chapter from the New Testament to her each day, he was glad to oblige. When he was unavailable or unwell, this similarly did not deter her, and she would find another person to read to her, even paying them whatever she could spare if they were unwilling to do so freely.

Through her listening to the Scriptures, she was soon able to recite whole chapters herself from memory, and the Word of God was so ingrained on her heart that it shaped her character, and she was also able to identify false teaching. Oh, that God would grant all of us this desire and love for His Word, that we would cherish it likewise, memorise it in our hearts and minds, and allow it to shape us, mould us, and influence each and every area of our lives! May we never take the free availability of the Bible for granted, may we instead see that it is a divine providence that is given or taken away for the sake of His Glory, and may we use the opportunity we currently have to store as much of it in our hearts as possible!

“The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” – Psalm 27:1

In 1553, when Joan was 19 years of age, King Edward died. A royal battle followed as to who would succeed Edward, for the Protestant King wished to prevent the country returning to Catholicism through the succession of the rightful heir, his half-sister Mary. A plan was hatched to put his cousin, Lady Jane Grey on the throne – however, her reign lasted a mere 9 days before  Mary deposed her and returned England to Catholicism. The revival of the Heresies Act in December 1554 led to the infamous Marian Persecutions, where refusal to accept the doctrine of transubstantiation would lead to death. Here is the point at which a faith in theologians, the teachings of others, and even a knowledge of words on the pages of the Bible is no longer sufficient. A faith in the living God, Who has made those words alive in our hearts, Whose Spirit has poured those words like sweet honey into the very depths of our souls, Who has answered the desperate crying and seeking of our hearts with His very real presence in our lives, so that our hearts can cry out “I know Whom I have believed!” is surely what will carry us through times such as this, as His grace meets us in our time of need.

Joan Waste, one such soul who could cry out “I know Whom I have believed!”  would not compromise on her precious faith, and refused to participate in Catholic acts of worship. It wasn’t long before she attracted the attention of the Bishop of the Diocese, Raif Bain, and his chancellor Dr Draicot. Refusing to recant her belief that the bread and wine was not the real body and blood of Christ but only a remembrance of Him, she was sentenced to death.

“Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence” – Psalm 27:12

A few weeks later she was taken to the parish church of All Saints and stood before the pulpit as Dr Draicot condemned her for denying the doctrine of transubstantiation, accused her of being not only blind in her eyes but blind in her soul too, and said her soul would burn in hell with everlasting fire. Then, holding onto her brother Roger’s hand, she was led out to Windmill Pit where, crying out to Jesus for mercy, she was burned at the stake. A hollow victory for the enemy for “they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Rev 12:11).

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” – Psalm 27:13

The goodness of God to Joan Waste was such that He redeemed her life – he took her blindness of flesh and gave her spiritual eyes to see Him and seek His face. He even redeemed her name as Joan Waste’s life was certainly not a loss to God’s purposes. How He took her life and gained the glory from it at each point because she was willing to be used by Him. When the conditions in the country were favourably disposed towards the advancement of the Christian faith, she glorified Him by seeking to read and meditate on His Word, no matter how difficult this was for her in her particular circumstances, and allowed it to shape her life. When persecution came through a change in monarch, she glorified Him by refusing to renounce her faith and was willing to lay down her life for Her Lord rather than bend the knee to Caesar. May we all learn from the life of this dear, faithful, young woman of God.

The next post in this series is Anne Bradstreet by Elizabeth DeBarros

About the Author: Diana Lovegrove, who blogs at Waiting for our Blessed Hope, lives in England with her husband, Pete, her 6 year old son Harry, and her Jack Russell terrier, Patch.