Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism
Almost exactly 400 years ago, an English woman completed an astonishing walk to Rome.

An English Catholic, Mary Ward had already defied the authorities in England. In 1621 she walked across Europe to ask the Pope to allow her to set up schools for girls. 'There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things,' she said.

But Mary’s vision of equality between men and women angered the Catholic Church and the Pope threw her into prison. This is a story just waiting to be told!

The story shines a refreshingly new light on the popular Tudor/Stuart era. Mary’s uncles are the Gunpowder Plotters. Her sponsors are Archdukes, Prince-Archbishops and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In Rome she spars with Pope Urban VIII and the Roman Inquisition, just as they are also dealing with Galileo.

As the story sweeps from Yorkshire to Rome, from Vienna and Munich to Prague and back to England, we see Mary dodging pirates in the Channel, witch hunts in Germany and the plague in Italy. We see travellers crossing the Alps, and prisoners writing letters in invisible lemon juice to smuggle them past their gaolers. The settings range from the resplendent courts in Brussels and Munich to the siege of York in the English Civil War. The reader is immersed in seventeenth-century life.
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Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism
Almost exactly 400 years ago, an English woman completed an astonishing walk to Rome.

An English Catholic, Mary Ward had already defied the authorities in England. In 1621 she walked across Europe to ask the Pope to allow her to set up schools for girls. 'There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things,' she said.

But Mary’s vision of equality between men and women angered the Catholic Church and the Pope threw her into prison. This is a story just waiting to be told!

The story shines a refreshingly new light on the popular Tudor/Stuart era. Mary’s uncles are the Gunpowder Plotters. Her sponsors are Archdukes, Prince-Archbishops and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In Rome she spars with Pope Urban VIII and the Roman Inquisition, just as they are also dealing with Galileo.

As the story sweeps from Yorkshire to Rome, from Vienna and Munich to Prague and back to England, we see Mary dodging pirates in the Channel, witch hunts in Germany and the plague in Italy. We see travellers crossing the Alps, and prisoners writing letters in invisible lemon juice to smuggle them past their gaolers. The settings range from the resplendent courts in Brussels and Munich to the siege of York in the English Civil War. The reader is immersed in seventeenth-century life.
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Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism

Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism

by Sydney Thorne
Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism

Mary Ward: First Sister of Feminism

by Sydney Thorne

Hardcover

$34.95 
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Overview

Almost exactly 400 years ago, an English woman completed an astonishing walk to Rome.

An English Catholic, Mary Ward had already defied the authorities in England. In 1621 she walked across Europe to ask the Pope to allow her to set up schools for girls. 'There is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things,' she said.

But Mary’s vision of equality between men and women angered the Catholic Church and the Pope threw her into prison. This is a story just waiting to be told!

The story shines a refreshingly new light on the popular Tudor/Stuart era. Mary’s uncles are the Gunpowder Plotters. Her sponsors are Archdukes, Prince-Archbishops and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. In Rome she spars with Pope Urban VIII and the Roman Inquisition, just as they are also dealing with Galileo.

As the story sweeps from Yorkshire to Rome, from Vienna and Munich to Prague and back to England, we see Mary dodging pirates in the Channel, witch hunts in Germany and the plague in Italy. We see travellers crossing the Alps, and prisoners writing letters in invisible lemon juice to smuggle them past their gaolers. The settings range from the resplendent courts in Brussels and Munich to the siege of York in the English Civil War. The reader is immersed in seventeenth-century life.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781399005234
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Publication date: 10/29/2021
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Cast of main characters viii

1 Why Mary Ward? 1

2 Recusant: Twenty unsettled years (1585-1605) 7

3 Rebellion: A frightening sequence of events (1605) 18

4 Religious: A Poor Clare in St Omer (1606-1607) 24

5 Revelation: 'Some otherthing' (1607-1609) 33

6 Reinforcements: A formidable group of women (1609) 41

7 Remit: 'The same of the Society' (1610-1612) 49

8 Resilience: Covert mission in England (1612-1619) 56

9 Resolutions: No such difference between men and women (1615-1619) 65

10 Recognition: 'A cheerful mind' (1616-1619) 73

11 Resources: 'More fruits of her labours' (1618-1621) 82

12 Remedy: The first journey to Rome (1621) 91

13 Results: New schools in Italy (1621-1624) 101

14 Rebuff: Debacle in Rome (1624-1626) 110

15 Reprieve: The House of Paradise (1626) 117

16 Resurgence: Vienna, Bratislava, Prague (1627-1628) 124

17 Reality check: The second journey to Rome (1628-1630) 134

18 Wreckage: Rooted out, destroyed and abolished (1630-1631) 140

19 Reflections: In prison (1631) 148

20 Release: In the hands of the Inquisition (1631) 154

21 Resurrection: Besieged in Munich (1632-1635) 159

22 Reconciliation?: Five years in Rome (1632-1637) 162

23 Return: The longest journey (1637-1639) 171

24 Revolution: Besieged in York (1639-1644) 178

25 Repose: Death and beyond (1644-1645) 185

26 Rehabilitation: Unfinished business (1645-the present) 191

Endnotes 197

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