Women Of The Reformation: Catherine De Parthenay P/5

Read Part One HERE
 

In this post I will focus on a woman named Catherine De Parthenay. She lived from 1554 - 1631. Catherine was froma well-established Protestant family in Poitou. She was a wealthy heiress, whose second husband was Rene Vicomte de Rohan, with whom she had five children. One of these became Henri II, the future Duc de Rohan, who became the leader of the Huguenots after the death of Henry IV in 1610. She was a poet, a playwrigt and a mathematician.

Catherine was proud to belong to this noble family and brought up her children in the Protestant faith -  indeed, in Brittany her chateau was a stronghold of the Reformed faith.

At the time of the siege of La Rochelle, she remained with her daughter amongst other Protestants trapped within the city. She managed to survive, together with five thousand others, but was later locked up in the prison of Niort. As a result of the treaty of Ales in 1629 she was released and died in the Parc de Soubise in 1631.

Women of the Reformation: Jeanne d'Albret P/4

Read Part One HERE

 In this post I will focus on a woman named Jeanne d'Albret

Jeanne Albret is one of the better-known women of the French Reformation. She lived from 1528 A.D. - 1572 A.D. in Navarre, which is located between Spain and France

Jeanne was the daughter of Marguerite de Navarre, and the mother of the future king of France: Henry IV. 

Jeanne was strong-willed and stubborn from childhood, qualities which prepared her well to become an unflinching leader in the Huguenot wars. She is famous for the anecdotes surrounding her first marriage to the German Duke of Cleves. Bethrothed while still a child to him by King Francis, Jeanne seems to have taken it upon herself (after imploring the king to this face -an audacious act for anyone, let alone an eleven-year old girl) to write a formal statement, complete with witness signatures, declaring her unequivocal opposition to the upcoming wedding. She did this again as the wedding approached, and when the wedding day itself arrived, had to be literally carried down the aisle. The marriage was never consummated due to her youth, and was later annulled because of changing political currents. To have shown such resolve at eleven years old, in the face of mother, father, and even king, is remarkable to say the least! How would such a young woman carry herself as an adult?

The mature Jeanne took a very different approach to the Reformation than her mother, Marguerite de Navarre. Whereas Marguerite preferred to work discretely, through diplomacy and carefully-nuanced loyalties to both churches, and worked to reform the Roman Catholic Church from within while protecting persecuted reformers, Jeanne decided, after her parents' death, to convert publicly to Protestantism, and to fight openly for the Reformation. She had to face opposition at court, from her husband Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, and from enemy armies as a major political leader of the Huguenots. 

Jeanne worked closely with men like Coligny and Conde during the Third Huguenot war, and even rallied the Huguenot troops in person. She instituted official Reformation policies in her own kingdom of  Navarre, and sponsored translations of the New Testament into her people's native Basque. When Philip II of Spain sent an ambassdor to pressure her at one point, Jeanne replied to him, "Although I am just a little Princess, God has given me the government of this country so I may rule it according to His Gospel and teach it His Laws. I rely on God, who is more powerful than the King of Spain."

Read Part Five HERE

Women Of The Reformation: Olympia Morata P/3

Read Part One HERE
 

In this post I will focus on a woman named Olympia Morata. She lived from 1526 A.D. - 1555 A.D. in Italy.

Olympia's father was a scholar, and brought her up so that by the age of 12, she was called as a companion and tutor to the young Anna d'Este of Ferrara, the future wife of Francois, Duc de Guise. During her time at the court of Ferrara, she was invited to lecture to the court in Greek and Latin! After leaving court to take care of her declining father, she fell out of favour with the Duke. It seems that is was during this time that these convictions, previously held more intellectually along with her broad philosophical and literary interests, now awakened in her a true and living faith in Jesus Christ, and marked a turning point in her life. 

It was also during this time that Andreas Grunthler, a Reformed German doctor, classically-trained and a lover of literature, sought her hand in marriage. They married around 1550. Life was not easy, as they travelled back to Germany where her husband hoped to find a position in a university. They met with persecution, were even imprisoned, and barely escaped with their lives before finally finding peace in Heidelberg. Her health suffered as a result, and when the Elector Palatine offered her the incredible position of lecturing at a university, she seemed to have turned it down. She died shortly thereafter.

Her short but faithful life, which included activities such as correspondence with Reformers Martin Luther, Philip Melanchton, John Calvin and Matthias Flacius, was well-summed up in her own words when she wrote: "There is no part of the world so distant that we would not be glad to live in it, if we could but serve God there with full liberty of conscience." 

Read Part Four HERE

Women Of The Reformation: Katharina Von Bora P/2

 Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on Katharina Von Bora. She is also known as Katherine Luther and lived from 1499 - 1552. 

Katharina was a nun who wrote to Martin Luther asking for his help in freeing her and some others nuns who have converted to his teachings from their convent. Luther sent a merchant, Leonard Kopp, who regularly delivered goods to the convent, and he smuggled the women out in empty herring barrels.

These women were then free to return home, marry, or do what they wished, but many of their families could not afford to take them back, and men were reluctant to marry former nuns. 

Luther found a place for all the women except Katharina, who he married in 1525. She instantly took over all the practical matters of the household, including the finances, planted gardens, brewed her own beer for sale, and helped Luther in the formulation of ideas. 

She also regularly contended with harsh criticism from Luther's enemies, who denounced the marriage of two former clerics who, according to Roman Catholic traditions, were supposed to have remained celibate. After Luther's death in 1546, Katharina struggled to maintain her home but was forced to flee during the Schmalkaldic War and died of an unknown disease in 1552.

Read Part Three HERE

Women of the Reformation: Katharina Von Zimmern P/1

 

In this post I will focus on a woman named Katharina Von Zimmern. She lived from 1478 A.D. - 1547 A.D. in Zurich, Switzerland.

Katharina had a difficult childhood and was eventually placed in a convent. She and her sisters were molested by priests and returned home. After a time, Katharina was returned to the convent for good, eventually becoming the imperial Abbess of Zurich. In this position, she controlled huge amounts of land, cash and people. But Katharina was exposed to the Reformed faith and and at some point converted. She invited Protestant ministers to teach the nuns Latin and to provide spiritual care. 

At the end of 1524, Katharina signed over the Abbey and all of its assets to the city of Zurich. This was personal conviction - peaceful but strong - that Rome was wrong and must be resisted. The transfer of property gave the city an advantage that was more than economic: it made Zurich an openly free and safe place for Protestants without the civit war that so many other places endured. Yet, it placed Katharina in a very vulnerable position as Rome's open enemy. However, God protected her, also providing her with a husband and a daughter. And Katharina's public leadership did not end there. Later, she served on the city council.

Read Part Two HERE

Early Christian Women Martyrs: Perpetua P/2

Read Part One HERE

In this post I will focus on a woman named Perpetua who lived from appr 181 A.D. - 203 A.D.in Carthage, Africa, which was then under the dominion of Rome and its emperor Severus.

Perpetua's mother was a Christian, but her father was a pagan who worshipped the Roman gods.

In this era, Christians were being persecuted in Roman Carthage and Africa. 

Perpetua was literate and well-educated. She married as a young woman and had a son.

In 203 she was moved to begin the process of converting to Christianity, despite its risks. Some time later she was baptised into the faith.  She was afterwards arrested together with two slaves Felicitas, who was pregnant at that time, and Revocatus. They, together with other imprisoned believers, were brought before the Roman governor of the region, Hilarianus, when they confessed their faith.

Conditions in the prison were dark, crowded and hot and the soldiers in charge often physically mistreated or negleted the prisoners. Perpetua was separated from her child upon her arrest and left him to the care of her mother and brother, who had so far escaped notice. After a pair of deacons bribed the prison guards, the Christians were moved to a better part of the prison and permitted visitors, including Perpetua's family.

When it came time for the Christians to go before the judge, Perpetua's father followed them, begging Perpetua to recant and begging the judge for mercy. Upon seeing this, the judge also tried to convince Perpetua to change her stance, but she refused and, like the others, was sentenced to death.

During their time in prison the slave girl Felicitas was heavily pregnant and concerned that she would be left behind when her friends were martyred as pregnant women could not be executed. She did, however, give birth a few days prior to the scheduled executions, and her daughter was taken in and adopted by a Christian woman in Carthage.

Perpetua and her fellow Christians began to impress the guards at the prison. Perpetua was recognised as the spiritual and emotional leader of the group. Eventually, the warden became a Christian himself due to Perpetua's influence.

On the day of the execution, Perpetua and the others were in good cheer and secure in their belief that they would soon receive a heavenly reward. Both Perpetua and Felicitas were attacked by a female cow, but they eventually died by the sword of a gladiator.

Early Christian Women Martyrs: Blandina P/1

 

Dear Everyone,

I will begin to post blog posts again. However, my focus will be different in that I plan to write on women who are known because of their function within the Church. The first woman we are going to look at is  a woman named Blandina.

From 112 A.D. - 313 A.D., Christianity was outlawed by the Roman Empire. This reality led to the fairly common experience of local persecution and martyrdoms of Christians who refused to renounce their faith.

Blandina was a Christian slave girl, who lived in Lyons, France, and served as a minister or deacon in the church. In 177 A.D. she was part of a small group of Christians, who were accused and consequently martyred. Her public tortures included scourging, a roasting chair and being gored by a bull as ordered by the Roman governor Pliny the Younger, who mentioned her position in the church in his letter to the Emperor Trajan.

 However, Blandina never gave up on her faith. Instead, her steadfast faith impressed the crowd who claimed never to have seen a woman bear such cruelties. Her boldness was for Christ and for the sake of others. She sought to encourage other believers, many of whom faced hideous torture and death. In her final words, she told her fellow prisoners: "Stand fast in the faith, and love one another, all of you, and be not offended by my sufferings." 

Read Part Two HERE