The Monument of Matrones

The Monument of Matrones (1582) was the first published anthology of English women's writing.[1] A compilation of prayers and meditations written largely by and for women published in London, its full title was The Monument of Matrones: Conteining Seven Severall Lamps of Virginitie, or Distinct Treatises; Whereof the First Five Concerne Praier and Meditation: the Other Two Last, Precepts and Examples. The Monument's seven "Lampes" or books make up 1500 quarto pages.[2][3]

Title page to the "Second Lampe" of The Monument of Matrones, 1582.

The Monument was compiled by Thomas Bentley, then a student of Gray's Inn, in a bid for royal patronage, and issued by the printer Henry Denham in 1582, just as the cult of Elizabeth I as the Virgin Queen was emerging. The desired patronage was not forthcoming, and Bentley became churchwarden of St Andrews Holborn with the support of John Aylmer, Bishop of London, in 1584.[4]

Described in its Introduction as "diuers verie godlie, learned and diuine treatises, of meditationes and praier, made by sundrie right famous Queenes, noble Ladies, vertuous Virgins, and godlie Gentlewomen of al ages",[5] Bentley's compilation provides virtuous examples and precepts for women, as well as prayers and devotional works. The second "Lampe" or treatise collects important works of Protestant female piety, including Marguerite of Navarre's Miroir de l'âme pécheresse, a mystical narrative of the soul as a yearning woman translated by Queen Elizabeth as the Mirror of the Sinful Soul, along with prayers and devotional works by Anne Askew; Frances Neville, Lady Bergavenny; Queen Catherine Parr; Lady Jane Grey; and Queen Elizabeth herself, to whom the work was dedicated.[2][3]

References
  1. King, John N. (2005), "Thomas Bentley’s Monument of Matrons: The Earliest Anthology of English Women’s Texts." In Strong Voices, Weak History: Early Women Writers and Canons in England, France, and Italy. University of Michigan Press, ISBN 978-0-472-09881-1, p. 216.
  2. Sage, Lorna; Germaine Greer; Elaine Showalter, eds. (1999). The Cambridge guide to women's writing in English. Cambridge University Press. p. 444. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  3. Otten, Charlotte F. (1991). English women's voices, 1540-1700. University of Florida Press. ISBN 978-0-8130-1099-1.
  4. King (2005), p. 217.
  5. Atkinson, Colin; Atkinson, Jo B. (1991). "Subordinating Women: Thomas Bentley's Use of Biblical Women in 'The Monument of Matrones' (1582)". Church History. pp. 289–300.
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