Biographies of Reformation, Puritan, Covenanter and Huguenot Women of the Faith

(Miss Katherine G. Myers reading Marie Durand by Simonetta Carr)

I have often been asked to help provide biographical resources regarding leading ladies of the Reformation, Puritan, Scottish Covenanter and French Huguenot eras. Considering the volumes that have been written on Martin Luther’s “Katie” alone, such a list could be endless; but I have attempted here to consolidate the key resources that I would recommend, along with links to these volumes either in print or online for handy reference. I have left out such ladies as Anne Hutchinson, Marie Dentière, and Anna Maria van Schurman (known as “The Tenth Muse”), each of whom would require a separate blog post. There were many godly women who stood alongside the godly men of those days. Their stories are worthy to read and remain inspirational today.

1. J.H. Alexander, Ladies of the Reformation

2. James Anderson, Ladies of the Reformation: Memoirs of Distinquished Female Characters Belonging to the Period of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century... England, Scotland, and the Netherlands

3. James Anderson, The Ladies of the Covenant: Memoirs of distinguished Scottish female characters, embracing the period of the Covenant and the persecution

4. James Anderson, Memorable Women of the Puritan Times (Vol. 1; Vol. 2)

5. Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation: In France and England The great biographer of Martin Luther has also spanned Europe to make known the stories of godly women of the Reformation era.

6. Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation: In Germany and Italy

7. Roland Bainton: Women of the Reformation: From Spain to Scandinavia

8. Donald Beaton, Scottish Heroines of the Faith: Being Brief Sketches of Noble Women of the Reformation and Covenant Times

9. W.P. Breed, Jenny Geddes, or, Presbyterianism And Its Great Conflict With Despotism (See the first chapter particularly)

10. Simonetta Carr, Lady Jane Grey Simonetta Carr has done a great service to the church by her biographies, which are geared towards younger readers.

11. Simonetta Carr, Marie Durand Marie Durand was a French Camisard of whom I have written previously.

13. Simonetta Carr, Weight of a Flame: The Passion of Olympia Monata

14.William Chapman, Notable Women of the Covenant: Their Lives and Times

15. Faith Cook, Anne Bradstreet: Pilgrim and Poet Anne Bradstreet was also known as “The Tenth Muse.”

16. Faith Cook, Lady Jane Grey: Nine-Day Queen of England

17. W.H. Davenport Adams, The Sunshine of Domestic Life; or, Sketches of Womanly Virtues, and Stories of the Lives of Noble Women

18. J. Meldrum Dryerre, Heroes and Heroines of the Scottish Covenanters

19. Alice Morse Earle, Margaret Winthrop: Biography of a Puritan Woman, the Wife of John Winthrop, First Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

20. James I. Good, [Famous] Women of the Reformed Church

21. John C. Johnston, Treasury of the Scottish Covenant (see the chapters on “The Women of the Covenant” and “The Wigtown Martyrs”)

21. Ernst Kroker, The Mother of the Reformation: The Amazing Life and Story of Katharine Luther

22. Hope Irvin Marston, Against the Tide: The Valor of Margaret Wilson The story of Margaret Wilson is inspirational, but heart-wrenching, so let the reader be forewarned.

23. J.C. McFeeters, Sketches of the Covenanters (see the chapter titled “The Daughters of the Covenant”)

24. Heidi L. Nichols, Anne Bradstreet: A Guided Tour of the Life and Thought of a Puritan Poet

25. Leslie Nuernberg, Only Glory Awaits: The Story of Anne Askew

26. Alexander Smellie, Men of the Covenant (see the chapter titled “Those Women Which Laboured in the Gospel”)

27. Ernst Staehelin, Frau Wibrandis: A Woman in the Time of Reformation

28. Rebecca VanDoodeward, Reformation Women: Sixteenth-Century Figures Who Shaped Christianity’s Rebirth

29. John T. Wilkinson, ed., Richard Baxter and Margaret Chilton: A Puritan Love Story; Being the Breviate of the Life of Margaret Baxter (Breviate online; J.I. Packer, A Grief Sanctified)

30. Paul F.M. Zahl, Five Women of the English Reformation The five women are: Anne Boleyn, Katharine Parr, Jane Grey, Anne Askew and Catherine Willoughby.

I wish to also commend the poetry of Elizabeth Melville, Lady Culross; the poetry of Anne Locke; the writings of Elizabeth West; the epic poem of Lucy Hutchinson; the memoirs of Mary Rich, Countess of Warwick; and the diary of Margaret Hoby; among other such writings.

Guest Blogger: Katie Myers on an Early Spring

This year's early Spring-like weather reminds me that God is faithful. He made all of creation, which was like the first Spring:

And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat (Gen. 1.29).

And then after the Flood, God promised that he would give us four special seasons, including seedtime, or Spring:

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease (Gen. 8.22).

In the Song of Songs, God speaks of the beauty of Springtime:

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away (Cant. 2.11-13).

These verses and others have special meaning to me each Spring. God not only makes all things beautiful in its season (Eccl. 3.11), but he also remakes what was cold and barren in the Winter into something beautiful every Spring, just as God made us in His image, and remakes us in the image of His Son when we are born again.

I want to share the poem below about my favorite season.

Christina Rossetti, Spring:

Frost-locked all the winter,
Seeds, and roots, and stones of fruits,
What shall make their sap ascend
That they may put forth shoots?
Tips of tender green,
Leaf, or blade, or sheath;
Telling of the hidden life
That breaks forth underneath,
Life nursed in its grave by Death.

Blows the thaw-wind pleasantly,
Drips the soaking rain,
By fits looks down the waking sun:
Young grass springs on the plain;
Young leaves clothe early hedgerow trees;
Seeds, and roots, and stones of fruits,
Swollen with sap, put forth their shoots;
Curled-headed ferns sprout in the lane;
Birds sing and pair again.

There is no time like Spring,
When life’s alive in everything,
Before new nestlings sing,
Before cleft swallows speed their journey back
Along the trackless track,—
God guides their wing,
He spreads their table that they nothing lack,—
Before the daisy grows a common flower,
Before the sun has power
To scorch the world up in his noontide hour.

There is no time like Spring,
Like Spring that passes by;
There is no life like Spring-life born to die,—
Piercing the sod,
Clothing the uncouth clod,
Hatched in the nest,
Fledged on the windy bough,
Strong on the wing:
There is no time like Spring that passes by,
Now newly born, and now
Hastening to die.

Guest Blogger: Katie Myers on God's Creation

Psalm 8
1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

When I think about the stars and planets that God made, it reminds me that God is everywhere, as my catechism taught me, and that he is very big, and I am very small. But I thank God that he takes care of me.

Matthew 6

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

My favorite part of God's creation is the many wonderful and beautiful flowers that he makes. I love TULIPs especially. Jesus is called the "rose of Sharon and the lily of the valleys" (Song of Sol. 2.1). He is more beautiful than the most beautiful flower in the field. My best friend's name is Lily too.

Psalm 19
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

My Daddy took me to a planetarium once, and sometimes I like to look up at the night sky. God made all the lights in the sky and when I see how beautiful they are, it makes me want to sing God's praises.

Psalm 104
10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. 24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.

I live near the Shenandoah Valley and the Shenandoah River. God made so many beautiful mountains, valleys and rivers, and Virginia is full of them.

Psalm 147

4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

The Milky Way is full of stars, but that is only a tiny portion of all the stars God made. He knows them all by name, just like he knows me by name.

Thank you God for making all things wonderful and beautiful, but especially for giving us eyes to see and hearts and mouths to praise Thee. This is a poem which I want to share.

All Things Bright and Beautiful
by Cecil F. Alexander

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flower that opens,

Each little bird that sings,

He made their glowing colours,

He made their tiny wings.

The rich man in his castle,

The poor man at his gate,

God made them high and lowly,

And ordered their estate.

The purple headed mountain,

The river running by,

The sunset and the morning,

That brightens up the sky;−

The cold wind in the winter,

The pleasant summer sun,

The ripe fruits in the garden,−

He made them every one:

The tall trees in the greenwood,

The meadows where we play,

The rushes by the water,

We gather every day;−

He gave us eyes to see them,

And lips that we might tell,

How great is God Almighty,

Who has made all things well.

Guest blogger Katherine (Katie) Myers of Warrenton, Virginia, is 8 years old, and loves God and God's creation.