The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe

Queenship and Power

by Sharon L. Jansen

When Mary Tudor became queen of England, the succession of a woman to the throne horrified many, including the Protestant reformer John Knox. His blistering condemnation of female rule, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, was followed in print by a series of pamphlets that echoed and expanded his argument that female rule was unnatural, unlawful, and contrary to scripture. In her own variation on this "monstrous regiment," Sharon Jansen contributes to the debate about female rulers. She explores the relationships among the many women whose lives occupy a place in and perpetuate a continuing, though largely unrecognized, tradition of political rule. The "story" of early modern European political history looks very different if we focus on successive generations of powerful women and view the shifting political alliances of the period from their perspective.

Genres: History, European History, Nonfiction

324 pages, Hardcover

First published October 18, 2002

About the author

A graduate of the University of Washington, Sharon Jansen is a professor of English at Pacific Lutheran University.

Reviews

[Marta Cleverly]

Not the crazy amount of typos, jumping around, and categorizing Catherine of Aragon under the daughters of Margaret of York instead of Isabella of Castille 😭

[Susan Abernethy]

For anyone interested in women's history, this book is an eye-opener. Readers will never be able to see history in the same way.

[Joanna]

I bought this because I wanted a greater understanding of the Hapsburg women like Margaret of Austria that ruled throughout the empire. While I liked her conceit, the organization of looking at 4 key women and their political (not necessarily biological or hereditary) descendants, made for a confusing read at times. I gave up when a misprint meant that I did not get the maternal family tree for the 4th section, meaning that I had no guide to the women being discussed and which led to a great deal of confusion. Add a dry, lecturing tone, and I just couldn't finish the book.