Conference Report for Domestic Dissidents
A re-examination of the lives, exchanges and everyday experiences of radical religious
women, 1500-1800.
University of Warwick, Wolfson Research Exchange, 10 June 2013.
This one day interdisciplinary conference was intended to facilitate discussion between
scholars whose research touches upon the less well-known aspects of dissident women’s lives
and experiences. Its inception came from the relative absence of research which compared the
experiences of radical women across different religious denominations. Traditional studies of
sectarian and non-conformist religious movements have recognised the prominent role that
women had in the spread of religious sectarianism. However, very little had been discussed
about the non-religious elements of these women’s lives and experiences and how their
religious affiliation affected their everyday position as wives, mothers and daughters, and as
members of communities. I believe that it was testament to this gap in the historiographical
literature that I was able to put together a high-quality, diverse and informative programme,
which reflected a broad range of scholarly interest over a long period of early modern history.
After an initial welcoming address from Naomi Wood (the conference organiser), the
first morning session chaired by Dr Catie Gill (Loughborough University) was on the theme of
dissident women’s writings. The three speakers Dr Carme Font Paz (Universitat Autònoma de
Barcelona, Spain), Dr Rachel Adcock (Loughborough University) and Alice Ferron (PhD
candidate, University College London), offered some fascinating insights into the representation
and role of censorship in the construction of writings, whether as post-humus accounts, as was
the case of individuals like Anne Askew, Elizabeth Barton, Mary Champian or Agnes Beaumont
or self-writings, as Elizabeth Poole’s A Vision neatly encapsulated. The second panel focussed
upon the more ‘ordinary’ aspects of these women’s lives and explored the position that
individual women held within the family in more depth. Dr Tanis Lovercheck-Saunders (Casper
College, Wyoming) reconstructed the life of Mary Dyer, whose husband and children seemingly
defended her decisions to leave the family home and travel on her religious missions. Martha
McGill (University of Edinburgh) explored the spiritual writings of Scottish Covenanting women
and the various ways in which their religion affected their relations with their husbands.
Professor Bernard Capp’s paper (University of Warwick), continued discussion of the dramatic
story of the non-conformist Agnes Beaumont from the first panel, offering an interesting
exploration of a woman forced to choose between the authority of God and that of her father.
The lunch break offered delegates a crucial opportunity to network with scholars and to
continue discussion from the morning panels. The afternoon commenced with a panel on
dissident women’s networks and alliances. Jaap Geraerts (University College London) discussed
the role of Catholic noblewomen in their contribution to the religious life and culture of the
Dutch Republic. Dr Susan M. Cogan (Utah State University) looked at women’s role in the
creation of ‘open’ and ‘closed’ networks of English Gentlewomen, highlighting the importance of
the family in their creation and maintenance. Professor Amanda Herbert (Christopher Newport
University) closed the panel with an interesting paper on the unlikely friendship of the
nonconformists Sarah Savage and Jane Hunt, a female alliance which continued to be enacted on
the page after the death of one of its participants.
Following a short break, the day closed with the Keynote presentation from Professor
Karin Wulf from William & Mary, Virginia. Professor Wulf was selected for her broad research
interests which span women, the family and gender in the Early Modern Atlantic world and
whose research touches upon women from a broad range of religious denominations in Early
America. Drawing upon her current research project into the relationship between genealogical
practices and political culture, her paper explored various ways in which to interrogate the
notion of domestic dissent and how genealogical expression can be used as a tool to examine the
experience of early modern women in the Anglo-Atlantic World. This more methodological
focus provided a nice finale to the programme, highlighting one way in which researchers could
attempt to answer some of the questions raised from the panel discussions.
In reflection, I believe that the range of researchers who both attended and presented at
the conference is testament to the increasing interest that this re-examination of the everyday
lives of radical religious women is beginning to receive across the globe. There were thirty-six
participants in total, with a large number of individuals attending from overseas (five of the ten
speakers), as well as a range of institutions across the UK. The feedback that I received from the
delegates both during and after the event suggested its value, both in terms of the opportunities
that it had provided for the delegates to reflect on their own research, as well as offering a
forum in which to draw themes from the experience of radical religious women across a range
of denominations and over a broad period of time. It also provided outstanding networking
opportunities for scholars working in the fields of gender, religion and literary representation.
Discussions that came in the question-section of the panels and over the various breaks
indicated that there are actually more similarities than we might expect between the experience
of religious separatism and domestic dissent for women across a range of religious
backgrounds. The standard of the papers was very high and there has since been much
anecdotal comment praising the programme and its high quality. This, however, would not have
been possible without the kind support of the Humanities Research Centre, the Early Modern
Forum at Warwick and the Warwick History Department who generously funded this event. Dr
David Beck has also been essential in ensuring the smooth running of the event and in providing
support during the planning-stages. The success of the event has encouraged me to think about
publishing conference proceedings and organising a similar event in the future.
For full programme details and further delegate information please visit the conference
website:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/emforum/events/domesticdissidents/
Naomi Wood
PhD Candidate
Department of History
University of Warwick
Coventry, CV4 7AL
n.r.wood@warwick.ac.uk