The Holy Maid of Wales: Visions, Imposture and Catholicism in Elizabethan Britain* (2024)

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Volume 132 Issue 555 April 2017
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Alexandra Walsham

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University of Cambridge

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The English Historical Review, Volume 132, Issue 555, April 2017, Pages 250–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cex139

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17 July 2017

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    Alexandra Walsham, The Holy Maid of Wales: Visions, Imposture and Catholicism in Elizabethan Britain, The English Historical Review, Volume 132, Issue 555, April 2017, Pages 250–285, https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cex139

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Abstract

This article explores the case of Elizabeth Orton of Overton in Flintshire, a young girl who experienced two ecstatic visions in February and March 1581 and was later exposed as a fraud. First, it uses this intriguing incident to illuminate the precarious stability of the Elizabethan polity at a moment of acute political crisis, when the fate of the Reformation itself seemed to be balanced on a knife-edge. It contends that religious developments in north Wales and the Marches were far more significant than has previously been recognised and investigates how far they were inflected by Welsh patriotism. Secondly, it focuses attention on the rhetorical strategies by which Elizabeth Orton was discredited—on the modes of argument that were utilised in the ensuing contest about her own authenticity and about the truth of the Catholic religion. Setting aside the question of whether or not she was guilty of faking her trances and revelations, it suggests that the incident sheds fresh light on the nature and evolution of the entangled concepts of imposture, hypocrisy and fraud. It shows how anxiety about the status and source of Elizabeth’s ecstatic experiences converged with intense concern about a second species of deceit and dissimulation: religious conformity.

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FAQs

What happened to Catholicism in Elizabethan England? ›

The 1559 bills made English Catholics guilty of high treason—a crime English law punished by hanging, drawing, and quartering offending men, and by burning offending women. The bills made a political offense out of a matter of conscience—belief in a universal church under God.

Which of these queens of England and Britain was a Roman Catholic? ›

Mary I of England
Mary I
HouseTudor
FatherHenry VIII of England
MotherCatherine of Aragon
ReligionRoman Catholicism
15 more rows

Why was religion important in Elizabethan England? ›

However, things were very different in the 16th century. It was believed that if a country was to be united and free from civil war then all its people must believe in the same religion and belong to the same Church.

What caused Catholicism to end in England? ›

King Henry VIII's break with the Catholic Church is one of the most far-reaching events in English history. During the Reformation, the King replaced the Pope as the Head of the Church in England, causing a bitter divide between Catholics and Protestants.

What did Queen Anne suffer from? ›

Queen Anne's life and the Stuart dynasty were undone by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and its harsh companion, the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, which produces bleeding, clotting, stroke, and obstet- rical calamity (6).

Which queen restored the Catholic faith in England? ›

1534: The Reformation of Henry VIII made England's monarch the spiritual and secular head of the realm. 1547: Protestantism is continued under Edward VI. 1553: Queen Mary I reversed this decision when she restored Roman Catholicism as the state religion, and the Pope became head of the church once again.

Who was the last Catholic queen of England? ›

QUEEN MARY THE LAST CATHOLIC RULER OF ENGLAND AND HER CONSORT PHILIP THE SECOND OF SPAIN c. 1834-62.

When was Catholicism outlawed in England? ›

Catholics outlawed

In the Bill of Rights of 1689 Parliament declared that no future monarch could be a Catholic or be married to a Catholic. This provision was reaffirmed in the 1701 Act of Settlement and remains in force to this day.

What happened to the Catholic churches in England? ›

In 1534, Henry VIII broke with the pope and the all-powerful Catholic Church, declaring himself Supreme Head of the Church in England. Behind this radical move was the pope's refusal to annul Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.

Why did Elizabeth change the country's religion back to Protestantism? ›

The Religious Settlement was an attempt by Elizabeth I to unite the country after the changes in religion under Henry VIII, Edward VI and Mary I. It was designed to settle the divide between Catholics and Protestants and address the differences in services and beliefs.

Why did England break away from the Catholic Church during the Renaissance? ›

King Henry VIII broke away from the Catholic Church because under their policies, he was not allowed to divorce his current wife. She was no longer able to give him a male heir and he needed one. He formed the Church of England and divorced his wife. with the revolt known as the Pilgrimage of Grace?

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