Teaching

Long Teaching Module: Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800

Maritere Lopez, Charles Lipp, and J. Nathan Campbell
Title page of witch hunter manual, Malleus Maleficarum Title page of The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto thumbnail of the text thumbnail of the text

Overview

Talking about an “early modern world” allows us to investigate the interconnectedness of world cultures, as opposed to their isolation. In fact, the period between 1400 and 1800 was characterized by the advent of the Age of Exploration, which made encounters between cultures almost inevitable, even when some areas (most notably, China) turned inwards and shunned international interactions. Moreover, the period was also notable for the entrenchment of European culture abroad, best exemplified by the accelerated Christianization of millions of non-Westerners. An intriguing commonalty also exists which justifies the use of the term “early modern” in a global perspective: most civilizations across the globe during the period—whether consciously or unconsciously—looked to their respective pasts as a golden age, and therefore embraced tradition as the cornerstone of society.

This long teaching module includes an informational essay, objectives, activities, discussion questions, potential adaptations, guidance on engaging with the sources, and essay prompts relating to the twelve primary sources.

Essay
The “Early Modern” Category

The term "early modern" was coined by scholars of European history to label the four centuries from approximately 1400 to 1800 CE—the period from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. In effect, the dating of the period implies a time of transition, a progression from the “premodern” medieval age to modernity proper, as experienced primarily by Europeans. In defining the early modern, early 20th-century scholars defined modernity as well: a progressive age totally different from what preceded it, characterized by individualism, secularism, democratic sentiment, and the advent of technological change at unprecedented speed. However, while these concepts indeed began to reshape European history during the period, recent scholars have come to emphasize the degree to which the break from the past implied in “early modern” was not as complete as previously thought. Instead, the era is now understood to have been deeply rooted in its immediate past, shaped still to a significant degree by communal sentiment, familial responsibility, religious fervor, and the belief in monarchical government. The paradoxical nature of the term therefore reflects the complicated reality of the time, which was neither entirely like the Middle Ages nor like the modern era, yet exhibited elements of both.

There is a further difficulty presented by the term “early modern.” While it is now used to designate worldwide historical developments from the 15th to the 18th centuries, the term fits non-European histories uncomfortably. First, developments which commonly define Modernity did not significantly shape the rest of the world until much later, when Western influence permeated the globe. Moreover, many non-Western historians reject “early modern” in favor of expressions which gauge a country’s development in its own terms, rather than measured against a model reflective of European realities. Perfect examples would be to talk about “Ming China” instead of about “early modern China,” or about “Mughal India” rather than about “early modern India.”

“Early Modern” Views of Women

The early modern emphasis on tradition is perhaps clearest in the history of women during this period, as at the core of each culture was an ingrained patriarchy dating back thousands of years. In the West, for example, attitudes towards women were shaped by three strains of ancient European tradition: first, Judeo-Christian belief, which characterized women as either saintly, like the Virgin Mary, or corrupted, like Eve; second, Greek philosophy, which conceived of women’s physical frailty as leading also to their irrationality and intellectual inferiority; and third, Roman law, which denied women a legal persona and subjugated them to the control of male representatives. In China, on the other hand, it was Neo-Confucianism which informed beliefs about the inferiority of women. Confucianism set a strict social hierarchy, which was seen as crucial to the maintenance of order. Although not originally intended to subjugate women, Confucian ideology ultimately implied that, just as emperors were to rule over subjects, men were to be lords over women. These traditions, only two among many others with similar beliefs, came to influence a large portion of the globe, making common the idea that women were physically and intellectually inferior to men, and consequently shaping the implementation of a social system ever more concentrated on controlling women, segregating them to the private sphere.

Contemporaries around the globe believed that the inferiority of women that tradition decreed made females dangerous if not controlled; they could subvert order—whether social, economic, or spiritual—by being easy prey to evil and thus becoming the vehicle for men’s ruin. Therefore, during this period, male literature on “dangerous women” became prevalent, warning men against females who did not abide by prescribed behaviors. Equally common were books where such prescriptions were set out. Written for women with the aim of teaching them to behave correctly, and thus prove their ultimate worth, conduct manuals taught obedience, modesty, and silence. As proven by the manuals’ popularity, many women voluntarily espoused the principles set out in them.

Women’s Resistance to “Early Modern” Views

However, this is not to say that women did not have a dissenting voice or did not find ways to challenge gender roles. In fact, in the history of women across the globe, the early modern period is characterized by an increase in women’s literacy, which gave birth to a female literature condemning men’s subjugation of them and arguing for women’s inherent worth. The rise of a vocal female presence in literature and art is one of the most significant developments of the era. Equally important was the advent of new opportunities for women to claim, in an age of contact and acculturation, crucial roles in the evangelization and “civilizing” of the world around them.

Primary Sources

Malleus Maleficarum, Witch Hunter Manual

Title page of witch hunter manual, Malleus Maleficarum
Annotation
Perhaps the most spectacular manifestation of early modern European discrimination against women was the conviction of thousands of women for witchcraft. Over three centuries, more than 40,000 people were executed as witches, 75 percent of them female. The greatest witch hunts occurred from the 1550s to the 1660s in the Franco-German borderlands, areas wracked by the religious struggles of the Reformation. The following excerpt comes from the most famous manual for witch hunters, the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) written in 1487 by a Dominican monk, Heinrich Kramer (1430-1505). The Pope appointed Kramer an inquisitor in 1484, with the mission to eliminate heresy in southern Germany. Kramer moved ruthlessly to do away with witches, who were believed to gain evil powers through pacts with the Devil. Written to justify his actions, Kramer’s manual presented witchcraft as a growing threat to Christianity, arguing that witches not only used their powers against common folk, but also led Christians to perdition. Kramer also argued that women were particularly susceptible to the crime because of their inability to control their passions, a commonly-held viewpoint. Although never officially accepted by the Church, Kramer’s work greatly influenced secular magistrates across Europe; it was they who ordered the execution of the majority of so-called witches. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto

Title page of The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto
Annotation
One of the most important results of the early modern period was the spread of European culture generally, and Christian religion particularly, throughout the globe. The selection below, taken from the diaries of Mendez Pinto, a Portuguese sailor captured by the Chinese, illustrates the early stages of contact between Europe and the East. Pinto was shipwrecked around 1537, and landed in the Chinese town of Sempitay. There he encountered Inez de Leyria, a Chinese Christian of Eurasian ancestry, who boldly approached him as a fellow Christian. The episode demonstrates that unofficial channels of Christianization—most likely through the Silk Road—were available prior to 1580, when the Jesuits were granted official permission to enter China, the most powerful state in the world at the time. The excerpt also shows that women played a crucial role in this early transmission of European culture in Asia. Moreover, we learn that, in contrast to Confucian mores which excluded women from major public roles, Christianity offered de Leyria a leadership role in the local community, as well as ties to a larger global identity. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module and the Primer: Transnational History methods module.

Early Modern Period: Fiction, Gargantua and Pantagruel

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Annotation
The following passage comes from one of the most famous literary works of early modern Europe: François Rabelais’s Gargantua and Pantagruel, first published in four volumes between 1532 and 1552. A satirical chronicle of the journey through France of the giant Gargantua and his son, Pantagruel, the story’s intended audience was the French aristocracy, the educated elite upon whose patronage Rabelais—first a lawyer, then a priest, and ultimately a doctor—depended throughout his life. Gargantua and Pantagruel embodies, in part, Northern Renaissance ideals like the belief in man’s ability to fulfill his own potential. However, Rabelais’s story also illustrates the dark side of the “rebirth” of classical learning, as the Renaissance encouraged not only a positive view of man, but also a negative image of women. The excerpt below concerns Panurge—Pantagruel’s friend—and his search for expert advice on whether he should marry. One expert, doctor Rondibilis, replies that he should not, as any wife will be unfaithful because she is ultimately an irrational being. His comments reveal contemporary medical views of feminine irrationality, believed to be caused by the uterus’s haphazard wandering about the female body. This quasi-animal’s roaming, as Rondibilis would have it, caused physical and mental unbalance. The theory of the wandering uterus, known as hysteria, was an ancient Greek idea revived during the European Renaissance. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Early Modern Period: Nonfiction, Confucian Doctrine

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Annotation
This excerpt comes from Onna daigaku, or Greater Learning for Women, which is commonly attributed to Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714), a Japanese botanist and Neo-Confucian philosopher. Ekiken was most concerned with translating Confucian doctrine into terms people from all classes could understand. His Onna daigaku is considered by many to be the most important ethical text for Japanese women, in part because it was the first Confucian text to include specific prescriptions for what women’s role in society should be. In keeping with traditional Confucian ideals, the book stresses that, in order to maintain order, society must be organized into a clear hierarchy. This hierarchy was decided by a person’s gender and age. Older males, for example, were usually seen as the worthiest members of society. However, one’s place within the hierarchy was also dependent on merit, which Confucians defined as the possession of humanness (love of mankind) and propriety (doing the right actions with the right attitude). Whereas earlier Confucians described humanness and propriety as they pertained to men, Ekiken’s Onna daigaku advocated specific actions and attitudes for early modern Japanese women, and explained the consequences of failing to abide by them. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

The Whole Duty of Woman

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Annotation
The following selection comes from a late 17th-century English advice book for women. Such advice books became extremely popular across early modern Europe as material comforts increased and people felt a need to act more “civilized.” With their practical tips for everyday living, along with their prescriptions for better behavior, advice books offer a glimpse of contemporary social ideals as well as social realities. Although The Whole Duty of a Woman is attributed to “a Lady,” lacking any other information we cannot be sure whether the author was actually a woman. However, such a distinguished attribution suggests that the book was intended for a female audience from the middle- through upper-levels of English society. The two excerpts below—the pamphlet’s Table of Contents and a selection entitled “The Whole Art of Love,” give a sense of what the ideal roles and virtues for such women were. It was commonly believed in England, as elsewhere in Europe, that women were the weaker sex, physically inferior to men and more prone to irrationality. Related to these qualities, however, were the traits of gentleness and softness, characteristics which some saw as indicating a sense of feminine moral equality, if not superiority, to men. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

The True Woman

Annotation
This is a 17th-century French engraving entitled The True Woman. Although its author and its circulation to the public in general is not precisely known, engravings such as this one were ever more popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the power of the newly-invented printing press to reach the masses became apparent. Engravings are another tool that helps historians gauge common views and attitudes held in the early modern period, when the majority of the population remained illiterate and pictures were really worth more than a thousand words. Although the picture speaks for itself, the engraving includes a poem, intended to drive home the picture’s message: This horrible double-headed monster, Passing, does it not frighten you? However, o great beast, Your two sides are often one. Consider this infamous monster, Who does not hear any reason, You will see that it is woman, Who is an Angel in Church and a devil at home. Both the engraving and the words are representative of the common belief in early modern Europe that women had a double nature, being simultaneously angels and demons. The depiction also reveals a second contemporary concern: one’s inability to tell from outer appearances a person’s inner nature. Such concerns were echoed in the period’s witchcraft craze, in which fear of women’s potential power to disrupt peace and order manifested itself in violent attacks against them. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Early Modern Period: Petition, Ming China

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Annotation
This letter is an official petition to the Ming Emperor of China, Shi Zong (r. 1522-67). Written around 1566, it is attributed to Lady Chang, only wife of Shên Shu, a high bureaucrat in the Chinese court. However, it was likely coauthored by his favorite concubine, whose name is unknown. A Censor for the Ministry of Rites, Shên Shu was accused by a powerful rival of misleading the Emperor with wrongful advice, and imprisoned without trial for more than 14 years. Shên Shu was ultimately liberated in 1567, thanks in part to Lady Chang’s letter and in part to the rise of a new emperor, Mu Zong (r. 1567-72). Not much is known about the Lady Chang herself, but her letter gives us a hint of the difficulties she faced during her husband’s prolonged absence. Lady Chang underscores her filial responsibility to her in-laws, as prescribed by Confucian philosophy. It also makes clear that she had access to official channels for justice and did not hesitate to use them when she felt her situation had become impossible. Most intriguingly, this petition shows Lady Chang’s use to her benefit of the very philosophy which prescribed her inferiority and submission. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Early Modern Period: Nonfiction, Jesuit Relations

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Annotation
This excerpt comes from a 1639 letter written by Mother Marie de Saint Joseph, a French Ursuline nun in Canada. The letter is part of the Jesuit Relations, a collection of official yearly reports on the progress of Catholic missionary efforts based on the first-hand accounts of field missionaries. Published for 41 years beginning in 1632, the Relations offer a glimpse into European-Native American encounters in Canada, and reveal the active official role European women played in spreading Christianity throughout the globe during the Early Modern period. The Jesuits were but one of several orders engaged in Christianizing the peoples of America. Female orders such as the Ursulines also played an integral, although complicated, role in this process. Believing in the need for greater control over nuns, as part of Church reforms in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Popes urged that convents be closed to the outside world. However, in practice, the isolation of nuns was never made absolute. In fact, in the New World nuns interacted openly with the outside world, bringing native girls into their monastery in order to educate and convert them. As we learn, Mother Marie believed these efforts, and her role in them, to be necessary—and ultimately successful. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Early Modern Period: Autobiography, Bahina Bai

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Annotation
This selection comes from the autobiography of Bahina Bai (1628-1700), a Hindu poetess. Most of what we know about Bahina comes from her own writings, where she tells her life story. Born into a family of the Brahmin—or priestly—caste, she was married at the age of five to a widowed thirty-year-old priest, in keeping with the practices of the time. From the age of nine, Bahina traveled throughout the villages of India, where her husband performed religious services. In one of her travels, Bahina heard the devotional verses of the Bhakti priest Tukaram (ca. 1608-1650) recited in the vernacular—not the Sanskrit of the Brahmin—and therefore accessible to all. Bahina’s encounter with Bhakti devotion, which advocates pure devotion over ritual, changed her life. She broke away from the traditions of her caste, choosing instead to follow Tukaram, who was of the lowest caste, the sudra. However, Bahina’s ability to choose her preferred method of worship did not mean a complete break with the traditions and views of her time. Rather, as the excerpt below shows, her views regarding the role of women did not change, remaining instead conservatively traditional. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Early Modern Period: Autobiography, Glückel of Hameln

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Annotation
The following passages offer us a glimpse into the margins of early modern European society. Glückel of Hameln (1645-1724) was born into the Jewish community of Hamburg, a thriving German commercial center. When Glückel was four, the city expulsed its Jewish residents, forcing her family’s exile. Ten years later, Glückel married Hayim of Hameln, with whom she had twelve children. During her marriage, and continuing after Hayim’s death in 1689, Glückel played an important role in managing her husband’s commercial and financial affairs. Despite her managerial abilities, she felt it necessary to remarry, which she did in 1700. Glückel’s second husband, banker Cerf Lévy, proved incompetent at financial matters, squandering the family’s hard-earned wealth by the time of his death in 1712. Beginning in the 1690s, Glückel wrote her memoirs, intending them as a private family history for her children. Her writings reveal the difficulty of being doubly marginalized: by the majority Christian community because of her religion, and by her patriarchal Jewish community—which identified her primarily as a wife—because of her gender. However, Glückel’s involvement in commerce illustrates the opportunities available, even if mostly through unofficial channels, to early modern European women. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Annotation
The following are excerpts from the letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), a noted English essayist and one of the earliest advocates of women’s rights. She is perhaps best known for her letters from Constantinople, which she wrote to various friends and family members while living abroad with her husband, Lord Edward Wortley Montagu, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman court from 1717 to 1719. Lady Montagu’s letters demonstrate a keen interest in Turkish customs, particularly those relating to women. She was clearly intrigued by the differences between her own sensibilities—and ideas of propriety—and those of Ottoman ladies. She wrote extensively on those differences, always remaining open-minded and conscious of the cultural differences that explained otherwise “weird” behavior. Her commentaries serve to paint simultaneously a picture of European woman’s views of the world and those of their Turkish counterparts, as mediated by a contemporary woman. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Susanna and the Elders

Annotation
Susanna and the Elders, a 17th-century Italian painting by Artemisia Gentileschi, portrays the biblical story of Susanna, a virtuous Jewish woman preyed upon by two judges, important members of the community. Without her knowing, the men spied on her while she bathed. Overcome with lust, they cornered her, offering a bargain: she could either sleep with them or they would claim to have seen her lying with a young man. Her refusal condemned her to death by stoning. However, she was saved by divine intervention, and the judges were put to death instead. Susanna’s story was used throughout medieval Europe to teach that salvation comes to those who put their trust in God. However, Artemisia Gentileschi, one of a very few female artists of her time, used the story to stress instead the dark nature of men. Raped—or seduced with the promise of marriage—by her painting teacher, Artemisia was made to stand trial against him, being tortured to ensure that she was telling the truth. In the early modern period, suing for rape was more than once used to force the hand of a reluctant suitor. Often, the punishment for rape was marriage to the victim—as a way of restoring her lost reputation and virtue. This source is a part of the Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800 teaching module.

Teaching Strategies

We have designed this section to be inherently comparative, dividing it into two sections to deal, respectively, with male preoccupations regarding women’s lives and women’s own concerns. Each of the sources was selected with two questions in mind. First, how similarly or differently did early modern men and women think about women’s nature and role? Second, how were women’s views across the globe similar or different?

We recommend starting with men’s views, investigating similarities and differences across cultural boundaries. Male conceptions of women’s nature were quite similar across cultural divides, in one way or another stressing women’s inferiority. Moreover, in most cases, the concept of physical and mental female inferiority was inherited, central to the religio-philosophical traditions upon which the early modern period was built. The question remains: why did early modern peoples across the globe not question misogynist customs? This is perhaps one of the more interesting—and difficult—questions to ask when discussing the excerpts here. The fact remains, however, that the causes for female inferiority were not universally agreed upon—nor where the prescriptions for acceptable female behavior. It might help also to flesh out these differences, to contextualize culturally the study of women during the period.

The second step we recommend is taking the same approach to the sources by women. Did women around the world see themselves—and the world in general—similarly? What would account for those similarities and/or differences? Perhaps most importantly, finally, is to compare the male-authored and female-authored sources and the stances on gender which each espoused. Did women agree with male conceptions of gender difference and its consequent marginalizing of women to the private sphere? In other words, did women embrace or reject traditional patriarchal strictures? As the sources here indicate, they did both. The most challenging issue in the study of early modern women, this concurrent rejection and acceptance of patriarchy is the pivotal subject to discuss. In our experience, it is also the most interesting and thought-provoking for students.

The above approach should help you place early modern women in the context of their cultural worlds, while allowing you to foreshadow future discussions on the questioning of misogynist traditions which emerged most clearly in the 18th through 20th centuries.

Discussion Questions
  • How were women viewed across the globe during the early modern period? What similarities exist between the views held by the disparate cultures mentioned in the excerpts? What could account for these similarities?
  • What role did religion play in these perceptions? How did different religio-philosophical beliefs, such as Christianity and Confucianism, portray women differently? What do these differences say about the role of women in different societies?
  • How did women see themselves? Did women themselves accept any of the negative images presented of them? If so, why?
  • Despite negative images, what opportunities existed for women to play an active role in their societies? How were early modern women able to make a place for themselves in a patriarchal world?
  • How did the lives of early modern women compare to the lives of women in other historical periods? Was there great change throughout the ages in the way women were treated or seen? How so?

Lesson Plan
Visual Versus Written Sources in the Early Modern Period
Time Estimate

Three 45- to 60-minute class periods.

Objectives

After completing this lesson, students will be able to:

  1. engage in a discussion of how women perceived, or were perceived by their respective societies, during the Early Modern Period.
  2. understand how to “look” at objects, which do not have any words that could be clues, using the material culture process known as Fleming’s Model.
  3. explain how visual sources were perceived and understood by those that created them during the Early Modern Period.
  4. explain how other societies/cultures/people in world history might perceive these European visual sources.
  5. incorporate these findings into an essay format.
Materials
  • Sufficient copies of the Material Culture Handout
  • Sufficient copies of the following European visual sources, stapled together:

    • Source 6: Painting, “The True Woman”
    Source 12: Painting, “Susanna and the Elders”

  • Sufficient copies of the following non-European sources, stapled together:

    • Source 9: Autobiography, Bahina Bai
    Source 4: Nonfiction, Confucian Doctrine
    Source 7: Petition, Ming China

  • Note: You may chose to print out the annotation for each source in addition to the source itself for your students, but I believe this is giving them too much information that they need to discover on their own. Also, if you would like to include the European textual sources in the module you can print them off as well in order to augment the European visual sources.
  • Sufficient copies of the Primary Source Analysis Worksheet: Texts
Strategies
  1. Historical Background:The Early Modern Period (1400–1800), although a Western interpretive paradigm, marks new changes in the origins of global interdependence. As Europeans increasingly began to explore beyond their borders through the development of ocean travel, the Indian Ocean Basin and the traditional land routes of Asia continued to thrive and exchange commercial goods, religious ideas, and biological diseases that would forever change the world. Regular contacts by Europeans in the Americas and in Oceania did not signal immediate Western domination, as the great land empires of the Ming (China), Mughal (India), and several African kingdoms remained outside the reach of direct control.

    Before beginning this particular unit on women during this era, it would be an excellent idea to familiarize students with the intricacies of the origins of global interdependence, placing emphasis on the fact that, while Europeans were becoming more dominant in the Atlantic World region, they were not dictating how the world process of organization would work. Students should come away from this exercise with an understanding that, unlike previous eras that had only sporadic contact, the Early Modern Period squarely placed all kinds of men and women in direct contact with each other. Around the world, women were always at the center of changes in gender roles, and thus took an active part in a pivotal age of exchange.

    2. Day 1: Material Culture

  2. First, pass out copies of the Material Culture Handout. Spend time going over the quotes and explaining to the students that material culture is all around us.
  3. If possible, find an object that does not have any markings or words on it. This could be an artifact/object such as a shard of a pot or a piece of brick. The more simple and mundane looking the better. (I had a student who brought in a piece of cuneiform.) Next, pass the object around the room, and have everyone examine it. You may want students to write a short paragraph explaining what they see.
  4. Have the class now look to the bottom of the Material Culture Handout, and read out loud the process of artifact analysis known as Fleming’s Model.
    Now, go through each of the steps of the Model using the sample object or image and then list them on the board. Do not allow students to skip ahead. They will try to move past the identification stage, but inform them that this is the most important step.

    Once each of the steps is completed, explain to them that all objects are worthy of our examination, and that different groups of people across time have interpreted objects in different ways. Make sure they understand that having an open mind when approaching objects is absolutely crucial when we are trying to discover point of view (POV).

  5. Homework: Have the students examine the two visual sources: Source 6: Painting, The True Woman and Source 12: Painting, Susanna and the Elders. You may want to print out for them the annotations for these two sources in order to establish context for the period of study, but it is also useful to have them look at the sources alone.

    6. Day 2: European Sources

  6. Split the class into two groups. Have each group perform the Fleming’s Model on each source, and write it down. (15-20 minutes) Depending on the class size, you may want to give two groups one painting, and two the other one.
  7. Next, have each group present some of their findings to the class. (15-20 minutes) Your conclusions should lead you to surmise that each of these sources depict women in both similar and different ways. See the source annotations for some of these differences. Depending on the class level you might want to place an emphasis on more difficult concepts for comparison. Have students list these differences on the board.
  8. After this, pass out the second stapled packet that includes the non-European sources. Have the students chose one non-European source. Have the students fill out a Primary Source Analysis Worksheet: Texts for their non-European source.
  9. Homework: Using this worksheet, write a one-page response on how their image from Europe compares in its depiction of women to the non-European source. They need a thesis statement and evidence from each source in order to support their points.

    10. Day 3: Non-European Sources, Conclusions

  10. Have a class discussion about the students' findings. Read some of the written non-European sources out loud during the class. Make a list of similarities and differences between these worlds. What in the end does it tell us about women during the Early Modern Period?

    Students should find some glaring similarities in the portrayal of women by men. For example, Greek philosophy conceived of women’s physical frailty as leading also to their irrationality and intellectual inferiority, while Confucian ideology implied that, just as emperors were to rule over subjects, men were to be lords over women. Grade the one-page reviews for content such as the use of Fleming’s Model, and their observations about the written sources.

  11. If you have time, end the discussion with how these sources impact the study of women. In the end, did students think that the visual sources were easier to examine and appraise than the written sources? Why or why not? You should conclude that visual sources are just as important as written sources, and should be examined with the same critical eye. Both kinds of sources need rigorous kinds of models for examination, if we as students of history are to attempt to understand their meaning.

    All too often we stereotypically think of European societies during this period as advanced (written and visual due to the Renaissance), and non-Western societies as simply image-bound in a language that we cannot understand. These kinds of distinctions need to be obliterated as we conceive of this period as one of diverse interactions.

    12. Differentiation

    Advanced Placement (AP) Students: Placing this particular unit after a discussion of global interdependence, but before the revolutions of the 18th century, would work very effectively. If you are looking for other supplementary materials and background, this exercise works well in conjunction with Kevin Reilly’s, Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader, Volume One: To 1550, “Gender and Family in the World: China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and New Spain, 1600—1750.” (Bedford: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.)

Document Based Question

Document Based Question (Suggested writing time: 40 minutes)

Directions: The following question is based on the documents included in this module. This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:

  • Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents.
  • Uses all or all but one of the documents.
  • Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as possible. Does not simply summarize the documents individually.
  • Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors' points of view.

You may refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents.

Question: Compare and contrast the ways in which women were perceived by men during the Early Modern Period. Did societies around the world have similar or different understandings about the roles that women should play? Based on your understanding of periodization, is there something different about women in world history during this era?

Be sure to analyze point of view in at least seven of the documents or images.

What additional sources, types of documents, or information would you need to have a more complete view of this topic?

Bibliography
Aughterson, Kate, ed. Renaissance Woman: A Sourcebook: Constructions of Femininity in England. London and New York: Routledge, 1995.
An extensive sourcebook of contemporary materials regarding women in England from the 14th to the 17th centuries, this book expands upon the nature and source of European misogynist attitudes towards women. It is an outstanding compilation of often difficult-to-find primary sources about and by early modern European women.
Davis, Natalie Zemon and Arlette Farge, eds A History of Women in the West, v. III: Renaissance and Enlightenment Paradoxes. Cambridge Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993.
This is a wide-ranging and insightful general study of women in early modern Europe. The book investigates the gendered social practices of the period, as well as the cultural discourses which shaped those practices. An excellent overview, this is the ideal book for those first investigating the subject.
Findly, Ellison Banks. Nur Jahan: Empress of Mughal India. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
This book concentrates on the life of Nur Jahan (1577-1645). However, its introductory sections offer as well discerning general information about Muslim women in India during the Mughal period.
Ko, Dorothy. Teachers of the Inner Chamber: Women and Culture in Seventeenth-Century China. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997.
This book offers a rebuttal to the traditional histories of women in China that argue that women were perennially victimized and oppressed. Rather, the author argues that Ming women were able to negotiate prescribed codes of conduct, particularly through their development of a literary voice. Perhaps too feminist a portrayal, the book nevertheless offers a nuanced view, as women are not conversely depicted as agents of subversion.
Lux-Sterritt, L. “Between the Cloister and the World: The Successful Compromise of the Ursulines of Toulouse, 1604-1616.” French History v16 i3 (Sept 2002): 247-68.
This article investigates an example of the Ursulines “voluntary” decision to enclose their convents in the early 17th century. Originally designated as congrégées, Ursulines were charged with educating and catechizing women of all social classes. The essay is particularly helpful in offering a basic idea of the role of women—nuns in particular—in early modern Europe and the lands they hoped to Christianize.

Credits
About the Authors

Maritere Lopez is Assistant Professor of History at California State University, Fresno. She is an expert in Renaissance and Reformation studies, as well as in the history of the Early Modern time period more generally. She is a fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “A Literature of their Own” institute, which investigates the literary production of women in Early Modern Europe. She extends her teaching to high-school students by serving both as a guest lecturer at conferences and as a mentor for K-12 educators, particularly as Faculty Advisor for the San Joaquin Valley History-Social Science Project.

Charles Lipp is a Western civilization postdoctoral fellow with the Department of History and Art History at George Mason University. His written works include Power and Politics in Early Modern Lorraine: Jean François de Mahuet and the Grand Prévôté de Saint-Dié.

About the Lesson Plan Author

J. Nathan Campbell teaches upper-school history to tenth and eleventh grade students at the Episcopal School of Dallas in Texas. For two years, Nathan has taught AP World History, AP United States History, and American Government. Before coming to ESD, Nathan worked in the museum field as a curator in the historic house business after earning an MA in History from the University of Kentucky and an MA from the Cooper-Hewitt American Decorative Arts Program in Washington, D.C. His love of public history, material culture, and museums has led him to develop a new course at ESD called the History of Stuff. This course asks students to work with a variety of objects (that include architecture, consumer culture, decorative arts, and a whole lot of other stuff), in order to teach students how they affect the past, present, and future.

This teaching module was originally developed for the Women in World History project.

How to Cite This Source

"Long Teaching Module: Women in the Early Modern World, 1500-1800," in World History Commons, https://worldhistorycommons.org/long-teaching-module-women-early-modern-world-1500-1800 [accessed December 25, 2024]

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