The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Women

John KnoxProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5
Word count
166K words
Chapters
17

Tags

English Originals ReligionPolitics Political AllegoryGender DebatePower OppressionSocial CritiqueMoral DilemmaIntellectual CommentarySixteenth CenturyReligious DebateScottish ReformationDogma and Women

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Women by John KnoxAuthor: Knox, John, 1514?-1572,Language: English, Class: HQ: Social sciences: The family, Marriage, Sex and Gender, Release Date: Jan 1, 2006

Editor's review

The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Women is a polemical pamphlet by John Knox and an important historical document of sixteenth-century Reformation controversy. Its value lies not in literary pleasure but in displaying the fierce tone, argumentative methods, and gender assumptions of the political and religious disputes of the time. Readers can see how Reformation polemicists invoked Scripture and historical precedent to intervene in questions of legitimate rule, and can understand the controversies such texts later provoked. As a public-domain ebook, it suits use as a primary source for intellectual history, religious history, and gender studies rather than as casual reading. Reading requires historical awareness: the text's wording and stance belong to a specific era of controversy and should not be applied directly out of context. It is best read with an introduction or historical overview, first clarifying the target and aim of the argument, then analyzing its rhetorical strategies. For researchers, the free electronic edition facilitates keyword searching and quotation comparison.

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with a reliable historical introduction to clarify the background, the target of the argument, and the political situation of the time.
  2. Treat the text as a specimen of polemical rhetoric, marking its use of Scripture, historical precedent, and personal attack.
  3. While reading, distinguish stances situated in historical context from present-day gender ideas, and avoid direct equivalence.
  4. Read it alongside contemporary polemical texts to observe how both sides contend for the same set of authoritative resources.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
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  9. 9
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  11. 11
  12. 12
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  14. 14
  15. 15
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FAQ

Can this book be used directly as an introductory reader on gender issues? Not recommended. It is a sixteenth-century religious polemic with fierce wording, highly dependent on the biblical interpretation and political context of its time. Without historical background, it is easily misread as a simple attack on gender. A better approach is to read relevant historical overviews and scholarly introductions first, then analyze it as a primary source.
What language level is needed to read this pamphlet? The original is in early modern English, with spelling, syntax, and vocabulary at a distance from modern English. Readers with strong English reading ability willing to look things up can read the original directly; otherwise, an annotated edition or a modern translation with an introduction is recommended to lower the barrier.
What is its main use in intellectual history research? It serves as a specimen for studying how political authority, biblical interpretation, and gender ideas intertwined during the Reformation. Researchers can analyze its argumentative structure, citation strategies, and polemical tone, and examine how it was later cited and contested, but should avoid drawing conclusions detached from the specific historical context.

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About the author

John Knox Author · Scottish · 1514–1572

John Knox (c. 1514–1572) was a Scottish theologian, a leader of the Scottish Reformation, and the founder of Presbyterianism. He studied at the University of St Andrews and served as a priest, later fleeing persecution to England and Geneva, where he studied under Calvin. After returning to Scotland in 1559, he helped establish Presbyterianism as the national church and repeatedly clashed with Mary, Queen of Scots. His works include The History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland and The First Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous regiment of Women; the former records the reform movement, while the latter fiercely attacks female rule. His direct, eloquent style left a lasting mark on the Scottish church and society.