Moorings 2020

The First Blast Against the Writings of John Knox: An Investigation of John Knox’s Forms of Argumentation Against Female Monarchy Kelley Northam To say that in the year 1558 Europe was experiencing turmoil in reconciling religion, gender, and the monarchical rule would be a gross understatement. Two queens, Mary, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I, sat upon thrones that had been predominantly occupied by men for centuries. Like their predecessor, Mary I, these women challenged various conventional conceptions of gender that had long been tied to both Catholicism and Protestantism simply through their rule alone, leaving sixteenth-century Europe questioning the validity and moral ramifications of female monarchy. Amid England’s questioning, one sixteenth-century Protestant reformer, John Knox, attempted to answer such questions and remedy the monstrous feminine quagmire that he perceived to be damning all of Europe. This paper examines the writings of John Knox, specifically The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women and his corresponding letter to Queen Elizabeth I. This paper will primarily argue that Knox attempted to undermine female monarchy through a prejudiced exegetical argumentation relating to his theological interpretation of the nature of women, their inferiority in regards to wielding political power, and what defines an “exceptional” woman in the eyes of God. Theological historians such as Geddes MacGregor suggest that dedicating energy to a critical analysis of the inflammatory language against women found in The First Blast… illustrates not only an “ignorance of the historical background but a profound misunderstanding of Christianity” (MacGregor 20). Others, like A. Daniel Frankforter, who have thoroughly examined Knox’s correspondences with women makes a point to appraise how Knox uses such language as he “was convinced of the inferiority of women” (Frankforter 120). This paper aligns itself with Frankforter’s interpretation of how one should analyze Knox’s writings. Furthermore, Moorings 57