Refashioned: Print Culture, Religious Reform, and the Conduct of Dress
Katherine Hartig
The English Gentlewoman (1641), published alongside The English Gentleman and two other titles, was a conduct book for female behavior. Similarly to many conduct books of the time, the author, Richard Brathwait, devoted significant attention to apparel with an emphasis on female modesty in dress. Coinciding with the effects of the Reformation on European culture, as well as the expansion of media following the invention of the printing press, conducts books became a vessel by which religious ideals could be imposed on women. The eventual prevalence of conduct manuals across Europe suggests that there was a market for such materials, as well as that women continued to dress in ways that subverted male ideals despite attempts made to suppress them. This conduct book provides a lens through which historians can examine the ideologies that influenced social ideals, and the effect in society of the changes that occurred during the Renaissance.
Contextualizing Conduct
The most significant contextualization for The English Gentlewoman comes from the Protestant Reformation, and the subsequent Counter-Reformation and rise in conservatism that occurred as a result. What emerged amongst both Protestants and Catholics was a rise in conservatism, not limited to the social expectations of women. This change could be seen in art, architecture, dogma, and more, as increasing numbers of people sought to return to the fundamentals of Christianity. While this is a trend often attributed to Protestantism in contemporary society, it is important to note that this pattern emerged for both Protestants and Catholics as the Reformation marked a turning point for the entire Christian community. Within religious institutions, the push towards modesty was met with debate as some theological orders maintained the same regalia while others wore simplistic, dark colored attire.¹ This debate often ended with vestments being regarded as less important when placed in the context of the entire dogmatic shift.² The post-Reformation trend towards conservatism had a more defined influence on the expectation of women, however, as can be seen in Brathwait’s discussion of apparel. Yet women did not unquestioningly accept this shift, especially for wealthy aristocratic women who utilized clothing as a way to differentiate themselves from the lower classes. It was this resistance that led to increased efforts to produce conduct materials as a means to reaffirm control. Beyond dress, conduct manuals also aimed to dictate female behaviour and reaffirm prescribed patriarchal values.
¹Cordelia Warr, “Belief,” in A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Renaissance ed. Elizabeth Currie (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017): 75-94.
²Cordelia Warr, “Belief,” in A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Renaissance: 75-94.
Additionally, for this book in particular, it is important to consider the Reformation in England and the social climate of the nation at the time. Following Henry VIII’s break from the Catholic Church in 1541, England fluctuated between Catholic and Protestant monarchs resulting in social and political instability for many decades. Specifically, this book was published during the reign of Charles I who carried strong Catholic sympathies, causing anxiety for English Protestants. This book was also published on the cusp of the English Civil War (1642-1651). As a result, the nation was often divided not only religiously, but politically. The conduct books produced during this time period are indicative of such variation, as the advice from individual authors carried both similarities and differences depending on the particular context of its publication. This is evident through the use of nationalist rhetoric to proscribe conduct in books such as The English Gentleman. This book also followed a number of sumptuary statutes enacted in England, espeically under Elizabth I. These statutes limited specific fabrics, colours, and accessories to upper classes or the Royal family. While none of these factors were the sole influences of Brathwait's beliefs, it is important to consider the context of the nation he was living in and how this climate may have informed his ideals for women.
Conduct Books: Undressing the Influences
Ultimately, the publication of conduct books was a product of female resistance to attempts at male control. The abundance of conduct books from across Europe, however, reveals the breadth of this pattern—women were not defiant of social changes in England alone, and the male response to defiance was something deemed worthy of instruction through printed text. Conduct books can be seen as early as the 16th century with Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier (1528), or closer to Brathwait’s publication with Elizabeth Joceline’s The Mother’s Legacie to her Unborn Child (1624).
This breadth also meant that the Reformation was simply one of many factors that informed the social norms that women broke, as other influences were also demonstrated in conduct texts. These included cross-cultural exchanges and trade with other nations, evidenced within The English Gentlewoman by Brathwait’s use of nationalist language. Braitwait places emphasis on honouring one’s country through apparel, such as on page 282 (left), when stating that women should dress in a way that confers the "most honor on her Country."³
³ Richard Brathwait, The English Gentleman; The English Gentlewoman; A Ladies Love-Lecture; The Turtles Triumph (London: 1641): 282.
The Reformation played a clearly defined role in texts such as The English Gentlewoman, as demonstrated by the common use of religious rhetoric and rationale for proscribed behaviour. The religious motifs defining the rules themselves are the clues by which historians can reveal the influence of the Reformation on print. The Reformation caused more than a mere theological shift amongst Christians, but a redefinition of societal norms that can be traced through printed works across decades. Clothing, of course, became an easy way for men to control women. On page 280 (right), Brathwait states that "if you follow the flesh, you shall be punished in the flesh: for by how much more your flesh is cockered in this world with all delicacy; by so much more shall your souls be tormented in hell eternally."⁴ By using religious reasoning of the post-Reformation era, Brathwait was able to develop a mode of oppression that was challenging to debate and easy for other readers to adopt and imitate in their own lives. As a result, print culture facilitated both religious ideals and restrictive measures in a widely produced format, and facilitated the reaffirmation of patriarchal gender roles across national and religious borders.
⁴ Richard Brathwait, The English Gentleman; The English Gentlewoman; A Ladies Love-Lecture; The Turtles Triumph (London: 1641): 280.
By: Katherine Hartig
Brathwait, Richard. The English Gentleman; The English Gentlewoman; A Ladies Love-Lecture; The Turtles Triumph. London: 1641.
Warr, Cordelia. “Belief.” in A Cultural History of Dress and Fashion in the Renaissaince. Edited by Elizabeth Currie. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2017.