Catholics in post-Reformation England faced new challenges in their resolution to remain faithful to Rome following the passage of anti-Catholic laws in the 1580s. These legislative attempts to root out Catholicism resulted in the creation of a clandestine community where private households became essential sites for the survival of Catholic worship. This article extends prior studies of the role of women in the English Catholic community by considering how marital status affected an individual’s ability to protect the ‘old faith’. By merging the study of widowhood with spatial analyses of Catholic households, I argue that early modern patriarchal structures provided specific opportunities inherent in widowhood that were unavailable to other men and women, whether married or single. While widowhood, in history and historiography, is frequently considered a weak, liminal, or potentially threatening status for women, in the harsh realities of a clandestine religious minority community, these weaknesses became catalysts for successful subversion of Protestant authority. Assisted by their legal autonomy, economic independence, and the manipulation of gendered cultural stereotypes, many Catholic widows used their households to harbour priests and outmanoeuvre searchers. This argument maintains that a broader interpretation of the role of women and marital status is essential to understanding the gendered nature of post-Reformation England.

中文翻译：

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脆弱中的权力：早期现代英国天主教社区的寡妇和牧师漏洞

在 1580 年代通过反天主教法之后，改革后英格兰的天主教徒在决心继续忠于罗马方面面临新的挑战。这些根除天主教的立法尝试导致建立了一个秘密社区，私人家庭成为天主教崇拜生存的重要场所。本文通过考虑婚姻状况如何影响个人保护“旧信仰”的能力，扩展了先前对女性在英国天主教社区中的作用的研究。通过将守寡的研究与天主教家庭的空间分析相结合，我认为早期的现代父权制结构提供了寡妇固有的特定机会，而其他男人和女人，无论是已婚的还是单身的，都无法获得这些机会。在守寡期间，在历史和史学中，经常被认为对女性来说是一种软弱、限制或潜在威胁的地位，在一个秘密的宗教少数群体的严酷现实中，这些弱点成为成功颠覆新教权威的催化剂。在法律自治、经济独立和对性别文化刻板印象的操纵的帮助下，许多天主教寡妇利用他们的家庭来窝藏神父和狡猾的搜索者。这一论点认为，对女性角色和婚姻状况的更广泛解释对于理解改革后英格兰的性别本质至关重要。在法律自治、经济独立和对性别文化刻板印象的操纵的帮助下，许多天主教寡妇利用他们的家庭来窝藏神父和狡猾的搜索者。这一论点认为，对女性角色和婚姻状况的更广泛解释对于理解改革后英格兰的性别本质至关重要。在法律自治、经济独立和对性别文化刻板印象的操纵的帮助下，许多天主教寡妇利用他们的家庭来窝藏神父和狡猾的搜索者。这一论点认为，对女性角色和婚姻状况的更广泛解释对于理解改革后英格兰的性别本质至关重要。