This article explores the ways women interacted with the Scottish kirk in the decades prior to the National Covenant of 1638, mainly focusing on urban areas especially Edinburgh and environs. The written records, especially those of the kirk session, are skewed toward punishing women who engaged in sin, especially sexual sins such as adultery and fornication. Indeed, these records show that while women’s behavior and speech was highly restricted and women were punished more frequently than men for their sexual behavior or for speaking out of turn, there were moments when women had a significant public voice, albeit one that was highly restricted and required male sanctioning. For example, women were often called on to testify before kirk sessions against those who had committed sins, even if the accused sinners were male or social superiors or both. Perhaps the most important moment where women used their male-sanctioned voice to speak out in public came at the Edinburgh Prayer Book Riots of 1637, which was led by women. This article argues that women were given the opportunity to act in public because the church had been characterized by many Scottish male preachers in gendered language – they called the church a “harlot mother” and a “whore” that needed correction. Therefore, the women of the Prayer Book Riot were sanctioned to speak out against a licentious sinner, much in the way women were called on to testify against sinners in front of kirk sessions.

中文翻译：

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女性、性别和圣约前的柯克

本文探讨了在 1638 年国家盟约之前的几十年里，女性与苏格兰柯克犬互动的方式，主要关注城市地区，尤其是爱丁堡及其周边地区。书面记录，特别是那些柯克会议的记录，倾向于惩罚那些犯罪的女性，尤其是通奸和通奸等性犯罪。事实上，这些记录表明，虽然女性的行为和言论受到高度限制，而且女性因性行为或说话不当而受到惩罚的频率高于男性，但有时女性在公众中的发言权很重要，尽管受到高度限制并需要男性制裁。例如，女性经常被要求在柯克会议前作证控告那些犯了罪的人，即使被指控的罪人是男性或社会上级或两者兼而有之。1637 年由女性领导的爱丁堡祈祷书暴动（Edinburgh Prayer Book Riots）是女性使用男性认可的声音在公共场合发声的最重要时刻。这篇文章认为，女性有机会在公共场合行动，因为教会的特点是许多苏格兰男性传教士使用性别语言——他们称教会为“妓女母亲”和需要纠正的“妓女”。因此，《祈祷书暴动》中的女性被批准公开反对一个放荡的罪人，就像女性被要求在柯克会议前作证反对罪人​​的方式一样。这是由女性领导的。这篇文章认为，女性有机会在公共场合行动，因为教会的特点是许多苏格兰男性传教士使用性别语言——他们称教会为“妓女母亲”和需要纠正的“妓女”。因此，《祈祷书暴动》中的女性被批准公开反对一个放荡的罪人，就像女性被要求在柯克会议前作证反对罪人​​的方式一样。这是由女性领导的。这篇文章认为，女性有机会在公共场合行动，因为教会的特点是许多苏格兰男性传教士使用性别语言——他们称教会为“妓女母亲”和需要纠正的“妓女”。因此，《祈祷书暴动》中的女性被批准公开反对一个放荡的罪人，就像女性被要求在柯克会议前作证反对罪人​​的方式一样。