Identifier

etd-04162013-113306

Degree

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

This study focuses on the religious conversions of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, and Katherine Parr, Queen of England throughout the English Reformation and attempts to explain why their conversions proceeded at different rates. Both women came from similar backgrounds, yet Parr’s conversion to Evangelicalism occurred much sooner than Willoughby’s. Although Willoughby and Parr’s reformist leanings are well researched, their conversion to the new faith is a topic which deserves further attention. Studying their individual conversions will not only add to the histories of their lives, but to the understanding of why they became such passionate advocates of reform. This study also focuses on the personal events which caused Willoughby and Parr’s conversions to Evangelicalism and argues that their conversions were not explicitly due to any political pressure, governmental changes, or blind devotion to the Crown. Rather, their religious evolution was due to a series of personal events which eliminated the Catholic influences on their lives, exposed them to Evangelical teachings, and transformed them into fervid advocates of reform.

Date

2013

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Stater, Victor

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_theses.3110

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History Commons

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