Dangerous talk and strange behavior

by Sharon L. Jansen

Dangerous Talk and Strange Behavior looks at the cases of several women charged with treason in early sixteenth-century England: Margaret Cheyne, who was executed for the part she played in a failed rebellion; Elizabeth Barton, for her prophecies against Henry VIII's divorce; Elizabeth Wood, for spreading "treasonous rumors" about the king; and Mabel Brigge, for a "black fast" she directed against him. Sharon L. Jansen explores the roles these women played during a period of religious, political, institutional, and social turmoil; describes each woman's particular acts of protest; analyzes how, why, and when these sorts of actions were judged to threaten the peace and order of the realm; and suggests that each of these women's "crimes" were viewed as "dangerous talk and strange behavior" because of their perceived seditious threat to the peace and stability of the reign of Henry VIII.