During the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses which not only caused the reformation of the Catholic Church, but also influenced new religions to be formed such as Lutheranism, Calvinsionism, and Anglicanism. After Luther wrote his theses, in the Holy Roman Empire, the Peace of Augsburg was created which allowed the leader to choose the religion of their nation. Furthermore, in England, Henry VII Tudor enforced the Act of Supremacy in 1531 which separated church and state. Finally, after he died, his children ruled, ending with Elizabeth I, and this time period was known as the Golden Age of England because Elizabeth solved many of England’s problems including the nation’s indifference on religion. In addition, during the Enlightenment, the mindset changed completely from the age of faith to the age of reason. Many enlightened people such as John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau believed in the idea that people deserved more freedoms, and this new mindset resulted in enlightened despotism and caused the American Revolution. Throughout this period of time, women’s roles and the attitudes toward these women have drastically changed in many ways by allowing women more freedom, but even though they have changed, one belief has stayed the same. During the Reformation through the Enlightenment, the idea that women were inferior to men stayed the same throughout this time period; however, the attitudes toward and the experiences of European women have changed over time including their role in society and their role at home as a wife.  

One attitude or belief about women that stayed the same during the Reformation through the Enlightenment was the idea that women were inferior to men. During the Reformation, women’s main role was caring for their family and the household. Although women were the ones to take care of the household, men, in the end, had control over not only all of the property but also over the children. Women during this time did not own anything in the household, and were not allowed to make any legal transactions or handle any legal issues because this type of business was believed to only be done by the man within the household. Furthermore, due to the age of faith mindset during the Reformation, many people believed, including Martin Luther, that women should strive be models of obedience and Christian charity. Women believed that they were supposed to be submissive to men because, due to their faith, believed it was God’s plan. In addition to the Reformation, this idea that women held a lower position to men was expressed in the Enlightenment. Although some attitudes towards women changed such as moderate reforms to women’s education, it did not end the male domestics because men still held the higher position in both society and the household. For example, women were still not allowed to handle legal issues. Furthermore, many people believed and supported the beliefs of Jean Jacques Rousseau who believed that since women were naturally different, their role was to marry a man and have his children. He believed in the domestic role and that the man in the household should maintain control over both the property and child rearing. Women, in the end, were never granted equal rights and freedoms that men had and were seen inferior to men throughout this time period. Overall, men during the Reformation through the Enlightenment were the more dominant role in both society and the household, and throughout this time period, held a higher position than women.

Although the attitude that women were inferior to men stayed the same throughout these years, women have also changed over this time such as their role at home and in society. In the beginning, women’s primary role during the Reformation was caring for their family. Almost all women did not work because of their duties at home, but if they did work, it was related to domestic or household affairs. Furthermore, women during the Reformation were not given very many opportunities for education. Their role was to teach their children to read and learn more about their faith which did allow women to gain some education. In addition to women’s education, the Protestant Reformation reduced the access to convents, which changed the role of women for this time period. Overall, a woman’s role during the Reformation was to get married and have children. Women’s roles have changed since the Reformation because during the Enlightenment, women gained more opportunities for education. Many philosophes believed women had the right to education. Because of this, women began to host salons where they invited enlightened thinkers and spread new ideas and knowledge. This allowed women to be educated and have a voice in cultural affairs. Women were also patrons of the arts because, at these salons, many artists were invited to paint the meetings. Furthermore, during the Enlightenment, women began to express their rights and freedoms such as Mary Wollstonecraft. She rejected Rousseau’s ideas that women’s natural role was to be submissive to men. Mary wrote a vindication of rights of man and rights of women as a way to demanded more freedom. During the Enlightenment, women began to voice their opinions through salons and literature because they were granted the right to education. All in all, women have changed over time during the Reformation through the Enlightenment because women’s primary role during the Reformation, which was being the caretaker, changed when women were granted some rights to education and began to play a role in society such as hostesses of salons.

To conclude, the attitudes and experiences towards women during the Protestant Reformation through the Enlightenment have change in many ways such as their right to education which influenced their role in the household and in society. Although women’s roles have improved over time, one attitude throughout this time period stayed the same which is the idea that women were inferior to men. During the Reformation, men had control over all property and the children. Additionally, women were not allowed to handle any legal or financial issues within the household because it was considered a man’s role. Similarly, during the Enlightenment, men still maintained control over all household affairs, and women were not granted the same rights and freedoms as men were. All in all, women always had a lower position and were never treated equal to men. Although men were considered superior to women throughout this time period, the role of women changed due to the right to education. At first, a woman’s role during the Reformation was to be the caretaker of the household, but as the mindset during the Enlightenment changed, women were granted some education. This gave women some voice in society such as hosting salons to further educate themselves or through writing in literature. Finally, the attitude that women were inferior to men stayed the same through the Reformation to the Enlightenment; however a woman’s role in society and the household did change which allowed women more freedom.