Mary Gunter
Mary Gunter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1586 |
| Died | 1622 |
| Nationality | Kingdom of England |
| Occupation | servant |
| Spouse | Humphrey Gunter |
Mary Gunter born Mary Cresswell (1586 – 1622) was an English ward and servant who became a celebrated convert to Protestantism.
Life
Gunter was born in 1586 and her father was a gentleman named Thomas Cresswell. She was said to be a kinswomen of Sir Christopher Blount[1] and Blount was known to Queen Elizabeth because he was the third husband of Lettice Dudley. Lettice Dudley was hated by the Queen and banned from her court because she had married the Queen's suitor the Earl of Leicester.
When she was fourteen her guardian died and she was taken in by Sir Christopher Blount. Blount was executed in March 1601 for his part in the Essex Rebellion five weeks before.[2] However she was still welcome as his kinswoman and she was looked after by Lettice Knollys.[1]
The countess was alarmed to find that Gunter was intending to join the many English Catholic women who were leaving for what is now Belgium to become nuns in English founded convents. The countess and her chaplain, John Wilson (or John White), decided to intercede. Her Catholic books, images and rosary were taken from her and she was obliged to attend protestant services for a year. At the end of this John White/Wilson converted her to the protestant faith.[3] She later questioned God's existance under what could later be called brainwashing and she thought her soul was imperilled for attending to Protestant services whilst still considering herself a catholic.[3] She was thought to be suicidal but it time she retained her well being and she would remain a protestant.[1]
Mary was "in service" with the countess for over twenty years. In time she was married to another of the countesses servants Humphrey Gunter from Berkshire. She would die a year later on 6 February 1622.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Gunter [née Cresswell], Mary (1586–1622), convert to protestantism". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/71780. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
- ^ Hammer, P.E.J. (1999): The Polarisation of Elizabethan Politics: The Political Career of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 1585–1597 Cambridge UP ISBN 0-521-01941-9
- ^ a b Travitsky, Betty; Seeff, Adele F.; Amussen, Susan (1994). Attending to Women in Early Modern England. University of Delaware Press. p. 17-18. ISBN 978-0-87413-519-0.
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