Framing the Reformation Woman Writer: John Bale's Prefaces to Anne Askew's Examinations

As a site in which the cultural meanings of female authorship are contested and negotiated, the preface is a key feature of the authorial apparatus that introduces the woman writer to her early modern reading public. John Bale's prefaces to The Examinations of Anne Askew (1546/7) articulate a strident defence of Askew's Reformist convictions, positioning her as an exemplary martyr in a 'primitive', proto-Protestant English tradition. Providing historical precedent and scriptural justification for both Askew's authorship and his own role as editor, Bale's prefaces provide valuable insights into the ways women's writing was produced, framed, circulated, and promoted for its earliest print audiences.