The women were armed with items that they had found in their houses, including spits, hammers, and kettles filled with hot water. One woman carried a “great sharp stone” taken from the roadside.

On Aug. 5, 1577, Thomasine Tyler and 29 of her female neighbors assembled in Brentwood in Essex. The women were armed with items that they had found in their houses, including spits, hammers, and ...

Nicola Clark, who lectures in late medieval and early modern history, is the author of The Waiting Game: The Untold Story of the Women Who Served the Tudor Queens. As she argues, these confidantes ...