Allen, Hannah

Hannah Allen, a seventeenth-century Presbyterian, is best known for Satan’s Methods and Malice Baffled (1683). This entry assesses ways in which Allen’s text exemplifies the genre of spiritual autobiography. It outlines the ways in which core Calvinist doctrines (such as double predestination) inform the structure and conventions of such writings in the later seventeenth century, and links Allen’s experiences of spiritual despair to a particular moment in the history of Presbyterianism. While such spiritual autobiographies may seem formulaic, Allen’s narrative is richer and more complex than this would suggest. Following a consideration of how gender issues operate as an underlying determinant of both the text and Allen’s experience, an exploration of early modern ideas about mental and physical illness, and then Allen’s evocation of place and movement, along with her reference to named family members, Presbyterian ministers, and members of Presbyterian congregations, the entry offers insight into the importance of socioreligious and cultural-geographical networks for seventeenth-century individuals.