Places of Contemplation

An epitaph on the Cecil monument in Westminster Abbey reminds the reader that Mildred Cecil (née Cooke) “spent all her life versed in sacred literature and the letters of holy men, especially the Greeks such as Basil the Great, Chrysostom [and] Gregory of Nazianzus.” Mingling ideas about public display and private contemplation, the tomb complicates post-Reformation beliefs about the relationship between women and private devotion. Reading Cecil’s translation of Basil of Caesarea’s Homily on Deuteronomy in the context of her monument, this paper explores how places of contemplation framed women’s religious writing and fashioned their writerly activities into idealized Protestant piety that was “secret” and exemplary.