Caldwell, Elizabeth

The only piece of extant writing by Elizabeth Caldwell (d. 1604) is a “letter of her own indighting” which appears in A True Discourse of the Practises of Elizabeth Caldwell, a pamphlet published in London in 1604, and attributed to Gilbert Dugdale. The story of Caldwell’s attempted murder of her husband, Thomas, and her subsequent imprisonment, trial, and execution raises questions about female authorship and criminal responsibility. Caldwell’s words—written, spoken, reported—broaden an understanding of how this early modern woman interacted with a patriarchal culture that placed her in an unsuitable marriage, exploited her unhappiness, judged her, and condemned her to death. The pamphlet’s narrative of her crime and death confirm her elect status, which in turn confers contentious social, legal, and spiritual authority on her writing and speaking.