Introduction

This fall 2018 issue presents articles on early modern women in Spain, England, and France from a variety of social classes who make distinctive contributions to their cultural milieux. Ascensión Mazuela-Anguita, in "Pushing Boundaries: Women, Music, and the Life of Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda, Princess of Eboli," surveys multiple ways that early modern Spanish women participated in making music—from performing to patronage—and she provides a provocative look at the place of music in the life of Ana de Mendoza y de la Cerda (1540–1592). In "'Taken Weak in My Outward Man': The Paradox of the Pathologized Female Prophet," Alexis Butzner examines the complex reception of prophetic visions from women who suffered severe bodily illnesses, such as Christian James (1670–1690), Sarah Wight (ca. 1631–?), Elizabeth Poole (fl. 1648–1668), and Anna Trapnel (fl. 1642–1660). And, in "Patronage and the Power of the Pen: The Making of the French Royal Midwife Louise Bourgeois," Brigitte Sheridan meticulously chronicles Bourgeois's (1563–1636) rise to power as a favored midwife to Marie de Médicis, exploring in detail how a "middling class, proto-career woman" manipulated the patronage system to achieve the position of royal midwife, becoming a published authority on her métier in the process.

For this issue's forum, "Rethinking Methodologies for Early Modern Women's Studies," the contributors highlight their innovative approaches to the study of early modern women, including a verb-oriented method for examining gender and work, two digital humanities projects, collaborative scholarship, book history, formalism, network analysis, and visual rhetoric. These articles reveal the dynamism of early modern women's studies, as scholars expand the array of technical and intellectual tools available to better understand the experiences of early modern women.

The selection of book reviews in this issue–which encompass feminist theory, musicology, literary studies, history, and art history, ranging across Angola, North America, England, France, Italy, Scotland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Northern Europe–signal the robust state of early modern women's studies.

The editors gratefully acknowledge the time, effort, and expertise of our authors, reviewers, referees, and the staff of ACMRS, all of whom have contributed enormously to the content and production of this journal. Moreover, we acknowledge the excellent work of the previous editors, Mihoko Suzuki, Mary Lindemann, and Anne Cruz, who began the process of recruiting and vetting articles and book reviews for this issue. We are grateful for their on-going mentorship. Finally, we include a memorial tribute to Anne Jacobson Schutte (1940–2018).