Damaris Cudworth Masham facts for kids

Damaris Cudworth, Lady Masham (born January 18, 1659 – died April 20, 1708) was an amazing English writer and thinker. She was also a theologian, which means she studied religious ideas. Damaris was a strong supporter of education for girls and women. Because of her ideas, some people call her a "proto-feminist," meaning she had early feminist views.

Even though she had some problems with her eyesight and couldn't go to a formal university, she was highly respected by the smartest people of her time. She wrote many letters and published two important books: A Discourse Concerning the Love of God (1696) and Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life (1705). She is especially known for her long and important friendship with the famous philosopher John Locke. They influenced each other's ideas a lot.

Her Family and Early Life

Growing Up in Cambridge

Damaris Cudworth was born on January 18, 1659, in Cambridge, England. Her father was Ralph Cudworth, a professor and the head of Christ's College at the University of Cambridge. He was a brilliant scholar who studied ancient languages and philosophy. He was part of a group called the Cambridge Platonists. Her mother, also named Damaris Cudworth, was a smart woman who came from a well-known family.

Damaris grew up in a very academic home. Her father's friends were often scholars and thinkers. This special environment gave her many chances to learn and discuss ideas, even though formal higher education was not usually open to women back then. She believed that mothers played a very important role in teaching their children.

Her Education Journey

Even without going to a regular school, Damaris became very knowledgeable. Her early letters to John Locke show that she was already good at discussing philosophical ideas. She knew a lot about her father's views and other philosophical works. By 1682, she had read many books on modern philosophy.

Damaris had some issues with her eyesight, which made it hard for her to read as much as she wanted. However, she didn't let this stop her. She was determined to learn and study, which was very unusual for a woman in her time.

Marriage and Family Life

Oates Manor, High Laver, Essex.

In 1685, when Damaris was 26, she married Sir Francis Masham. He was a widower and already had eight children. They had one son together, Francis Cudworth Masham, who was born in 1686. Their marriage gave Damaris a stable home.

When her father, Ralph Cudworth, passed away in 1688, he left her many English books from his large library. Her mother stayed close to Damaris and her family. When her mother died in 1695, she made sure Damaris and her grandson, Francis, were well taken care of. She even asked John Locke to help look after Francis's future.

Friendship with John Locke and Her Books

Damaris Masham had a very close friendship with the famous philosopher John Locke for the rest of his life. They probably met through a friend, Edward Clarke, before 1682. They wrote many letters to each other. Locke admired her greatly, saying she was better than most men in her knowledge and ability to use it.

Their friendship was very important to both of them. In 1691, Locke even moved into Damaris's home at Oates Manor in Essex and lived there until he died in 1704. He brought his huge library of nearly 2,000 books with him. He also bought her a writing desk and paid for her books to be bound. Locke left many gifts and plans for Damaris and her son in his will.

While Locke lived with her, Damaris published her first book, A Discourse Concerning the Love of God (1696). This book was a response to another philosopher's work. After Locke passed away, she published her most famous book, Thoughts in Reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life (1705). Both books were published without her name on them. This was common for women writers then, to avoid people judging their work just because they were women.

She also exchanged letters with another great thinker, Gottfried Wilhem Leibniz. They discussed their ideas, including Leibniz's theory of "pre-established harmony" and the connection between the body and soul.

Her Ideas and Advocacy

Damaris Cudworth Masham is often called a "Lockean feminist" by scholars. Her ideas combined her father's philosophical views, Locke's theories, and her own strong beliefs about women's rights. She spoke out against the unfair differences in how men and women were treated morally. She also argued strongly that women should have access to better education.

In her book Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life (1705), Damaris made two key points about why women's education was so important:

• Better Education for Children: She argued that if women received poor education, they couldn't properly educate their own children. In her time, mothers were usually the first teachers for children, especially in wealthy families. She wrote that if girls were raised by "silly Fathers and ignorant Mothers," they would just follow old ideas instead of learning to think for themselves. She believed that if women were better educated, it would benefit all of society because they could raise smarter sons and daughters.

• Women's Own Spiritual Growth: Damaris also said that women should have access to education for their own spiritual well-being. She believed that "Women have Souls to be sav’d as well as Men." Since women could think rationally, it was important for them to understand their own religious beliefs deeply. She argued that women shouldn't just be told what to believe. Instead, they should be able to study and form their own opinions about faith. She felt that a woman's knowledge should not depend on "uncertain and variable Opinions of Men." Women should be able to develop their minds as well as their bodies.

Influence on Other Thinkers

Damaris Cudworth Masham's work and her discussions with many famous philosophers of the Enlightenment likely influenced their own published works. For example, many believe she influenced John Locke's second revision of his important book, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Locke worked on this book while living at her home.

It's thought that Damaris, who knew her father's ideas very well, might have helped Locke understand some of her father's unpublished writings. These writings discussed ideas about free will and rejecting determinism (the idea that everything is already decided). Damaris herself wrote about these ideas in her book Occasional Thoughts. She believed that humans needed the freedom to choose, even if it meant sometimes choosing against God's will. This freedom, she argued, was what made humans special. This shows how her father's ideas were passed on to her and then possibly influenced Locke.

Her Published Works

• A discourse concerning the Love of God (1696). You can find an online version here: Earlymoderntexts.com edition
• Occasional Thoughts in reference to a Vertuous or Christian Life (1705). Available online at Project Gutenberg and Earlymoderntexts.com edition.
• Briefwechsel zwischen Leibniz und Lady Masham. 1703–1705. This is a collection of letters between Leibniz and Lady Masham. Leibniz wrote in French, and Lady Masham replied in English. You can find it online: Volume online.

Death and Legacy

Near the end of her life, Damaris Masham suffered from severe pain due to gallstones. She traveled to Bath, hoping to feel better. She passed away at Oates Manor on April 20, 1708. She was buried in Bath Abbey. On her grave, it was written about her "Learning, Judgement, Sagacity, and Penetration together with her Candor and Love of Truth." This shows how much she was admired for her intelligence and honesty.

Portraits

Sadly, there are no known pictures or paintings of Damaris Cudworth Masham that still exist today. We know her mother owned a portrait, and John Locke even ordered one from a famous artist named Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1704. But both of these seem to have been lost over time.