Rose Thurgood facts for kids

Rose Thurgood (born around 1602) was an English writer. She is famous for writing one of the first English "conversion stories" called "A Lecture of Repentance" (1637/8).

Her story, "A Lecture of Repentance," tells about her life. It starts when she was part of the king's court. Then, she faced money problems because of her "bad husband." This led to a deep religious change in her life. The "Lecture" is like a letter and her own life story. It shows how Thurgood reacted to her changing life through her faith. She first felt very religious. Then, she became angry with God for her troubles. She worried she was being punished for her mistakes.

During this hard time, she met two religious leaders, John Bull and Richard Farnham. They taught that people have little control over their own future. They believed God's grace and judgment decide everything. Thurgood was angry at first but later accepted their ideas. Her money troubles continued, and she got a "burning fever." Then, she felt God gave her a special message. She believed she was one of God's chosen people. The "Lecture" ends with her still poor but happy. She knew that even though she had little, God "hath [...] given mee Christ."

Many experts have studied "A Lecture of Repentance." Naomi Baker has done a lot of this research. The story is seen as a rare chance to hear from a poor woman in the 1600s. It also shows how lower-class Puritans lived. It tells us how they read the Bible and understood their faith.

Rose Thurgood's Life Story

Rose Thurgood was born around 1602. She was one of seven children. She later met the religious leaders Richard Farnham and John Bull. This might mean she came from Colchester in Essex. She learned fine needlework when she was young. She also liked the fashion of her time. She seemed to spend time at the king's court. She met "Knights and Ladies, of great account" there.

After she got married, she had at least four children. Her oldest child was named Mary. But her high social status soon disappeared. She and her family became "extreame povertie and want," meaning very poor. We don't know exactly why or when this happened. Thurgood blamed her "bad husband." But the economy in the early 1600s was very unstable. So, money problems were common. She had to work because her husband sold his "land and living." This left her and her children hungry. This big change made her question God. This led her to meet Nonconformist preachers. These were John Bull and Richard Farnham.

Thurgood eventually found peace in her faith. She accepted her poverty as part of her religious journey. In her "Lecture," she wrote about a "sweet flash" on November 4, 1635 or 1636. This was a turning point in her faith. It was likely encouraged by preachers who told people to look for such divine moments. By 1636 or 1637, she wrote "A Lecture of Repentance." This is what she is best known for. It is also the main source of information about her life. After she wrote this, we know nothing more about her.

"A Lecture of Repentance" (1636/7)

What is "A Lecture of Repentance"?

John Bull and Richard Farnham, shown in a 1636 pamphlet. They were important in Thurgood's religious journey.

"A Lecture of Repentance" is the only work by Thurgood that we still have. It is a story about her religious change. It is written like a letter. The "Lecture" starts as a letter to her mother. She had not seen her mother for ten years. She also wrote to her "sisters & friends or whatsoever thou art." A person named 'E. A.' copied the "Lecture." This might have been Elizabeth Addington, who was married to John Bull. The copy is now kept in the John Rylands Library in Manchester. This book also has another early Puritan story by Cicely Johnson. It also has letters from Richard Farnham. Expert Abigail Shinn thinks Thurgood might have had trouble publishing her work. This was because of her gender and social class. Thurgood's story is one of the earliest English conversion stories we have.

The "Lecture" tells about Thurgood's fall into poverty. It describes her loss of faith. Then, it tells about her religious awakening. She briefly mentions a time in London. There, she did "fine workes with [her] needle." She spent time with people from the king's court. These were "knights and Ladies of great account." But then, her "bad husband" sold his land. This made her family very poor. She wrote that "the poorer hee was the worse hee was." Living in "extreame povertie and want," Thurgood had to work. She used her "poore labours" to feed her hungry children. She was afraid they would starve. She started "goe[ing] to Church oftner." But her despair turned into anger with God:

And I now seeing my selfe in this extreme povertie & want and all my household was sicke agayne [...] Then I began to rage & swell at God himselfe, saying to my selfe, what a God is this, what doth he minde to doe with my Children, surely they will dye [...] And I said to a neighbour of myne, that I could not abide this life any longer [...] I would not live to see my children starve.

With all her money problems, Thurgood felt like evil spirits were waiting for her. She believed she was doomed. She felt like "the Devill came with my debt bill." This meant she felt she had to pay for all her sins. She wrote that two years before she wrote her story, she met Bull and Farnham. They taught a strong Calvinist idea. They believed people were powerless before God. They said God alone decided their fate and religious change. They also said there should be "noe [[Doubt#Theology|doubting" God. They told Thurgood:

that God heard none of my prayers; what none of my prayers (said I to them). Noe none of my prayers, said they to mee; For what you received it was of Gods mercy towards you, and nott for your praying [...] Then said I to them, you shall never make mee believe that, but God heard my prayers; so home I came, very angry I was with them, to thinke how hott they were against mee for my praying.

Thurgood was very angry at first about these teachings. But she slowly started to believe them. She wrote: "Theise and such words would they saye when I talked with them, but now I cared not what they said to mee, though I were angry before with them: for now my desire was to understand and knowe the Grounds of Religion." Her despair lasted for a year after this. She even threatened to leave her husband. Thurgood remembered a time she was in bed with a "burning fever." Her hungry family's cries bothered her. She felt she "could not abide this life any longer." But at 8 AM on November 4, 1635 or 1636, she had a special moment. She "felt a sweet Flash coming over my heart." She heard words in her heart: "Thy name is written in the booke of Life: Thou hast that white stone, and a newe name." This meant she was one of God's chosen people.

The "Lecture" ends with Thurgood feeling content. Her money situation did not get better. She wrote: "though God hath taken from mee my wealth and sent mee povertie; yet hath hee given mee Christ and through him I receive all fulns [fullness]." She thanked those who helped her family with food.

Why Rose Thurgood's Story is Important

Experts have noted how rare it is to have a story from such a poor English writer. Naomi Baker, a main expert on Thurgood's work, says it is special. It gives "a rare and fascinating glimpse into the lives of puritan women in the early decades of the seventeenth century." It is "an almost unique opportunity to hear the voice of a seventeenth-century woman living in extreme poverty." Baker explains that being very poor was common in England back then. But stories from women who felt they "could not abide this life any longer" are very rare.

Baker has written many studies about Thurgood's "Lecture of Repentance." She often compares it to Cicely Johnson's similar story. Baker points out that Thurgood used both the Geneva Bible and the King James Bible. This shows that Puritans used both versions more than people thought. Baker also talks about how Thurgood structured her life story. She made her divine revelation the main point. Everything before it led up to that moment. In a 2004 paper, Baker looked at how Thurgood understood control over her life. She saw it through the lens of Calvinist beliefs. These beliefs suggested a "death of the self." But Thurgood's ideas show that people, even those who felt powerless, still had some control over their lives.