Carole Levin is Willa Cather Professor of History and Director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program at the University of Nebraska, USA.Anna Riehl Bertolet is Associate Professor of English at Auburn University, USA.Jo Eldridge Carney is Professor of English at The College of New Jersey, USA.

• TABLE OF CONTENTSLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONSPREFACEACKNOWLEDGMENTS1. ARTISTS, MUSICIANS, AND ENTERTAINERS Beale, Mary Cradock BealeHorenbout, Susanna Horenbout [Horenbolte] Parker GilmanInglis, Esther Inglis KelloJane the FoolPerwich, Susanna PerwichTeerlinc, Levina Benninck TeerlincThomasina2. CRIMINALSAbbott, Elizabeth AbbottArden, Alice ArdenBarnes, Elizabeth BarnesBaynton, Mary BayntonBridgestone, Ann BridgestoneBrigge, Mabel BriggeBulmer, Margaret Cheyne BulmerCaldwell, Elizabeth CaldwellChamber, Rebecca ChamberChampion, Mary ChampionClarke, Alice ClarkeCowland, Alice CowlandCrofte, Elizabeth CrofteDavis, Alice DavisDavy, Margaret Davy [Davie]Dell, Annis DellDownes, Katherine Stamfort DownesDrewry, Anne Drewry [Drewie, Calfield]Evans, Elizabeth Evans ["Canberry Bess"]Ferneseede, Margaret FerneseedeFerrers, Katherine Ferrers FanshaweFrancis, Katherine FrancisFrith, Mary Frith ["Moll Cutpurse"]Greene, Anne GreeneGunter, Anne GunterHamton, Anne Hamton Hattersley, Jane HattersleyHayward, Petronella Brightred HaywardHelliker, Joan HellikerHoward, Frances Howard Devereux Carr, Countess of Essex and SomersetHungerford, Agnes Cotell Hungerford Lake, Mary Ryder LakeOsborne, Mary OsbornePage, Eulalia Glanfield PagePendleton, Ellen Pendleton FloderPhelps, Judith PhelpsRodney, Anne Lake Cecil Rodney, Lady RosSaunders, Anne SaundersScambler, Martha ScamblerThrockmorton, Frances Brydges ThrockmortonTurner, Ann Norton TurnerVincent, Margaret VincentWallen, Anne Wallen<

"The encyclopedia is truly a collaborative effort, one that feels momentous: a crystillization of the maturity of the field and the range and extent of its activity [...] In sum, the amazing diversity of women's activities and undertaking documented, in greater or lesser detail, in the Biographical Encyclopedia more than makes up for any inconveniences the volume presents. One cannot help but finish even a perusal of its contents without being struck by the rich world of different presented here. And once striken, one will surely return for more."- Patricia Phillippy, Kingston University London, Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal