Mary Astell (1666-1731) was a proto-feminist writer whose advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women earned her the title "the first English feminist." Events September 2 - Great Fire of London: A large fire breaks out in London in the house of Charles IIs baker on Pudding Lane near London Bridge. ... Events 10 Downing Street becomes the official residence of the United Kingdoms Prime Minister when Robert Walpole moves in. ... Feminism is a diverse, competing, and often opposing collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001...

Raised in an upper-middle-class family in Newcastle, England, she was the daughter of a conservative royalist Anglican father who managed a local coal company. She received an exhaustive informal education from her uncle, an ex-clergyman whose bouts with alcoholism prompted his suspension from the Church of England. This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Coal (previously referred to as pitcoal or seacoal) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ...

Mary's uncle and father both died when she was 13, leaving her without a dowry. With the remainder of the family finances invested in her older brother's higher education, Mary and her mother relocated to live with Mary's aunt.

After the death of her mother and aunt in 1688, Mary moved to London in hopes of becoming a writer. Her initial failures forced her to try to capitalize on her family's ties to the Church of England by appealing to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop shared her writing with leading intellectual circles of noble women who admired Astell's work so much that they agreed to help her publish her works. // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... This article is about the British city. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... In Christianity, an archbishop is an elevated bishop. ...

Her two most well known books, A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest (1694) and A Serious Proposal, Part II (1697), outline Astell's plan to establish Anglican nunneries to assist in providing women with both religious and secular education. According to her plan, the nunneries would be entirely student governed. Women who have completed their education would be able to teach in a nunnery or to raise children at home. Events February 6 - The colony Quilombo dos Palmares is destroyed. ... Events September 20 - The Treaty of Ryswick December 2 – St Pauls Cathedral opened in London Peter the Great travels in Europe officially incognito as artilleryman Pjotr Mikhailov Use of palanquins increases in Europe Christopher Polhem starts Swedens first technical school. ...

External links

• Mary Astell at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy