Shirley, Elizabeth (c. 1568–1641)

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Shirley, Elizabeth (c. 1568–1641)

British biographer and devotional writer. Born c. 1568, possibly in Leicestershire, England; died Sept 1, 1641, in Louvain, Flanders; dau. of John Shirley of Leicestershire.

Converted to Roman Catholicism and became recusant; was one of the founders of St. Monica's Monastery in Louvain (1606), where she was subprioress for 28 years; wrote Life of Margaret Clement (1611).