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The phrase was originally coined in an essay entitled "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women." Who wrote this essay?

John Knox. John Knox wrote his essay in Geneva and it was published anonymously in 1558. Knox was a Scottish Pastor and a leader of the 16th Century Protestant Reformation in Britain.

"The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women" was originally written as a form of protest against two female sovereigns. Mary I of Scotland was one, who was the other?

Mary I of England. Mary I of England and Mary I of Scotland were both Roman Catholics. Knox protested both their religion and their gender vehemently, thus when Elizabeth I came to the English throne she was offended by his "anti-female Sovereign" stance, and although a Protestant sympathiser, would not countenance Knox as a leader of the Protestant movement in England.

In the context of the essay "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women," what was the meaning of the word 'regiment'?

Regime. The archaic use of the word regiment in this case means regime or government. Knox was protesting the fact that mere females, (and Catholic ones!) held sovereignty over men.

Which British novelist, nominated five times for the British Fantasy Society Award for "Best Novel," wrote a fantasy novel called "The Monstrous Regiment" and a sequel called "Aleph"?

Storm Constantine. "The Monstrous Regiment" and "Aleph" were published in 1990 and 1991 respectively. The books tell the story of a feminist colony on a far away planet which has fallen into a dystopian pattern of domination by a few dominant "male like" women at the expense of the very values they were supposed to promote and protect. Storm Constantine also wrote the "Wraeththu" and "Magravandias" series'.

An American author published a Sherlock Holmes pastiche novel called "A Monstrous Regiment of Women" as the second volume in her "Mary Russell" series. Who is the novelist?

Laurie R. King. King's book "A Monstrous Regiment of Women" was published in 1995. In the story there is an allusion to Sherlock Holmes having fathered a son! Volume 1 of the series is called "The Beekeeper's Apprentice," published in 1994, and there are eight volumes in the 'Mary Russell' series altogether.

Another novel named "Regiment of Women" was written by the author of the book that the film "Little Big Man" was based on. Who is he?

Thomas Berger. Bergers "Regiment of Women" was first published in 1973, and is set in the year 2074. The film "Little Big Man," starring Dustin Hoffman, was released in 1970, based on Bergers novel of the same name, published in 1964.

Which people made a Christian documentary, called "The Monstrous Regiment of Women" which "goes all out to demolish the feminist world view"?

The Gunn Brothers. The film starts with Knox's essay and carries his sentiments through to the present day. With an American slant, and an extremely anti-feminist approach, the Gunn Brothers documentary refers to the feminist movement as "the largest holocaust since the beginning of time."

In 1980, a British feminist theatre group called "The Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company" produced a play whose title is also the name of a British band, part of an essay by Virginia Woolf, and the title of a song by The Smiths. What was it's name?

Shakespeare's Sister. The Monstrous Regiment Theatre Company was formed in 1975 from members of the TV and stage fraternity who sympathised with feminist and/or socialist principles. Between 1976 and 1992, they produced over 25 plays before financial difficulties forced the company to dissolve in 1993. The Virginia Woolf essay that the "Shakespeare's Sister" extract is from is called "A Room of One's Own," written in 1929.

Sharon L. Jansen wrote a non-fiction book called "The Monstrous Regiment of Women" but what is the rest of the title?

Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe. Jansen's book "The Monstrous Regiment of Women: Female Rulers in Early Modern Europe" contains information on many powerful female European rulers from the 11th to the 17th Centuries. It was first published in 2002.

Perhaps the current 'most famous Monstrous Regiment' is the 31st Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. Who is the main protagonist of his book?

Polly Perks. Polly disguises herself as a boy and joins the army in order to find her brother Paul, who is missing in action, in Pratchett's novel which was first published in 2003.