Elizabeth Cellier Great Missenden Church, Buckinghamshire. She wrote: Mrs. Cellier is an important character in Alison Macleod's historical novel "The Portingale", a biography of Queen Catherine of Braganza. Elizabeth Cellier Elizabeth Cellier (commonly known as Mrs. Cellier and dubbed the "Popish Midwife"), flourished 1668–1688, London, England, was a notable Catholic midwife in seventeenth-century England. She stood trial for treason in 1679 for her alleged part in the "Meal-Tub Plot" against the future James II but was acquitted. She later became a pamphleteer and made attempts to advance the field of midwifery. Elizabeth Cellier was a noted London midwife, who came into prominence
Spain in the 17th century 17th century Habsburg Spain was extremely inegalitarian. The nobility, being wealthier than ordinary people, also had the privilege of being exempt from taxes, which the lower classes did not have. Spanish society associated social status with leisure and thus work was undignified for nobles. Even wealthy merchants invested in land, titles and juros to avoid working for a living. Two ways of avoiding work were the church and education. In 1620, there were 100,000 Spaniards in the clergy, by the late 17th century there were 150,000. Many Spaniards spent long years in universities, taking advantage of the increase in the