John Knox's pamphlet is a controversial work that reflects his views on women in political office. In it, he argues that natural law and scripture support the idea that women are unfit for any political position. However, when faced with examples of women rulers in other countries, he changes his argument to biblical guidelines for choosing an Israelite ruler being part of moral law. Knox also tries to argue that female animals are always smaller and subservient to males, which is now known to be untrue. In reality, outside of this book, Knox was calling for the overthrow of Mary I of England's rule, indicating that his real problem was with her specifically, rather than female rulers in general. Later, he ran into troubles with Elizabeth I as the pamphlet was published during the time that she reigned.