Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe: Profiles, Texts, and Contexts

By Kirsi I. Stjerna

Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe provides an expansive view of women negotiating their faith, voice, and agency in the religious and cultural scene of the sixteenth-century reformations. Women from different geographic contexts (Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Holland, and Scandinavia) and from a broad spectrum of vocations and social standings are highlighted along with examples of their original writings in English translation (in some cases brand new).

An international, interdisciplinary cohort of over thirty scholars provide cutting-edge scholarship on women, religion, and gender in the sixteenth-century reformation context. Chapters interpret historical sources relevant to the women in question and provide original material for a deeper understanding of each woman's specific negotiations about her faith and religious preferences, as well as about her specific options--as a woman.

Most of the women in the book left a written record, providing a valuable window into women's spirituality and theology. Gender questions are engaged throughout the chapters that provide irrefutable evidence of women's essential roles in the reception and implementation of the Protestant confessions. An important voice comes from women who defended their right to profess Catholic faith.

Thematic articles enhance the analysis of the roles, experiences, and contributions of individual women in different contexts and positions vis-à-vis reformation teachings. Women stand out as writers, theologians, historians, biblical interpreters, publishers, hymnwriters, rulers, pastoral care givers, defenders of justice, "heretics," rebels, midwives, mothers, and friends.

The tone of the volume is scholarly but invites a broad spectrum of readers who have varying levels of background knowledge. It is especially suitable as a textbook or as a reference guide in different disciplines (reformation studies, church history, theological history, gender scholarship, early modern and sixteenth-century studies; and language studies).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Release date: Oct 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781506468723

Kirsi I. Stjerna

Kirsi I. Stjerna is First Lutheran, Los Angeles/Southwest California Synod Professor of Lutheran History and Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and is Docent in the Theological Faculty at the University of Helsinki. She is an internationally recognized scholar of the Reformation and Luther. Among her many writings are Martin Luther, the Bible, and the Jewish People, with Brooks Schramm, and Women and the Reformation.

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Praise for Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe

"Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe is a superb introduction to the way women shaped and were shaped by the Reformation. Its interdisciplinary approach and its broad chronological and geographical scope combine to shed new light on how women actively supported—and in some cases vigorously opposed—Protestant teachings. This volume will be the new starting point for anyone interested in the role of women in early modern religious reform."

—Amy Nelson Burnett, Varner Professor of History, University of Nebraska–Lincoln

"Several decades after the Great Realignment began—the project of integrating women’s voices into our history—we now see the harvest for the era of the Reformation: a full and complex portrait of women’s participation in the Protestant movement in all its principal European centers. With his characteristic wisdom and energy, Roland Bainton launched the endeavor with three volumes on Women of the Reformation (1971, 1975, 1977). Now Kirsi Stjerna, assembling an impressive international cast of thirty-four experts, has completed that enterprise. The contributors to Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe, in brief but meaty biographical and thematic studies with accompanying textual excerpts, splendidly bring to life women readers of the Bible, challengers (and some defenders) of orthodoxy, wives and mothers, and leaders and rulers, in one indispensable volume."

—Margaret L. King, professor of history emerita, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, and editor in chief, Oxford Bibliographies Renaissance/Reformation (Oxford University Press)

"Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe brings women from the periphery to the center of Reformation studies, as prominent scholars from an array of disciplines provide insightful analyses of women’s contributions and complex reactions to the Reformation. Chapters include biographical information, thoughtful analysis, translated texts, and up-to-date bibliographies that make this collection accessible and useful to students and scholars alike."

—Allyson M. Poska, professor of history, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the author of four books, including Gendered Crossings: Women and Migration in the Spanish Empire (University of New Mexico Press, 2016), winner of the 2017 best book prize from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women

A hidden history detected: Spread over Europe, women wrote for reformation, fought for it, and also resisted. Some of them are well known, some known only by specialists. This volume presents them all, name by name, in articles, profound and vivid, written by leading experts. It’s a treasure chest for all who are eager to gain a consummate view on the Reformation.

—Volker Leppin, Horace Tracy Pitkin Professor of Historical Theology, Yale Divinity School, and author of Martin Luther: A Late Medieval Life

"Kirsi Stjerna has brought together a group of top-notch scholars in this exciting volume that pushes the field to continue the process of seeing the Reformation as more than the work of the best-known male leaders and should be a must-read for students and scholars alike. The essays reflect the rich developments that have shaped our understanding of women’s participation in the Reformation since Roland Bainton’s Women of the Reformation volumes of the 1970s. Based on deep knowledge of their sources and subjects, the contributors to this volume bring individual early modern women to life for readers and demonstrate that without the contributions and experiences of women, our story of the Reformation is incomplete."

—Karen E. Sperling, professor of history and Inaugural John and Heath Faraci Endowed Professor, Department of History, Denison University

An excellent and much-needed collection for everyone interested in the European Reformation.

—Scott Hendrix, emeritus professor of Reformation History, Princeton Theological Seminary

Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe

Women Reformers of Early Modern Europe

Profiles, Texts, and Contexts

Kirsi I. Stjerna, Editor

Fortress Press

Minneapolis

WOMEN REFORMERS OF EARLY MODERN EUROPE

Profiles, Texts, and Contexts

Copyright © 2022 Fortress Press, an imprint of 1517 Media. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Email [e-mail] or write to Permissions, Fortress Press, PO Box 1209, Minneapolis, MN 55440-1209.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (RSV) are from Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1946, 1952, and 1971 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Cover design: Kristin Miller

Cover image: From portrait of Catherine Parr by unknown artist. Wikimedia Commons / National Portrait Gallery

Print ISBN: 978-1-5064-6871-6

eBook ISBN: 978-1-5064-6872-3

While the author and 1517 Media have confirmed that all references to website addresses (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing, URLs may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

This book is dedicated to Soleil and all the granddaughters, biological and spiritual,

for whom we wish all the freedoms in the world that is theirs

Contents

List of Images and Credits

List of Contributors

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Expanding the Horizons with Women at the Center

Kirsi I. Stjerna

I. Women Theologians and the Printed Word

Katharina Schütz Zell (ca. 1498–1562): Passionate Church Mother

Elsie McKee

Argula von Grumbach (1492–1554/57): A Woman with the Word

Peter Matheson

Marie Dentière (1495–1561): In Defense of Women

Mary B. McKinley

Elisabeth Cruciger (ca. 1500–1535): Lutheran Hymnwriter

Mary Jane Haemig

Margarethe Prüss (d. 1542): Printer

Kirsi I. Stjerna

II. German Women Leading the Reforms

Katharina von Bora (1499–1552): Morning Star of Wittenberg

Laura Jurgens

Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1510–1558) and Elisabeth of Denmark (1485–1555): Lutheran Rulers

Sini Mikkola and Päivi Räisänen-Schröder

Dorothea Susanna of the Palatinate, Duchess of Sachsen-Weimar (1544–1592): Confessor of the Faith

Irene Dingel

Amalia Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel (1602–1651): The Iron Princess

Tryntje Helfferich

III. English Women for the Protestant Faith

Anne Askew (ca. 1521–1546): Author of The Latter Examination (1546, pub. 1547)

Jason E. Cohen

Elizabeth Tyrwhit (d. 1578): Protestant Englishwomen and Written Prayer

Sharon L. Arnoult

Jane Grey (1537–1554): A Life of Religious Meaning

Carole Levin

Queen Elizabeth I (1533–1603): Religion and Beliefs

Carole Levin

Katherine Parr (1512–1548): Protestant Queen, Author, and Influencer

Micheline White

IV. French and Italian Women for the Protestant Faith

Marguerite of Navarre (1492–1549): Theologian and Patron of Evangelicals, in Her Own Words and Actions

Jennifer Powell McNutt

Renée of France (1510–1575): Valiant Protector of Religious Dissidents

Kelly Digby Peebles

Jeanne d’Albret (1528–1572): Reformer and Queen

Kathleen M. Llewellyn

Olimpia Fulvia Morata (1526–1555): Eloquent Magistra

Gianmarco Braghi

V. Dutch, Swiss, and Anabaptist Women for the Reformations

Susanna (1551–1625) and Cornelia (1554–1576) Teellinck: Early Dutch Reformed Editor and Authors

Amanda C. Pipkin

Anna Scharnschlager (d. 1564) and Margarethe Endris: Anabaptist Women and Their Letters

Päivi Räisänen-Schröder

Being Reformed: Women in the Zürich Reformation

Rebecca Giselbrecht

VI. Protestant Women and Their Bible

Argula von Grumbach and Katharina Schütz Zell as Biblical Interpreters

G. Sujin Pak

Sixteenth-Century Protestant Englishwomen as Readers and Writers

Kate Narveson

VII. Protestant Teachings and Women’s Agency

Luther’s Theological Anthropology and View of Women’s Roles

Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen

Marriage in Protestant Europe

Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks

Working Women in Poor Relief: Midwives, Nurses, and Deaconesses

Esther Chung-Kim

Reading Textiles as Text: Katharina von Bora’s Self-Representation through Dress

Karin J. Bohleke

VIII. Women Negotiating the Reformations in Different Contexts and Spaces

Thistles and Thorns: Women Resist the Reformation

Austra Reinis

Anna Jacobäa Fuggerin (1547–1587) and St. Katharina Convent in Augsburg: The End of an Experiment in Simultaneity

Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer

Katarina Jagiellon (1526–1583): A Queen Negotiating the Reformation in the North

Raisa Maria Toivo

The Italian Way: Women, Religion, and Society during the Age of the Reformation

Eleonora Belligni

Anna Vasa (1568–1625): Lutheran Sister of the Catholic King

Anu Lahtinen and Terhi Katajamäki

Without Women and Children, No Reformation in France

Jonathan A. Reid

Index of Names

Index of Scripture

Images and Credits

Title page of The Apologia for Matthew Zell. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Argula von Grumbach pamphlet. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Marie Dentière and Reformation Wall. Wikimedia Commons / MHM55 CCBY-SA 4.0. Image modified to black and white.

First page of The Very Useful Epistle. Wikimedia Commons / CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

Jesus Blesses the Children. Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/DE_SHLM_1989-480, 2012–08.

Cruciger hymn. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Jost cover. Bavarian State Library, Munich / Made available under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Katharina von Bora. Wikimedia Commons, Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel / Public domain.

Elisabeth von Brandenburg. Wikimedia Commons, National Museum of Sweden / Public domain.

Elisabeth princess of Denmark. Wikimedia Commons. Made available to Public domain by Southerly Clubs, Stockholm, Sweden.

Dorothea Susanna. Wikimedia Commons, Hajotthu / Public domain / Duchess Anna Amalia Library.

Amalia Elisabeth. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / Peace Palace Library.

The execution of Anne Askew. Folger Digital Image Collection (CC BY-SA 4.0). Used by permission.

Effigies of Sir Robert and Elizabeth Tyrwhit. Plate 103: Leighton Bromswold, Parish Church of St. Mary, in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Huntingdonshire (London: His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1926), 103. British History Online, accessed December 7, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/hunts/plate-103. Reprinted by permission.

Woodcut of Jane Grey. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Lady Jane Grey execution. Photograph of print owned by author. Reprinted by permission.

Queen Elizabeth I with Bible. Photograph by author. Reprinted by permission.

Katherine Parr. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / National Portrait Gallery, purchased with help from the Art Fund, the Pilgrim Trust, H.M. Government and Gooden & Fox Ltd, 1968.

Title page of Lamentation. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Marguerite of Navarre. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / UgGlchBfaSf7hA @ Google Art Project.

Renée de France. © Typ 515.53.753 Houghton Library, Harvard University. Used by permission.

Jeanne d’Albret. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / Allica Digital Library btv1b10544063g/f1.

The Siege of Rouen. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Olimpia Morata. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Cornelia Teellinck title page. Author photo. Used by permission. Source: Leyden University Library, SEMREM 5673:1.

Susanna Teellinck page. Author photo. Used by permission. Source: Leyden University Library, SEMREM 5673:1, page 10.

Anabaptist title page. Universitätsbibliothek Paderborn under the creative commons license CC-BY-4.0.

Regula Gwalther-Zwingli and Anna Gwalther. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / Source: Zentrabibliothek Zürich.

Heinrich Bullinger. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Midmay manuscript pages. From book in North Hamptonshire Library. Photo by the author. Reprinted by permission of West Northamptonshire Council | Northamptonshire Archives & Heritage Service.

Christ blessing married life. Metropolitan Museum, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917. Public domain.

Woman on birthing chair. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Portrait 1. Katharina von Bora. Wikimedia.org / Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbüttel / Public domain / photograph source unknown.

Portrait 2. Katharina von Bora with head covering. Wikimedia.com / Herzog August Library. Public domain.

Portrait 3. Katharina von Bora with furred collar. Wikimedia.com / Landesmuseum Württemberg. Public domain.

Detail of Jesus and the Adulteress. Wikimedia Commons / Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access Policy.

Gowns on Ein Predigt cover. Photo by author. Source: A. R. Wentz Library, United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, PA. Used by permission.

Margarethe von Anhalt. Photo by Gunnar Heydenreich; Cranach Digital Archive (lucascranach.org). Reproduced with permission of both.

Maria of Bavaria. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Gemäldegalerie / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Anna Fuggerin coat of arms. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, BSB Cgm 9460. Public domain.

Prioress Veronica Welser. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Nuns’ choir interior. Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1925.628. Available by Creative Commons (CC0 1.0).

Ursula von Münsterberg title page. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Katarina Jagiellon. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain / BurgererSF.

Giulia Gonzaga. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Anna Vasa mausoleum. Wikimedia, Pko / CC-SA 4.0. Image saved in black and white.

Massacre de Wassy. Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.

Contributors

Dr. Sharon L. Arnoult

emeritus associate professor of history, Midwestern State University, Texas, USA

Dr. Eleonora Belligni

associate professor of early modern history, University of Turin, Italy

Dr. Karin J. Bohleke

director, Fashion Archives and Museum of Shippensburg University, Pennsylvania, USA

Dr. Gianmarco Braghi

assistant professor, University of Palermo; Foundation for Religious Studies, Bologna/Palermo, Italy

Dr. Esther Chung-Kim

associate professor of religious studies, Claremont McKenna College, California, USA

Dr. Jason E. Cohen

independent scholar, Woodstock, New Hampshire, USA

Dr. Irene Dingel

Academy Senior Professor (Akademie-Seniorprofessorin), the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Literature | Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany

Rev. Dr. Rebecca Giselbrecht

academic staff, University of Bern; pastor, Evangelical Reformed Church of Thurgau, Switzerland

Dr. Mary Jane Haemig

professor emerita of church history, Luther Seminary, Minnesota, USA

Dr. Tryntje Helfferich

associate professor of history, the Ohio State University at Lima, USA

Dr. Laura Jurgens

sessional instructor, University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Alberta, Canada

Ms. Terhi Katajamäki

PhD candidate, Finnish history, University of Turku, Finland

Dr. Anu Lahtinen

associate professor, Finnish and Nordic history, University of Helsinki, Finland

Dr. Carole Levin

Willa Cather Professor of History, University of Nebraska, USA

Dr. Kathleen M. Llewellyn

professor of French and associate dean, Saint Louis University, Missouri, USA

Dr. Peter Matheson

honorary fellow, theology program, University of Otago, New Zealand

Dr. Elsie McKee

Archibald Alexander Professor of Reformation Studies and the History of Worship, emerita, Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, USA

Dr. Mary B. McKinley

Douglas Huntly Gordon Professor of French, emerita, University of Virginia, USA

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Powell McNutt

Franklin S. Dyrness Associate Professor in Biblical and Theological Studies, Wheaton College, Illinois, USA

Rev. Dr. Sini Mikkola

university lecturer in church history, University of Eastern Finland, Finland

Dr. Kate Narveson

professor of English, Luther College, Iowa, USA

Dr. G. Sujin Pak

dean and professor of history of Christianity, School of Theology, Boston University, Massachusetts, USA

Dr. Kelly Digby Peebles

associate professor of French, director of language and international health, Clemson University, South Carolina, USA

Dr. Amanda C. Pipkin

professor of history, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA

Dr. Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer

Susan Karant-Nunn Professor of Reformation and Early Modern European History, University of Arizona, USA

Dr. Jonathan A. Reid

professor of renaissance and reformation history, East Carolina University, North Carolina, USA

Rev. Dr. Austra Reinis

professor of history of Christianity, Missouri State University, USA

Dr. Päivi Räisänen-Schröder

adjunct professor and lecturer in church history, docent, University of Helsinki, Finland

Rev. Dr. Kirsi I. Stjerna

First Lutheran, Los Angeles / Southwest California Synod Professor of Lutheran History and Theology, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of California Lutheran University; core doctoral faculty, Graduate Theological Union, California, USA; docent, Helsinki University, Finland

Dr. Raisa Maria Toivo

professor of early modern history, Tampere University, Finland

Dr. Micheline White

associate professor, College of the Humanities, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

Dr. Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen

professor of systematic theology, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Dr. Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks

distinguished professor of history, emerita, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA

Preface

Several decades ago, Augsburg published three pioneering volumes on Women of the Reformation by Roland Bainton (1971–1977). These volumes are still available and valuable today. The volume you have in hand covers some of the same figures but also many others, identifying women participants and leaders in the reformations from different corners of Europe. Thanks to vibrant scholarship from different disciplines and with different foci—for example, from studies in history, theology, spirituality, art, material, language, translation, and gender—enough foundation has been built to engage Reformation women firsthand, with their own stories and in their own voices. The sixteenth-century women featured in this volume are all European, but they come from different cultural, geographic, and linguistic contexts. This is also true of the many scholars who have contributed content.

Through the different biographical and thematic articles that make up this book, the contributors demonstrate how the study of women and the Reformation has progressed and provides fertile soil for greater interdisciplinary engagement. In addition to being a diverse group geographically, the contributors to this volume bring their expertise in Reformation and sixteenth-century studies, representing different disciplines. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with these outstanding scholars and, together, demonstrate the significance of the women reformers in early modern Europe and provide an important tool for teaching and future research.

The focus of this volume is primarily on women who supported Protestant faiths, but important voices who resisted evangelical reforms are also included. Many more women deserve space in this volume; the presentation at hand is thus representative and not all-inclusive. The sections of this book are organized mostly by languages used and geographic contexts, with an eye on the different shapes and forms that women’s leadership, vocation, and confessing took in the early modern European world. Each woman included is honored for her faith, her theological voice, and her courage in confessing her religion. As a rule, women selected for the biographical chapters each left a track record in writing that, in a broader sense, represents a confession of her faith. The overarching interest in this book, then, is on these women’s engagement with the Protestant theologies and their discernment in faith matters, often discovered in their own words.

Therefore, the biographical chapters include samples of women’s writings (In Her Own Voice). These short source texts all appear in English translation, and many pieces are original translations prepared for this volume specifically. The thematic chapters interspersed throughout the sections take a different approach to contextualizing and broadening the research questions. Attention is given to the (general and specific) circumstances of women and their roles in different aspects of Reformation developments, the different sociocultural factors pertaining to their participation and options, theological considerations, and different strategies in research. Some of the thematic chapters dive deeper into how specific women engaged with Scripture and evangelical theologies, as well as how these theologies impacted women.

The chapters combined illustrate the ongoing detective work and the discoveries made—and yet to be made—with previously overlooked clues in mapping the Reformation scene with women at the center. Some chapters shed light on the lives of noblewomen who exercised significant leadership in their place, whereas other chapters open windows to the experiences of women in different walks of life and behind the public eye. Regardless of the angle, the chapters in their own way point to the complicated realities of women who all had to negotiate new parameters for their agency and freedom, and who exercised leadership in their contexts. It is also evident how gender—gender experience and circumstances pertaining to gender—was a factor in every woman’s personal and religious life.

Each chapter concludes with a short and specialized bibliography of recommended readings. Chapters also include images of the women featured in the biographies when suitable images could be found.

We hope that the fresh and engaging chapters invite ongoing attention to this precious material that is not only historically important but also theologically and spiritually relevant. We hope this book finds its way to many classrooms, research networks, and reading spaces.

Acknowledgments

In the most unusual of times, during the waves of the pandemic known as Covid-19, busy individuals put time aside to contribute their scholarship for this volume. In the thoughtful negotiations with every author about the scope of their chapter, this book got its final shape, contours, and heart. The experts around the table come from different disciplines, connected with their shared curiosity about the early modern period, the sixteenth century, the reformations, and, most of all, women. With general original prompts and guidelines for how to tackle the task, and with word limits to observe, authors could enjoy some freedom in pursuing their path of research, observing the material with their eyes, and painting the picture (so to speak) for the reader with their own colors and emphasis. We are grateful for the expertise and diligent work of each scholar who gave their valuable energies for this shared commitment.

It has been an honor to labor in this esteemed company of international scholars engaged in creative and pioneering research. We express our gratitude to the editors, publishers, and institutions who granted their permission for reproductions of text and image. We all offer our warmest thanks to our research assistants Kiki Stjerna Blezard and Raleigh Thomas for their valuable partnership through the months of communication and organizing, and to Kiki for preparing the index. We appreciate the diligent work of each member of the Fortress Press team for providing the instrumental support in every step of the way. We thank Kristin Miller’s vision for the inviting cover. Most importantly, from the very beginning till the very end, working with editor Scott Tunseth has been a privilege. It was at the American Academy of Religion’s annual meeting in San Diego in 2019 that we discussed the project and shook hands to commence the work. It is not the first big project we have tackled together. His kindness, professionalism, and wisdom are unmatchable. Thank you.

Finally, I wish to thank my institution, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary of California Lutheran University, for the sabbatical that allowed me to focus on this project. Brooks Schramm, my partner in life and scholarship, has my infinite gratitude and affection.

Introduction

Expanding the Horizons with Women at the Center

Kirsi I. Stjerna

Women were an integral part of the tumultuous landscape of the sixteenth-century European reformations. Women exercised their voice and agency in creative ways in their own social locations. Whether receiving, defending, transmitting, applying—or even rejecting—reformation teachings in early modern Europe, women participants provide an enthralling perspective on the larger story’s many twists and turns.¹ The story is not homogenous.²

Not every woman in early modern Europe easily or quickly adopted the Protestant option(s). Women in different corners of Europe and in different vocations left tracks that reveal how women negotiated with the available options for their own religious involvement and identity. The reformations created a particular dilemma for women in convents and in contexts that defended the Catholic form of Christianity.³ Women exercised their agency in varying degrees; they were not passive bystanders or objects vis-à-vis the changes. For those who did find the Protestant teachings appealing or convincing, Martin Luther’s theology was not necessarily the obvious choice.⁴ Jean Calvin, Uldrich Zwingli, Menno Simons, Melchior Hoffman, Sebastian Franck, Caspar Schwenckfeld, and others offered different faith dialects. Women, whether named or not in history books, took part in integral ways in these different reformation movements.⁵ Without women who were willing to live and die with their religious persuasion, these movements would not have had such impact.⁶

Past Reformation histories have more often than not managed to ignore the women players in the different branches of Protestant history, as well as in the broader Catholic history, but by resetting the research focus with women at the center, a rich and complex scenery unfolds. Women offer a reality check for assessing the actual changes the reformation theologies instigated and the impact felt in the lives and spiritualities of people in different walks of life. Records about and from women illuminate the power dynamics and the role of gender in their private, public, and religious lives.⁷

With the Protestant reformations, the changing understanding of religious authority and the challenge the reformers presented to the existing Catholic systems of power created situations for women to enter with a theological voice through different doors, so to speak. As distinct Protestant theologies emerged from new readings of the Bible, which was to be held as the highest authority, women could heed the invitation to engage the Bible firsthand for themselves (a trajectory that would take some time to become a common reality). These women had no official invitation to preach, to write academic theological treatises, or to lead theological discernment toward confessional identity, but when empowered by their personal knowledge of the Bible, women found openings to take part and even lead in the reforms and the shaping of evangelical identities and communities.

Scriptural knowledge could effectively equip a woman to express her theological views and spirituality also in writing. It is not a coincidence that Protestant women authors were generous with their biblical quotations, as is exemplified by some of the most well-known female reformers: Argula von Grumbach, Marie Dentière, and Katharina Schütz Zell. Current research is shedding increasing light on the substantial and precise ways different women engaged the Bible and produced theological materials in their contexts. That said, what the signature reformation principle of sola scriptura actually meant in the lives of Christians leading reforms in the sixteenth century—and what it may imply today—deserves renewed scrutiny from the vantage point of women and their experiences.⁸

The women who are highlighted in this volume had to navigate personal decisions regarding their religion. Convent women and their associates illustrate this most poignantly: some chose to reject reformation teachings (e.g., Katharina von Seeberg, Katharina Freiberg, Margarethe von Anhalt, and Maria of Bavaria)⁹ while others deliberated on accepting a particular Protestant confession (e.g., Anna Jacobäa Fuggerin, Katharina von Zimmern).¹⁰ In the process of navigating such decisions, individual women left records of their spiritual and religious lives, of their theological discernment and interpretations of the Bible, and of their commitments in confessional matters (e.g., Dorothea Susanna of the Palatinate).¹¹ Different genres opened venues for women reformers who, without theological degrees or university positions but with boldness and creativity, published their theologies and produced theological texts (e.g., Susanna and Cornelia Teellinck, Elizabeth Tyrwhit)¹² and sought to equip their fellow Christians and Protestant communities with new word, song, and prayer (e.g., Katharina Schütz Zell, Elisabeth Cruciger).¹³

Scripture’s importance for these Protestant women cannot be overstated, whether they read it for themselves, interpreted it for others, or learned about it through listening, singing, and conversations.¹⁴ Here, a major shift can be noted. In the previous centuries, the predominant venue for women to express their theology was in visions fueled by mystical experiences, which was something that the tradition respected. In contrast, Protestant women would need to establish their authority through their biblical knowledge. The exception to this comes from the Anabaptist women, for whom prophetic visions and mystical experiences continued to have an important place (e.g., Ursula Jost) and a source of authority.

The volumes written by Catholic female prophets and mystics before the reformations deserve to be noted for their theological contributions as well. Many of these women were highly literate, including in the Scriptures, especially when coming from a convent background, where a woman could gain sophisticated theological training, or at least substantial exposure. The Protestant reforms mostly eliminated these vocational paths for women: Protestant women were not expected to become mystics, nor were they to aspire toward a monastic celibate lifestyle, which was considered undesirable if not harmful.¹⁵ Marriage and motherhood were presented as the ideal and God-blessed vocation for women who, by bringing new children to the world and raising them properly, would express their vital holy vocation in and through their households.¹⁶ To succeed in this central task, women were to be educated for their holy vocation and know their Bible. What authority and voice Protestant women expressed in religious matters they would draw from their biblical knowledge and their office as mothers.¹⁷

In other words, Protestant theology, as proclaimed from pulpits and in treatises, presented women with one ideal vocational path, that of a wife and mother. The positive development of giving proper, theologically argued recognition to women’s domestic vocations and relations carried with it the loss of or disrespect for other options. Also, when, in Protestant teaching, biblical knowledge replaced mystical wisdom and spiritual experiences, and exercises became de-emphasized, this had concrete implications for women’s religious lives and how they taught the faith in their homes.

The sola scriptura principle had manifold impacts on women’s lives. First, this principle was decisive in resetting the stage for changes that led to the ordering of religious lives with evangelical teachings. Second, the importance of Scripture was imperative for the new theologies proclaimed: the evangelical emphasis on the word’s assurance of one’s salvation underscored the gift of unmerited grace by faith alone that belonged to all and radically underscored the equality of all Christians in God’s company. That no special merits or holy standing were required to prove one’s salvation or to earn grace was a theological message with palpable liberating power. Protestant women responded positively to such theologies in which unmerited grace and salvation underscored God’s action in freeing human beings from their burdens.

Furthermore, women were included in the call for all Christians to study the Word in earnest, as their privilege and duty. With their scriptural knowledge as the basis, women were to become literate in order to take charge of their domain. Women benefited from the systems put in place in evangelical contexts to provide basic education to girls, in order to prepare them for their vocation, and to equip them with skills to read Scripture.¹⁸ Catechisms were provided for fundamental religious education in the household, where women took the lead. For instance, Luther’s Small Catechism—or the Lay Bible, as it was called—was instrumental in teaching the basics of faith and providing instruction also for those with no direct access to the Scriptures, yet.

To conclude, the word-oriented, catechesis-driven new models for religious life, with readjusted theological emphases, obviously effected changes in how women approached and practiced their faith. At the center of these changes was the explicit centrality of the Bible as the primary source, and efforts were made to make it accessible to all. How the changes unfolded in an individual woman’s life depended on multiple factors, including her social standing and resources, family situation and dynamics, overall network and level of education, and, naturally, the personality and the passions of the woman herself. These women were individuals, and each woman’s story is unique.

The extant records are precious and invite engagement. Meeting the female ancestors in the Christian tradition from this seminal period provides details for correcting and expanding history, just as it expands the pool of voices defining the paths of the Protestant traditions. The theological voices that emerge from these sources join the ranks of historical theology and offer connection points for individuals associating with Protestant faith traditions today.

In Their Own Words

Most of the women featured in this book in the biographical chapters left a written record, some more extensive than others. These sources amply demonstrate that women were never simply recipients of reformation theologies and that gender mattered a great deal.¹⁹ Women negotiated their lives aware of the gender roles and societal expectations at play. They were illuminated, challenged, and empowered by the teachings they considered. When women embraced reformation teachings, they often took risks in doing so. These risks were real, regardless of their status, especially if their religious choices did not match those of their spouses, parents, or regions (e.g., Elisabeth of Denmark, Anna Vasa).²⁰ Many a woman faced persecution or died as a martyr for her faith, and some suffered from entanglements in power schemes (e.g., Anne Askew, Lady Jane Grey).²¹ The Anabaptist women (e.g., Anna Scharnschlager, Margarethe Endris, Margaret Hottinger), who associated themselves with the most persecuted groups, embodied a special kind of courage in expressing their religious orientations; they offer an important window into the different realities of the reformation turmoil.²²

In many ways—big and small, evident and unnoticed—women engaged theology practically in their roles as the spouses and mothers and daughters of the new Protestants. The mothers of the reformation raised their children in households of faith that became the cornerstones of new faith traditions. Reformation pulpits proclaimed the holiness of the domestic vocations, with motherhood presented as the ideal, centering women’s authority in their homes. The first reformers’ and pastors’ wives used their highly visible positions to develop the parsonage model for ministry (e.g., Katharina von Bora).²³ Mothers and wives had a significant authority in steering their children’s education and in maintaining the religious practices in their households (e.g., Anna Adlischwyler Bullinger, Anna Reinhart Zwingli).²⁴ Some developed their maternal vocation to reach beyond their households into more public spheres, operating with the self-claimed authority of a church mother or Land’s mother (e.g., Katharina Schütz Zell, Elisabeth von Braunschweig).²⁵ Women reformers demonstrated their unique interpretation of the vocation of motherhood and its parameters in a way that was not identical to how men would have understood it: women could see motherhood more expansively and as less biologically defined.

Correspondence and personal mentoring connected women across geographical distances and carried their voices beyond their private lives (e.g., Olimpia Morata, Marguerite of Navarre).²⁶ Women nobility and rulers could steer their families and territories with religious confessions they were committed to defending and with their region’s and people’s well-being in their mind (e.g., Katherine Parr, Elisabeth von Braunschweig). They were involved in confessional developments and in the implementation of institutional and political changes (e.g., Elizabeth I, Amalia Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel),²⁷ both on the Protestant side (e.g., Dorothea Susanna of the Palatinate)²⁸ and the Catholic side (e.g., Katarina Jagiellon).²⁹

Some women reformers actively sought opportunities to discuss their faith and to teach and support others—for instance, via letters (e.g., Olimpia Morata). Women from the beginning of the evangelical movements sponsored the public (male) teachers of theology and provided opportunities for theological discourse, even entertaining voices considered heretical (e.g., Giulia Gonzaga, Vittoria Colonna) and took part in the printing of reformed theology themselves (e.g., Margarethe Prüss).³⁰ They studied the Scriptures and interpreted current events (e.g., Marie Dentière),³¹ providing firsthand reformation histories. They themselves could write for and with the new theology (e.g., Ladies Katherine Fitzwilliam and Grace Mildmay)³² and argue for the reformation changes: for example, in support of clergy marriage (e.g., Katharina Schütz Zell).³³ Following their Christian vocation and responsibility, Protestant women could stand to protest injustices they observed, risking their own well-being to protect the persecuted (e.g., Argula von Grumbach, Renée of France).³⁴ Some women wrote reformation manifestos, others rode to the battlefield, and many prepared their children to be future leaders (e.g., Jeanne d’Albret).³⁵ Women’s participation ranged broadly as they managed the households, served as midwives, and provided care for those in need (e.g., Dorothea of Mansfeld, Elizabeth Statham, Mary Glover).³⁶ They engaged in theological discussions in explicit and implicit ways, through writing, hosting salons, and lobbying at royal courts, and everything in between, including martyrdom and protecting those persecuted.

Finally, after centuries of attention on sixteenth-century sources and religious developments in the European context, women reformers are being duly named, their roles recognized, and their works edited and translated for the ever-expanding scholarly analysis. Through their presence and with increasing evidence of their impact on the religious landscape, women challenge and illuminate both the narratives of early modern European history and Protestant theologies in all their variety, including theological anthropologies that had a direct bearing on women’s lives.³⁷ Women’s voices bring to light valuable insights concerning various aspects of religious life and spirituality in the sixteenth century, and beyond that, the study of the Protestant theological traditions and their varied trajectories.

Women in This Volume

The scholarship on the Protestant reformations has come to a watershed moment in terms of how to proceed. This volume argues that the lives and works of women have a place in the shaping of the field. The research questions will intersect with various disciplines: those focused on history, culture, and art; literature and language; early modern Europe and the sixteenth-century reformations; gender and religion; and last but not least, spirituality and theology, to name a few threads.

The essays, biographies, and writings in this volume bring fresh research to the reader. An international pool of authors offer their expertise, providing substantial coverage of the significant stories, experiences, roles, voices, and involvements of sixteenth-century women who encountered reformation theologies and either rejected or embraced them, with varied consequences.

Each woman encountered in this book is honored for her theological voice, religious standing, and faith commitments. The following pages feature women who predominantly embraced Protestant theologies and practices of faith and who left a written record to analyze.

Profiles of women reformers from different geographic, linguistic, and confessional contexts are accompanied by short text samples of their own writing and recommendations for further reading. Some of the translations are original, in some cases bringing a woman-authored text into English for the first time. Combined, the In Her Own Voice selections constitute a unique resource through which the reader may access a broad spectrum of women’s firsthand writings. Obviously, the women featured are by no means the only ones deserving a place at the table, so to speak. Thematic articles contextualize these individual voices and illuminate areas of women’s manifold involvement and personal contributions in the reformations scene broadly considered.³⁸ Varied approaches toward the expansive material demonstrate the value of diversifying research questions and making new sources accessible.

Women’s history involves multiple layers of evidence, not all of which are contained in written word and theological debate. Focusing on women also brings to light important evidence from the daily lives of people from different walks of life and circumstances. Growing awareness about women’s presence in the workforce and access to different professions, such as midwifery, and detective work on all evidence available—for example, women’s clothing and portraits³⁹—shed light on the realities and connections of women’s lives as well as the impact of their religion. The strands of information thus accumulated here present wide-ranging reality checks on what can be known about the early modern world from a woman’s standpoint. By the same token, the interpretations of the European reformations have been developed in a new light thanks to the pioneering methodological innovations of those who have dedicated their attention to the women of the period.

The different fields and expertises represented by the contributors to this volume demonstrate the interdisciplinary nature of scholarship on women and the reformations. Women also invite interconfessional and ecumenical analysis of the materials that may have bearing for the practice of Christian faith in its different forms today. Considering the sixteenth-century women who wrote, their track record on promoting mutual respect and tolerance is striking. That said, women expressed zealous confessional commitments as well. In the confessional debates and the negotiations between orthodoxy and heresy, women stood in all camps, as well as in the role of the proselytizer or protagonist. Women were not passive bystanders in these events.

This book invites the reader to engage the women reformers at the center of Reformation history and theology.

Notes

1 For pioneering texts that describe women’s participation, see the groundbreaking works of Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation in Germany and Italy (1971; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2001); Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation in France and England (1974; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2001); and Roland Bainton, Women of the Reformation from Spain to Scandinavia (1977; Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2001). See also chapters in Renate Bridenthal, Claudia Koonz, and Susan Stuard, eds., Becoming Visible: Women in European History (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1987); Sherrin Marshall, ed., Women in Reformation and Counter-Reformation Europe: Public and Private Worlds (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989); and Kirsi Stjerna, Women and the Reformation (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009).

2 See recommended readings in the specialized bibliographies included with each chapter.

3 On convent women and the reforms, see Merry Wiesner-Hanks, ed., Convents Confront the Reformation: Catholic and Protestant Nuns in Germany, trans. Joan Skocir and Merry Wiesner-Hanks (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1996); and Charmarie Blaisdell, Religion, Gender, and Class: Nuns and Authority in Early Modern France, in Changing Identities in Early Modern France, ed. Michael Wolfe (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1999), 147–68. See also Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer, Stripping the Veil: Convent Reform, Protestant Nuns, and Female Devotional Life in Sixteenth Century Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022).

4 For example, see Laura Jurgens, Women in Luther’s Life and Theology: Scholarship in Recent Years, in Luther’s Theology and Feminism, ed. Kirsi Stjerna, special issue, Religions 11, no. 2 (January 31, 2020): 68 https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11020068; Nico Vorster, John Calvin on the Status and Role of Women in Church and Society, Journal of Theological Studies 68, no. 1 (April 2017): 178–211; E. J. Furcha, Women in Zwingli’s World, Zwingliana 19, no. 1 (2010): 131–42; and Wes Harrison, The Role of Women in Anabaptist Thought and Practice: The Hutterite Experience of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, Sixteenth Century Journal 23, no. 1 (Spring 1992): 49–62.

5 For pioneering case studies, see Miriam Chrisman, Women and the Reformation in Strasbourg 1490–1530, Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte 63, no. 2 (1972): 143–68; Susan C. Karant-Nunn, Continuity and Change: Some Effects of the Reformation on the Women of Zwickau, Sixteenth Century Journal 12, no. 2 (1982): 17–42; Susan C. Karant-Nunn, The Transmission of Luther’s Teachings on Women and Matrimony: The Case of Zwickau, Archives for Reformation History 77 (1986): 31–46; Angelika Nowicki-Patuschka, Frauen in der Reformation: Untersuchungen zum Verhalten von Frauen in der Reichstädten Augsburg und Nürnberg zur reformatorischen Bewegung zwischen 1517 und 1537 (Pfaffenweiler, Germany: Centaurus-Verlagsgesellschaft, 1990); and Nancy Roelker, The Appeal of Calvinism to French Noblewomen in the Sixteenth Century, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 2, no. 4 (1972): 391–418.

6 See Jonathan A. Reid on the vital role of everyday women in the French reformations and possibilities with digital research tools.

7 See Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Women and the Reformations: Reflections on Recent Research, History Compass 2, no. 1 (December 2005), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-0542.00073x; and Allyson M. Poska, Jane Couchman, and Katherine A. McIver, eds., The Ashgate Research Companion to Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013). See also Tryntje Helfferich’s ongoing bibliography on Women and the Reformation, Oxford Bibliographies, last modified September 24, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780195399301-0455.

8 Stjerna, Women and the Reformation; and Kirsi Stjerna, Women and Theological Writing during the Reformation, Journal of Lutheran Ethics 16, no. 3 (March 2016), https://www.elca.org/JLE/Articles/1145. See also Paul Russell, Lay Theology in the Reformation: Popular Pamphleteers in Southwest Germany, 1521–1525 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986); and Barbara Becker-Cantarino, Der lange Weg zur Mündigkeit: Frau und Literatur 1500–1800 (Stuttgart, Germany: J. B. Metzler, 1987). For women’s sources in translation, see Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil Jr., eds., The Other Voice (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).

9 See Austra Reinis’s discussion of Margarethe von Anhalt with the Poor Clares nuns in Bohemia, abbess Katharina von Seeberg, and Katharina Freiberg, who resisted the pressures to join the reforms.

10 See Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer on the negotiations of the subprioress Anna Jacobäa Fuggerin leaving her St. Katherine’s convent in Augsburg. See Rebecca Giselbrecht on the last abbess in Zürich, Katharina von Zimmern, abdicating her office and the possessions of the Fraumünster convent.

11 See Irene Dingel on Dorothea Susanna of the Palatinate, Duchess of Sachsen-Weimar, and her strategic efforts to promote a clear (Gnesio-)Lutheran confessional identity and peaceful coexistence during the divisive inter-Lutheran disputes.

12 See Amanda C. Pipkin on the activity of the two Dutch sisters of Teellinck in support of specifically Calvinist expressions of faith. See Sharon L. Arnoult on Elizabeth Tyrwhit promoting Protestant faith in England with her prayer book, one of the first religious works published by a woman in the sixteenth century.

13 See Elsie McKee on Katharina Schütz Zell’s multidimensional work as a confessor of Protestant faith taking part in theological debates and providing materials for new communities. See Mary Jane Haemig on Elisabeth Cruciger as the first female Lutheran hymn writer.

14 See Kate Narveson on the English women’s uses of their Bibles and the place of reading and writing in their religious lives. On Argula von Grumbach, Katharina Schütz Zell, and Marie Dentière as biblical interpreters, see Peter Matheson, Elsie McKee, Mary B. McKinley, and G. Sujin Pak.

15 See Stjerna, Women and the Reformation, chaps. 1–2, on the prophets, mystics, and convent women.

16 See Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks on marriage and women in the Reformation century.

17 See Stjerna, Women and the Reformation, chaps. 3–4, on motherhood as a calling and women’s education. See also Martin H. Jung, Nonnen, Prophetinnen, Kirchenmütter: Kirchen- und frömmigkeitsgeschichtliche Studien zu Frauen der Reformationszeit (Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 2002); and Elizabeth Plummer, From Priest’s Whore to Pastor’s Wife: Clerical Marriage and the Process of Reform in the Early German Reformation (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2012).

18 On women’s education, see Stjerna, Women and the Reformation, chap. 4; Lowell Green, The Education of Women in the Reformation, History of Education Quarterly 19 (Spring 1979): 93–116; and Natalie Zemon Davis, City Women and Religious Change, in Society and Culture in Early Modern France: Eight Essays (Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press, 1975), 65–95, 72.

19 Poska, Couchman, and McIver, Ashgate Research Companion; and Merry Wiesner-Hanks, Women and Gender in Early Modern Europe, 4th ed., New Approaches to European History 41 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019).

20 See Sini Mikkola and Päivi Räisänen-Schröder on Elisabeth of Denmark (Brandenburg) and her daughter Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lünebürg taking a stand for the Lutheran faith against their husbands and enemies in their land. See Anu Lahtinen and Terhi Katajamäki on Anna Vasa, a Lutheran princess in the volatile scene of dynastic and religious tensions in the northern part of Europe.

21 See Jason E. Cohen on Anne Askew and her testimony from the examinations on her way to martyrdom. See Carole Levin on the religious life of Lady Jane Grey, the queen for nine days.

22 See Päivi Räisänen-Schröder on Anna Scharnschlager and Margarethe Endris and their correspondence witnessing their zeal for their Anabaptist faith. See Rebecca Giselbrecht on the martyred daughter of a radical Anabaptist, Margaret Hottinger.

23 See Laura Jurgens on Katharina von Bora, the most famous of reformers’ wives, who fashioned a career of her own design. See Karin J. Bohleke on Katharina von Bora’s self-representation in three portraits by Lucas Cranach.

24 See Rebecca Giselbrecht on the different roles women played in the Swiss reforms, as the first pastors’ wives, and as those leaving their convents: for example, Katharina von Zimmern, Anna Adlischwyler Bullinger, and Anna Reinhart Zwingli.

25 See Sini Mikkola and Päivi Räisänen-Schröder on Elisabeth von Braunschweig-Lünebürg. See Elsie McKee on Katharina Schütz Zell, who not only defended marriage but also theologically redefined motherhood without physical children.

26 See Jennifer Powell McNutt on Marguerite of Navarre’s vital support for the reforms in France and her rich correspondence. See Gianmarco Braghi on the most learned woman, Olimpia Morata, and her vocation as an itinerant scholar and a teacher.

27 See Carole Levin on Elizabeth I and her crucial role in the mediation of the reforms and the Book of Common Prayer in England. See Tryntje Helfferich on the Iron Princess Amalia Elisabeth of Hesse-Cassel, who fought for the individual—and legalized—rights of the Calvinist confession in the aftermath of the Peace of Augsburg.

28 See Irene Dingel on Dorothea Susanna of the Palatinate, Duchess of Sachsen-Weimar, and her Lutheran confessional identity in the context of the Formula of Concord.

29 See Raisa Maria Toivo on the Polish queen Katarina Jagiellon, who strove to eradicate Lutheranism in the north and return the Swedish crown (and Finland) to the Catholic faith.

30 See Eleonora Belligni on Italian women in the midst of intellectual networks and heresy battles. See Kirsi I. Stjerna on Margarethe Prüss, the female printer who took risks in publishing a variety of evangelical materials.

31 See Mary B. McKinley on Marie Dentière and her role in supporting Calvin’s reforms in Geneva, and reporting on them, as well as offering her own biblical interpretation via correspondence.

32 See Kate Narveson and Sharon L. Arnoult, Micheline White, Jason E. Cohen, and Carole Levin on the English women and their investment and contributions in theological writing and confession.

33 See Elsie McKee on Katharina Schütz Zell’s radical work in this regard, in defense of clergy marriage and her own.

34 See Peter Matheson on Argula von Grumbach’s valiant confessing via published letters challenging the university men. See Kelly Digby Peebles on Calvin’s associate Duchess Renée of France and her courage in defending the evangelicals and persecuted in both Italy and France.

35 See Kathleen M. Llewellyn on the multifaceted actions of Jeanne d’Albret, daughter of Marguerite of Navarre and mother of Henry IV, for the sake of the Huguenots, reforms, and religious tolerance in France.

36 See Esther Chung-Kim on women in different parts of Europe serving as midwives, eradicating suffering, and providing shelter.

37 See Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen on the content, impact, and critique of Pauline theological anthropology extrapolated with Luther’s theology.

38 See Eleonora Belligni, Karin J. Bohleke, Gianmarco Braghi, Rebecca Giselbrecht, Esther Chung-Kim, Kate Narveson, G. Sujin Pak, Else Marie Wiberg Pedersen, Jonathan A. Reid, Austra Reinis, Raisa Maria Toivo, and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks for the thematic chapters in this volume.

39 See Karin J. Bohleke’s analysis of Katharina von Bora’s clothing and the information that her portraits reveal not only about her but also about women’s place in the global economy.

I

Women Theologians and the Printed Word

Katharina Schütz Zell (ca. 1498–1562)

Passionate Church Mother

Elsie McKee

Katharina Schütz Zell (ca. 1498–September 5, 1562) was one of the most articulate and prolific laywomen of the first half of the sixteenth-century European Reformation.¹ Her life and work span three generations of significant developments in a major center of late medieval reform and the early Protestant movement and offer a vivid portrait of a woman of passionate conviction and remarkable public activity. She produced an unusually diverse and extensive corpus of writings. These make it possible to trace what an ordinary woman—that is, someone not from an aristocratic or humanist family or monastic order—thought and did in a period of great religious and cultural upheaval.

Katharina Schütz’s birth and context provided some important tools for her historical role. As the daughter of a comfortably established artisan citizen of the free imperial city of Strasbourg, she had several advantages. One was a good vernacular education; although she never learned Latin, she read and wrote German fluently and was evidently a lifelong reader. The young Katharina also grew up in a community that valued religious knowledge and practice. She began studying the Bible as a girl, and almost certainly heard the famous preacher Geiler von Kaysersberg from his pulpit in the cathedral. She objected to the tepid character of the aristocratic female convents in the city but held firmly to the desire to dedicate herself wholly to God, taking a private vow of celibacy and spending much time in devotional activities with women friends. As a city woman, Katharina Schütz understood the place that Strasbourg held among its neighboring powers. She may not have fully appreciated the eminence of its humanist intellectual circles, but the fact of living in an important center of printing and reforming discourse did contribute to her own opportunities to learn and communicate.

The specifics of Katharina Schütz’s early piety are known mostly from her later writings, but there is