Early modern women and religious innovation edited by Katherine O'Donnell and Francesco Quatrini

Format:

Book

Contributor:

O'Donnell, Katherine, 1966- editor.

Quatrini, Francesco, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women--Religious life--Europe.

Women.

Women--Europe--Social conditions.

Women--Europe--Intellectual life.

Women--History--Modern period, 1600-.

Women--Religious life.

Women--Social conditions.

Women--Intellectual life.

Women--Modern period.

Europe.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York Bloomsbury Academic 2026

Summary:

"An innovative and groundbreaking study into women’s contribution to the development of religious, metaphysical, and political concepts in early modern Europe. By examining the engagement of women in both the daily practice of religion, and theological and political discussions following the Reformation, this collection expands our understanding of women’s position in post-Reformation churches and their participation in theological debates. What role did women play in these congregations and what social interactions did they have with each other and their male fellows? What literary genres did they choose to convey new ideas and new approaches to religion and society? Did religious authorities use universal strategies when dealing with religious dissent, or was there a gendered bias towards dissenting women? A team of scholars from philosophy, early modern studies, intellectual history and theology address these questions and more, providing a multidisciplinary exploration of women’s active participation in religious communities. Focusing on their contribution to foundational Enlightenment concepts, they shed light on the development of democracy, egalitarianism, freedom of conscience and of expression, and tolerant co-existence. Covering countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, France, and Italy between 1500 and 1700, this is a much-needed comparative overview. We see how a different approach to the history of European women and their religious engagement can challenge the accepted view of an avowedly secular Enlightenment"-- Bloomsbury Collections

Contents:

Early modern women and religious innovation : the advent of the European enlightenment / Katherine O’Donnell and Francesco Quatrini

Reform and resistance in the 1540s, or how the Diest beguines tried to get rid of their priest / Sarah Moran

The Dominican nuns of San Mattia of Bologna facing Rome. Year 1606 / Isabel Harvey

Port-Royal nuns’ resistance in seventeenth-century France : the confession of Sister Gertrude Dupré / Giada Silenzi

Maternal mysticism and radical Protestantism in seventeenth-century England / Sarah Apetrei

Early Quaker women’s theology and practice : gender, freedom, equality and the inward light / Hilary Hinds

In the name of freedom : female opposition to the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic (c. 1650-1700) / Francesco Quatrini

Theological blackness in the visions of Jane Lead / William Cook Miller

Nec contra rationem, nec supra rationem : Du Châtelet’s critical approach to faith and to reading the Bible / Christian Henkel

The motif of the ‘domineering woman’ in Dutch prints (1566-1700) / Emmanouela Kyriakopoulou

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from home page (Bloomsbury Collections, viewed July 15, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version Early modern women and religious innovation

ISBN:

9781350510586

1350510580

9781350510593

1350510599

9781350510579

1350510572

OCLC:

1592687380

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license