Early Modern Women and Religious Innovation
The Advent of the European Enlightenment
Will be published approx. on 17. September 2026
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-1-350-51056-2 (ISBN)
Description
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.
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.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-51056-2 (9781350510562)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Katherine O'Donnell | Francesco Quatrini
Early Modern Women and Religious Innovation
The Advent of the European Enlightenment
E-Book
approx. 08/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€93.99
Available for download
Katherine O'Donnell | Francesco Quatrini
Early Modern Women and Religious Innovation
The Advent of the European Enlightenment
E-Book
approx. 08/2026
Bloomsbury Academic
€94.49
Available for download
Persons
Katherine O'Donnell is Professor of the History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Francesco Quatrini is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow the School of Philosophy at UniversityCollegeDublin, Ireland.
Francesco Quatrini is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow the School of Philosophy at UniversityCollegeDublin, Ireland.
Content
Introduction, Katherine O'Donnell (Professor of the History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland) and Francesco Quatrini (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland)
Part I: Women as Religious Innovators
1. Divine Maternity and Mysticism in Seventeenth-Century British Radical Religion, Sarah Apetrei (Director of Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Oxford University)
2. Early Quaker Women's Theology and Practice: Gender, Equality, Freedom and the Inward Light, Hilary Hinds (Professor of Literary Culture in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, UK)
3. Hutchinson on Sex, Lucretius, and Original Sin, Enrico Piergiacomi (Assistant Professor in history of philosophy, Israel Institute of Technology)
4. Psychological Blackness in the Visions of Jane Leade, William Miller (Assistant Professor of English, University of Rochester, USA)
Part II: Female Leadership in Religious Communities Over and Against Men
5. Reform and Resistance in the 1540s: How the Diest Beguines Tried to Get Rid of Their Priest, Sarah Moran (Associate Professor of Art History, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
6. Beyond the Literature: New Elements in the Diodata Malvasia's Case. Year 1606, Catholic Nuns after Tridentine Council, Isabel Danielle Harvey (Professor of Early Modern Italian History, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Canada)
7. The Port-Royal Nuns' "relations de captivite": Subversive Feminine Writings in Louis XIV's France, Giada Silenzi (PhD candidate, Linguistic and Literary Sciences at the University of Udine)
8. Women, Freedom, and the Counterpublics: Female Opposition to the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic (c.1650-1700), Francesco Quatrini (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland)
Part III: Early Enlightenment Women Between Religion and Politics
9. A "bright spirit of the age" or a "boring old maid?" Marie de Gournay and Her Critics, 1594-1645, Dominique Rigby (PhD candidate, Intellectual History and the History of Political Thought, University of Cambridge, UK)
10. Navigating Melancholy: How Three English Women Defended Religious Dissent (1660-1700), Finola Finn (Postdoctoral Researcher, Leibniz University, Germany
11. Intellectual Pursuits and Piety: Barrier-breaking Women in the Radical Enlightenment of the Dutch Republic, Hannah Laurens (Lecturer, Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK)
12. The Motif of the "domineering woman" in Dutch prints (1566-1700) Emmanouela Kyriakopoulou (PhD candidate in Art History, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece)
Conclusion, Katherine O'Donnell (Professor of the History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland) and Francesco Quatrini (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland)
Index
Part I: Women as Religious Innovators
1. Divine Maternity and Mysticism in Seventeenth-Century British Radical Religion, Sarah Apetrei (Director of Graduate Studies for the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Oxford University)
2. Early Quaker Women's Theology and Practice: Gender, Equality, Freedom and the Inward Light, Hilary Hinds (Professor of Literary Culture in the Department of English Literature and Creative Writing at Lancaster University, UK)
3. Hutchinson on Sex, Lucretius, and Original Sin, Enrico Piergiacomi (Assistant Professor in history of philosophy, Israel Institute of Technology)
4. Psychological Blackness in the Visions of Jane Leade, William Miller (Assistant Professor of English, University of Rochester, USA)
Part II: Female Leadership in Religious Communities Over and Against Men
5. Reform and Resistance in the 1540s: How the Diest Beguines Tried to Get Rid of Their Priest, Sarah Moran (Associate Professor of Art History, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
6. Beyond the Literature: New Elements in the Diodata Malvasia's Case. Year 1606, Catholic Nuns after Tridentine Council, Isabel Danielle Harvey (Professor of Early Modern Italian History, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Canada)
7. The Port-Royal Nuns' "relations de captivite": Subversive Feminine Writings in Louis XIV's France, Giada Silenzi (PhD candidate, Linguistic and Literary Sciences at the University of Udine)
8. Women, Freedom, and the Counterpublics: Female Opposition to the Reformed Church in the Dutch Republic (c.1650-1700), Francesco Quatrini (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland)
Part III: Early Enlightenment Women Between Religion and Politics
9. A "bright spirit of the age" or a "boring old maid?" Marie de Gournay and Her Critics, 1594-1645, Dominique Rigby (PhD candidate, Intellectual History and the History of Political Thought, University of Cambridge, UK)
10. Navigating Melancholy: How Three English Women Defended Religious Dissent (1660-1700), Finola Finn (Postdoctoral Researcher, Leibniz University, Germany
11. Intellectual Pursuits and Piety: Barrier-breaking Women in the Radical Enlightenment of the Dutch Republic, Hannah Laurens (Lecturer, Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK)
12. The Motif of the "domineering woman" in Dutch prints (1566-1700) Emmanouela Kyriakopoulou (PhD candidate in Art History, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece)
Conclusion, Katherine O'Donnell (Professor of the History of Ideas, UCD School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland) and Francesco Quatrini (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Philosophy, University College Dublin, Ireland)
Index