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ABSTRACT
This article examines the radical Protestant movements in England, the Holy Roman Empire, and the twin kingdom of Denmark and Norway from the turbulent 1690s to the 1760s. It argues that, in contrast to the intellectual environments of radical Enlightenment, it was easier for women to assert themselves within radical Protestant movements, such as the Quakers, the Philadelphians, and the radical Pietist and Moravian communities. Within these radical movements, it was possible for women to create a space in which they could express themselves as prophets. Among these groups were some women who achieved quite prominent positions, such as Jane Lead in London, Johanna Eleonora Petersen in Magdeburg, and Marie Wulf in Copenhagen. Furthermore, the article discusses how these movements created new religious discourses that challenged traditional gender boundaries and social hierarchies. Some radical Protestants emphasized that there were feminine attributes of Christianity, whereas others allegedly prophesied that in the future millennium, women would achieve a special status as the mothers of Jesus and as co-regents. Prophecies constituted a shared transnational discourse within radical Protestantism through which traditional gender roles were negotiated and could sometimes even be revoked.
Notes on contributor
Juliane Engelhardt is a historian of northern Europe between 1650 and 1850. The focus of her work lies in social structures, ideas, collective mentalities, discourses, and practices rather than on individuals or historical events. She received her PhD from the University of Copenhagen in 2005, where she has taught as an associate professor since 2013. Previous research visits have included Cambridge, Göttingen, and Halle. Between January 2020 and March 2021, she held a research scholarship at The Free University in Berlin, granted by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Notes
1 The modern meaning of “radical,” denoting something extreme, is relatively new. In the seventeenth century, and most of the eighteenth, the adjective “radical” meant to be at the root of something, or something essential: see “radical, adj. and n,” OED Online, Accessed 7 December 2020, https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/157251?rskey=6hEzEc&result=1&isAdvanced=false
2 Israel, Radical Enlightenment, 82–96. The quote is from Israel, Enlightenment Contested, 82. For discussions of Israel’s conclusions on women, see Pečar and Tricoire, Falsche Freunde, 153–72.
3 Mulsow, Radikale Frühaufklärung, 19–20.
4 Ibid., especially chaps. XIV and XV.
5 Apetrei, Women, Feminism and Religion, 156–8.
6 Coleman, “Resacralizing the World”; Bradley and Van Kley, Religion and Politics in Enlightenment Europe; Haakonssen, Enlightenment and Religion; Sheehan, “Enlightenment, Religion and the Enigma of Secularization”; Sorkin, The Religious Enlightenment.
7 Sheehan, The Enlightenment Bible, 73–85.
8 Gleixner, “Pietism and Gender”; Gleixner, Pietismus und Bürgertum.
9 Martin, “Female Reformers as Gatekeepers.”
10 Bacon, Mothers of Feminism.
11 Bouldin, Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism, 16.
12 Lee, “Divine Madness”; Lehmann and Trepp, Im Zeichen der Krise, 9–15.
13 Jakubowski-Tiessen, “Manfred, Ein alte Welt.”
14 Bouldin, Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism, 17–50.
15 Breul et al., Der radikale Pietismus; Schneider, Gesammelte Aufsätze I; Shantz, An Introduction to German Pietism, 147–78; Gleixner, “Millenarian Practices and the Pietist Empire.”
16 Quoted from Shantz, An Introduction to German Pietism, 79. See also Albrecht-Birkner, Pietismus, 288.
17 1 Cor. 14:34-35 (NRSV):
Women should be silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as the law also says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
18 The complete reference in Joel 2: 28 is: “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions” (my emphasis).
19 See Sarah Apetrei’s thorough presentation of Marsin’s work in Women, Feminism and Religion, 179–87.
20 Marsin, The Womens Advocate, 4.
21 Marsin, Good News, 3; Marsin, The Womens Advocate, 2.
22 Marsin, The Womens Advocate, 4–5.
23 Marsin, Good News, 13–14.
24 Ibid.
25 Sheehan, The Enlightenment Bible.
26 Marsin, Two Remarkable Females; Apetrei, Women, Feminism and Religion, 181–4.
27 Hessayon, “Lead’s Life and Times,” 71–90.
28 Lead, A Fountain of Gardens.
29 Ibid., 11. According to Hirst, Lead wrote at least fifteen books and treatises. Hirst, “Mother of Love,” 162.
30 Lead, A Fountain of Gardens, 18.
31 Ibid., 69–76.
32 Apetrei, Women, Feminism and Religion, 196.
33 Salvadori, “The Restitution,” 147.
34 Ibid., 156–7; Hirst, “Mother of Love,” 161–87.
35 Hessayon, “Lead’s Life and Times,” 71–90.
36 Whitrove, To Mary, 14.
37 Ibid., 11.
38 Apetrei, Women, Feminism and Religion, 272–85.
39 McDowell, “Enlightenment Enthusiasms,” 519.
40 This exact date was predicted by the independent minister Thomas Beverley (d. 1702), and his prediction was, at least to a certain extent, supported by the Philadelphian Society: cf. Hessayon, “Lead’s Life and Times,” 76–8.
41 Albrecht-Birkner et al., Pietismus, 135–8.
42 Martin, “Female Reformers,” 33–57.
43 Petersen, Life of Lady Johanna Eleonora Petersen, esp. 61 (§1), 70 (§14), 81 (§26).
44 Ibid., 79–80 (§24).
45 Ulrike Gleixner, “Pietism and Gender,” 441–5.
46 Bouldin, Women Prophets and Radical Protestantism, 147.
47 Witt, Bekehrung, Bildung und Biographie, 21–38; Wustmann, Die “begeisterten Mägde.”
48 G. Arnold, “Die Geistliche Gestalt,” 306–8.
49 Fogleman, “Jesus ist Weiblich,” 167–94.
50 Ibid., 173; Peucker, A Time of Sifting, 109.
51 Peucker, A Time of Sifting, 1.
52 The ceremonies and their context are excellently explained in Peucker, A Time of Sifting, 104–22.
53 Fogleman, “Jesus ist Weiblich,” 192.
54 Peucker, A Time of Sifting, 7, 149–53.
55 Martin, “Female Reformers,” 34.
56 Jersin, Om Miracler. According to Dinnyssøn, there were women prophets in the Danish towns of Korsør, Viborg, and Aarhus; Beyer, Lay Prophets in Lutheran Europe, esp. 221–4.
57 Andersson, “Female Writing,” 21; Laasonen, “Chiliastische Strömungen.”
58 The manuscript collection at the Royal Library in Copenhagen (henceforth MCRLC), Kirkehistorie under Frederik IV og Chr. VI. Kall. 477. Hans Niemand’s testimony is dated 12 March 1734.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 MCRLC, Kall 477, 4 0 Kirkehistorie under Frederik IV og Christian VI., hæfte 1; Rørdam, “Madame Maria Wulfs,” 439.
62 Quoted from MCRLC, Ledreborg 398, 20 Religionssager i København 1733–1734.
63 MCRLC, Sagen mod Enevold Ewald 1734. Værk id: Ledreborg 417:
We will receive something else in us, a different nature […] we will not only become brothers or sisters of Christ, but even the mother of Jesus. As you were in the righteous state […], you will conceive and give birth to Christ.
64 MCRLC, Sagen mod Enevold Ewald 1734. Værk id: Ledreborg 417.
65 Berg, Denne sidste Verdens Tids Speil: Berg, En lys Sandheds Brille.
66 Sørensen, Zionisterne, 17.
67 Report written by Bishop Peder Hersleb, Uforgribelig Betænkning om Separatisterne og i sær om deres opførsel i Bragenæs. The Danish National Archives, Copenhagen, 236. Generalkirkeinspektionskollegiet, Diverse sager 1714–1763. Box F4-18-1. The report is dated 5 August 1743.
68 Sørensen, Zionisterne, 204.
69 Holberg, “Betænkning om Conventicler.” On the conflict between radical and moderate Pietists and traditional Lutherans, see Engelhardt, “Pietismus und Krise,” 341–69.