Too often, textbooks focus exclusively on the men of the Reformation (Luther, Calvin, Cranmer, and others) and do not look at the faithful women who served among, along with, and with the Reformers.
These women devoted themselves to the gospel of Jesus Christ, some to martyrdom. Many of these women had a good education, especially given the level of their time. They read books of theology, especially the Bible, and everything reformers could find. His circles of friends were part of long and frequent Bible studies. They were mostly wives and mothers. Some were also authors, apologists, former nuns and queens. They were all faithful servants of Jesus.
- Katherine von Bora was a former nun who married Martin Luther.
- They had been married for 21 years and had six children.
- Did his quick language.
- Humor.
- And stubbornness match Martinho’s? Is nothing.
- She ran her house (often full of students).
- Had a large garden and livestock.
- Fished and cultivated.
- And ran a brewery.
- He also managed their money and cared for their extended families.
- Martin called her “My Lady Katie.
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Katharina Schutz Zell was married to Matthew Zell of Strasbourg and ministered in partnership with her husband. She developed the Ministry of Women and published a psalm book for women to sing. She played a prominent role in organizing aid for 150 men exiled from her. city for his faith and wrote biblical encouragement for the women and children left behind. During the peasant war, he organized Strasbourg to accommodate 3,000 refugees over a six-month period.
Ursula von Munsterberg (1491?1534) was the granddaughter of King George Podiebrad of Bohemia. Ursula was a nun in a convent in Freiberg, Saxony. She led an effort to bring a chaplain to the convent that knew Luther and smuggled Luther’s books. for this reason, she was forced to flee her convent in 1529, after which she stayed with Luther’s family.
Argula von Grumbach was a Bavarian nobleman who vigorously challenged the University of Ingolstadt’s ability to discuss his reformed views. His letters circulated widely.
Anna Rhegius was born in Augsburg in 1505 and had a good education, which included the study of Hebrew, which allowed her to discuss biblical writings in depth.
Elisabeth von Braunschweig married at the age of 15. After being married for 10 years, her mother Elisabeth visited her and invited a Lutheran pastor to preach. Within a year, Elisabeth converted and decided to raise her son as a Lutheran. After her husband’s death, she wrote a book in an attempt to comfort widows by helping them overcome the grieving process.
Elisabeth Cruciger was from Pomeranian and spent time at treptow Convent in Rega. He left the convent in 1522 or 1523 and married Caspar Cruciger in 1524, an event that marked the first official Protestant marriage. A friend of Catherine Luther’s, Elisabeth participated in theology discussions in “table conversations”. Luther and Philip Melanchthon, who considered her a brilliant woman. She wrote the first Protestant hymn in 1524, which generated controversy as women were generally not composers at the time.
Joan of Albret, queen of Navarre and influential leader of the Huguenot movement in France, invited reformed preachers to speak in her country and publicly declared her adherence to Calvinism in 1560, however, she clarified that she followed “Beza, Calvin and others only to the extent that they followed the scriptures. “He tried to bridge the gap between Catholics and Protestants and tried to bring peace when the wars began. In fact, as a Protestant, he allowed Mass to continue in his land, refusing to punish Catholics who did not convert to Protestantism.
Ursula Jost was an influential Anabaptist woman from Strasbourg who wrote a book about her prophetic visions of God’s impending judgment of the inhabitants of her city.
Bure’s Idelette was a widow and mother of three when she married Jean Calvin. One of her children died in infancy and she had an abortion in the other. In the process, Calvin, who spoke little about his married life, was deeply moved. Their relationship deeply softens his heart.
Marie Dentière (c. 1495-1561), of Flemish origin from a less noble family, was part of an Augustinian monastery in Tournai, which she later abandoned after embracing the teachings of the Reformers, a crime against Church and State. She fled to Strasbourg and married Simon Robert, who had been a priest, at Tournai, becoming his assistant to spread the reform east of Geneva. After the death of her husband, she married Antione Froment, a disciple of the reformer William Farel. wrote an anonymous pamphlet to convince Genevans of God’s intentions for their city. He also spoke in public taverns and around the corner. It was a success when Geneva became a Protestant republic. He also wrote a book that tells the story of the Reformation in Geneva.
Jane Gray wrote letters to reformer Heinrich Bullinger at the age of 14. As queen, Jane fought hard to convert her to Rome at the age of 16. She resisted these efforts with theological reasoning and biblical teaching against a theology teacher twice as much as her. Years.
Catherine Willoughby became Duchess of Suffolk in 1533 and was friends with Jane Gray, who protected preacher-bishop Hugh Latimer, a victim of persecution, until things became so unbearable to her that, to save her life, she fled to Holland with her baby. She was forced into exile as an advocate of the Reformation.
Olimpia Fulvia Morata was an Italian academic born in Ferrera as the eldest daughter of a humanist researcher who, after being forced to flee her village in northern Italy, gave lectures on the teachings of Calvin and Luther. Olympia flourished in his studies, particularly in Latin and Greek, on an impeccable scholarship. She wrote dialogues in Latin, poems in Greek and letters for both academics (in Latin) and less educated women (in Italian). In his “Dialogue between Theophile and Philotimate,” he encouraged those who feared that their enormous sins would hinder their path to God:
You are not afraid? No sinner’s odor can be so fragrant that its strength cannot be broken and weakened by the sweetest smell that comes from the death of Christ, which only God can perfume. Therefore, seek Christ.
All these women wanted to see the triumph of the Reformation and the good news of the Gospel to overcome oppositions, both inside and outside the Church, served with patience, courage, and perseverance, not only were they observers of the Reformation, but also participants. In addition, each of them was used powerfully by God to maintain the integrity of his church and to redeem fallen humanity.
Great women of the reform
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The wives of the reformers are a very interesting subject of study, they received the greatness of their husbands and returned the favor transmitting delicacy, kindness and beauty to their lives and ministries. What would Luther have been without his Kathe?De Zwinglio, without Anna, your inseparable companion?The women of the Reformed Church have been an important part of their history, just as Deborah and Ester, along with the Marys of the New Testament, helped build biblical history, the women of the Reformation. helped make his story even more glorious.