Poppaea Sabina
Poppaea Sabina (30-65 CE) was the wife of Praetorian prefect Rufrius Crispinius and then Marcus Salvius Otho (r. 69 CE) before she became the second wife of Roman emperor Nero (r. 54-68 CE).
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Anna Reinhart
Anna Reinhart was a young woman of Zürich known for her exceptional beauty who secretly married one John von Knonau in 1504 after his father forbade their relationship.
Syncletica of Alexandria
Amma Syncletica of Alexandria (l. c. 270 to c. 350) is one of the best-known Desert Mothers and an early founder of the monastic tradition.
Macrina the Younger
Macrina the Younger (l. c. 330-379) was a Christian ascetic whose devotion to God inspired the work and life of her far more famous younger brothers, Saint Basil the Great (l. c. 329-379) and Saint Gregory of Nyssa (l. c. 335 to c. 395).
Cwenthryth of Mercia
Cwenthryth of Mercia (9th century CE) was the daughter of King Coenwulf (r. 796-821 CE). Little is known of her actual life but she later became infamous in the 12th century CE through the legend of St. Kenelm as the scheming sister who arranges her brother Kenelm’s death.
Katharina von Bora
Katharina von Bora (l. 1499-1552) was a former nun who married Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546) in 1525. She, along with some fellow nuns, escaped their convent with Luther’s help in 1523 in response to his reform movement. Katharina is recognized as the stabilizing force in Luther’s life, enabling his later works.
Katharina Zell
Katharina Zell (1497-1562) was a reformer, theologian, and prolific writer in Strasbourg who helped establish the basic tenets of the Protestant Reformation without advancing sectarian interpretations. She is regarded as the first ecumenical reformer as she accepted and ministered to people of different sects without judgment.
Marie Dentière
Marie Dentière (l. c. 1495-1561) was a French theologian, writer, and street preacher who advanced the cause of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva, Switzerland. Her written works were controversial primarily because she was a woman and were suppressed during her life and largely ignored until the 19th century.
Olympia Fulvia Morata
Olympia Fulvia Morata was a 1500s Italian scholar, poet, and writer who sought to advance the Protestant Reformation in Italy.
Egeria
Egeria (also known as Etheria, l. c. 380s) was a Christian traveler and writer known only from her work Itinerarium. Based on the text, she was a woman of the upper class who went on pilgrimage to significant sites mentioned in the Bible. She traveled through the regions of modern-day Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and back to the region of Anatolia.