From Living Saints to Divine Mothers

This book offers a vivid account of women’s religiosity in Italy between 1400 and 1550, a crucial period of spiritual ferment and ecclesiastical change. Rather than focusing solely on institutions, this book brings to light the many ways in which women sought religious authority, pursued holiness, and contributed to broader hopes for renewal within the Church.

It examines the relationship between prophetic and political power in Italian Renaissance courts. Starting from an examination of the “living saints”, charismatic figures venerated by the people for their abstinence and by princes for their prophetic virtues, it considers figures including Elena Duglioli, Margherita da Russi, and Gentile da Ravenna who were perceived as “divine mothers”. It emphasizes women’s active role in spiritual and cultural circles focused on Scriptural study and Church reform, often guided by charismatic figures considered saints. The case of the “divine mother” Paola Antonia Negri is not discussed here, since it has already been examined by others, but the intense anger she faced from ecclesiastical and civil authorities exemplifies the change that took place in Italian religious life in the mid-sixteenth century. "Living saints" and "divine mothers" became suspect, and the Council of Trent promoted a new model of holiness and initiated a process of disciplining cults. The volume also paves the way for a European comparative approach, building on the work of Spanish scholars and an initial transalpine perspective proposed by Alessandra Bartolomei Romagnoli.

Clear, engaging, and richly documented, this volume will appeal to scholars and students of early modern history, religious studies, women’s and gender studies, and Italian cultural history, as well as to readers interested in the long history of women’s religious agency.

Gabriella Zarri is an Italian historian and one of the leading scholars of early modern religious culture and female sanctity. She was formerly Professor of Modern History at the University of Florence. Her research explores women’s religious experience, monastic life, devotional practices, and the cultural construction of sainthood between the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. Since 2012 she has been the editor of the journal Archivio italiano per la storia della pietà. Among her best-known works are Le sante vive. Cultura e religiosità femminile nella prima età moderna and Recinti. Donne, clausura e matrimonio nella prima età moderna.