ABSTRACT
During the century from ca. 1350 to 1450, a number of women visionaries arose in Italy and France. Those were the crisis years of the church, ranging from the Avignon papacy, the Great Schism, and the conciliar movement. These women - Birgitta of Sweden, Catherine of Siena, Marie Robine and Constance de Rabastens of Southern France, Ursulina of Parma, and Francesca of Rome - formed a hitherto unknown phenomenon of female political prophecy. They addressed emperors and popes in God’s name, demanding peace and reform. Despite the unease this phenomenon evoked among theologians, the women visionaries were largely tolerated by their surroundings, often achieving the status of living saints.
