Towards a Definition of the Feminine Prophetic Sermon: Liturgy and Visionary Exegesis in the Works of Elisabeth von Schönau (1129-1164/1165) and Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534)

Abstract

In this article I conduct a comparative analysis between some of the sermons of the Libro del conorte, which textualizes part of the ecstatic preaching of the Franciscan abbess Juana de la Cruz (1481-1534), and some of the public or semi-public revelations of Elisabeth von Schönau (1129-1164/1165). Despite the years separating their work, I study in depth a series of characteristics shared by both visionaries: prophetism as one of the two possibilities of medieval female preaching, liturgy as the cause and collective setting of revelation and, finally, vision as a form of biblical exegesis. This allows me to define a chronological and theoretical frame of reference that will permit the study of female preaching as a European tradition in the near future.