Introduction

This chapter introduces the premise of the volume, discussing first how women with limited access to literacy saw changes in the fifteenth century that allowed them to engage more fully with cultural discourse and share their own thoughts. It then discusses how, within a context of biblical ubiquity, Humanism and the European Reformation deeply influenced interpretation of the Bible (including in the Catholic world), moving exegesis from the medieval allegorical approach to the early modern philological approach, and then to an attitude of historical interpretation, greatly influencing women’s biblical reading and writing. Meanwhile, the chapter offers the first evidence of the importance of Italian women’s contribution to promoting female self-awareness and agency in the early modern age, much earlier than in other cultures, a result of women’s familiarity with the Bible which grew with the spread of lay participation in religious organizations promoted by mendicant orders and confraternities.