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[German Version] (Jeanne-Françoise Frémyot de) (Jan 23, 1572, Dijon – Dec 13, 1641, Moulins). Canonized in 1767. Chantal, a devout Catholic, deliberately remained a widow after the death of her husband Christophe de Rabutin, Baron de Chantal, seeking an explicit form of religious life. Francis de Sales became her spiritual director. In 1610, she founded ¶ the “Ordo de Visitatione Beatae Mariae Virginis” (Salesian Sisters) in Francis's episcopal see Annecy; the order flourished rapidly under her leadership. Except for her extensiv…

[German Version] (1615, Paris – Apr 15, 1695, Quimperlé, Département Finistère, France). Lancelot was one of the men who settled as solitaries near the Parisian Cistercian Abbey of Port-Royal. The group, known as the Messieurs de Port-Royal, included prominent members of the Arnauld family; they were supporters of Jansenism and published works on theology, philosophy, and education. They also devoted themselves to practical instruction in schools they operated. It was in this context that Lancelot…

[German Version] (Jan 13, 1616, Ryssel, Lille – Oct 30, 1680, Franeker) was born a Catholic. She moved to Amsterdam in 1667 and had contact with Mennonites, Quakers, Labadists (J. de Labadie) and isolated figures such as J.A. Comenius and C. Hoburg. Between 1671 and 1676, she attempted from Schleswig-Holstein to set up a communi…

[German Version] (1650, Bremen – May 31, 1680, Bremen). Neander began his studies of Reformation theology in Bremen. In worship led by T. Undereyck he came into contact with Pietistic ideas (Pietism). In 1671, he accompanied the sons of a merchant family to their studies in Heidelberg as tutor. It is very probable that he made contact with Lutheran Pietists in Frankfurt. In 1674, Neander obtained his first post through the Reformed congregation in Düsseldorf, where he became rector of the Latin sc…

[German Version] (baroness; née von Friesen; Oct 6, 1648, Sulzbach – Mar 6, 1726, Grosshennersdorf). Gersdorf received a thorough education and was considered a scholar. In 1672 she married Nikolaus von Gersdorf (1629–1702), who ended his career as head of the privy council of Electoral Saxony and governor of Upper Lusatia. She gave birth to 13 children and assumed the responsibilty for the upbringing of her grandson N. von Zinzendorf. She strongly supported the pietistic goals of P.J. Spener and …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Traditionally research on religion has rarely dealt with women. Exceptions include Moriz Winternitz ( Die Frau in den indischen Religionen, 1915–1916) and F. Heiler ( Die Frau in den Religionen der Menschheit, 1977). In the 1970s, gender studies introduced a broad paradigm shift, which also affected religious studies. The principle that has guided this change from the traditional approach is that homo religiosus is not coincident with vir religiosus but equally has to include femina religiosa. The various questions can be assigned to th…

[English Version] Neander, Joachim (1650 Bremen – 31.5.1680 ebd.). In Bremen begann N. das Studium der ref. Theol. In Gottesdiensten Th. Undereycks kam er in Berührung mit pietistischem Ideengut (Pietismus). 1671 begleitete er als Informator Söhne einer Kaufmannsfamilie zum Studium nach Heidelberg. Mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit nahm er Kontakte zu den luth. Pietisten in Frankfurt auf. Seine erste Anstellung erhielt N. 1674 durch die ref. Gemeinde in Düsseldorf, wo er als Rektor die Lateinschule lei…