Women who have triggered unexpected shocks and upset the balance of their eras have paid dearly for their behaviour. Many of them – prophetesses, preachers, theologians, visionaries – were considered heretics, enemies of the faith; and for this reason they were condemned and persecuted. Although the phenomenon of heresy has been studied extensively in recent years as regards its male protagonists, limited attention has been paid to women’s challenging, alternative experiences. To restore the original value of choice underlying the concept of heresy, the author retraces two millennia of history and describes the lives of noteworthy personalities, including Maximilla and Prisca (advocates of Montanism), Marguerite Porete, Joan of Arc, Marta Fiascaris and Maria Antonia Colle , as well as the women who participated in the Anti-Council in Naples in the 19th century or the Modernist movement. They were all determined to understand, teach, fight, preach and worship in the name of a new, inclusive and borderless Church.

Adriana Valerio formerly taught History of Christianity and Churches at the Federico II University in Naples and currently heads “The Bible and Women”, an international and interdenominational project.