Begeisterte Mägde

.

[Enthusiastic Maids. Dreams, Visions ans Revelations of Women in Early Pietism]
In the environment of the pietistic movement in the 1690s there were more and more reports of women who received revelations and visions or had ecstatic experiences. The term "Enthusiastic maids" initially referred to ecstatic women of the status of domestic servants in Quedlinburg, Halberstadt and Erfurt, whose statements were recorded and published by men. In the same period, educated women like Johanna Eleonora Petersen and Rosamunde Juliane from the Asseburg were also known for their prophetic promises and reports on visionary experiences. The phenomena and their acceptance among numerous Pietists must be seen in the context of their expectation of the return of Christ and the Millennium on earth - time of salvation according to Joel 2:28 (3,1) - at the beginning of the new century.
In this volume some of the received prophetic and visionary statements as well as excerpts from the learned debates on the phenomenon of the enthusiastic women are presented.