marginalized in late medieval Europe. In particular, she has studied the way that spirituality, especially heresy and prophecy, have been used to express critiques of the status quo. She has published widely on prophecy and prophetic women in the Middle Ages, addressing the topics of prophecy, gender, and authority.
Kneupper applied the "Page 99 Test" to her latest book, Prophecy and the Battle for Spiritual Authority, 1360–1400: Outsiders, Women, and Reformers, with the following results:
Page 99 discusses the renowned fourteenth century holy woman Catherine of Siena’s purported ability to know the future. Specifically, page 99 focuses on the assertions of Catherine’s most enthusiastic promotor, Raymond of Capua, who claimed to have witnessed Catherine’s successful prophecies. Raymond wrote about Catherine, “She possessed the gift of prophecy in so perfect of measure that, … as far as we could see, nothing was hidden from her…” This page occurs in a chapter which examines claims of prophecy made by and on behalf of holy women in the later fourteenth century. I argue that as holy women like Catherine became more involved in public, political life, they also increasingly used the gift of prophecy to legitimize their activism and political interventions. Prophecy became an entry point for women who did not have access to conventional authority to nevertheless exert unprecedented influence and power.Learn more about Prophecy and the Battle for Spiritual Authority, 1360–1400 at the Oxford University Press website.
This page successfully reflects the overall enterprise of my book, which considers the crisis of authority in the late fourteenth century and the consequent debate over the gift of prophecy. As conventional authorities became mired in contention, new types of people, previously marginalized, began to speak on behalf of God. Among these, laywomen such as Catherine of Siena (and other lesser-known women) forged careers as activists and reformers. Although they encountered resistance, the new “prophets” were remarkably successful at commanding authority and moving the levers of power.
From a wider view, my book uses cases such as Catherine’s to demonstrate that the enigmatic gift of prophecy was utilized by non-elites and their supporters to successfully challenge the status quo and change the rules about who could speak on behalf of God. This book offers a detailed picture of the debates that existed in the Late Middle Ages, while also exploring matters of truth, gender, and authority that continue to impact balances of power today.
Who can know the will of God? Who has the authority to speak on His behalf? These questions have sparked debate from the earliest days of Christianity to the present moment. The questions were especially contentious in the late fourteenth century, when individuals who had previously been barred from positions of authority now used the gift of prophecy to influence politics and society. This is the heart of my book – studying the controversies that erupted as various previously excluded individuals professed to know divine will. One especially remarkable discovery is the successful argument made by both women and men that God had turned His back on clerics and now offered His divine wisdom exclusively to women, who, because of their humility and perceived lower status, had replaced men as the spiritually chosen.
--Marshal Zeringue
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