Hildegard of Bingen
1098 - September 17, 1179Religious leader and organizer, writer, advisor and composer (Where did she get the time to do all of this???), Hildegard Von Bingen is the earliest composer whose life history is known.
Elisabeth of Schönau
1129 - 1164A German Benedictine whose mother was the niece of Münster bishop Ekbert, Elisabeth of Schönau saw visions beginning at age 23, and believed that she was to reveal the moral advice and theology of those visions. Her visions were written down by other nuns and by her brother, also named Ekbert. She also sent letters of advice to the Archibishop of Trier, and corresponded with Hildegard of Bingen.
Herrad of Landsberg
about 1130 - 1195Known as a scientist as well as writer, Herrad of Landsberg was a German abbess who wrote a book about science called Garden of Delights (in Latin, Hortus Deliciarum). She became a nun at the convent of Hohenberg and eventually became abbess of the community. There, Herrad helped found and serve at a hospital.
Marie de France
1160 - about 1190Little is known about the woman who wrote as Marie de France. She likely wrote in France and lived in England. She is thought by some to have been part of the "courtly love" movement associated with the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine at Poitiers. Her lais were perhaps the first of that genre, and she also published fables based on Aesop (which she claimed were from a translation from King Alfred).
Mechtild von Magdeburg
about 1212 - about 1285A Beguine and medieval mystic who became a Cistercian nun, she wrote vivid descriptions of her visions. Her book is called The Flowing Light of the Godhead and was forgotten for almost 400 years before being rediscovered in the 19th century.
Ben no Naishi
1228 - 1271She is known for Ben no Naishi nikki, poems about her time in the court of Japanese emperor Go-Fukakusa, a child, through his abdication. Daughter of a painter and poet, her ancestors also included several historians.
Marguerite Porete
1250 - 1310In the 20th century, a manuscript of French literature was identified as the work of Marguerite Porete. A Beguine, she preached her mystical vision of the church and wrote of it, though threatened with excommunication by the Bishop of Cambrai.
Julian of Norwich
about 1342 - after 1416Julian of Norwich wrote Revelations of Divine Love to record her visions of Christ and the Crucifixion. Her actual name isn't known; Julian comes from the name of a local church where she isolated herself for many years in a single room. She was an anchorite: a layperson who was a recluse by choice, and she was supervised by the church while not a member of any religious order. Margery Kempe (below) mentions a visit to Julian of Norwich in her own writings.
Catherine of Siena
1347 - 1380Part of a large Italian family with many connections in church and state, Catherine had visions from early childhood. She's known for her writings (though these were dictated; she never learned to write herself) and for her letters to bishops, popes, and other leaders (also dictated) as well as for her good works.
Leonor López de Córdoba
about 1362 - 1412 or 1430Leonor López de Córdoba wrote what is considered the first autobiography in Spanish, and is one of the earliest written works in Spanish by a woman. Caught in court intrigues with Pedro I (with whose children she was raised, Enrique III, and his wife Catalina, she wrote of her earlier life in the Memorias, through her imprisonment by Enrique III, her release at his death, and her finaincial struggles after that.
