Domenica da Paradiso and the Prophetic Discipline of the Body and Soul

The case of the sixteenth-century woman prophet Domenica da Paradiso–the most important female religious leader in Florentine sixteenth century society –can shed new light on the subjective movements that made so many women think of their own body, and women’s bodies in general, not as a mark of inferiority, but rather as an instrument of spiritual and intellectual ad-vancement. Moreover, her writings allow us to deepen our understanding of Renaissance women’s ideas on and practices of the dialectic between body and intellect that continues to be key to reconstructing the experiences of late medieval and early modern women.