From the Woman at the Well to Elisabeth Elliot, ordinary women have been involved in gospel spreading work for two millennia. This is a growing list of women throughout church history, alongside biographies and memoirs, to learn more about them!
New Testament (0 – 27 AD)
- Mary, mother of Jesus (c. 18 BC – 48 AD)
- Elizabeth
- Anna the Prophetess
- Mary Magdalene
- Joanna
- Susanna
- Mary & Martha of Bethany
- Woman at the well
- Peter’s Mother-in-Law
- Widow of Nain
- Mother of the Sons of Zebedee
- The Bleeding Woman
- The “Daughter of Abraham”
- Salome
- Mary, Wife of Clopas
- Dorcas
- Priscilla
- Romans 16
Early Church (27 – 325 AD)
- Perpetua (c. 181-203)
- Felicitas (d. 203)
- Crispina (274-304)
- Marcella of Rome (325-410)
- Blandina (c 162-177)
- Catherine of Alexandria (x 310)
Late Antiquity (325-476AD)
- Marcella (325-410)
- Macrina the Younger (c 327-379)
- Nonna (330-374)
- Monica of Tagaste (c. 331-387)
- Anthusa c 324/334 – 407?)
- Monica (335-390)
- Nino (d 335)
- Melania the Elder (341-410)
- Paula (347-404)
- Olympias (368-408)
- Egeria (380s)
- Melania the Younger (385-439)
- Pulcheria (399-453)
- Brigid of Ireland (451-523)
Medieval Ages (476-1299AD)
- Clotilde or Clothilda (c 475-545)
- Bertha (550-606)
- Christina
- Ethelberga (d. 647)
- Hilda of Whitby (c 614-680)
- Dhuoda (c 800-843)
- Kassia (c 810-867)
- Leoba (x 710-782)
- Queen Olga (d 969)
- Ludmila (850-921)
- Margaret of Scotland (1045-1093)
- Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)
- Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231)
Renaissance (1300-1500)
- Catherine of Siena (1447-1380)
- Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
- Christine de Pizan (1364-1430)
- Anne of Bohemia (1367-1394)
- Mrs. Smith of Coventry (1485-1519)
Reformation / Early Modern (1500-1699)
- Anna Reinhard (c. 1484–1538)
- Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547)
- Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549)
- Arugula von Grumbach (1492-1568)
- Margarethe Blaurer (c. 1494-1541)
- Marie Dentiere (1495-1561)
- Katharina Schutz Zell (1497-1562)
- Katherine von Bora Luther (1499-1552)
- Anna Adlischweiler (c. 1504-1564)
- Elizabeth Aske Bowes (c. 1505-1572)
- Katharine Hamilton (1506-1560)
- Idelette de Bure Calvin (c1509-1549)
- Renee of France (1510-1575)
- Annelein of Freiburg (d. 1529)
- Katherine Parr (1512-1548)
- Giulia Gonzaga (1513-1566)
- Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
- Katherine Willoughby (c. 1519-1580)
- Anne Askew (1521-1546)
- Lady Jane Grey (1537-1553)
- Olympia Morata (1526-1555)
- Jeanne d’Albret (1528-1572)
- Charlotte de Bourbon (1546-1582)
- Charlotte Arbaleste Duplessis-Mornay (1550-1606)
- Louise de Coligny (1555-1620)
- Dorothy Leigh (d, 1616)
- Lady Grace Mildmay (1552-1620)
- Mary Sidney (1561-1621)
- Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)
- Elizabeth Joscelin (1596-1622)
- Lady Anne Hamilton (1585-1647)
- Margaret Winthrop (1591-1647)
- Lady Brilliana Harley (1598-1643)
- Bathsua Makin (1600-1675)
- Maria van Schurman (1607-1678)
- Viscountess Jane Gordon (1611-1672)
- Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
- Mary Rich (1625-1678)
- Margaret Baxter (1636-1681)
- Agnes Beaumont (1652-1720)
- Elizabeth of the Palatinate (1681-1680)
- Lucy Hutchinson (1620-1681)
- Mary, Princess of Orange (1631-1660)
- Margaret Nisbet (1635-1683)
- Mary White Rowlandson (c 1637-1711)
- Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648-1717)
- Margaret Wilson (c. 1667-1685)
- Susanna Wesley (1669-1742)
1700s
- Anne Dutton (1692-1765)
- Erdmuth von Zinzendorg (1700-1756)
- Kata Bethlen (1700-1759)
- Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791)
- Sarah Edwards (1710-1758)
- Marie Durand (1711-1776)
- Anna Nitschomann (1715-1760)
- Anne Steele (1717-1778)
- Rebecca Protten (1718-1780)
- Esther Edwards Burr (1732-1758)
- Isabelle Marshall Graham (1742-1814)
- Hannah More (1745-1833)
- Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
- Hannah Marshamn (1767-1847)
- Ann Griffiths (1776-1805)
- Joanna Graham Bethune (1770-1860)
- Jane Austen (1775-1817)
- Sarah Sergeant Miller (1777-1861)
- Elizabeth Gurney Fry (1780-1845)
- Mary Jones (1784-1864)
- Mary Jones and Her Bible
1800s
- Ann Hasseltine Judson (1789-1826)
- Elisabeth Fry (1790-1845)
- Harriet Atwood Newell (1793-1812)
- Lucy Goodale Thurston (1795-1876)
- Mary Lyon (1797-1849)
- Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883)
- Betsey Stockton (c 1798-1865)
- Catherine Brown (1800-1823)
- Sarah Doremus (1802-1877)
- Sarah Boardman Judson (1803-1845)
- Elizabeth Browning (1806-1861)
- Eliza Spalding (1807-1851)
- Ellen Ranyard (1810-1879)
- Mary Ann Lyth (1811-1890)
- Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
- Lydia Mackenzie Falconer Miller (1812-1876)
- Mary Calvert (1814-1882)
- Fidelia Fiske (1816-1864)
- Mary Jane Kinnaird (1816-1888)
- Elizabeth Prentiss (1818-1878)
- Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
- Harriet Tubman (1822-1913)
- Fanny Crosby (1824-1915)
- Anne Ross Cundell Cousin (1824-1906)
- Josephine Butler (1828-1906)
- Catherine Booth (1829-1890)
- Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
- Lucy Webb Hayes (1831-1889)
- Margaret Elizabeth Breckinreidge (1832-1864)
- Susannah Spurgeon (1832-1903)
- 12 Faithful Women
- Ten Girls Who Made a Difference
- 10 Women Who Overcame Their Past
- The Woman Who Loved To Give Books
- Susannah Spurgeon: Lessons for a Life of Joyful Eagerness in Christ
- For Richer For Poorer
- Susie: The Life and Legacy of Susannah Spurgeon
- Yours, Till Heaven: The Untold Love Story of Charles and Susie Spurgeon
- Émilie Mallet (1832-1888)
- Helen Coan Nevius (1833-1910)
- Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-1879)
- Amanda Smith (1837-1915)
- Maria Taylor (1837-1870)
- Maria Fearing (1838-1937)
- Lottie Moon (1840-1912)
- Agnes and Margaret Smith (1843-1920 & 1926)
- Mary Slessor (1848-1915)
- Pandita Ramabai (1858-1922)
- Liu Wen Lan (c 1860-1900)
- Edith Cavell (1865-1915)
- Rosetta Sherwood Hall (1865-1951)
- Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)
- Elizabeth Barrows Usher (1873-1915)
- Ida Kahn (1873-1931)
- Evelyn Brand (1879-1974)
- Lilias Trotter (1853-1928)
- Ida S. Scudder (1870-1960)
1900s
- Tsai Su Juan (1890-1984)
- Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)
- 10 Dead Gals You Should Know
- 12 Faithful Women
- Corrie Ten Boom: The Watchmaker’s Daughter
- Corrie ten Boom: The Courageous Woman and The Secret Room
- Ten Girls Who Changed the World
- Christian Heroines: Just Like You
- Radiant: Fifty Remarkable Women in Church History
- Corrie ten Boom: Keeper of the Angels’ Den
- Corrie Ten Boom
- The Hiding Place
- Women of Faith And Courage
- Pearl S Buck (1892-1973)
- Bethan Lloyd-Jones (1898-1991)
- Jeanette Li / Wen Wei Chieh (1899-1968)
- Isobel Miller Kuhn (1901-1957)
- Gladys Aylward (1902-1970)
- 10 Dead Gals You Should Know
- Gladys Aylward: No Mountain Too High
- Gladys Aylward: The Little Woman With a Big Dream
- Ten Girls Who Changed the World
- Christian Heroines: Just Like You
- 10 Women Who Overcame Their Past
- Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime
- Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God
- Betty Stam (1906-1934)
- Esther Ahn Kim (1908-1997)
- Irena Stanislawa Sendler (1910-2008)
- Bilquis Sheikh (1912-1997)
- Sabina Wurmbrand (1913-2000)
- Manche Masemola (1913-1928)
- Ahn Ei Sook (1914-1997)
- Edith Schaeffer (1914-2013)
- Darlene Deibler Rose (1917-2004)
- Marianna Slocum (1918-2017)
- Patricia St. John (1919-1993)
- Elaine Townsend (?)
- Betty Greene (1920-1997)
- Helen Roseveare (1925-2016)
- Eta Linnemann (1926-2009)
- Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015)
- Dayuma of the Waodani (1932-2014)
- Maud Kells (1939-
- Jackie Pullinger (1944-)
- Joni Eareckson Tada (1949-)
- Annegrace Taban (1965-)
- Rosaria Butterfield (1962-)
Lauren Ducommun 
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