Katharina Zell née Schütz (Strasbourg in 1497/98 – September 5, 1562) was a German Protestant writer during the Reformation. She was wife of Matthias Zell/Matthäus Zell, one of the first priests to marry, and be excommunicated for marrying. After his death she continued his work. She defended the Protestantism of herself and her husband in Briefe an die ganze Bürgerschaft der Stadt Straßburg (1557) [Letter to the Entire Citizenry of the Town of Strasbourg]. [1][2][3][4]
Katherina Zell once scolded a minister for speaking harshly of another reformer. The minister responded by saying that she had, “disturbed the peace.” She answered his criticism sharply by saying: “Do you call this disturbing the peace that instead of spending my time in frivolous amusements I have visited the plague-infested and carried out the dead? I have visited those in prison and under sentence of death. Often for three days and three nights I have neither eaten nor slept. I have never mounted the pulpit, but I have done more than any minister in visiting those in misery.”
Quote from Katharina Zell, when defending her equality by citing a bible verse when a critic used St. Paul to support his argument that women should remain silent in church: "I would remind you of the word of this same apostle that in Christ there is no male nor female." She helped feed and clothe thousands of refugees who flooded Strasbourg after their defeat in the Peasents' War.
Quote from Katharina Zell, when defending her equality by citing a bible verse when a critic used St. Paul to support his argument that women should remain silent in church: "I would remind you of the word of this same apostle that in Christ there is no male nor female." She helped feed and clothe thousands of refugees who flooded Strasbourg after their defeat in the Peasents' War.