Maximilla
One of the two women who prophesied alongside Montanus in Phrygia. A few of her sayings survive in the writings of her opponents, among them her protest that she was driven from the flock like a wolf.
Maximilla and Priscilla were the two women who began to prophesy in the same way as Montanus and were counted with him as the prophets of the movement (Eusebius, Church History 5.14). Apollonius places her at Pepuza, where a bishop named Zoticus tried to refute the spirit that spoke in her and was prevented by her supporters (Eusebius, Church History 5.18.13). Her answer to such attempts is quoted by an unnamed writer: “I am driven away from the sheep like a wolf. I am not a wolf. I am word and spirit and power” (Eusebius, Church History 5.16.17).
She foretold wars and upheaval (Eusebius, Church History 5.16.18–19), and Epiphanius, whose Greek is paraphrased here, quotes her as saying that after her there would be no more prophets, only the end (Epiphanius, Panarion 48.2.4). The unnamed writer, composing his work more than thirteen years after her death, points out that those years had been peaceful (Eusebius, Church History 5.16.18–19). See the New Prophecy of Montanus.
In the timeline
- c. AD 157–172, estimated dateThe New Prophecy of Montanus
In Phrygia a convert named Montanus and two women, Priscilla and Maximilla, begin to prophesy in ecstasy and announce a new outpouring of the Spirit. The bishops of Asia reject the movement, which spreads none the less as far as Rome and Africa.
Primary sources
Church History
- Eusebius, Church History 5.14newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.18.13newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.16.17newadvent.org
- Eusebius, Church History 5.16.18–19newadvent.org
Panarion
- Epiphanius, Panarion 48.2.4archive.org