Quaker meeting in London: A female Quaker preaches, ca. 1723

This engraving from the first quarter of the 18th century shows a group of Quakers who are assembled at a meeting in London. They are listening to a female member preaching from the balcony. The right to speak during a Quaker meeting was open to women right from the beginning of the movement in the 1650s. In contrast to other religious movements this fact posed a notable exemption.

Quaker meeting in London: A female Quaker preaches, engraving, ca. 1723, artist: Bernard Picard (1673–1733); source: Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AssemblyOfQuakers.jpg, public domain.