Antoinette Bourignon de la Porte was a French-Flemish mystic and adventurer. She taught that the end times would come soon and that the Last Judgment would then fall. Her belief was that she was chosen by God to restore true Christianity on earth and became the central figure of a spiritual network that extended beyond the borders of the Dutch Republic, including Holstein and Scotland. Bourignon's sect belonged to the spiritualist movements that have been characterized as the "third power".

Anna Maria van Schurman was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, classical scholar, philosopher, and feminist writer who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of female education. She was a highly educated woman, who excelled in art, music, and literature, and became a polyglot proficient in fourteen languages, including Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Aramaic, and Ethiopic, as well as various contemporary European languages. She was the first woman to unofficially study at a Dutch university.