Renaissance Women : An Ideal Renaissance Woman

Women in Renaissance Italy faced rigid societal standards to which they were supposed to conform. They lived public lives, directed almost exclusively by other people in regards to significant decisions. However, this does not mean that a rise above the oppressive nature of the Renaissance was impossible. Several exceptional women were able to challenge their given positions in a society through their education, practices, seclusion, beauty, and roles. In an examination of several positions, through the Exhortations to Women and to Others If They Please by Lucrezia Marinella and the letters of Laura Cereta, a Renaissance feminist, women can be seen as accepting of their position in society or rebelling against it. Their lives and prescriptive writings show how one can either follow the role given to them or exceed beyond it and become an exceptional woman.

“ The belief that women were inherently inferior in intelligence, strength, and character was so persuasive that for men like Knox, a woman ruler was almost a contradiction in terms” (“Documents for Chapters 5&6”). In the 16th century, women were looked upon as a gender that should stay in the house and work, not have power and rule over a country. Discussing the govern of Queens during the 16th century, such as Mary Tudor, Lady Jane Grey, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I, allowed prejudices to be lessened but never completely be erased. No matter how these four notable ladies came into power, the accomplishments they overcame, achieved and wrote about proved to be great and substantial in making history as it is written today.

The Courtier, originally written as a “courtesy book”, can now be considered to provide significant insight into the norms and practices associated with courtship and gender during the Renaissance era. The book’s third volume is a particularly insightful window into 16th century romantic ideals. Throughout Book Three, Baldassare Castiglione builds an elaborate perspective on what makes the perfect court lady, what sexual and social behavior is acceptable, and how an ideal couple (both courtier and court lady) should function.

Prior to and throughout the late middle ages, women have been portrayed in literature as vile and corrupt. During this time, Christine de Pizan became a well educated woman and counteracted the previous notions of men’s slander against women. With her literary works, Pizan illustrated to her readers and women that though education they can aspire to be something greater than what is written in history. Through the use of real historical examples, Christine de Pizan’s, The Book of the City of Ladies, acts as a defense against the commonly perceived notions of women as immoral.

Catherine de Medici was another Renaissance woman born in 1519. Nuns raised her when her parents died and had an arrangement marriage by her uncle the Pope. Three of her sons became kings under her influence. Catherine had a great interest in architecture when she built the new wing of the Louvre Museum, the construction of the Tuilleries Gardens and the building of the Chateau Monceau.

A critical point in European history was the Renaissance period, which took place between 1300-1700. The term Renaissance stands for ‘rebirth’, and in this context refers to the increased interest that was taken in learning from Greek and Roman classical writing. Recent exploration by historians into the Renaissance period has seen a fixation on the discussion of the role of gender during the Renaissance. A variety of historians, such as Joan Kelly and Merry E. Weisner, believe that women didn’t experience any form of a Renaissance during this period. It can be widely acknowledged that during this period society did experience a ‘rebirth’, especially in terms of the role of the men in Europe. Women, on the other hand, weren’t as fortunate.

The Renaissance, in Europe, lasted from 1300 until 1600. The word “Renaissance” means “Reawakening” or “rebirth” which is exactly what occurred in Europe throughout this time period. The historical figure Isabella d'Este contributed and embodied the spirit of the Renaissance through her work,life,and legacy. The Renaissance focused on the revival of learning and art. Throughout this enthusiastic time period in Europe several new styles of art and literature were distinguished among people. The Renaissance spirit can be described as enthusiastic and experimental especially through its amazing arts. The historical figure Isabella d’Este leadership and title being the “First Women Of The Renaissance” contributed to the Renaissance. She played a great role in the government which was thought to be surprising since men were thought to outpower women during this time. Although women and men's equality rights are still not fair, Isabella d’Este helped it excell to a greater level.

The emergence of the Renaissance throughout Italy gave rise to the philosophy of humanism; rather than submitting to tradition, those situated lower on the social hierarchy began to question their situations. This lead to an increase in educational pursuits coupled with social and political upheaval. Early Renaissance feminists began to voice their concerns regarding the rights and equality of women in a heavily patriarchal society using literature, art, and politics. Laura Cetera’s Defense of Liberal Instruction for Women and Lucrezia Marinella’s The Nobility and Excellence of Women are both feminist pieces of the time. While both authors advocate for the political and social advancement for women, Cereta and Marinella’s differing experiences

Christine de Pizan’s view also aligns with Augustine’s medieval view of leadership. Machiavelli’s view, however, strays the farthest from Plato and Augustine. In The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine presents an allegorical city made up of great ladies from history. Allegorical characters Reason, Rectitude, and Justice guide Christine

An unlikely candidate to dispute the unfair, misogynistic treatment of women by men and society, Christine de Pizan successfully challenged the accepted negative views that were being expressed about women by the all-male literary world of her era. Part of Christine’s uniqueness stems from the time in which she lived, the middle to late 1300’s. The lack of a positive female role model to pattern herself after made Christine a true visionary in the fight for the equal rights of women. Her original ideas and insight provided a new and more intelligent way to view females. Pizan’s work, The Book of the City of Ladies, provided women much needed guidance in how to survive without the support of a man.

The Renaissance was a time of enlightenment and discovery around the world. There were many advancements in culture, art, and science. An interesting area to look at for this period would be the advancements made based on gender. Historically, women do not always have a significant impact on their culture, and they do not always have the same standing as their male counterparts. Margaret L. King and Joan Kelly-Gadol delve deeper into the issue of gender advancements during the Renaissance when they analyze the issue of whether women and men benefitted equally during this period.

The purpose of the book Women of the Renaissance by Margaret King is to explain the various roles of that women occupied during the renaissance. She mainly focusses on women of western Europe between 1350 and 1650. In the chapter titled “Daughters of Eve: Women in the Family” King writes about the positions of women in the family. In the part of the chapter that we were assigned, she depicts the role of mother. She explains the importance having children, the differences between healthy and lower class mothers, and the relationship between these mothers and their children. During the renaissance, motherhood was an extremely important job, and many women were defined by it.

As many may think, women weren’t as important during the renaissance period. Some seem to believe that women had it easier than they do today. Some even believe that they had much more power and independence. If only that were true. Women who showed too much independence, sexual or otherwise, were punished and sometimes even killed (Wiesner 59). Women were made to be seen as saints and remained loyal to one man. During the renaissance period, women went through many hardships and many things were expected of her by her family, as well as her husband. You might ask, what was marriage, education, and employment like for women during the renaissance period?

The Book of the City of Ladies, published by the author, Christine De Pizan in the early 1400s, is known to be one of the earliest works of feminism. In her work Pizan constructs an allegorical city called “The City of Ladies,” a city where only women livelived, to defend the “chosen,” virtuous women from the misogyny of the male authors. Although the text may have sounded dreamy and fantastical for female readers at the time, listing their capabilities, intelligence and strengths, de Pizan cleverly includes a stratagem for females to follow in order to obtain rights. The article “Christine De Pizan’s City of Ladies: A Monumental (Re)construction of, by, and for Women of All Time” written by Jill E. Wagner analyzes the allegorical meaning

Pizan reflected the way of Renaissance thinking. Her thoughts her revolutionary, which is a lot of what the Renaissance is about. Humanism is a big part of the Renaissance, and she wrote about human feelings, especially on the topic of love. Again most of this thinking might of come from the loss of her husband, which she dearly loved. In fact, one of her most famous works is entitled Epistre au dieu d'amour, or Episte to the god of love. Unlike women in the Medieval times, Pizan was given a lot of responsibility. When her husband died she had to take care of 3 children, her mother, and her husband’s financial debt, at only age 25. Also she lived a long life, died at age 96, which is is very different from Medieval days, when they lived to