BACCUSI, Pompeo

Scarce first and only edition of this speech: praise and defence of women, part of a broader academic debate on the subject which took place, by means of public orations, between members of the Accademia degli Invaghiti in Mantua. Nothing is known of Pompeo Baccusi, who signed himself here as ‘Humile Invaghito’. According to Baccusi, women were not made solely to procreate, but to guide and govern men, leading them towards the right path. In their youth, women have a ‘wisdom beyond their years’, which takes men years to achieve, instead. Their skills in the fields of philosophy, crafts, and engineering are nothing short of those of men, and Baccusi looks back at humanist educational theories, such as Huarte’s, to suggest alternative ways to raise women, like men. ‘Women are born and raised, and as soon as they are just old enough, they are taught not the good and laudable arts, but mechanical tasks; instead of paper and ink, we give them needlework’. And he adds: ‘Imagine if men were no longer in school or among learned people, or training to fight, but were instead forcedly locked in their limited bedrooms, for months, years, decades, living lazily with nothing to do until they die, and only kept busy by menial tasks’. Tasks suitable for women would not include sailing, ploughing, or mercantile activities, ‘more suitable to servants than masters’, but rather philosophy. The addressees are obviously gentlewomen, with the time and means for philosophy and culture; yet, despite the context of the oration being a rhetorical competition, Baccusi’s observations are very interesting, in his attempt at making men step into women’s shoes even for just a moment.