Description
First edition of this influential defence of women by the jurist and cleric Domenico Bruni da Pistoia. It was dedicated to Eleanor of Toledo, wife of Cosimo I de’ Medici, a figure who had elicited great praise from numerous literati as well as criticism for her direct involvement in the management of the Duchy and its finances during her husband’s absences. In ‘Difese’, Bruni ‘upholds that the intellectual inferiority traditionally attributed to women does not derive from the principles of natural or divine law, but rather from the misogynistic structure of society itself, strengthened by centuries of use and social habits’ (Stella, p.290). Part I gathers criticism against women by writers and scholars, whilst Part II defends women against broader criticism, presenting virtuous examples from the past, including Eve and women from Greek and Roman antiquity. The very interesting Part III examines the legal
aspects of the ‘questione femminile’, summarising the canon laws (twenty-five) that limit women’s agency in society, e.g., their exclusion from the management of estate assets and feudal inheritance. According to Bruni, these laws were put in place ‘so as to protect female fragility, rather than being rooted in social discredit of women. However, he also admits that these laws ended up generating a negative vision of women throughout the ages, even though their nature is noble, virtuous, and superior to that of men’ (Stella, p.291). A very interesting work, bringing original insight into this important Renaissance debate.
