As are most Western societies, the Renaissance societies of western Europe were patriarchal. As scholars have recently noted, the Renaissance was not a rebirth for women. Until well into the 17th century, the place of girls and women was in the home or convent. The education of young women usually was accomplished within a spiritual context, and often inside a convent, much as it was during the Middle Ages. Although a few schools specifically founded for girls of noble families were established during the 16th century, spiritual enrichment and moral training remained the chief goals of the educational process. A famous example of such a school was the Jesuit institution founded in Milan in 1557 by Ludovica Torelli (1500-1569), daughter of the duke of Guastella. As might be expected, young women potentially destined to be the companions of rulers were trained in court etiquette and languages. Members of royalty, such as princesses, often shared lessons with their brothers, benefiting from excellent tutors. The examples of powerful women in northern Italy during the 15 th century, and across much of Europe during the 16th, suggest that some upper-class women were educated in subjects of history, statecraft, and other knowledge useful for the ruling class. Although Ludovico Dolce (1508-68) in his Dialogo della institutione delle donne (Dialogue on the instruction of ladies, 1545) recommended that women not learn as much as men, he encouraged women destined to rule to study the entire humanistic curriculum.
Handbook to life in Renaissance Europe
World History
