When Europe broke free of the dreadful clutches of the Middle Ages into the intellectual playground of the Renaissance, an extraordinary thing happened: Cultured women began to take their place as central figures giving harmony to entire social groups. So says author "Christopher Hare," a pseudonym for British writer MARIAN ANDREWS (d. 1929) who is mostly remembered for her historical novels but here turns her keen eye on historical fact. First published in 1904, this charming volume offers sketches of some "typical" ...
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When Europe broke free of the dreadful clutches of the Middle Ages into the intellectual playground of the Renaissance, an extraordinary thing happened: Cultured women began to take their place as central figures giving harmony to entire social groups. So says author "Christopher Hare," a pseudonym for British writer MARIAN ANDREWS (d. 1929) who is mostly remembered for her historical novels but here turns her keen eye on historical fact. First published in 1904, this charming volume offers sketches of some "typical" cultured women of the Italian Renaissance, including: - Lucrezia Tornabuoni, wife of Piero dei Medici - Clarice degli Orsini, wife of Lorenzo dei Medici - Queen Giovanna I - Queen Giovanna II - Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan - Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of the Emperor Maximilian - Isabella d'Este, Marchesa of Mantua - Ren�e of France, Duchess of Ferrara - Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara - and others.
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This book is pretty good. It contains biographical sketches of some of the more prominent but now lesser-known Renaissance women, such as Renee of France, Caterina Cornano and Bianca Capello, as well as some of the better known ones, such as Lucrezia Borgia and Isabella d?Este.
Not all are successful: the sketches on Bianca Sforza and, especially, Vittoria Colonna, somehow manage to be downright boring. But most of them are highly readable, and the book definitely deserves four stars.