{"id":320,"date":"2023-08-08T12:23:23","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T19:23:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-usc-dornsife.pantheonsite.io\/veronica-franco\/?page_id=320"},"modified":"2023-11-02T14:33:48","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T21:33:48","slug":"women-of-16th-century-venice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/veronica-franco\/women-of-16th-century-venice\/","title":{"rendered":"Women of 16th Century Venice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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The Counter-Reformation played a major role in defining the role and status of Italian women during the sixteenth century. Women were widely viewed as emblems of Catholic morality, serving primarily as matriarchs of the domestic household. They were instructed and expected to become devoted mothers, and to rear and raise their children as proper Christians. Religious and social changes gradually turned women\u2019s education into a Christian training in obedient wifehood and devout motherhood. These major objectives are emphasized in much of Counter-Reformatory literature, particularly women\u2019s acquisition of strong religious morals aimed at preserving chastity until matrimony as well as the pursuit of the practical skills of \u201cpreserving\u201d and managing their husbands\u2019 property and wealth. Little to no value was placed upon the pursuit of knowledge for aesthetic and intellectual purposes. Literate women could even be suspected of witchcraft since popular opinion endowed the written word with \u201cmagic powers.\u201d Women were forced to suppress their individual needs and desires to their husbands, all in the name of rationality and civic decorum.<\/p>\n

It is not surprising that men exclusively dictated the societal expectations of women. Six of the most significant traits prescribed by men include: Chastity, Silence, Modesty, Reticence, Sobriety, and Obedience. The protection of a woman\u2019s chastity was vitally important, especially for younger women. In some pamphlets, parents were even advised to prevent their daughters from participating in any forms of recreation that could potentially threaten their proper moral upbringing. Domestic crafts such as sewing and weaving were recommended, \u201cto keep young girls’ minds away from sinful thoughts or avoid any other danger of extreme boredom\u201d (Price, 43). Because of these guidelines, women were denied freedom of mind and body, and their identities were confined within their own domestic fortresses.<\/p>\n

Counter-Reformatory literature catalyzed the dispersal of these ideals to the Italian population. These works depicted the lives of female saints and virtuous women in an effort to inspire women to imitate them. A total of 2,626 books or pamphlets written between 1471 and 1700 in the vernacular addressed female concerns, with over one thousand printed by 1600.<\/p>\n

Venice\u2019s unique social and political environment enabled women to find alternate ways of coping with the strict tenets outlined by the Counter-Reformation; however, many of these strict ideals still strongly impacted the lives of Venetian women during the sixteenth century. Venice\u2019s cosmopolitan, fun-loving and dynamic atmosphere is largely dependent on the Venetian women who lent their beauty, charm, elegance, and sex appeal to honor the city. The celebrated practice of courtesanship supplied the island-republic with an exotic flare that set Venice apart from many other European cities. Furthermore, Venice\u2019s widely diverse population cultivated a broader-minded and more tolerant society that granted women alternate means of establishing themselves. As a whole, however, women still played a relatively ambiguous role in Venetian society of this time: although present everywhere, they were not publicly acknowledged or appreciated.<\/p>\n

The patriarchal oligarchy governing Venice denied any political rights to women, and instead relegated them to the private confines of their homes and neighborhoods. Regardless of this opposition, however, women still managed to exert some influence on economic and social relations through the acquisition of dowries and management of the family\u2019s wealth and income. A good deal of the difference between men\u2019s and women\u2019s legal status derived from the patrilineal system of descent and succession. For example, a young woman\u2019s only claim upon the family patrimony was her dowry. A married, and thus dowered, daughter or a man who died intestate had no further claim on his estate. A woman\u2019s dowry was her entire inheritance.<\/p>\n

Women were able to find diverse means of contributing to society outside of the home. Women of the lower class kept the city\u2019s working industries alive through artisan and trade-craft practices, while women of the nobility and upper class served as catalysts and donors in the maintenance of charitable hospices, which assured the welfare of hundreds of unfortunate people. Despite political and societal opposition, women continued to aid in Venice\u2019s development as contributing members of society.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-content-detail.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-320","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWomen of 16th Century Venice - Veronica Franco<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/veronica-franco\/women-of-16th-century-venice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Women of 16th Century Venice - 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