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The Changing Role Of Women During The Renaissance

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The Renaissance marked the most pivotal moment in human history that ended an archaic time, and initiated modernity. The rise in power of the female voice started during this period and built the foundation for feminism. The secular society of the renaissance began the historical rebirth for women, as they became liberated from inferiority through education. The start of educating women led western society to recognize the intellectual extent of female potential for the first time in history.
Education was the most powerful tool women had in order to step out of Middle Age constraints. During the Renaissance, it was common to educate women in literacy and numeracy in preparation of being a wife and mother. In order to effectively accomplish …show more content…

In contrast from the Middle Ages, where all women were seen as nothing more than an object of property, scholars in the renaissance began to appreciate educated women. The emergence of educated women in the renaissance laid the very first beliefs of feminism within the individuals in society. German philosopher, Cornelius Agrippa, stated that “women and men were equally endowed with the gifts of the spirit, reason, and the use of words; they were created for the same end, and the sexual differences between them will not confer a lesser destiny” (“Women”). The recognition of female potential in the renaissance clearly displays the change from the degrading view of women during the Middle Ages. When men noticed the potential women had, they developed opinions of gender equality; these advanced ideas started to destroy prejudices against women. Furthermore, some women used their recognition and moved beyond domestic roles to acquire a strong public role in society. Cassandra Fedele, a female humanist from Venice, “spent most of her life writing letters to a distinguished circle of intellectual and political figures... Fedele was even offered a post as a professor in Spain” (“Renaissance Women Writers”). Figures such as Fedele show that not only were women recognized as capable individuals, but they also began to have a real role of public importance. From the publicity famous women and their work, women of all classes were encouraged to see the potential in themselves. Christine de Pisan, one of the most famous woman in the Renaissance, wrote a book called The Treasure of the City of Ladies that “offered a model as to how women of different classes should conduct themselves in society... to help women have dignity in a world that often tried to take it from them” ("Christine de Pisan"). Through her fame as a writer, de Pisan spread her feminist

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