Page:Woman Triumphant.djvu/97



The close contact which, during the middle ages, existed between Germany and Italy also secured better conditions for the women of the latter country. The most remarkable change came, however, during the 14th and the 15th centuries, with that remarkable intellectual revolution known as the Renaissance.

This movement, one of the most significant in the evolution of woman, originated in Italy at a time when the whole country was suffering from ecclesiastic and feudal despotism. It was then that men and women of high standing, striving for greater spiritual freedom, became attracted by the almost forgotten works of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Seneca, Cicero, and other authors of the classic past. It is to the glory of Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and other poets of Italy to have revived interest in these literary treasures. Eager to unlock these rich stores of beauty and wisdom, they collected the precious manuscripts and established libraries and museums for their preservation.

Many noblemen, patricians and merchant-princes, inspired by this sacred thirst for learning, and being aware that this effort was made in behalf of the emancipation of enslaved intelligence, aided the movement by their wealth. The art of printing with movable types, invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg in Mayence, and introduced into Italy, France and Spain by German printers, made it possible to reproduce what the collectors had recovered. So learning remained no longer the pursuit of monks and recluses only, but became fashionable and pervaded all classes. Professors of classic literature and of humanism began to journey from city to city, opening schools and lecture-rooms, or taking engagements as tutors in the families of the princes, noblemen, and wealthy merchants.

The universities, founded at Bologna, Padua, Salerno and various other places, gave special attention lo classical education and humanism. And, strange to say, all these schools and universities admitted women on equal terms with men. The number of women, who availed themselves of this privilege, may have been small, but evidently the way was clear. There were even several ladies, who acquired the degrees of doctor and professor of Greek language and literature, or of civil and canon law. Among these learned women were Britisia Gozzadina, who held a chair in the university of Bologna; and Olympia Morata, who, with her German husband, came to Heidelberg, where the chair for Greek at the university was offered to her.