Dr. Meghan Callahan

The lives of Renaissance women were defined by certain roles: wife, mother, nun, courtesan, or servant. In this three-class course, we’ll examine how women fit into (or circumvented) societal expectations by looking at depictions of women in painting, sculpture, and archival documents. Saints, whose stories were told in books and displayed in paintings, served as models of behaviour for both wives and nuns. On the other end of the spectrum were sinners: courtesans and prostitutes who were judged for illicit behaviour yet frequented by men across social classes. Servants maintained homes, convents, and brothels in the cities, and their networks crossed classes and borders throughout Renaissance Italy.

Course objectives:
To understand the role of saints’ lives in secular and religious women’s lives
To consider how courtesans and prostitutes worked in Renaissance society
To investigate the role of servants in building networks
To examine differences among upper and lower class women’s lives
To use paintings, sculpture and archival documents to learn more about the life of women in the Renaissance

Class 1: Saints:
The Virgin Mary and other saints served as examples for women as wives, mothers, and in religious life. Religious images adorned the walls of homes and convents, and stories of saints’ lives were told as inspiration. This class will examine how married women, mothers, and nuns were encouraged to live like saints, and how some women adopted saintly strategies to enhance their lives.

Class 2: Sinners
Though reviled in public sermons, sex workers were an integral part of Renaissance life. Courtesans were celebrated among the upper classes for their literary and musical talents in addition to their beauty and sexual availability. Regular prostitutes were less respected, yet brothels legally operated in certain cities. Through examination of sumptuary laws, poetry paintings, and prints, we’ll discover how courtesans and prostitutes contributed to Renaissance urban culture.

Class 3: Servants
Servants and enslaved women kept Renaissance homes and convents running. While many of their stories have been lost, evidence of their lives appears in court documents, convent chronicles and diaries. We’ll investigate how the lives of lower class women were intwined with that of the upper classes throughout Renaissance cities.

Buy:
- Unlimited lifetime access
- Download videos to watch offline
- Available on Apple and Android

Rent:
- Unlimited access for 14 days
- Download videos to watch offline
- Available on Apple and Android