Women of the Middle Ages and

Renaissance

Hildegard of Bingen

• Born AD 1098 in Bermersheim, Gemany

• Benedictine monastery • Died Sept. 17, 1179• Canonized

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen

Hildegard’s Education

• Jutta of Sponheim

• Prayers, chants, ten-stringed psaltery, sewing and embroidering

• Benedictine nun

• Deep knowledge of Scripture, Christian writers, and classical writers

Hildegard’s Roles• Infirmarian (nurse-

physician)• Abbess at 38—made

changes for nuns• 6 major written works,

400 letters, 80 songs• First woman doctor• Linguist and musician• Preacher (sanctioned

by Pope)

Hildegard’s alphabet

Hildegard and Education

• Christian doctrine

• First morality play

• Natural science, medicine, and sexuality

• Equality of women in the Church

• Taught “theology of the feminine”

• Education is an active, open forum for the human mind

Hildegard von Bingen and the monk Volmar

“Universal Man” from Liber divinorum operum, 1165

Christine de Pizan

• Born c. 1364, in Venice, Italy

• Father

• French King Charles V in 1368

• Married

• Husband

• Died 1430

Christine’s Education

• Read many of the books in the king’s library, including classics

• Taught by mother to spin, weave, cook, manage household, and raise children

• Taught by father to read French, Italian, and some Latin, and to write

Christine’s Roles• Tried to manage deceased husband’s

property• Took over as court secretary• Poet (100 ballades by 1402)• Self-educator• Feminist—spoke out against treatment of

women• Moral educator• Biographer and autobiographer

Contributions to Education

• Themes of her writing

• Genres

• Liberal education for women

• Teach children through “learning by doing”—make use of child’s natural curiosity

Christine de Pizan, showing the interior of an apartment at the end of the 14th or commencement of

the 15th century

Christine de Pizan instructing her son

Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim

• Born AD 930-940, in Saxony

• Canoness in convent in Gandersheim

• Died c. 1002 AD

Education and Women• Wrote epic poems, legends, and dramas

about Christian themes

• Knowledge of Latin and classical authors

• Early European playwrite

• Focus on female characters in roles of spiritual devotion

Clare of Assisi

• Born July, 1194• Met St. Francis and

confided in him her desire to live for God

• Became nun, 1212• Died August 1, 1253• Canonized Sept. 26,

1255 by Pope Alexander IV

Contributions

• Order of Poor Ladies and abbess

• Followed Franciscan monks

• Humble, merciful, optimistic, charismatic

• Saved convent • Taught women to have

aims higher than worldliness

Simone Martini, detail depicting Saint Clare from a fresco (1312–20) in the Lower Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi

Catherine of Siena

• Born March 25, 1347, in Siena, Italy

• 23rd child out of 25• Dominican Tertiary• Died April 29, 1380,

in Rome• Canonized in 1461

by Pope Pius II

Dominico Beccafumi, 1515

Impact

• Wrote many letters to important officials

• Encourage peace and the return of the Papacy to Rome

• Great works of early Tuscan literature

• Tended to the sick

• Served the poor

Other Important Women

• Joan of Arc• Julian of Norwich• Eleanor of Aquitaine• Theodora• St. Monica (mother

of St. Augustine)• Isabella d’Este

• Marguerite de Porete

• Bridget of Sweden• Gertrude the Great• Dhuoda• Catherine of Genoa

Hildegard References

• Murphy, Madonna. 2006. The History and Philosophy of Education: Voices of Educational Pioneers. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Pp. 104-8

• Lerman, Kristina. 1995. The Life and Works of Hildegard von Bingen. Available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html

• Catholic Community Forum. Hildegard von Bingen. Available at: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/sainth05.htm

• Wikipedia. 2007. Hildegard of Bingen. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen

Christine References• Murphy, Madonna. 2006. The History and

Philosophy of Education: Voices of Educational Pioneers. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. Pp. 128-32

• Wikipedia.com. 2007. Christine de Pizan. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_de_Pizan

Clare References• Catholic Community Forum. Clare of Assisi.

Available at: http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintc03.htm

• Robinson, Paschal. 2006. St. Clare of Assisi. Catholic Encyclopedia. Available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04004a.htm

• Wikipedia.com. 2007. Clare of Assisi. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_of_Assisi

Hrotsvitha References• Churchill, Laurie. 2000. Hrotsvit. Available

at: http://go.owu.edu/~o5medww/hrotsvit/index.htm

• Scheid, Nikolaus. 2006. Hrotsvitha. Catholic Encyclopedia. Available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07504b.htm

Catherine of Siena References

• Wikipedia.com. 2007. Catherine of Siena. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena

• Gardner, Edmund. 2006. St. Catherine of Siena. Catholic Encyclopedia. Available at: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03447a.htm