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For women of the Italian Renaissance, the Virgin Mary was one of the most important role models. This book testifies to the emotional and spiritual relationships that women had with the figure of Mary, whom they were required to emulate as the epitome of femininity.

Chiara Matraini was a member of the great flowering of poetic imitators and innovators in the Italian literary heritage begun by Petrarch. She excelled in a number of literary genres - poetry, religious meditation, discourse, and dialogue. This book is a collection of her erotic love poetry and poems on spiritual salvation.

Lucrezia Marinella (1571-1653) is, by all accounts, a phenomenon in early modernity: a woman who wrote and published in many genres, whose fame shone brightly within and outside her native Venice, and whose voice is original and reflective of her time and culture. This book tells the story of the conquest of Byzantium in the Fourth Crusade.

The memoirs of Hortense (1646-99) and Marie (1639-1715) Mancini, members of court of Louis XIV, represent earliest examples in France of memoirs published by women under their own names during their lifetimes. This title chronicles the beginnings of women's rights within the confines of an otherwise circumscribed early modern aristocratic society.

Though most historians remember her as the mistress of Voltaire, Emilie Du Chatelet (1706-49) was an accomplished writer in her own right, who published multiple editions of her scientific writings during her lifetime. This book features a selection of key sections from Du Chatelet's works.

Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was the sister and wife to kings and a pivotal influence in sixteenth-century France. This book contains sampling of Marguerite's varied works: from verse letters and fables to mythological-pastoral tales, from spiritual songs to a selection of novellas.

Read by Protestants and Catholics alike, Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg (1633-94) was the foremost German woman poet and writer in the seventeenth-century German-speaking world. This volume translates excerpts from the first two sets of thirty-six meditations.

At the height of Maria de Zayas' popularity in the mid-eighteenth century, the number of editions in print of her work was exceeded only by the novels of Cervantes. This book gathers a representative sample of seven stories, featuring Zayas' signature topics - gender equality and domestic violence.

The most published and lauded woman writer of early sixteenth-century Italy, Vittoria Colonna (1490-1547) in effect defined what was the "acceptable" face of female authorship for her time.

Between the years 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (1618-80) and Rene Descartes (1596-1650) exchanged fifty-eight letters - thirty-two from Descartes and twenty-six from Elisabeth. These letters are suitable for those interested in Descartes' philosophy, in particular his account of the human being as a union of mind and body.

Veronica Franco was a 16th-century Venetian beauty, poet, and protofeminist. This collection presents the eroticism and eloquence that set her apart from the chaste, silent woman prescribed by Renaissance gender ideology.

Maria de San Jose Salazar took the veil as a discalced (barefoot) Carmelite nun in 1571, becoming one of Teresa de Avila's most important collaborators in religious reform. This work is a defense of the practice of setting aside hours of the day for conversation, music and plays.

First published in 1600 in answer to Giusepe Passi's diatribe about women's alleged defects, this polemic displays Lucrezia Marinella's knowledge of the Italian poetic tradition and demonstrates her ability to argue against authors of the misogynist tradition from Boccaccio to Torquato Tasso.

In this work, originally published in 1600, the author creates a conversation among seven Venetain noblewomen. The dialogue explores women's experience in both theoretical and practical terms. The women take as their broad theme men's curious hostility towards women and the possible cures for it.

Katharina Schutz Zell (1498 - 1562) was an outspoken religious reformer in sixteenth-century Germany who campaigned for the right of clergy to marry. This book contains the translations of her publications, aiming to offer modern readers an opportunity to understand the important work of women in the formation of the early Protestant church.

Guevara's writings call on Spanish women to bear responsibility equally with men for restoring Spain's power in Europe. This collection includes examples of Guevara's shorter writings on matters of state, network with dignitaries, and govern family affairs. It provides a perspective on the possibilities for women in the public sphere in Spain.

Applying Cartesian principles to "The Woman Question" Poullain demonstrated by rational deduction that the inequality of the sexes was merely prejudice. Poullain advocated an enlightened feminine education, laying the groundwork for the future liberation movement.