Battista Sforza: Great Lady of Urbino

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Battista Sforza, Duchess of Urbino, was very much a woman of her time; she encapsulated all the ideals of the Renaissance. The author stresses that, although women were restricted from activities outside of traditional women's activities, she eagerly devoured all that learning had to offer, patronized great artists, and corresponded with brilliant men like Leonardo Bruni. The paper relates that, most significantly, she taught other women that, not only could they run their own lives and make their own decisions, they could contribute to the world around them and on their own terms.

From the Paper:

"In other words, the arts of rhetoric and reasoned debate are a waste of time for women, simply because women have no place in the "forum" i.e. in public life. The woman who spends her time studying all the techniques of public speaking, who learns all the special phrases, the emotional pauses and gestures, the persuasive powers of yelling loudly or speaking in a faint, but meaningful whisper will have accomplished absolutely nothing. A woman's rhetoric is like the sound of a tree falling in an uninhabited forest " it makes a loud noise, but there is no one around to hear it."

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