Isotta Nogarola

Isotta Nogarola (1418 – 1466) was a writer and intellectual, born into a well-to-do family in Verona, Italy. She was one of ten siblings, seven of which survived into adulthood. She was passionate about her education, and spent most of her life alone, constantly studying. She died unmarried.

The Renaissance and Humanism

During Nogarola's life, Italy was going through its Renaissance (1400-1550), which means "rebirth" in French. A new appreciation for art, education, and enriching culture surrounded Italians. Politically, Italy was divided into city-states ruled by extremely wealthy families; Genoa, Florence, and Venice are examples.

Men ruled all political procession, and there was no place for women in public society. Young boys studied humanism, which began in Florence in the 1300s and spread throughout Italy, and was the contemporary learning style for the wealthy. By focusing on works of ancient Rome and Greece, scholars believed humanist education would produce the most well equipped men with the best understanding of knowledge. Schools were set up to teach poetry, grammar, rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy, which would aid any boy in his future in politics. To become an actual humanist, a young man would have to send a letter to an already respected man of the field, and wait for a reply. If the response yielded endorsements and compliments for the prospective pupil, he would spread this news and gain the ground to begin his career.

Early Intellectual Life

Though extremely rare in Nogarola's day, she received an education from on of the finest teachers of the time after her mother, a widower, decided to allow her and her sister to be educated. Her first tutor was Martino Rizzoni, who had been taught by the famous Guarino da Verona, one of the most forward humanist thinkers. Nogarola and her sisters received relatively the same education that a boy would have received, excluding rhetoric, which was irrelevant for a woman to learn considering their lack of importance in a male-dominated society. Isotta proved to be an extremely able student, with literary works that began to gain acclaim throughout the region. Unfortunately, her fame did not come from the sheer volume of intelligence she seemed to possess, but from the novelty of her gender. When she sought the reputation of a humanist in 1437, she did so in the customary manner of writing a letter, and boldly chose Guarino da Verona himself, a lofty goal. This news spread throughout Verona, which inspired much ridicule from women in the city, who resented her. The year passed without a reply, and no longer able to tolerate her shame, she furiously wrote a second letter to Guarino, in which she said

"Why...was I born a woman, to be scorned by men in words and deeds? I ask myself this question in solitude...Your unfairness in not writing to me has caused me much suffering, that there could be no greater suffering...You yourself said there was no goal I could not achieve. But now that nothing has turned out as it should have, my joy has given way to sorrow...For they jeer at me throughout the city, the women mock me."

This time, Guarino da Verona wasted no time in his reply. He wrote her back saying "I believed and trusted that your soul was manly...But now you seem so humbled, so abject, and so truly a woman, that you demonstrate none of the estimable qualities I thought you possessed." Isotta's career as a humanist was over before it began.

After Rejection

She continued to receive criticism, which reached a new high when she was accused of being extremely promiscuous, evidence that was sourced in the opinion that a smart woman was never a virgin. Tired of Verona's rejection, she moved to Venice in 1439, a trade city and a major port, filled with fine people and many cathedrals and palaces. She increased her studies and grew hungrier for knowledge, and became more well-known, but she was still labeled as an intelligent "woman" instead of just intelligent. Her stay in Venice was short, and she moved back to Verona to live with her brother and his family. She lived in celibacy and solitude, becoming devoutly religious, choosing instead to submerge herself in God and the Bible rather than humanism. However, she was not completely cut off. She had infrequent visitors, as well as her family, and some correspondence with other intellectuals, particularly Ludovico Foscarini, a Venetian politician. The two would debate over philosophical questions, most famously over whose sin was greater: Adam's or Eve's. He visited her home often, participating in discussions with other Nogarola family members, and their relationship was never romantic. She received a wedding proposal in 1453, but at the advice of Foscarini, she declined. She remained alone and celibate, investing in knowledge and her challenging lifestyle, but gradually her health began to fail. She died in 1466 at age forty-eight.

References

*cite book |last=Time-Life Books |title=What Life Was Like at the Rebirth of Genius: Renaissance Italy, AD 1400-1550 |year=1999 |publisher=Time-Life Books |isbn=0783554613