The Renaissance: Political Renewal and Intellectual Change 247Such women as Vitoria Colonna and More’s daughter,
Margaret Roper, developed a reputation for classical
learning. But for the most part, the education of upper-
class women continued to emphasize the domestic and
social graces as it had done for centuries.
The usefulness of the Renaissance educational ideal
was in part responsible for the spread of humanism be-
yond the Alps. The requirements of life as a courtier or
servant of the crown in England, France, or Spain were
not unlike those demanded of the upper-class Italian.
Such people were among the first non-Italians to de-
velop an interest in the classics, but they were quickly
followed by their princes. Isabella of Castile, for exam-
ple, imported Italian humanists to raise the educational
standards of her court and administration. Lawyers, too,
were intrigued by humanist methods. The development
of philology and of the historical analysis of texts had
been among the first achievements of humanist scholar-
ship. The legal profession in France and Germany was
soon divided between those who added the new tech-
niques to their arsenals and those who refused to do
so. Above all, town councils were quick to recognize
the usefulness of officials trained in the new learning. It
became desirable, especially in the cities of the Holy
Roman Empire, to have town clerks who could commu-
nicate with one another in classical Latin and who pos-
sessed the training to interpret and decipher old
documents. Usefulness aside, the presence of learned
humanists within a town or principality had become a
matter of prestige.
The universities were in general more resistant to
change. They remained the strongholds of Aristotelian-
ism if for no other reason than that their traditional role
had been the training of theologians. Some, however,
such as John Colet at Oxford and Lefèvre d’Etaples at
Paris, began to perceive the usefulness of humanism for
the study of religious literature, which was another
form of ancient text. Others, outside the universities,
shared their concern. The most famous of those who
turned humanist methods to the study of Scripture andDOCUMENT 13.5
Louise Labé: The Education of Women
Though the Renaissance ideal of education extended only to a minority
of women, many saw even this as a liberating step forward in the devel-
opment of women as a whole. One of them was Louise Labé (c. 1524–
66), an important French poet whose ideas in some ways foreshadow
modern feminism. The following is from a dedicatory preface written to
a friend.
Since a time has come, Mademoiselle, when the severe
laws of men no longer prevent women from applying
themselves to the sciences and other disciplines, it seems
to me that those of us who can should use this long-
craved freedom to study and to let men see how greatly
they wronged us when depriving us of its honor and ad-
vantages. And if any woman becomes so proficient as to
be able to write down her thoughts, let her do so and not
despise the honor but rather flaunt it instead of fine
clothes, necklaces, and rings. For these may be considered
ours only by use, whereas the honor of being educated is
ours entirely.... If the heavens had endowed me with suf-
ficient wit to understand all I would have liked, I would
serve in this as an example rather than an admonishment.
But having devoted part of my youth to musical exercises,
and finding the time left too short for the crudeness of my
understanding, I am unable in my own case, to achieve
what I want for our sex, which is to see it outstrip men not
only in beauty but in learning and virtue. All I can do is to
beg our virtuous ladies to raise their minds somewhat
above their distaffs and spindles and try to prove to the
world that if we were not made to command, still we
should not be disdained in domestic and public matters by
those who govern and command obedience.
If there is anything to be recommended after honor
and glory, anything to incite us to study, it is the pleasure
which study affords. Study differs in this from all other
recreations, of which all one can say, after enjoying them,
is that one has passed the time. But study gives a more en-
during sense of satisfaction. For the past delights us and
serves more than the present.
Labé, Louise. Dedicatory preface. From J. Aynard, ed., Les poétes lyon-
nais précurseurs de la Pléide.In Julia O’Faolain and Lauro Martines, Not
in God’s Image: Women in History from the Greeks to the Victorians,
pp. 184–185. London: Temple Smith, 1973.