Eleonora Belligni’s 2011 Italian-language biography, Renata di Francia (1510–1575) Un’eresia di corte, brought renewed scholarly interest to Renée de France. In this chapter, Belligni approaches Renée’s biography in light of a specific fragment of women’s history: the concept of “simulated celibacy,” which she defines as a woman’s deliberate adoption of a set of habits and bearings designed to give the appearance that she is unmarried. According to Belligni, in her role as subventrix, Renée de France developed a much broader perspective on religious and political matters, surrounding herself with humanists, former academics, school teachers, and writers, a group that formed a heterogeneous network and subsisted in large part due to her financial and political support, even in Ferrara’s darkest hour. As a leader of this “heretical” community, Renée offers a significant place of this limited phenomenon, for she successfully exploited simulated celibacy not only to take a leading role in religious dissent, but also to remain somewhat independent from her husband, his duchy, and his culture.
A Challenging Wife: Renée de France and Simulated Celibacy
Belligni E.
2021-01-01
Abstract
Eleonora Belligni’s 2011 Italian-language biography, Renata di Francia (1510–1575) Un’eresia di corte, brought renewed scholarly interest to Renée de France. In this chapter, Belligni approaches Renée’s biography in light of a specific fragment of women’s history: the concept of “simulated celibacy,” which she defines as a woman’s deliberate adoption of a set of habits and bearings designed to give the appearance that she is unmarried. According to Belligni, in her role as subventrix, Renée de France developed a much broader perspective on religious and political matters, surrounding herself with humanists, former academics, school teachers, and writers, a group that formed a heterogeneous network and subsisted in large part due to her financial and political support, even in Ferrara’s darkest hour. As a leader of this “heretical” community, Renée offers a significant place of this limited phenomenon, for she successfully exploited simulated celibacy not only to take a leading role in religious dissent, but also to remain somewhat independent from her husband, his duchy, and his culture.
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
