IDEA: Isabella d’Este Archive is redesigned, and back online. IDEA includes manuscript visualizations, videos, and a virtual model of Isabella d’Este’s famous studiolo as well as a Zotero bibliography of materials relating to Isabella and the Italian Renaissance. See IDEA’s News link for book announcements and other relevant notices.
https://petruscamper.com/billon.htm
This [1972] dissertation is the first study devoted to François de Billon and his book “Le Fort inexpugnable de l’honneur du sexe femenin” (1555), though his name crops up in works on feminism as a strong defender of women and the historian of the “Querelle des Femmes”. Billon serves as the basis for Abel Lefranc’s judgment that Rabelais was the misogynist par excellence, and that the “Tiers Livre” is Rabelais’s participation in the “Querelle des Femmes” (1904). This view has been disputed in recent years, and a closer study of Billon should elucidate this question.
A careful analysis of this work, aided by research of biographical and historical nature, shows that the prime interest of Billon was not a defense of women but a defense of secretaries and particularly those working in the interest of the Kingdom of France. Convinced that women and secretaries both suffer from unjustified contempt, and that they should be judged according to their individual merit, Billon joins the party of the defenders of women in the hope they in turn will help his own kind. By ignoring the last third part of the book, devoted to the greatness of France, and the divine mission of the King of France and his helpers (his secretaries), critics have overlooked Billon’s real interest: his belief in the prophecies of Guillaume Postel and his fervent patriotism. His adherence to the ideas of Postel and his admiration for him explain his antagonism to Rabelais, giving it a very personal slant and disqualifying him as an objective judge of Rabelais’s ideas. This study shows that even though Billon understands the essence of women’s griefs, he is no historian of the “Querelle” and is a participant only in so far that he believes all human beings should be judged on their merit instead of their birth, thus expressing some aspirations of the educated bourgeoisie and the rising class of fonctionnaires. This conviction results in interesting commentaries on events and persons of his times that lead the modern reader to a better understanding of 16th-century society.
https://estheringliscreativewoman.wordpress.com/
A website introducing the calligrapher, artist, embroiderer and writer Esther Inglis (1570?–1624). Included is biographical information as well as the locations, sources, and dedicatees of her manuscripts, and a currently updated bibliography.
http://www.christina-akademien.se/
The Christina Academy is a forum for scientific, historical, and artistic research on Queen Christina. The purpose is to spread knowledge about Christina and her time, and stimulate conversation and exchange between anyone interested in the Queen. The website is a hub for current projects, a resource for scholars, and a public platform that makes information about Christina more accessible. The site also includes short essays on topics related to Queen Christina written by experts in the field as well as research resources, timelines, and educational tools. The group also sponsors events, lectures, and programming related to Queen Christina and her circle for members.
http://projectvox.library.duke.edu/
An extensive collection of early modern women’s writing that includes texts, teaching resources, an online lab for tool exploration, and digital publications on the collection.
Women & Shakespeare Podcast is a monthly series that features conversations with diverse women directors, actors, writers, and academics who are involved in making and interpreting Shakespeare. It is designed to harness digital humanities to redress the gender and racial disparity in academic citational practices, public discourse, and rehearsal room power dynamics in the field of Shakespeare studies and performance. Funded by NYU (New York University), Series 1 includes guests ranging from renowned actors Dona Croll, Kathy Pogson, and Janet Suzman to Orwell prize-winning author, Dr Delia Jarett Macauley to Head of Higher Education and Research at Shakespeare’s Globe and Vice-President of the Shakespeare Association of America, Professor Farah Karim-Cooper, to multiple award-winning playwright Chris Bush.
Marguerite de Roberval: A Web-Based Approach to Teaching a Renaissance Heroine
This resource offers approaches to teaching Marguerite de Roberval, a young French woman who survived being marooned on a perilous island in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence during the sixteenth century. She was the inspiration for three published works in Renaissance France and numerous other accounts since then.
Early Modern Female Book Ownership
A collection of important evidence for research on early modern women, this blog features posts with evidence of early modern female book ownership, including signatures and other marginalia.
Teaching La Princesse de Clèves: A Web-Based Approach to a Seventeenth-Century Text
A website designed for exploring La Princesse de Clèves with undergraduates, including teaching ideas, worksheets and discussion materials, and a list of film adaptations.
Teaching Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron
A site designed to help introduce undergraduates to Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron.
