The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 40

The Aristotelian Philosophi
The Effect on Isotta Nog
lic. 13 However, Isotta’s father must have
educated Isotta and her sister Ginerva
in classical oration and rhetoric for, as
young girls, they were praised for their
intellect and eloquence and gained notoriety
as prodigies by rhetoricians in
Northern Italy. 14
Although considered rare, yet not
unheard of in the Northern Communes,
some young girls of the social elite were
educated in humanist studies under the
tutelage of a father or patriarchal figure
for the purpose of educating future
sons as male citizens; an advanced education
beyond domesticity was more
prevalent in dynastic or royal families
in Northern Italy where a classical or
humanist education prepared them for
courtly life and the governance of their
husband’s land. 15 A noble daughter,
such as Isotta, was never expected to
be in a position of authority. Therefore,
Isotta’s advanced education in classical
and humanist studies was the exception,
not the rule. Ross has suggested
that through the “intellectual family,”
fathers educated their daughters in humanist
studies because it brought more
honor to the family name, increased the
family’s social standing, and improved
the girl’s marriageability. 16 Therefore,
the education of young noble daughters
in humanist studies was purely a choice
made by the patriarch of the family in
the early fifteenth century. 17
When her father died suddenly,
sometime before 1433, Isotta’s mother,
Bianca Borromeo, insisted that Isotta’s
humanist education continue and hired
Martino Rizzio, a humanist student of
Guarino, to tutor her. During that time,
1