The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 2, Winter 2019 | Page 53
es of Quattrocento Venice:
arola’s Humanist Career
3
to an education, was also a celebrated
female humanist in Northern Italy
in the late quattrocento. Unlike Isotta,
however, Cassandra and Laura were
never condemned for breaking into the
male-dominated realm of humanism
because, by that time, Venetian men
welcomed learned ladies in society. 52
By 1600, female humanists throughout
Italy were common and widely accepted;
they were no longer considered an
anomaly. 53 By contrast, the attitudes in
early quattrocento Venice were significantly
less welcoming. Consequently,
Isotta was mocked, disrespected, debased,
and called unchaste for being an
unmarried learned lady and not conforming
to her society’s rules for the female
gender. Being called unchaste was
the ultimate offense for women in the
quattrocento and since “Pliny” claimed
Isotta as such, even with no evidentiary
support, she was ultimately pushed
to abandon her secular humanist career
for one that was more acceptable to her
society.
Since antiquity, chastity had
been the quintessential virtue in a
woman. 54 Chastity was a virtue all girls
and women were required to follow
because the society of men believed it
ensured the continuity and legitimacy
of the male line after marriage. Therefore,
being unchaste was the worst sin
a female could commit; it would have
ruined not only her honor, but also that
of her entire family and even her city.
She was also accused of incest, which
was claimed to be the “most monstrous
of all” sins, since the Church associated
it with witchcraft and demons, according
to Allison Levy. 55 Therefore, Isotta’s