Cassandra Fedele
Topic: Renaissance, Reformation and the Scientific Revolution · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 5 "Changing Cultural Traditions"
Meaning
Cassandra Fedele (1465–1558) was a woman scholar from Venice. She knew Greek and Latin well, which was rare for a woman then. She was invited to give orations (formal speeches) at the University of Padua. She argued that women should study humanist subjects even though society gave them no reward for it. She stands for women's demand for a share in Renaissance learning.
Example
Fedele wrote that "even though the study of letters promises… no reward for women…, every woman ought to seek and embrace these studies". Venetian women writers like her criticised the republic for a freedom that favoured men's wishes over women's.
Don't confuse with
- Isabella d'Este: she was Marchesa of Mantua, a ruler who ran the state while her husband was away. Fedele was a scholar and speaker, not a ruler.