elstaffe’s Reviews > Uppity Women of the Renaissance > Status Update

"Margaret lived over eighty years, arguing to the last that the voice women had gained among the Friends was proof of a new millennium and 'the True Church.' (Close, but no cigar; Quaker fempower nosedived in later centuries. So did the caliber of membership. In the twentieth century, it included Richard Nixon.)" (214) sad trombone

"In 1600, when the diaries of Simon Forman came to an abrupt and tantalizing end, [Thomas and Alice Blague] were still the astrologer's best clients-even though he'd failed to foresee the birth of their daughter Frances, born with a glorious mane of hair that flowed over her entire body." (181) over her ENTIRE body? that is either a lot of head hair or a tiny baby

"The king was OK, but Agnes [Sorel] preferred to pal around with her best friends— who happened to be the king's wife Marie and his mother-in-law Yolande of Anjou.
... Agnes .. died after childbirth in 1450. You think the king was devastated? You shoulda seen his wife Marie, who instantly moved out." (179) they were close personal friends

"Even in bosom-happy, hang-loose Renaissance times, Agnes Sorel stuck out. Really stuck out. Immortalized by a famous painter, posing as the Madonna with child, the mistress and dominatrix of wimpy King Charles VIl of France was a breed apart. Her 'bustin' out all over' portrait by Jean Fouquet became the mainstay of the new bodice undergarment industry." (179)

"A muchacha of modest means from a Spanish burg, Elena de Céspedes" (158) wow

"In her most notorious duel, she took on three male opponents who'd gotten riled when she passionately kissed 'their' girl on the dance floor. Interrupted in mid-osculation, Maupin puffed out her chest and said, 'You wanna piece a me? Hanh?' Depending on whose version you believe, [Aubigny de Maupin] either dispatched the trio or killed them." (152) is...is that not the same thing?

"[Olimpia Morata's] best pal was Anne, daughter of Duchess Renée, Head Mozzarella of the Ferrara court." (143) this took me a bit to get because I was like "is this supposed to be like 'head honcho' but in Italian, who can pronounce those crazy Italian words", until I realized it was "big cheese but Italian", which is marginally better

"Quick—who was Germany's most gender-independent rascal? It could very well have been Isabella Geelvinck, a talented cross-dresser who hailed from Bodensee. ...
This fetishist just could not get her fill of male uniforms." (138) what a weird way to talk about gender, particularly now but I feel like even for the time...is a gender fetishist someone who fetishizes gender? What?

"Trijn Jurriaens, a today-male, tomorrow-female swindler, forger, and smooth talker, ... as 'Hendrik Brughman' ... courted and bedded another woman, whose delightful naiveté failed to notice her man's lack of equipment for the job. Thrilled nonetheless, the new fiancée laid gifts-maybe even an advance on her dowry money—on Hendrik." (134) they were close personal friends

"Dr. Heyssin won her case, and the right to continue practicing medicine. As she argued, 'Such activities are done by honorable women, not only here but in other cities as large and important as Memmingen. Such are fitting things for women to do.'" (124) she'll bring honor to us all