Veronica Franco: Poems and Selected Letters
The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: Veronica Franco
Edited by Ann Rosalind Jones and Margaret F. Rosenthal, this book delves into the life and works of Veronica Franco, a prominent figure in 16th-century Venice.
Series Overview
The series, edited by Margaret L. King and Albert Rabil, Jr., explores the voices of women in early modern Europe, a period spanning from 1300 to 1700. It highlights women who challenged the conventional norms and expectations of their time.
Key Aspects:
Equality: Advocated for the equality of women in terms of moral, spiritual, and intellectual capabilities.
Education and Influence: Supported higher education for women and their participation in public life.
Chastity and Domesticity: Challenged the traditional notions of female chastity and domestic responsibility, envisioning alternative female communities.
Impact:
While these voices did not immediately alter social patterns, they laid the foundation for the feminist tradition and the realignment of social institutions in the modern age.
Introduction: The Honored Courtesan
Veronica Franco, an "honored courtesan," expressed pro-woman views through her poems and letters. Although not an explicit feminist essayist, her frank eroticism and eloquence distinguished her from the conventional ideal of a chaste, silent woman.
Key Aspects:
Protofeminist Arguments: Presented in an oblique yet defiant manner.
Context: Her position as a cortigiana onesta (honored courtesan) influenced her literary production.
Role of a Courtesan:
Courtesans made a living by engaging in sexual relations with the elite for a high fee.
Success required beauty, sophistication, and cultivated conversation.
Intellectual pursuits like writing poetry and prose enhanced their status.
Franco's Literary Engagement:
Associated with distinguished men at Domenico Venier's literary salon during the 1570s and 1580s.
Venier provided protection and support for her writings.
She defended herself against male critics and advocated for the welfare of fellow courtesans and women in general.
Feminist Perspective:
Addressed the subordination of women and championed their cause.
Her work reflected her life experiences and feminist ideals.
Biography
(1546-1591)
Born in Venice in 1546, Veronica Franco came from a family of cittadini originari, native-born citizens belonging to a professional caste involved in government bureaucracy and religious societies (confraternities).
Old venetian family
Family Background:
Father: Francesco Franco
Mother: Paola Fracassa, who was also a courtesan.
Paola acted as a go-between for Veronica, managing her fees and clients.
Courtesans in Late Renaissance:
New roles for women in late renaissance:
the court lady ( a courtier;s wife)
the courtesan ( a sex worker for elite clients)
Courtesan Terminology:
Meretrice: Neutral term for a woman selling sexual services (prostitute).
Puttana: Insulting term for the poorest and most condemned sex workers (whore).
Cortigiana: Derived from cortigiano (a man serving at court), connoting splendor and expertise.
Cortigiana onesta: "Honored" courtesan, indicating privilege, wealth, and recognition.
Meretrice sumptuosa: (luxury prostitute) Term used by Venetian authorities.
The courtesan as a scape goat
Helps the public navigate restrictive social norms with “minimal damage”
Courtesans are both privileged and prisoners:
acces to libraries, education, knowldedge
but still an instrument of male endeavors
Courtesans as skilled actors:
Courtesans used their intelligence and charm to challenge social norms through
Franco's Achievements:
Distinguished herself through high-cultural accomplishments, attracting elite clients.
Advocated for women's rights and welfare.
1580 Founds la Casa del Soccorso “House of Refuge” to respond to gaps left by the Casa delle Zitelle ( a refuge for unmarried girls).
1591 dies in poverty
Wills and Economic Concerns:
Franco made two wills demonstrating practical economic concern for women.
First Will (1564): Made when pregnant, providing a dowry for a daughter, support for women servants, and assistance to poor, unmarried Venetian girls through confraternities.
(1565) Becomes an honored courtesan like her mother.
Second Will (1570): Provided money for the marriages of two Venetian girls and for prostitutes seeking to leave their profession by marrying or entering a convent.
Family Life:
She was the only daughter with three sons.
Briefly married to a doctor, Paolo Panizza, but separated shortly after.
Had six children, three of whom died in infancy; none were Paolo's.
Supported her household, including children, tutors, and servants.
Later Years:
1580 Trial: Accused by the Venetian Inquisition of witchcraf; acquitted with the help of Venier.
Petition to the Venetian Council: Explained her poverty due to fleeing Venice during the plague (1575-77), theft, and raising her nephews.
Tax Declaration (1582): Lived near the church of San Samuele, where poorer prostitutes resided.
Proposed the establishment of a new home for women ineligible for existing shelters like the Casa delle Zitelle and the Convertite.
Died at forty-five after a life of wealth and hardship.
Education and Intellectual Life:
Shared education with her brothers through private tutors.
Engaged with learned men, writers, and painters.
Frequent visitor to Domenico Venier's literary salon at Ca Venier.
Known as a poet by her mid-twenties, writing sonnets for anthologies.
Poems in Terza Rima
Franco's first book, Poems in Terza Rima, reflects and transforms her life experiences. She addresses her poems to male patrons, seeking their response and engaging in sexual and rhetorical contests.
Key Themes:
Frankness: Celebrates her sexual expertise and the erotic pleasure courtesans provide.
Challenge to Petrarchan Poetry: Offers alternatives to the idealized clichés of unattainable women in male-dominated discourse.
Capitolo 16: Defends herself against insults by Maffio Venier, using the literary context to assert her rhetorical power.
Familiar Letters
Franco's Familiar Letters shape a representation of a courtesan's life for a public audience.
Content:
Daily activities: playing music, sitting for a portrait, organizing dinner parties.
Motherhood: congratulating a noblewoman, apologizing for not writing due to her sons' illness.
Commentary on events and situations from her poems.
Public literary activities and image projection: sending poems for revision, declaring enthusiasm for intellectual discussions in academies.
Adopts a position of public authority, highlighting her education, rhetorical skill, and solidarity with women.
Sources
Franco's poetry and prose were influenced by the literary experimentation of the Venier ridotto (salon).
The group focused on medieval vernacular poetry, which contrasted with Pietro Bembo's emphasis on Petrarchan sonnets and classical rhetoric.
They explored the capitolo, a verse form used for literary debate by Provençal poets, revived by satirists like Francesco Berni.
Franco used the tenzone, a poetic debate with a challenge/response pattern, often invoking Domenico Venier as a literary counselor.
Franco uniquely equates her sexual prowess as a courtesan and verbal prowess as a poet with armed battle.
Major sources included Dante's Commedia, Ovid's Metamorphoses, and ancient Roman elegy (Catullus, Ovid, Propertius, Tibullus).
Ovid's Heroides and Epistulae ex Ponto provided epistolary models and themes of separation.
Veronica Franco was an “honored courtesan,” or cortigiana onesta, during the 16th century in Venice. This meant she was a high-status courtesan who served elite clientele and was known for her beauty, sophistication, cultivated conversation, and intellectual pursuits like writing poetry and prose, enhancing their status. This made her different from other women selling sexual services, who were often referred to as meretrice (neutral term for prostitute) or puttana (insulting term for the poorest sex workers). Franco distinguished herself through high-cultural accomplishments, advocating for women's rights and welfare.
Examples of Franco’s feminism:
She presented protofeminist arguments in an oblique yet defiant manner through her poems and letters.
She defended herself against male critics and advocated for the welfare of fellow courtesans and women in general.
Her work addressed the subordination of women and championed their cause, reflecting her life experiences and feminist ideals.
She demonstrated practical economic concern for women through her wills, providing dowries and support.
She proposed the establishment of a new home for women ineligible for existing shelters.
Examples of Franco’s feminism are represented in both her life and works:
She wrote poems and letters with feminist ideas.
She defended herself against male critics and advocated for the welfare of fellow courtesans and women in general.
Her work addressed the subordination of women and championed their cause, reflecting her life experiences and feminist ideals.
She demonstrated practical economic concern for women through her wills, providing dowries and support.
She proposed the establishment of a new home for women ineligible for existing shelters.