Abstract
In the court of the Catholic Monarchs (r. 1474-1516), Isabel I of Castile and Fernando II of Aragon, that of a ruling queen, humanists constructed theories of what it meant to be a ruler. Alonso Ortiz, one of the humanists attached to their court, composed the Latin text, Liber de educatione Johannis Serenissimi Principis et primogeniti regum potentissimorum Castelle Aragonum et Siciliae Ferdinandi et Helisabet inclyta prosapia coniugum clarissimorum, a book that reflects an idealized and disempowered humanist vision of elite women that contrasts with the agency they wielded in historical fact.
Highlights
Alonso Ortiz, one of the humanists attached to their court, composed the Latin text, Liber de educatione Johannis Serenissimi Principis et primogeniti regum potentissimorum Castelle Aragonum et Siciliae Ferdinandi et Helisabet inclyta prosapia coniugum clarissimorum, a book that reflects an idealized and disempowered humanist vision of elite women that contrasts with the agency they wielded in historical fact
Scholars have considered the long reign of the Catholic Kings (r. 1474-1516) a decisive moment in the history of Spain1
One of the problems in understanding medieval rulership and queenship is that sometimes scholars give too much credit to texts, such as mirrors of princes, that tended to be tailored to a specific ruler, and intended to give him or her advice regarding how to rule
Summary
Scholars have considered the long reign of the Catholic Kings (r. 1474-1516) a decisive moment in the history of Spain. One of the problems in understanding medieval rulership and queenship is that sometimes scholars give too much credit to texts, such as mirrors of princes (and of princesses), that tended to be tailored to a specific ruler, and intended to give him or her advice regarding how to rule (whether solicited or unsolicited). Those texts are certainly relevant to understanding medieval politics, but they reflect a theoretical model of government and behavior that did not necessarily coincide with historical reality, and tend to offer a model of agency for women that is very restricted. The text can serve as an example to help us understand expectations regarding queenship, kingship, and education, and how they related to humanistic discourse in an age that marked the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period
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