An examination of how the Renaissance Period in Europe, considered to have been an era of “re-birth” of art, culture, and politics hardly touched the lives of women.
This paper discusses the position of women during the Renaissance (14th to 16th centuries) in Europe and how their social, cultural, economic and political conditions hardly changed during a supposed time of “re-birth” and turning point for the Western Civilization. It examines briefly the lives of some women who, despite the handicaps, managed to gain prominence during the Renaissance such as Queen Isabella of Spain and Queen Elizabeth I of England.
“The condition of women in the republic of Florence, the great Italian city-state where the renaissance was started and flourished, gives us a fair idea about the state of women during renaissance. There is little doubt that the social and legal constraints on women in Florence were such that female destiny was almost entirely in the hands of men with women having limited rights and even fewer opportunities for acting independently.”