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List of plates | |
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Acknowledgements | |
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Frequently cited sources | |
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Introduction | |
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Ideals | |
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Woman's nature and characteristics | |
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The case against women | |
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Theological arguments | |
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Biological arguments | |
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Biology to social psychology: woman's temperament and characteristics | |
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From description to prescription: notions of womanly virtues | |
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The discourse of beauty and love | |
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The nature and value of woman's beauty | |
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Beauty and classical echoes | |
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Beauty and vernacular poetry | |
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Questioning and reversing poetic ideals of beauty | |
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The diffusion of poetic ideals of beauty | |
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Ideal love | |
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The Virgin Mary | |
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Women approaching Mary as woman and exemplar | |
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Public cults | |
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Private devotions | |
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Female saints | |
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Cults, prayers, stories | |
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Female saints and female devotion | |
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Renaissance saints and holy women | |
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Famous and exemplary women | |
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Goddesses | |
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Old Testament heroines | |
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Famous women among the ancients | |
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Anti-heroines and their vices | |
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Famous women and Renaissance women | |
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Life cycles | |
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Girls | |
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The birth of a daughter | |
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Upbringing | |
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Appearance and dress | |
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Education | |
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Social behaviour and pastimes | |
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Poor girls | |
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Betrothals and weddings | |
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Choosing a husband/Choosing a wife | |
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The betrothal | |
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Dowries, gifts and commemorative art | |
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The wedding and wedding festivities | |
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Marriage and married life | |
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The justification for marriage | |
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Conduct and behaviour in marriage: the marriage treatise | |
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Conduct and behaviour in marriage: two churchmen's views | |
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Outward appearance | |
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Domestic spaces and furnishings | |
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Running a household | |
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The life of married women | |
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Preparing for death | |
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Unhappy marriages | |
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Conception, childbirth and the upbringing of children | |
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Conception | |
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Pregnancy | |
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Childbirth | |
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Festivities after the birth of a child | |
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Death in childbirth | |
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Bringing up children | |
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Widows | |
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Exemplary widows; widowhood in general | |
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Alternative widowhoods | |
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The aftermath of bereavement | |
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Coping alone: financial and practical matters | |
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Bringing up children | |
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Remarriage | |
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Influential widows | |
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Widows dispose of their estates | |
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Piety and charitable activities | |
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Roles | |
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Nuns and women in religion | |
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Entering a convent: procedures, motivations, personnel | |
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The monastic way of life: ideals and practices | |
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Problems and abuses | |
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The physical environment of nuns; their use of artefacts | |
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Nuns' social contacts and cultural roles | |
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The Third Orders and other non-enclosed religious groupings | |
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The court lady | |
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The court lady as an ideal | |
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The court lady | |
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The donna di corte or lady-in-waiting | |
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The roles of a ruler's wife | |
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Luxury at court | |
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Relaxation and pastimes | |
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Mistresses and concubines | |
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Women and work for gain | |
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Women in the marketplace | |
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Textile workers | |
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Servants and slaves | |
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Wet-nurses | |
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Hospital staff | |
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Prostitutes and courtesans | |
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Prostitutes in city spaces | |
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Different methods and behaviour | |
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The successful courtesan | |
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Courtesans speak | |
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Negative views of courtesans | |
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Attempts at reform | |
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Writers, artists, musicians and performers | |
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Backgrounds, settings, training, mentors | |
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Positive critical reactions | |
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Negative reactions: issues of decorum | |
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Self-presentation and justification | |
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The plates | |
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Index | |