Italian professor Jennifer Haraguchi presented her research for her upcoming book on the writings of 17th century educator Eleonora Ramirez di Montalvo at the Humanities Center Colloquium.
PROVO, Utah (Oct. 2, 2014)—A 17th century woman was limited to 2 life aspirations: to be married off young or become a cloistered nun. Italian professor Jennifer Haraguchi’s research conveys the alternate and lesser-known path of 17th century lay communities of women through the life work and writings of Eleonora Ramirez di Montalvo, an innovative and influential woman who pushed the boundaries of women’s education in 17th century Florence.
“Montalvo exemplifies a third path outside of marriage or the convent,” said Haraguchi. “Before it was thought primarily that women either married or joined a convent. Now we have a better understanding that there were other options for women. Montalvo formed what was called a ‘lay conservatory.’”
Haraguchi said that Montalvo founded two lay conservatories for girls in Florence during the 17th century. Her first lay conservatory, “Il Conventino,” was founded for poor and needy girls as a place where they received both secular and religious instruction. She later founded a second lay convent for wealthy girls that she called “La Quiete” that served the same purpose.
“What’s unique about these institutions is that there was a degree of individual agency that was typically not afforded in the convent,” said Haraguchi. “These places provided a forum for Montalvo to articulate her ideas and to write administrative guides, plays, and poems as a curriculum for the girls that lived there.”
Montalvo is relatively unknown among scholars, something that Haraguchi is hoping to change as she makes more of her writings available through her research and translation.
“I hope that it helps people explore the place of Montalvo’s lay conservatories among institutions for women’s education outside the convent in the early modern period, and demonstrate how Montalvo pushed against this societal expectation that women should prepare themselves only for marriage or the convent,” said Haraguchi.
Haraguchi concluded, “[Montalvo’s] conservatories and writings provided an uncommon path for women to increase their knowledge of spiritual concepts and to have intense spiritual experiences without becoming nuns. They could still choose at 15 if they wanted to marry or join a convent, but they also had this third path to remain for life, and many of them did, in an all-female, semi-enclosed setting with a measured amount of freedom that allowed them to work and sustain themselves.”
Contact Jennifer Haraguchi for more information about her research on Eleonora Ramirez di Montalvo and her writings.
—Sylvia Cutler (BA English ’17)