control of the man who had just insulted their mother! Furthermore,
Boccaccio wrote, at a somewhat earlier date it is true, but in a state
of society which differed little from that under discussion, that women
were of little real consequence in the world, and that "since but few
good ones are to be found among them, they are to be avoided
altogether."

The position occupied by women in the eyes of the law is somewhat more
difficult to determine, but it may be said with certainty that they took
no part in the public duties of life and seem to have manifested no
yearnings in that direction. They did not vote or hold public office,
and would no doubt have looked inquiringly and without comprehension at
anyone who proposed such possibilities. Women were evidently being
shielded and protected as much as possible; property was rarely held by
them in their own names, and the laws appear to have been made for the
men almost exclusively. It will be remembered, perhaps, that when Dante
was banished from Florence, his wife was allowed to continue her
residence in that city without molestation, and was even able to save
much of their property from confiscation and devote it to the education
of their children. Later on, when Carlo Strozzi was sent away in exile,
his family was not disturbed in the least, and it was during his absence
from the city that his daughter Maddalena was married to Luchino
Visconti in the midst of most brilliant ceremonies. Guests were invited
from all the north of Italy, there were horseraces and tournaments, and
the whole function was one of great pomp and brilliancy. The brothers
and grown sons of exiled citizens were never accorded such
consideration, and it is but fair to assume that the popular sentiment
of the time demanded this exceptional treatment for the women. At one
time it was even held to be against the Florentine statutes to banish a
woman; in 1497, at the time of a conspiracy to restore the banished
Piero de' Medici to power, his sister, though proved to have conspired
in equal measure with the men, was not given an equal measure of
punishment; she was merely kept in seclusion for a period at the palace
of Guglielmo de' Pazzi, and was then set at liberty through the
influence of Francesco Valori, to whom it seemed unworthy to lay hands
upon a woman.

In the midst of this exciting and excited world, it may well be imagined
that the passions were strong and that women of charm and beauty w