Later, however, there was a change in the relative degree of feminine
culture in Teutonic and Latin countries. In the former it rose, while in
Italy it declined. The Italian woman who, during the Renaissance,
occupied a place by man's side, contended with him for intellectual
prizes, and took part in every spiritual movement, fell into the
background. During the last two hundred years she has taken little or no
part in the higher life of the nation, for long ago she became a mere
tool in the hands of the priests. The Reformation gave the German woman
greater personal freedom. Especially since the beginning of the
eighteenth century have Germany and England produced numbers of highly
cultivated and even learned women. The superficiality of the education
of woman in general in Germany is not the fault of the Church, but of
the fashion, of society, and also of lack of means in our families.

A learned woman, whom men are more apt to fear than respect, is called,
when she writes books, a blue-stocking. During the Renaissance she was
called a _virago_, a title which was perfectly complimentary. Jacopo da
Bergamo constantly uses it as a term of respect in his work, _Concerning
Celebrated Women_, which he wrote in 1496.[13] Rarely do we find this
word used by Italians in the sense in which we now employ it,--namely,
termigant or amazon. At that time a _virago_ was a woman who, by her
courage, understanding, and attainments, raised herself above the masses
of her sex. And she was still more admired if in addition to these
qualities she possessed beauty and grace. Profound classic learning
among the Italians was not opposed to feminine charm; on the contrary,
it enhanced it. Jacopo da Bergamo specially praises it in this or that
woman, saying that whenever she appeared in public as a poet or an
orator, it was above all else her modesty and reserve which charmed her
hearers. In this vein he eulogizes Cassandra Fedeli, while he lauds
Ginevra Sforza for her elegance of form, her wonderful grace in every
motion, her calm and queenly bearing, and her chaste beauty. He
discovers the same in the wife of Alfonso of Aragon, Ippolita Sforza,
who possessed the highest attainments, the most brilliant eloquence, a
rare beauty, and extreme feminine modesty. What was then called modesty
(_pudor_) was the natural grace of a gifted woman increased by education
and association. This modesty Lucretia Borgia possessed in a high
degree. In woman i