De institutione feminae Christianae

About this book

Vives' tract on the eduction of women, De Institutione Feminae Christianae (1524, revised 1538) became a model for conduct books in various Protestant traditions and as such has always been of interest to historians of education. However, the treatise also made a very important contribution to the querelle des femmes of its time and has consequently generated much interest among modern historians of women and gender. It consists of 3 books, one for each stage of woman's life - maidenhood, marriage and widowhood. The only English translation of the text on offer till now was the inaccurate and free version of Richard Hyrde (a friend of Thomas More), published early in the 10th century by Foster Watson, but now unavailable. This edition offers a new Latin text with a double apparatus and a facing-page English translation with notes, with an introduction to the edition and the text. Volume I (1996) contains Book I, volume 2 covers Books II-III.