View source for De Mulieribus Claris

{{Short description|1361–62 biographies by Giovanni Boccaccio}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title      =  
| name              =De Mulieribus Claris
| image             =  Women playing music.jpg
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| alt               = 
| caption           =A miniature depicting a queen with four musicians from a c.&nbsp;1440 illuminated version of the ''De Claris Mulieribus'' held by the [[British Museum]]<ref>[http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8359 Royal 16 G V] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816091659/http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/record.asp?MSID=8359 |date=2018-08-16 }} fol. 3v</ref>
| author            = [[Giovanni Boccaccio]]
| audio_read_by     = 
| title_orig        = De Mulieribus Claris
| orig_lang_code    = la
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| country           = [[Republic of Florence|Florence]]
| language          = [[Latin]]
| series            = 
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| subject           = 
| genre             = [[biography]]
| set_in            = 
| publisher         = 
| publisher2        = 
| pub_date          = 1361–62
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| media_type        = [[Manuscript]]
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| isbn_note         = 
| oclc              = 
| dewey             =  	920.72
| congress          =  PQ4274.D5 E5 
| preceded_by       = <!-- for books in a series -->
| followed_by       = <!-- for books in a series -->
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'''''De Mulieribus Claris''''' or '''''De Claris Mulieribus''''' ([[Latin]] for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the [[Florence|Florentine]] author [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. It is the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in post-ancient Western literature.<ref name="Brown_xi">{{harvp|Boccaccio|2003|p=xi}}</ref> At the same time as he was writing ''On Famous Women'', Boccaccio also compiled a collection of biographies of famous men,'' [[De Casibus Virorum Illustrium]]'' (''On the Fates of Famous Men'').

== The famous women ==
[[File:Woodcut illustration of Cleopatra and Mark Antony - Penn Provenance Project.jpg|thumb|''The Banquet of [[Cleopatra]] and [[Mark Antony|Antony]]'', a [[woodcut]] from a 1479 version of [[Giovanni Boccaccio]]'s ''De Mulieribus Claris'' published in [[Ulm]], Germany, which also depicts the [[Death of Cleopatra|suicides of Cleopatra and Antony]]{{sfnp|Anderson|2003|p=50}}]]

{{Div col}}
*1. [[Eve]], the first woman in the Bible
*2. [[Semiramis]], queen of the Assyrians
*3. [[Ops|Opis]], wife of Saturn
*4. [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], goddess of the Kingdoms
*5. [[Ceres (Roman mythology)|Ceres]], goddess of the harvest and queen of Sicily
*6. [[Minerva]], Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy
*7. [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], queen of Cyprus
*8. [[Isis]], queen and goddess of Egypt
*9. [[Europa (mythology)|Europa]], queen of Crete
*10. [[Libya (mythology)|Libya]], queen of Libya
*11 and 12. [[Marpesia]] and [[Lampedo]], queens of the Amazons
*13. [[Thisbe]], a Babylonian maiden
*14. [[Hypermnestra]], queen of the Argives and priestess of Juno
*15. [[Niobe]], queen of Thebes
*16. [[Hypsipyle]], queen of Lemnos
*17. [[Medea]], queen of Colchis and lover of Jason in the "Argonautica"
*18. [[Arachne]] of Colophon
*19 and 20. [[Orithyia (Amazon)|Orithyia]] and [[Antiope (Amazon)|Antiope]], queens of the Amazons
*21. [[Erythraean Sibyl|Erythraea]] or Heriphile, a [[Sibyl]]
*22. [[Medusa]], daughter of Phorcus
*23. [[Iole]], daughter of the king of the Aetolians
*24. [[Deianira]], wife of Hercules
*25. [[Jocasta]], queen of Thebes
*26. [[Cumaean Sibyl|Amaltheia]] or Deiphebe, a [[Sibyl]]
*27. [[Nicostrata]], or [[Carmenta]], daughter of King Ionius
*28. [[Procris]], wife of Cephalus
*29. [[Argea|Argia]], wife of Polynices and daughter of King Adrastus
*30. [[Manto (mythology)|Manto]], daughter of Tiresias
*31. The wives of the [[Minyans]]
*32. [[Penthesilea]], queen of the Amazons
*33. [[Polyxena]], daughter of King Priam
*34. [[Hecuba]], queen of the Trojans
*35. [[Cassandra]], daughter of King Priam of Troy
*36. [[Clytemnestra]], queen of Mycenae
*37. [[Helen of Troy]], whose abduction by [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] began the [[Trojan War]]
*38. [[Circe]], daughter of the Sun
*39. [[Camilla (mythology)|Camilla]], queen of the Volscians
*40. [[Penelope]], wife of Ulysses
*41. [[Lavinia]], queen of Laurentum
*42. [[Dido (Queen of Carthage)|Dido]], or Elissa, queen of Carthage
*43. [[Queen of Sheba|Nicaula]], queen of Ethiopia
*44. [[Pamphile]], daughter of Platea
*45. [[Rhea Silvia|Rhea Ilia]], a Vestal Virgin
*46. [[Gaia Cyrilla]] (Tanaquil), wife of King [[Tarquinius Priscus]]
*47. [[Sappho]], poet from the island of Lesbos 
*48. [[Lucretia]], wife of Collatinus
*49. [[Tamyris]], queen of Scythia
*50. [[Leaena]], a courtesan who was tortured to death by the dictator Hippias
*51. [[Athaliah]], queen of Jerusalem
*52. [[Cloelia]], a Roman maiden
*53. [[Hippo, a Greek woman]]
*54. [[Megullia Dotata]]
*55. [[Veturia]], a Roman matron
*56. [[Timarete|Thamyris]], daughter of Micon
*57. A conflation of [[Artemisia II of Caria|Artemisia II]] and [[Artemisia I of Caria|Artemisia I]], queens of Caria
*58. [[Verginia]], virgin and daughter of Virginius
*59. [[Eirene (artist)|Eirene]], daughter of Cratinus
*60. [[Leontium]]
*61. [[Olympias]], queen of Macedonia
*62. [[Claudia (Roman mythology)|Claudia]], a Vestal Virgin
*63. [[Verginia (wife of Lucius Volumnius Flamma)|Virginia]], wife of [[Lucius Volumnius Flamma Violens|Lucius Volumnius]]
*64. [[Flora (mythology)|Flora]], goddess of flowers and wife of Zephyrus
*65. [[Roman Charity|A young Roman woman]]
*66. [[Iaia|Marcia]], daughter of Varro
*67. [[Sulpicia (wife of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus)|Sulpicia]], wife of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus
*68. [[Harmonia (Gelo)|Harmonia]], daughter of Gelon, son of [[Hiero II of Syracuse]]
*69. [[Busa of Canosa di Puglia]]
*70. [[Sophonisba]], queen of Numidia
*71. [[Theoxena of Thessaly|Theoxena]], daughter of Prince Herodicus
*72. [[Laodice of Cappadocia|Berenice]], queen of Cappadocia
*73. [[The Wife of Orgiagon the Galatian]]
*74. [[Tertia Aemilia]], wife of the [[Scipio Africanus|elder Africanus]]
*75. [[Dripetrua]], queen of Laodice
*76. [[Sempronia (sister of the Gracchi)|Sempronia]], daughter of [[Gaius Gracchus|Gracchus]]
*77. [[Claudia Quinta]], a Roman woman
*78. [[Hypsicratea]], Queen of Pontus
*79. [[Sempronia (wife of Decimus Brutus)|Sempronia]], a Roman Woman
*80. The Wives of the [[Cimbri]]an 
*81. [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]], daughter of the dictator Julius Caesar
*82. [[Porcia Catonis|Portia]], daughter of Cato Uticensis
*83. [[Curia (wife of Quintus Lucretius)|Curia]], wife of Quintus Lucretius
*84. [[Hortensia (orator)|Hortensia]], daughter of [[Quintus Hortensius]]
*85. [[Sulpicia (Crus)|Sulpicia]], wife of [[Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus|Cruscellio]]
*86. [[Cornificia]], a poet
*87. [[Mariamne (second wife of Herod)|Mariamme]], queen of Judaea
*88. [[Cleopatra]], queen of Egypt
*89. [[Antonia Minor|Antonia]], daughter of Antony
*90. [[Agrippina the elder|Agrippina]], wife of Germanicus
*91. Paulina, a Roman woman seduced by Decius Mundus pretending to be [[Anubis]]
*92. [[Agrippina the Younger|Agrippina]], mother of the Emperor Nero
*93. [[Epicharis (Pisonian conspirator)|Epicharis]], a freedwoman
*94. [[Pompeia Paulina]], wife of Seneca
*95. [[Poppaea Sabina]], wife of Nero
*96. [[Triaria]], wife of Lucius Vitellius
*97. [[Faltonia Betitia Proba|Proba]], wife of Adelphus
*98. [[Faustina the Younger|Faustina Augusta]]
*99. [[Julia Soaemias|Symiamira]], woman of Emesa
*100. [[Zenobia]], queen of Palmyra
*101. [[Pope Joan|Joan]], an Englishwoman and Pope
*102. [[Irene (empress)|Irene]], Empress of Constantinople
*103. [[Gualdrada]], a Florentine maiden
*104. [[Constance I of Sicily|Constance]], Empress of Rome and queen of Sicily
*105. [[Camiola]], a Sienese widow
*106. [[Joan I of Naples|Joanna]], queen of Jerusalem and Sicily
{{Div col end}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{citation|last=Anderson |first=Jaynie |title=Tiepolo's Cleopatra |location=Melbourne |publisher=Macmillan |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_zR2mHWPmoC |isbn=9781876832445 |postscript=.}}
*{{cite book |last=Boccaccio |first=Giovanni |author-link=Giovanni Boccaccio |year=2003 |translator=Virginia Brown |title=Famous Women |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |series=I Tatti Renaissance Library |volume=1 |isbn=0-674-01130-9 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Boitani |first=Piero |year=1976 |title=The ''Monk's Tale'': Dante and Boccaccio |journal=[[Medium Ævum]] |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=50–69 |doi=10.2307/43628171 |jstor=43628171 }}
*{{citation |first=Helen |last=Watanabe-O'Kelly|title=Beauty Or Beast?: The Woman Warrior in the German Imagination from the Renaissance to the Present |publisher= Oxford University Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780199558230 }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==

===Primary sources===
*Boccaccio, ''Poeet Ende Philosophe, Bescrivende van den Doorluchtighen, Glorioesten ende Edelsten Vrouwen'' ([[Antwerp]], 1525)
*Boccaccio, ''Tractado de John Bocacio, de las Claras, Excellentes y Mas Famosas y Senaladas Damas'' ([[Zaragoza]], 1494)
*Boccaccio, ''De la Louenge et Vertu des Nobles et Cleres Dames'' ([[Paris]], 1493)
*Boccaccio, ''De Preclaris Mulieribus'' ([[Strassburg]], 1475)
*Boccaccio, ''De Preclaris Mulieribus'' ([[Leuven|Louvain]], 1487)
*Boccaccio, ''De Mulieribus Claris'' ([[Bern]], 1539)
*Boccaccio, ''De Mulieribus Claris'' ([[Ulm]], 1473)
*Boccaccio, ''[[Laurent de Premierfait|French translation]]'' ([[Paris]], 1405)

===Secondary sources===
*Schleich, G. ed., ''Die mittelenglische Umdichtung von Boccaccio De claris mulieribus, nebst der latinischen Vorlage'', Palaestra ([[Leipzig]], 1924)
*Wright, H.G., ed., ''Translated from Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus'', Early English Text Society, Original series w/Latin ([[London]], 1943)
*Guarino, G. A., ''Boccaccio, Concerning Famous Women'' ([[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]], N.J., 1963)
*Zaccaria, V., ed., ''De mulieribus claris'' with Italian translation ([[Milan]], 1967 and 1970)
*Branca, V., ed., ''Tutte le opere di Giovani Boccaccio,'' volume 10 (1967)
*Zaccaria, V., ed., ''De mulieribus claris, Studi sul Boccaccio'' ([[Milan]], 1963)
* Müller, Ricarda, ''Ein Frauenbuch des frühen Humanismus. Untersuchungen zu Boccaccios De mulieribus claris'' (Stuttgart, 1992), {{ISBN|978-3-515-06028-8}}
*Kolsky, S., ''Ghost of Boccaccio: Writings on Famous Women'', (2005)
*Franklin, M., ''Boccaccio's Heroines: Power and Virtue in Renaissance Society'' (2006)
*Filosa, E., ''Tre Studi sul De mulieribus claris'' (2012)

==External links==
{{Commons category|De mulieribus claris}}
* ''[http://www.heliotropia.org/02-02/marafioti.shtml The Genealogy of Women: Studies in Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080131050701/http://www.heliotropia.org/02-02/marafioti.shtml |date=2008-01-31 }}''
* ''[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-141645099.html The ghost of Boccaccio: writings on famous women in Renaissance Italy]''
* [http://www.heliotropia.org/01-01/armstrong.pdf Its publishing development history by Guyda Armstrong of Brown University] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808140253/http://www.heliotropia.org/01-01/armstrong.pdf |date=2018-08-08 }}

{{Giovanni Boccaccio}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1361 books]]
[[Category:14th-century books in Latin]]
[[Category:Biographical dictionaries of women]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Helen of Troy]]
[[Category:Depictions of Cleopatra in literature]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Cloelia]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Dido]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Sappho]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Agrippina the Elder]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Agrippina the Younger]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Poppaea Sabina]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of the queen of Sheba]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Tanaquil]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Sempronia (wife of Decimus Brutus)]]
[[Category:Biographies in Latin]]
[[Category:Works by Giovanni Boccaccio]]
[[Category:Joanna I of Naples]]