Magic, Science, and Religion in Early Modern Europe

Abstract

women who dipped into natural philosophy. Findlen also probes Erculiani’s decision to publish her book in Krakow, discussing the intellectual connections between Padua and Poland and suggesting that Erculiani might have been trying to avoid running afoul of the Inquisition (unsuccessfully, if so). Letters on Natural Philosophy provides an exciting addition to early modern women’s medico-scientific works available to an English-speaking audience. Hannah Marcus’s skilful and highly readable translations make the difficult Italian and Latin texts accessible to English readers, and the book should be suitable for university students of all levels. While the introductory materials rightly situate Erculiani in her Italian context, her case also provokes questions about gender and female authorship in early modern Europe more broadly. For example, there are many parallels with the story of Oliva Sabuco, the daughter of a Spanish physician under whose name two philosophical works on medicine appeared in 1587 and who also ran into trouble with the Inquisition. This confluence raises complex questions about women’s eagerness to make an intellectual contribution in early modern Europe and the power of religious authorities to silence them. The sixteenth-century fate of Letters on Natural Philosophy is hardly uplifting. Investigated by the Inquisition, Erculiani was forced to defend her book against suspicions of heresy. Although she does not appear to have been formally charged, she also did not publish again. Her book was never placed on the Catholic Church’s Index of Condemned Books, but, as Caranci points out, this was likely because it was not viewed as influential enough to pose a threat. Nevertheless, the fact that Erculiani felt empowered to publish her Letters demonstrates the great energy among educated Italian women at the end of the Renaissance. Women writers who followed Erculiani, such as Moderata Fonte and Lucrezia Manella, echoed her views on women’s intellect with more success. Although Erculiani was prevented from making a broader impact with her book, her work deserves to be known, and the combined efforts of Carinci, Findlen, and Marcus bring her story to modern English readers in magnificent detail.