Come educare una figlia secondo Bernardino da Siena

In the Middle Ages men’s opinions about the women were very different: some of them perceived women as the daughters of Eva and recalled the teachings of St. Paul or Tertullian, while others saw in them the embodiment of Mary worthy of adoration. Similarly, there was no agreement with respect to education of women. According of Philip of Novara, for example, education should be prohibited to all women, while Francis of Barberino thought that girls from noble families should know how to read and write so that, in future, they could take care of their proprieties, however he denied the right of the education to the daughters of artisans and merchants. Christina da Pizan believed that all women should study and Tour De La Landry emphasized that they should at least be able to read. However, there was no precise information on the scope of education for women. Bernardino of Siena, one of the most famous preachers of the fifteenth century, saw this deficiency and in his sermons he taught, among other things, how parents should educate their daughters. Bernardins’ words were addressed both to girls and to their parents who should observe the behaviour of their daughters, giving them different chores, so that, in the future they could properly manage their husbands households. Bernardino taught the girls whom they should obey, how they should speak and what to listen, how they should dress and what kind of behaviour they should avoid in order marry well.