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A 5 page paper that considers the role of women and non-elites in Renaissance Italy and outlines the elements of the Italian court. Bibliography lists 2 sources. Italian
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Italianren.rtf
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that could not be attained by the non-elite men, and a number of factors can be considered in the progression of both women and non-elites within the scope of the
political and social culture of Renaissance Italy. Perhaps the most significant way that women distinguished themselves in Renaissance society within the Italian aristocracy of the 14th and 15th
centuries was through their role as court mistresses (Ettlinger 770). Recognizing that most women were essentially invisible from an official standpoint, the role of mistress afforded women outside of
the elitist culture the ability to attain a greater level of livelihood and enhance the opportunities of their offspring within this role (Ettlinger 770). Court mistresses, though still not
formally recognized as maintaining any significant or visible role, were afforded the positioning of their heirs, the distinguishing of their sons based on their mothers influence (Ettlinger 770). This was
one of the few ways of entering what many considered to be a fundamentally closed society. Marriages were commonly pre-arranged and directed based on financial determinations rather than by
the direction of love and intimacy, and as a result, many women within the aristocratic social class were not only unwelcome, but lived independently of their husbands. As a
result, court mistresses commonly took on the role of both lover and confidant, creating a lineage through childbearing that supported their own interests as well as those of their family.
For example, the son of a court mistress might be afforded some level of political power or be given a military position that under normal circumstances would have been
far outside of his common social grasp (Ettlinger 770). It is not surprising that Renaissance Italy has been called the "golden age of bastards" and that the commonly accepted infidelities
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