Women's Virtues: The Laborious Shift from Instrumentally to Intrinsically Valuable

Through the dissection of three classical texts: Malleus Maleficarum, The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate, and The Book of the City of Ladies, this paper will argue that prior to the late middle ages, women were seen merely as instrumental beings, created by God, for the sole purpose of reproduction. That is to say, as John Knox asserts: "their sight in civil regiment is but blindness; their strength, weakness; their consel, foolishness; and judgment, frenzy, if be be rightly considered" (Knox, 135), and as members of a hierarchically classed society with rights to political freedom, basic education and intrinsic value, they were not highly ranked. In order to support this claim, the following sub-issues will be explored: in "Malleus Maleficarum" written by Kramer and Sprenger, the two write on how to properly identify and communicate with someone practicing witchcraft; which they claim certifiably is almost always a woman due to their frail minds and vulnerability. Knox, in "The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate", furthermore demonstrates a parallel view of women as that of Kramer and Sprenger, claiming that women should never hold positions of power for similar reasons as to why they are more inclined to be witches. Christine De Pizan, arguably the first prominent female writer and feminist of the pre-middle age, writes of her utmost sadness and anger caused by men feeling such a way about women in her fictional book titled "The Book of the City of Ladies". De Pisan uses illustrious examples of women in history to demonstrate the lack of objective empirical evidence brought forth by men and their claims. Moreover, de Pisan audaciously dismisses the predominant opinion of men, and creates a fictional and ideal world where women are free from sexual aggression and inequity. Through her text, an early form of fighting for women's rights, and those of Kramer, Sprenger, and Knox, one is able to determine that women were undervalued and even, at times, feared as members of society. Written by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger in the year 1486, "Malleus Maleficarum" is a text which served as a guide for witch-hunters, advising them how to recognize and question witches (Kramer, 224). To begin, it starts by explaining how women were almost the only gender that partook in witchcraft: a ritual practice in which the participant makes a pack with the devil, subsequently leading to them possessing the ability to perform dark ritualistic acts, such as make certain unguents from the bones and limbs of children (Kramer, 227). His methods in supporting this claim are to point out the apparent natural differences between men and women. As we know, men were seen as the superior species, possessing characteristics that women lacked: rationality, strength, and the perfect balance of virtue and vice. Knox illustrates this throughout the text as he correlates the dark natured actions of witchcraft as an act only conceivable by women. He asserts that there is, in fact, evidence via actual experience which proves undoubtedly that women are highly more involved in witchcraft than men. As it was

believed, Knox explains the method in which women are persuaded by the devil: he appears to them in the assumed body of a man, and urges them to keep faith with him, promising them worldly prosperity and length of life (Kramer, 227). Furthermore, it is described as an act which fundamentally serves the desired purpose of the Devil to abjure and forsake the holy Christian religion as well as the Most Blessed Virgin Mary (Kramer, 227). Ultimately, the witch or wizard gives themselves in body and soul over to the Devil, leading to inevitable sinful and morbid acts. Kramer and Sprenger's reasons for knowing that women were more naturally inclined to commonly engaged in witchcraft were primarily caused by the "fragile, feminine sex" (Kramer, 224). As they states, women are more credulous, which is a term describing those who are more susceptible to falling for anything told to them, without engaging in any suspicious or critical thought. They assert that women are naturally more impressionable, and more ready to receive the influence of a disembodied spirit (Kramer, 224). As evidence to back up the assertion that women being more animalistic in nature and carnal than man, they suggests that there is a defect in the formation of the first woman, since she was formed from a bent rib, that is, a rib of the breast, which is bent as it were in a contrary direction to a man (Kramer, 225). Ultimately, by declaring that women are less rational and moreover primordial in nature, one can see how Kramer and Sprenger attempt to show that the feminine species is far easier persuaded by the cursed intentions of the devil. As Witchcraft was largely viewed as an international conspiracy (Kramer, 224); something only the wicked and weak would be capable of attempting, the accusation of women made by the two writers allow it to be noticeable that they were not highly regarded in European society. While witchcraft would likely be a laughable accusation towards somebody in today's contemporary society, due to the highly devout and faithful nature of people in the early ages; it is not hard to believe that they truly did put weight behind the possibility of such mythical acts. As further evidence, no doubt slightly inspired by the writings of Kramer and Sprenger along with many others of the time, such as Leon Batista Alberti's "On The Family", "The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate", written by John Knox in 1558, demonstrates a significantly more elaborate and deeper exploration into why women should never bear rule, superiority, dominion or empire above any realm, nation, or city (Knox, 135). He proceeds to support this statement by suggesting that nature paints them to be weak, frail, impatient, feeble, and foolish: and experience has declared them to be inconsistent, variable, cruel, lacking the spirit of counsel and regiment (Knox, 135). Of course, in comparison to women, Knox highlights that men are the species which possess all these virtues and moreover are far less penetrable by the seemingly tempting primal vices. Knox states how, in the Rules of the Law, it is written that women must be removed from all civil and public offices, that they be neither speakers nor advocates for others (Knox, 136). There are several biblical, political and historical

instances that are used to permeate the notion that women lack intrinsic purpose through their inability to contribute anything valuable, rational and sound-minded to a functioning society. As we know most European societies of the time to be devoutly faithful to the Catholic religion, one of these examples comes from the bible: "whereupon the holy ghost concludes, that she may never rule or bear empire above man; for she that is made subject to one, may never be preferred by man" (Knox, 136). And as perhaps the most prolific example of biblical text that possesses the foundations of patriarchy, Knox also brings up the story of Adam and Eve. As the Catholic faith promotes these two characters as being the first human beings created by God himself, and as the story goes, Adam was deceived by Eve, and not Eve by Adam, (Knox, 139), women are notably the weaker species. It is noted that due to the wickedness of Eve's actions of falling victim to the devil, it is therefore just that woman receive and acknowledge him for governor whom she called sin, lest that again she slide and fall by womanly facility (Knox, 139). That is to say, in retribution for Eve's original sin, women must spend their days on earth in search for atonement. As this biblical story provides alleged evidence of women's inferiority to men, their lives would be served as subjects to men under the law of nature (Knox, 137). Furthermore, as God is described and believed to be a man, and God is the author of all life, women must be subject to man, for God is a man: "for as Christ is the head of the church, so is man of the woman" (Knox, 139). Ultimately, women must be in subjection to man, because it is he whom she has taken her origin (Knox, 139). Knox relentlessly alleges that women hold no control of their qualities, and parallel to the earlier thoughts of Kramer and Sprenger: they know no moderation in goodness or vice (Kramer, 224). For this purpose, and the consequent belief that they ostensibly would lack any ability to maintain political power, the law stated "unto thy husband shall thy conversion be, and he shall bear dominion over thee" (Knox, 6). Given women's lack of access to freedom, they were unable to be seen as valuable members of society. The largest phenomenon which supported the oppresssion of women was the Catholic faith, and Kramer, Sprenger, as well as Knox needed only to call upon biblical passages to enforce and support the political hierarchy of the era. Contrary to the opinions held by Knox, Kramer and Sprenger, and quite audaciously, Christian de Pisan writes a text entitled "The Book of the City of Ladies", which explores the issues of misogyny, the ill-treatment and the lack of equality directed at women. Born in the late fourteenth century, Christine de Pisan was undoubtedly only permitted to write such things due to her higher socio-economic status as the daughter and wife of men who held positions at the court of the king of France (de Pisan, 58). While she was substantially more educated than most women, and arguably the first known female writer of the the time, her feminist text "The Book of the City of Ladies" was translated into English in 1521 but did not become well known in any language until the eighteenth century (de Pisan, 58). Perhaps, one might assume, this is why she was not reprimanded for her courageous literature which fundamentally challenged the

majority opinion of the nobles at the time. Her book centres largely on conversations between herself and three ladies which appear to her: Lady Reason, Lady Righteousness and Lady Justice. With the help of these women belonging to her conscious mind, Christine de Pisan constructs a city that would be entirely populated by women; consequently free-ing them from the hateful and inaccurate judgements of men. To begin, she dismisses a patriarchal text stumbled upon in good intentions written by Matheolus, which, like many other texts of the time on the subject of women, she feels is slander. This leads her to seek understanding for why so many men have been and are so ready to say and write evil and reproachful things about women and their behaviour (de Pisan, 165). Reason, the first lady to speak with Christine, explains how men write such things often as a generalization. One explanation that Christine would offer for the ignorance of men regarding women in their texts is that it serves as a method to get men that were led astray away from frequenting vicious and dissolute women (de Pisan, 168). In saying this, de Pisan is reasonably claiming that there is a plethora of good women, but of course, like men, not all are virtuous, and men, though with good intentions, have blamed the entire population of women in general (de Pisan, 168). Other reasons offered by de Pisan through the character Lady Reason are that some men have invented blame because of their own vices, others through pure envy, and some others by the sheer pleasure they experience from slander (de Pisan, 168). Often times, as a way to demonstrate intellectual superiority through the reading of many texts such as the Bible, others "base themselves on what they have found in books and repeat others and cite authorities" (de Pisan, 168). While these examples and reasons, such as mislead good intentions, soften the guilt that can be directed towards men, de Pisan and Lady Reason notably assert that one should never excuse gross ignorance (de Pisan, 168). In response to the text's provided by Knox, Kramer and Sprenger, Pisan would likely argue that women's nature cannot be so simply explained through biblical texts and relative experience. At the end of the book, de Pisan speaks to the three ladies that have guided her creation of the City which would act as a sanctuary for women: "Rembeber, dear ladies, how these men call you weak, light-minded, and quickly persuaded; and how, nevertheless, they make a great effort to seek out all sorts of strange and deceptive tricks to catch you, just as one does in trapping animals" (de Pisan, 171). As a response to the predominant biblical example of Adam and Eve used by Knox, Christine de Pisan would suggest that none should doubt the infinite wisdom of God and his inability to create anything that is not good (de Pisan, 166), by why then, would God not let women be born into this world as a man, so that they would be inclined to serve him better (de Pisan, 166)? Ultimately, de Pisan argues for the true existence of

virtuous women that are underrepresented in both the scholarly and unscholarly texts written by men. Through the creation of the City of Ladies, de Pisan suggests that women would be far more capable and free as citizens without the harmful presence of men and their subjective patriarchal attitudes. As very few texts like that of Christine de Pisan existed in the time period examined (early fourteenth century to the late middle ages), it can be seen how women were not highly valued. In Leon Battista Alberti's text "On the Family" of 1435, he illustrates how, in the family, as a crucial component of society, the number of men must not diminish but augment (Alberti, 218). Furthermore, he states that for the procreation of children, no one can deny that man requires woman (Alberti, 219). Instrumentally, this text allows one to see how women served the purpose of reproduction within a society as she was destined and forced to find a husband, and the wife was to preserve in the house the things he brought to her (Alberti, 219), such as food, shelter, and children. The text's written by John Knox, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger demonstrate the widely held opinion that women possessed few virtues, were almost always victim to primordial temptation, and consequently lacked significant intrinsic importance. For these reasons, they were more likely to engage in witchcraft and incredibly less likely to functionally maintain positions of power. While this ideology was prolific, Christine de Pisan's "City of Ladies" allows one to see how these notions were often simply emulated as a means to permeate dominant patriarchal discourse, and likely led to the much needed feminist actions of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

WORKS CITED Alberti, Leon Battista. "On The Family". Ideas that Shape the Modern World Course Pack. Fall 2013. pp. 218-223. de Pisan, Christine. "The Book of the City of Ladies". Ideas that Shape the Modern World Course Pack. Fall 2013. pp. 164-171. Knox, John. "The First Blast to Awaken Women Denegerate". Ideas that Shape the Modern World Course Pack. Fall 2013. Kramer, Heinrich and Jacob Sprenger. "Malleus Maleficarum". Ideas that Shape the Modern World Course Pack. Fall 2013. pp. 224-227.