1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:11,119 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky Listener discretion advised. Around the 3 00:00:11,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: halfway point of the nineteen ninety eight drama film Dangerous Beauty, 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: the movie's protagonist points a sword at the throat of 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,799 Speaker 1: the man who has just publicly mocked her, and she 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 1: challenges him to a duel. What follows is a battle 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:32,640 Speaker 1: of both body and wit, as the swordsman and swordswoman 8 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:35,320 Speaker 1: trade poetic verses while. 9 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 2: Engaging in a flamboyant fencing match that ends on a 10 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:43,479 Speaker 2: boat in a Venetian canal. It's very cinematic and an 11 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 2: incredibly fun scene to watch. I'm especially fond of the 12 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:51,279 Speaker 2: classic moment when our heroine finds the fabric of her 13 00:00:51,360 --> 00:00:54,600 Speaker 2: dress punctured, so she removes the skirt to reveal a 14 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: pair of pants underneath in a bit of delightful nineties 15 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: feminist revisionistm The fight in the movie is a turning 16 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 2: point for these two characters, who have previously been cordial. 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:11,240 Speaker 2: Earlier in the film, both of them poets had worked 18 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 2: in harmony to exalt Venice's beauty. Now our heroine's lines 19 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 2: are criticizing her partner's disregard for the minds of women 20 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 2: while he's calling her a whore. He is Mafio Venier 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,199 Speaker 2: and she is Veronica Franco, and as it happens, both 22 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 2: of their accusations about the other are true. The movie 23 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:42,160 Speaker 2: Dangerous Beauty takes a lot of artistic liberty as a 24 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 2: biopic of the Venetian courtesan and writer Veronica Franco, though 25 00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 2: it does pull from the true history found at its 26 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 2: source material, the biography The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal. 27 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 2: The basic story of the movie is factual. Veronica Franco, 28 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 2: the daughter of a cortesan, rose from obscurity to the 29 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:13,760 Speaker 2: heights of Venetian society, entertaining and serving many high ranking men, 30 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:18,520 Speaker 2: including a young Henry the Third of France. The film 31 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 2: depicts imagined details of their let's say, exploratory encounter in 32 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 2: a scene you will have to watch for yourself. More extraordinarily, though, 33 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 2: in real life, Veronica used her accumulated influence to publish 34 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,040 Speaker 2: her own writing and advocate for the rights of her 35 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:45,360 Speaker 2: fellow Venetian women. Where truth and fiction diverge is in 36 00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 2: the details. For example, the film's central love story between 37 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 2: Veronica and Mafio's cousin, Marco, was based on a real relationship, 38 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 2: just not one that would have been quite as swoonworthy 39 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 2: without embellishment. The movie also takes a few liberties with 40 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 2: regards to that battle between Veronica and Mafio. In real life, 41 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 2: it was only scathing poems going back and forth, not swords, 42 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 2: while blood may have been drawn on screen. The film 43 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 2: keeps things lighter with regards to the intellectual violence of 44 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 2: the real Mafio's virulent and darkly misogynistic verses about Franco 45 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 2: in real life, where did his extreme hatred of Veronica 46 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 2: stem from? There's some crossover between art and history. The 47 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 2: movie portrays him as jealous that Dominico, his wealthy uncle, 48 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 2: was more supportive of Veronica's literary ambitions rather than his own, 49 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 2: and it portrays him as bitter that Veronica rejected his 50 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 2: advances years earlier. Seems to be quite true, but there's 51 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 2: no evidence to support the latter. The sword fighting scene 52 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 2: in the movie ends with Veronica triumphant, but Mafio, now 53 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 2: on the other side of the court's laughter, delivers a 54 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 2: sucker punch to her jaw. It's an apt metaphor for 55 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 2: life as a courtesan. For all of her success and 56 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: status in Venetian high society, Veronica was never safe from 57 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,600 Speaker 2: the violent whims of men. It was those violent whims 58 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 2: that would eventually place Veronica Franco in front of the 59 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 2: Catholic Inquisition, accused of witchcraft. I'm Danas Schwartz and this 60 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:53,239 Speaker 2: is noble blood. Veronica Franco was born in fifteen forty 61 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 2: six to Paula Fracassa and Francesco Franco, and she was 62 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 2: the only daughter of of their four children. While not noble, 63 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:06,440 Speaker 2: the Franco family were part of a cast known as 64 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 2: the citizens by birth, which is a group that made 65 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:14,920 Speaker 2: up much of Venice's salaried bureaucracy at the time. Though 66 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 2: this citizen try were denied noble privileges, including high governmental 67 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 2: positions or a vote in the Great Council. They could 68 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 2: also be members of the co fraternities or Great Schools 69 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 2: of Venice, which were powerful lay religious societies. It's unknown 70 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 2: whether or not Veronica received an education as a girl, 71 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 2: but it's likely that she was able to sit in 72 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 2: on lessons with her three brothers' private tutor. Even that 73 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 2: small liberty, though was more than most women received. In fact, 74 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 2: any access to education was outside of the norm. For reference, 75 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 2: the Italian Renaissance scholar Paul F. Grendler sites that fewer 76 00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 2: than four percent of Venetian women had any public schooling 77 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:09,719 Speaker 2: in the fifteen eighties, and only ten to twelve percent 78 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:14,960 Speaker 2: were literate. Men, by contrast, had a thirty percent literacy 79 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 2: rate during the same period. The women who did receive 80 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 2: education were from the nobility and upper classes, but even 81 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 2: then their schooling was typically limited to rudimentary reading and writing, 82 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:33,679 Speaker 2: just enough to learn religious principles and prepare to run 83 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 2: a major household. Veronica's rise to prominence as a writer 84 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 2: and courtesan was as a result, fueled by her determination 85 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,560 Speaker 2: to educate herself later in life. It makes a little 86 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 2: sense to pause here and define what and who exactly 87 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:59,520 Speaker 2: a courtesan is in the context of today's episode. Just 88 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 2: as the English word courtizan derives from the masculine courtier, 89 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 2: meaning a man who serves at court, the Italian cortegiana 90 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 2: derives from the masculine cortegiano. The distinction between the cortegiana 91 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 2: and the meretrice or traditional prostitute can be a bit 92 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 2: blurry at times, but there were some key distinctions. For example, 93 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 2: the courtesant clientele would be of the elite classes, noblemen, merchants, 94 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 2: even men of the cloth. She would attract this clientele 95 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 2: through her beauty and luxurious dress, as well as her 96 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,760 Speaker 2: cultural knowledge. She could play music, recite poetry, or recall 97 00:07:44,880 --> 00:07:49,000 Speaker 2: the Greek and Roman classics. The best could do all 98 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:52,920 Speaker 2: of the above. Sex was, of course at the core 99 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 2: of the relationship between a courtizan and her patron, but 100 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 2: it was her unique skill as a conversation partner that 101 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 2: would lead a man of means to seek her services 102 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 2: as opposed to the services of a maritrice. The courtisan 103 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:14,559 Speaker 2: is in many ways similar to the Japanese geisha, who's 104 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:18,800 Speaker 2: a good reference point thanks to her enduring cultural legacy. 105 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:24,400 Speaker 2: Their intellectual talents are also what earned these women the 106 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:29,720 Speaker 2: title of quote honest courtisan. Honest in this instance can 107 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 2: be defined as respected or recognized. After all, courtisans were 108 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:41,240 Speaker 2: expected to sell a fantasy, not deliver harsh truths, as 109 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 2: the name courtisan implies. She also attended social functions of 110 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,959 Speaker 2: the court and was often allowed in spaces that even 111 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:55,400 Speaker 2: noble women were prohibited from. While a Venetian noblewoman would 112 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 2: have greater power and status than a courtesan, her life 113 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:05,839 Speaker 2: would be confined to the private, domestic sphere. Despite their differences, 114 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:11,600 Speaker 2: the courtesan and the noble women were sometimes visually indistinguishable 115 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 2: thanks to their comparable means and taste. In his famed 116 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 2: fifteen ninety book of Costumes, the publisher Cesare Verrelio notes 117 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 2: that quote, Indeed, at times, some of these courtesans dressed 118 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:31,760 Speaker 2: like widows and look very much like Venetian noblewomen to 119 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:35,560 Speaker 2: those who are not familiar with their condition end quote. 120 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 2: This was very concerning to Venetian authorities, who made frequent 121 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:47,120 Speaker 2: attempts to distinguish sex workers from other women by mandating 122 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:51,160 Speaker 2: that they wear a yellow scarf in public or forbidding 123 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 2: them from wearing certain fabrics and materials, laws which were 124 00:09:55,600 --> 00:10:03,079 Speaker 2: repeatedly soundly ignored, especially by the courtesan. The Republic repeatedly 125 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 2: attempted to construct legal qualifications as to what separated a 126 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 2: courtesan from a noble woman, as well as a courtesan 127 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 2: from a meritrice, but throughout the first half of the 128 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:22,839 Speaker 2: sixteenth century, their efforts were in vain. While many rejected 129 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 2: the courtesan place in society, and many more would in 130 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: the latter half of the century. Courtesans at this time 131 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 2: were integral to the city's identity. Venice, known for its 132 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 2: beauty and luxury goods, prized the courtesan as a jewel 133 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:45,360 Speaker 2: of society. Visitors sought to gaze upon Venice's courtesans as 134 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 2: one would any tourist attraction, as the eccentric English travel 135 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 2: writer Thomas Corriet described in sixteen o eight quote as 136 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 2: for the number of these Venetian courtesans, it is very 137 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 2: good rate, at the least twenty thousand, whereof many are 138 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 2: esteemed so loose they are said to open their quivers 139 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 2: to every arrow end quote. The number is certainly an exaggeration, 140 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:20,200 Speaker 2: but such a figure fits with Venice's historical reputation as 141 00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:26,400 Speaker 2: a city of pleasure. So now let's return to Veronica's life. 142 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 2: The Francos were not of the lowest economic class, as 143 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 2: has been theorized by some historians in the past. But 144 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 2: it does not appear Francesco had any government position, and 145 00:11:38,679 --> 00:11:42,239 Speaker 2: so the family certainly would need to work to support themselves. 146 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:46,640 Speaker 2: For women who needed to do that, options were quite limited. 147 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 2: In Veronica's mother Paula's case, she supported herself as a courtesan. 148 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 2: It was Paula who introduced her daughter to the profession, 149 00:11:56,600 --> 00:12:00,480 Speaker 2: and we know Veronica established herself as a courtesan by 150 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 2: around age eighteen. The Catalog of All the Principal and 151 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 2: most Honored Courtesans of Venice, printed likely around fifteen sixty five, 152 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 2: is a famed published list of two hundred and twelve 153 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 2: actively working courtesans, including Veronica Franco. Each woman is identified 154 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:27,280 Speaker 2: by name, location, fee, and who there pizza or go 155 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,079 Speaker 2: between is. For Veronica, the listed go between is her 156 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 2: mother Paula. Talk about Mamager, you can imagine the you're 157 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:43,280 Speaker 2: doing amazing sweetie of the sixteenth century. While Veronica enjoyed 158 00:12:43,480 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 2: great success in her career, evidence from her published collection 159 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 2: Familiar Letters reveals that she may have wanted to choose 160 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 2: a different path for herself. In one letter, she implores 161 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 2: a friend and fellow courtesan not to introduce her daughter 162 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:06,520 Speaker 2: to their profession, offering instead to pay the daughter's way 163 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 2: to a home dedicated to young impoverished women. Veronica wrote, quote, 164 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,480 Speaker 2: to make one's self prey to so many men, at 165 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:20,800 Speaker 2: the risk of being stripped, robbed, even killed, along with 166 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 2: so many other dangers of injury and dreadful, contagious diseases. 167 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 2: To eat with another's mouth, sleep with another's eyes, move 168 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:36,680 Speaker 2: according to another's will, obviously rushing toward the shipwreck of 169 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 2: your mind and your body. What greater misery, what wealth, 170 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:48,160 Speaker 2: what luxuries, what delights? Can outweigh all this? Published in 171 00:13:48,440 --> 00:13:52,920 Speaker 2: fifteen eighty. In that letter, Veronica reflects on her life 172 00:13:53,320 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 2: not simply with cynicism, but with wisdom and a greater 173 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 2: awareness of Venice's exist social conditions. Glamorous as it might 174 00:14:03,559 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 2: be to imagine the luxurious life of a courtesan, it 175 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 2: simply wasn't the case, even for someone like Veronica, who 176 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 2: was successful. In Veronica's earliest years, before her career began, 177 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:23,760 Speaker 2: she briefly did live a more traditional lifestyle. Sometime in 178 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 2: the early fifteen sixties, a teenage Veronica entered an arranged 179 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 2: marriage with a doctor, Paolo Paniza, who possessed what is 180 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:38,880 Speaker 2: possibly the most stereotypically Italian name I've come across in 181 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,720 Speaker 2: the history of this podcast. It was evidently not a 182 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 2: great match, as the couple separated not long after they 183 00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 2: were married. Such knowledge comes from Veronica's unusual request for 184 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 2: the return of her dowry in her fifteen sixty four will, 185 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 2: an important document for our understanding of Veronica's life. Reading 186 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 2: a will may seem like an odd place to begin 187 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 2: telling someone's life story, but Veronica's two written wills from 188 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:17,120 Speaker 2: fifteen sixty four and from fifteen seventy ironically provide us 189 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 2: with some of the earliest details of her life. More saliently, 190 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 2: they tell us a lot about who she was and 191 00:15:24,600 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 2: who she would become, despite the fact that they were 192 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:34,720 Speaker 2: written at the incredibly young ages of eighteen and twenty four, respectively. 193 00:15:35,480 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 2: For one thing, we know that she was writing her 194 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 2: first will in fifteen sixty four when she was eighteen 195 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:46,440 Speaker 2: years old, because she was pregnant. This was common practice 196 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,960 Speaker 2: at the time as necessary insurance in case a mother 197 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:57,160 Speaker 2: died in childbirth. Notably, Veronica declares that Paulo is not 198 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 2: the father of her unborn child. She believed, with the 199 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:06,160 Speaker 2: qualification that only God knows for certain. The baby's father 200 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:11,600 Speaker 2: was Yakimo Dibabali, a noble merchant from modern day Croatia. 201 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 2: It's unknown whether or not he was a lover, a client, 202 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 2: or both, but it is highly probable that Veronica had 203 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 2: already begun her career as a courtesan by the time 204 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 2: of the will, writing as her support from several patrician 205 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:34,920 Speaker 2: and noble families of Venice is noted. Veronica writes that 206 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,560 Speaker 2: in honor of the love shared between them, Dibabali should 207 00:16:39,720 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 2: take responsibility for the child in the case of her death. 208 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 2: She also bequeathed him a diamond quote as a symbol 209 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 2: of her love. Veronica orders her executors to leave her 210 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:57,000 Speaker 2: accumulated capital in the care of Dibabali, but only under 211 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 2: the condition that he matches the amount with five percent 212 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,960 Speaker 2: interest for the benefit of their son or daughter until 213 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:08,440 Speaker 2: he or she reaches legal age. If they have a daughter. 214 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,880 Speaker 2: Franco insists that at such a point, the remaining capital 215 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 2: plus interest be given directly to her in the form 216 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:21,919 Speaker 2: of a dowry. Making sure that women have money and 217 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 2: importantly access to that money is a recurring point of 218 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 2: order in Veronica's will. For example, she leaves ten ducats 219 00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 2: to Agnesina, the daughter of her brother's wetners, to be 220 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:42,320 Speaker 2: repeated any time Agnesina marries. Additionally, when Veronica requests the 221 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 2: return of her dowry from Paolo, she asks that it 222 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 2: be given to her mother to do with as she pleases, 223 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 2: quote like her who gave it to me. This implies 224 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 2: that the money for Veronica's dowry was provided not by 225 00:17:58,359 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 2: her father, but by her her mother, and her mother's 226 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 2: work as a courtesan. By the time Veronica wrote her 227 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 2: second will six years later, in fifteen seventy, her life 228 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,640 Speaker 2: had changed considerably. For one, her mother was dead. It's 229 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 2: unlikely Veronica found a new pieza and instead began managing 230 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 2: her own transactions. It's clear that she had become a 231 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:29,919 Speaker 2: sought after courtesan by this point, evidenced by a considerable 232 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 2: rise in means and the appearance of higher ranking associates 233 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 2: in her will. Veronica's literary career would not begin for 234 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 2: a few more years, but we see she had already 235 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:48,199 Speaker 2: endeared herself to Venice's elite. In this new will, she 236 00:18:48,359 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 2: dictates that the majority of her capital is to be 237 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:55,920 Speaker 2: left to the care and education of her two epically 238 00:18:56,040 --> 00:19:00,199 Speaker 2: named sons, Akille, the child with whom she was pregnant 239 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 2: at the time of writing her first will, and Ennio. 240 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,840 Speaker 2: According to Veronica, Ennio is the son of Andrea Tron, 241 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 2: a Venetian nobleman. Andre himself a son of a prominent senator, 242 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 2: was already married to a noblewoman at the time of 243 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 2: their son's birth, and it's unknown whether or not he 244 00:19:22,840 --> 00:19:27,119 Speaker 2: ever claimed their son as his own. This will is 245 00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,120 Speaker 2: more detailed than the first. We see how Veronica has 246 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,320 Speaker 2: carefully divided her capital between her two children, the children 247 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 2: of those she's close to, and her brother's family. She 248 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:43,919 Speaker 2: once again designates money for the dowries of young women 249 00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 2: in need, but this time she circumvents the balloting system. Instead, 250 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:53,160 Speaker 2: she directs the quote surplus of her capital to provide 251 00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:58,040 Speaker 2: for the marriages of quote two worthy maidens. She adds 252 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 2: an additional clause that if her executors confined to prostitutes 253 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,880 Speaker 2: who want to quote leave their wicked life by marrying 254 00:20:07,080 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 2: or entering a convent end quote, then they should be 255 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 2: embraced rather than the two maidens wicked here is not 256 00:20:16,440 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 2: necessarily a moral judgment in this instance, rather a reflection 257 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:25,159 Speaker 2: of the hardships endured by the sex workers during this 258 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,639 Speaker 2: time in Venice. Veronica was evidently successful enough that she 259 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:33,199 Speaker 2: had her own home and the luxury of employing a 260 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 2: small staff. Because her will also designates money to be 261 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,360 Speaker 2: left to her cook, her maid, and a former maid. 262 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:46,399 Speaker 2: It was in her own home that the courtesan welcomed 263 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 2: the young king Henry the third of Vlois, son of 264 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 2: Catherine de Medici, who visited Venice in July of fifteen 265 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:00,280 Speaker 2: seventy four during his journey from Poland to France to 266 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,920 Speaker 2: claim the throne there following the death of his older brother. 267 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 2: Henry's stay in Venice marked the most extravagant reception of 268 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:14,320 Speaker 2: a foreign dignitary that the city had ever witnessed. The 269 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,120 Speaker 2: then twenty three year old Henri and his cousin spent 270 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,479 Speaker 2: the evenings attending balls and theatrical performances, before spending the 271 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:30,440 Speaker 2: nights seeking out Venice's other most famous attractions. It's unknown 272 00:21:30,600 --> 00:21:35,359 Speaker 2: how Henry came to meet Veronica specifically, but it's likely 273 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 2: he was introduced through one of the nobles assigned to 274 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,639 Speaker 2: attend to him, Andrea tron, the father of her second child. 275 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 2: Henry is mainly known for two things, his assassination, which 276 00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 2: ultimately marks the end of the House of Blois, and 277 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:57,840 Speaker 2: his sexuality. It is believed that he enjoyed cross dressing 278 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:02,199 Speaker 2: at masquerades, and that he had sexual relationships with his 279 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 2: male favorites. However, because rumors surrounding his bisexuality and quote 280 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:14,239 Speaker 2: effeminacy were used by Catholic detractors to prove that he 281 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:18,360 Speaker 2: was unfit for the throne, historians have never entirely been 282 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:23,480 Speaker 2: able to distinguish fact from fiction with certainty what's real 283 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 2: and what's propaganda. By the time of his and Veronica's encounter, 284 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 2: even before taking the French throne, Henry had already gained 285 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 2: something of a reputation, though their encounter was almost certainly 286 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:45,600 Speaker 2: sexual in nature. Veronica later published a sonnet platonically singing 287 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 2: the young King's praises quote, So to my modest dwelling, 288 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:55,479 Speaker 2: without the shine and dazzle of royal pomp, came Henri 289 00:22:56,040 --> 00:23:00,320 Speaker 2: called to so vast a kingdom that one world alone 290 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:05,679 Speaker 2: cannot contain it. Although he came disguised, he nonetheless so 291 00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 2: imprinted upon my heart his heavenly merit, that my natural 292 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 2: strength abandoned me. It was a combination of luck, her status, 293 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 2: and skill that led Veronica to live the life of 294 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 2: a courtesan who would host foreign kings, rather than a 295 00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:30,159 Speaker 2: life as a simple meritrece She seems to understand that, 296 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 2: and it may have informed why she would choose to 297 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:39,080 Speaker 2: pursue another kind of work at this time that seemed 298 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:45,320 Speaker 2: untouchable for most women of her time and place. Sometime 299 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,359 Speaker 2: in the early fifteen seventies, Veronica became a member of 300 00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:54,000 Speaker 2: the intellectual circle cultivated by one of the most powerful 301 00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 2: noble clans of Venice, the Vinyer family. At the top 302 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:03,960 Speaker 2: of the familial higherarchy sat Domenico, the patron and protector. 303 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 2: After relinquishing his duty as Senator in fifteen forty six 304 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,359 Speaker 2: because of his painful chronic gout, Domenico devoted his time 305 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 2: to establishing an informal literary academy that met regularly at 306 00:24:20,320 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 2: his residence. What set Domenico apart from other patrons and 307 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:31,720 Speaker 2: hosts was his sponsorship of numerous female artists and intellectuals. 308 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:35,679 Speaker 2: It does not appear that his support of these women, 309 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:42,320 Speaker 2: including Veronica, was dependent on sexual relationships. As noted earlier, 310 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:46,399 Speaker 2: only around ten percent of Venetian women were literate during 311 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,440 Speaker 2: this time period, and an even smaller percentage were publishing 312 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 2: written work. In the absence of a powerful and extremely 313 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:59,880 Speaker 2: progressive father, women who sought to not only cultivate into 314 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 2: coellectual lives, but also publish would need to rely on 315 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 2: the generosity of patrons like Domenico. Originally, Veronica's literary career 316 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:15,160 Speaker 2: was dedicated to compiling the poems of other members of 317 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 2: the circle for volumes, a unique role for a woman. 318 00:25:20,040 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 2: Letters reveal she acted as the organizer of numerous collections 319 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 2: throughout the fifteen seventies. The Patriarch's influence on Veronica and 320 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:35,879 Speaker 2: this circle at large is evident in her first published 321 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 2: collection of poetry, fifteen seventy five's Poems in Terzarma. Domenico 322 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:48,719 Speaker 2: was interested in pre Petrarchan poetic forms, which encouraged a 323 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 2: revival of Dante's third rhyme structure first seen in The 324 00:25:54,480 --> 00:26:00,600 Speaker 2: Divine Comedy. This collection consisted of eighteen poems, with some 325 00:26:00,800 --> 00:26:06,479 Speaker 2: in the format of proposta and riposta between Veronica and 326 00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:11,919 Speaker 2: anonymous male poets, a back and forth. By publishing a 327 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 2: collection including poetic exchanges instead of merely her own compositions, 328 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:22,600 Speaker 2: Veronica was seeking to elevate her status by putting her 329 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 2: work on the same level as her male contemporaries. Typically 330 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:35,000 Speaker 2: preferred for academic, satirical and comic compositions. Veronica utilizes that 331 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:40,159 Speaker 2: back and forth format to wittily and critically engage with 332 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:46,080 Speaker 2: both her lovers and her detractor's perceptions of her. Take 333 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 2: the first two poems in the collection, Capitulo one, credited 334 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:54,240 Speaker 2: to an unknown author, is written in the tradition of 335 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:58,719 Speaker 2: the petrarchian lover desperate for his feelings to be requited. 336 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:03,600 Speaker 2: Unlike the other works in poems credited to unknown authors, 337 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:08,159 Speaker 2: we actually do have the identity of this forlorn man. 338 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 2: He was Marco Venier, Dominico's nephew and Veronica's lover. The 339 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:19,639 Speaker 2: first copies of Poems identified him as the author of 340 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:24,919 Speaker 2: this poem, but then subsequent printings anonymize him alongside the 341 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 2: other writers for reasons unexplained. His poem rhapsodizes Veronica's cruel 342 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 2: or perhaps even dangerous beauty, but also flatters her writing talent, 343 00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:43,400 Speaker 2: which Marco calls a gift from Apollo himself. Quote, and 344 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 2: so among beauties, you are famous for your learning, and 345 00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 2: among learned women you are known for your beauty, and 346 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:55,760 Speaker 2: in both you excel one group and the other. He however, 347 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:00,280 Speaker 2: follows this praise with a question, but if knowledge in 348 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,360 Speaker 2: you is so nobly fruitful, why is it that beauty. 349 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,959 Speaker 2: Also a treasure comes to ruin through your hard heart. 350 00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:14,640 Speaker 2: Marco's seduction hinges on the argument that Veronica has been 351 00:28:14,720 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 2: blessed by both Venus and Apollo, but by denying him 352 00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:25,080 Speaker 2: her love, she squanders Venus's gift. He declares, you must 353 00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 2: put to good use all the gifts that she made you, 354 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: as you do with the gifts granted you by Apollo. 355 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,439 Speaker 2: You'll make your name immortal through Venus's gifts no less 356 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 2: than you will do with your ink. Veronica's reply uses 357 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:48,040 Speaker 2: her apollo given a wit to turn Marco's arguments against him. Quote, 358 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 2: if you think I'm so dear to Phoebus for composing 359 00:28:51,760 --> 00:28:55,360 Speaker 2: poems in the works of love, you'll find me dear 360 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,320 Speaker 2: still to Venus. With this assurance that she is a 361 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 2: perfectly skilled and confident lover, Veronica makes it clear that 362 00:29:04,320 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 2: she does not hold back her affection out of cruelty 363 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 2: or flippancy, but rather because she is too wise to 364 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 2: be persuaded by words alone. She asks her lover to 365 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 2: show the extent of his feelings through deeds instead, quote 366 00:29:22,120 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 2: prove your love to me by other means than compliments, 367 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 2: For I take care not to be fooled by them. 368 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:34,960 Speaker 2: Please me more with deeds and praise me less. She 369 00:29:35,160 --> 00:29:39,360 Speaker 2: specifies exactly what that means. Quote, I do not ask 370 00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:42,400 Speaker 2: you now to express your love with gold or silver. 371 00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 2: For to have an understanding with a noble man in 372 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:50,680 Speaker 2: order to extract from him a treasure is most unsuited 373 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:54,720 Speaker 2: to the decorum of any but an utterly venal soul. 374 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:00,479 Speaker 2: Such behavior does not befit my profession. But leaving words aside, 375 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 2: I clearly state that deeds must prove your love. You 376 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 2: know quite well what I like best. Persevere in this 377 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 2: as I already told you before, and you shall be 378 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 2: my unique and only lover. Here she subverts popular expectations 379 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:23,800 Speaker 2: of the courtesan by affirming that it's not gold or 380 00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 2: silver that draws her to a lover, but what she 381 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:31,240 Speaker 2: likes quote best, which, despite what you may be thinking, 382 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 2: that it's something salacious, she defines later in the poem 383 00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 2: as creative literary collaboration, and who can blame her. Still, 384 00:30:41,360 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 2: she assures Marco that their collaboration as lovers will be 385 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 2: just as rewarding as their collaboration as writers. Quote Whenever 386 00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 2: I am in bed with one who, as I sense, 387 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 2: loves and enjoys me. I become so delectable and tender 388 00:31:00,400 --> 00:31:05,120 Speaker 2: that my pleasure surpasses all other delights, and what appeared 389 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 2: to be a very tight knot of love grows even tighter. 390 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,480 Speaker 2: I perform so well in bed that this form of 391 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:19,800 Speaker 2: art proves vastly superior to the art of Apollo. There 392 00:31:19,920 --> 00:31:24,719 Speaker 2: is obviously some sexual meaning there, which was not uncommon 393 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,680 Speaker 2: in the works of courtiers, but stands out to historians 394 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 2: as a rare instance of a sixteenth century woman describing 395 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:41,920 Speaker 2: her own sexuality in such unabashed terms. Veronica additionally subverts 396 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:46,640 Speaker 2: the dominant erotic language of Marco's poem. I would like 397 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 2: to take the burnished gold of those tresses in my 398 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:54,480 Speaker 2: hand and pull that fine treasure ever so gently, to 399 00:31:54,560 --> 00:31:59,840 Speaker 2: avenge my hurt by portraying sex as more pleasurable when 400 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:04,360 Speaker 2: it is an equal experience. Quote, let me see the 401 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:08,240 Speaker 2: works I've asked for from you, for then you'll enjoy 402 00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:12,040 Speaker 2: my sweetness to the full, and I will also take 403 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:16,000 Speaker 2: pleasure in yours, in the way that mutual love allows, 404 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:22,560 Speaker 2: which provides delight free from all pain. This exchange of 405 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:26,959 Speaker 2: poems is not only a debate between lovers, but a 406 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 2: debate as to what it means to be a lover. 407 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,080 Speaker 2: In publishing this work, Veronica defines herself and by extension, 408 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:41,240 Speaker 2: the courtesan, as a collaborator first and foremost. This is 409 00:32:41,320 --> 00:32:45,920 Speaker 2: also a direct counter of Marco's declaration that she is 410 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 2: the operah or artifact of his affection and inspiration. Veronica 411 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 2: is not a passive subject in the art of love 412 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:58,360 Speaker 2: and poetry, but rather an active participant in its creation. 413 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 2: The same tactics used in a debate about love would 414 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 2: be needed in a debate about her honor. When the 415 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 2: first poem mocking Veronica began to circulate, she believed that 416 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 2: the author might have actually been Marco again. But then 417 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:20,120 Speaker 2: the poems continued, and the language got darker, and the 418 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 2: attacks became on her very character, and she realized she 419 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,479 Speaker 2: was wrong. She soon learned that the true author of 420 00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:33,800 Speaker 2: these poems was in fact Mafio Vanier, Marco's cousin and 421 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 2: Dominica's nephew, the Mafio from the cinematic fencing match. Mafio 422 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 2: was a courtier and prominent poet, and though he had 423 00:33:45,280 --> 00:33:49,040 Speaker 2: all the privilege afforded to a son of the Venieri clan, 424 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:52,440 Speaker 2: he was something of a black Sheep for his lack 425 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,800 Speaker 2: of involvement in politics and his tendency to avoid the 426 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:02,720 Speaker 2: responsibilities bestowed upon him. He did, however, perform one year 427 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 2: of service in the Medici Court. When he returned to 428 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,520 Speaker 2: Venice in fifteen seventy five, the city that greeted him 429 00:34:11,200 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 2: was not the one he had left, struck by the 430 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 2: plague earlier that year. Venice was in social and financial disorder. 431 00:34:22,280 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 2: Returning to the Caviennair circle and finding a socially mobile 432 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:32,680 Speaker 2: courtesan gaining respect in the literary scene, it seems Mafio 433 00:34:32,880 --> 00:34:37,720 Speaker 2: found an easy target, representing all of the city's ills 434 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 2: in his mind. His three poems first, believe Me Franca 435 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:47,000 Speaker 2: that by San Mafio, Second, wouldn't you like that? What 436 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,880 Speaker 2: sort of game is this? And Veronica Veritably Unique? Or 437 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 2: begin as more straightforward satire and devolve into a true 438 00:34:59,000 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 2: display of resentful, misogynistic vitriol. That last poem is the 439 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:11,720 Speaker 2: most deplorable, opening with an imagined depiction of Veronica's quote 440 00:35:11,760 --> 00:35:20,240 Speaker 2: monstrous body covered in syphilitic sores. I quote Veronica veritably Unique, 441 00:35:20,320 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 2: core franca id est, foxy, flighty, flimsy, flabby, smelly, scrawny, 442 00:35:26,880 --> 00:35:32,480 Speaker 2: scrimpy and the biggest scoundrel besides who lives between Costello 443 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:36,960 Speaker 2: Ghetto and the customs. A woman reduced to a monster 444 00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 2: made of human flesh, plaster, chalk, cardboard, leather and wooden board, 445 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:48,640 Speaker 2: A grizzly spook, a scabby ogre, a crocodile, a hippogriff, 446 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:53,160 Speaker 2: an ostrich, a knock kneed mare. To sing of all 447 00:35:53,239 --> 00:35:56,319 Speaker 2: that is wrong with you, your flaws, your faults, would 448 00:35:56,360 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 2: take one hundred concepts, thousands of pens and ink well 449 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:06,560 Speaker 2: and countless poets. Veronica's response opens with a denouncement of 450 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 2: Marco's character, pointing out his lack of chivalry his blows 451 00:36:11,800 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 2: against an quote unarmed woman. However, she claims that her 452 00:36:16,200 --> 00:36:20,200 Speaker 2: vulnerability has diminished and his attacks have only made her 453 00:36:20,239 --> 00:36:25,879 Speaker 2: stronger quote and bitter. Medicines likewise bring health, and we 454 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,200 Speaker 2: make use of steel and fire to clean and cauterize 455 00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 2: infected wounds. By bringing attention to her health, she also 456 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:41,160 Speaker 2: counters Mafio's accusation of disease without needing to directly address it. 457 00:36:41,880 --> 00:36:46,320 Speaker 2: Veronica then challenges him to any kind of duel, whether 458 00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 2: it be on paper or with swords. She notes that 459 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:52,800 Speaker 2: while he may find it unfair to joust with a woman, 460 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,680 Speaker 2: she assures him that he is under an illusion enforced 461 00:36:56,719 --> 00:36:58,279 Speaker 2: by societal standards. 462 00:36:58,680 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: Quote. 463 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:03,080 Speaker 2: When we women, too have weapons and training, we will 464 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 2: be able to prove to all men that we have 465 00:37:06,160 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 2: hands and feet and hearts like yours. And though we 466 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,760 Speaker 2: may be tender and delicate, some men who are delicate 467 00:37:13,960 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 2: are also strong, and some, though coarse and rough, are cowards. 468 00:37:19,640 --> 00:37:21,880 Speaker 2: And to prove to you that I speak the truth 469 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,799 Speaker 2: among so many women, I will act first, setting an 470 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:29,600 Speaker 2: example for them all to follow. Veronica then makes the 471 00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:35,359 Speaker 2: argument that perhaps most aligned with our modern times, calling him, 472 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 2: in not so many words, an inceel quote, I undertake 473 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 2: to defend all women against you who despise them, so 474 00:37:44,719 --> 00:37:48,319 Speaker 2: that rightly I'm not alone to protest it. It is 475 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:52,400 Speaker 2: certain that you miss great pleasure by being unable to 476 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 2: savor our sweetness, and I blame your bad habits for 477 00:37:56,560 --> 00:38:02,279 Speaker 2: being the cause. Employing another tried and true tactic, she 478 00:38:02,440 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 2: digs into Mafio's grasp on language. Quote, you called me 479 00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:12,560 Speaker 2: tierre unica, veritably unique, and all the rest alluding to 480 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:16,880 Speaker 2: my name, Veronica. But while you meant it as abuse, 481 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:21,480 Speaker 2: According to my dictionary. I fail to see how one 482 00:38:21,560 --> 00:38:25,840 Speaker 2: can properly call a thing unique. In other words, she 483 00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:29,680 Speaker 2: asserts that unique is in fact a positive word, and 484 00:38:29,719 --> 00:38:34,080 Speaker 2: she continues, quote and though you call me prostitute, either 485 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:36,719 Speaker 2: you imply that I'm not one of them, or that 486 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:41,759 Speaker 2: among them some merit praise whatever goodness prostitutes may have, 487 00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 2: whatever grace and nobility of soul, the sound of your 488 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:50,239 Speaker 2: word assigned to me, Veronica does not take the root 489 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:55,319 Speaker 2: of distinguishing herself from poor prostitutes. Rather, she's defending them 490 00:38:55,360 --> 00:38:59,360 Speaker 2: all as a class. She closes her defense with another 491 00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:03,640 Speaker 2: challenge to duel and a threat for good measure, quote, 492 00:39:03,920 --> 00:39:08,240 Speaker 2: you will have nowhere to run from me. In fifteen eighty, 493 00:39:08,719 --> 00:39:14,480 Speaker 2: Mafio Vanieri contracted syphilis and ultimately succumbed to the illness 494 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:17,839 Speaker 2: six years later, a fact that I will present with 495 00:39:17,960 --> 00:39:23,920 Speaker 2: no comment. Unfortunately, there only in person. Sword fight happened 496 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 2: in the movies. Five years after Veronica's debate with Mafio, 497 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 2: Veronica was forced to once again publicly defend her good name, 498 00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:39,399 Speaker 2: only this time the stakes were far higher. On October eighth, 499 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:44,080 Speaker 2: fifteen eighty, Veronica was summoned by the Inquisition courts on 500 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:50,800 Speaker 2: charges of performing heretical incantations to curb the unrest caused 501 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:54,480 Speaker 2: by the plague, the Fourth Ottoman Venetian War, and a 502 00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:59,719 Speaker 2: series of natural disasters. Venetians of all classes were encouraged 503 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:04,440 Speaker 2: by authorities to support the republic in their fight against heresy, 504 00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 2: even if that meant turning in your neighbor or employer. 505 00:40:09,360 --> 00:40:14,280 Speaker 2: Courtesans were among a number of marginalized groups, including Jewish 506 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:20,319 Speaker 2: and queer people, denounced for luxuria and frequently targeted. The 507 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:26,600 Speaker 2: language in the accusation against Veronica reflects this influence. Quote 508 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:31,239 Speaker 2: If this whitch, this public masked and cheating prostitute, is 509 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,680 Speaker 2: not punished, many others will begin to do the same 510 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:39,520 Speaker 2: things against the Holy Catholic Faith. While the charge was 511 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:44,480 Speaker 2: filed anonymously, we know now that her accuser was Ridolfo Vanitelli, 512 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:50,600 Speaker 2: her children's tutor. The historian Richard Kikaffer has concluded that 513 00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:56,760 Speaker 2: many witchcraft trials were born of worldly, petty arguments. He notes, 514 00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:01,239 Speaker 2: quote in many cases, the accuser feels guilty and reverses 515 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,399 Speaker 2: his guilt by projecting it on the accused. Veronica had 516 00:41:05,400 --> 00:41:08,880 Speaker 2: been the victim of more than one robbery by fifteen eighty, 517 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:12,960 Speaker 2: so when another theft occurred that year, she threatened to 518 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:17,680 Speaker 2: withhold her household staff's salaries until the culprit was found, 519 00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:21,799 Speaker 2: assuming that the robbery had come from somewhere within in 520 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:26,080 Speaker 2: her version of events, the staff then begged to perform 521 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:32,680 Speaker 2: a magic ritual specifically designed to target thieves. The attempt 522 00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:38,640 Speaker 2: was evidently unsuccessful, and Veronica began to point fingers. This 523 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:44,360 Speaker 2: was around the same time Vanitelli filed his accusation, which 524 00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:50,120 Speaker 2: doesn't quite feel coincidental. Specifically, he wrote that in order 525 00:41:50,200 --> 00:41:54,320 Speaker 2: to recover her lost items, she had invoked the names 526 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,719 Speaker 2: of demons in a ritual involving a wedding ring, a 527 00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:02,600 Speaker 2: blessed olive branch, blessed kins, handles, and holy water. To 528 00:42:02,760 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 2: support his accusations, things take a turn for the mafio 529 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,600 Speaker 2: esque when he calls her quote a witch and a 530 00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:16,800 Speaker 2: public whore, among other unflattering descriptors. He concludes his filing 531 00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:21,280 Speaker 2: by calling for the harshest punishment possible to be enacted 532 00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:25,440 Speaker 2: as quickly as possible so she can't quote no longer 533 00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:32,520 Speaker 2: contaminate the city. This specific line invokes Mafio's accusation that 534 00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:37,000 Speaker 2: Veronica was spreading syphilis, calling her a quote the woman 535 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:44,040 Speaker 2: who makes our present century blind and contaminates it. Thus, 536 00:42:44,160 --> 00:42:49,120 Speaker 2: when Veronica was summoned to the inquisition courts on October eighth, 537 00:42:49,360 --> 00:42:53,440 Speaker 2: fifteen eighty, it was not only to defend herself against 538 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:58,360 Speaker 2: accusations of heresy, but to defend her morality. In court, 539 00:42:58,840 --> 00:43:03,279 Speaker 2: Veronica sought to use her command of language to persuade 540 00:43:03,440 --> 00:43:08,000 Speaker 2: the inquisitor. For example, when asked why she allowed such 541 00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:11,279 Speaker 2: a ritual to take place in her home, she responded 542 00:43:11,320 --> 00:43:15,240 Speaker 2: that any sin she may be guilty of was only 543 00:43:15,360 --> 00:43:20,359 Speaker 2: with quote effect and not effect, because ultimately she did 544 00:43:20,360 --> 00:43:24,640 Speaker 2: not believe in it. The inquisitor was not easily swayed 545 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:29,480 Speaker 2: by such language nitpicking, which led Veronica to employ the 546 00:43:29,560 --> 00:43:33,040 Speaker 2: tactics we find in her debate about love back with 547 00:43:33,120 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 2: Marco and her poetic battle with Mafio, turning her opponent's 548 00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:43,720 Speaker 2: argument against him. It was Vanitelli, she claimed, who begged 549 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,440 Speaker 2: her to perform the ritual in her home. She reported 550 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:51,360 Speaker 2: threatening him telling him that only quote the cord of 551 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,960 Speaker 2: the night patrol without so many candles will find the truth. 552 00:43:55,719 --> 00:44:00,719 Speaker 2: In redirecting the accusation of heresy towards her accuser, Veronica 553 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 2: was evidently able to convince the tribunal that while she 554 00:44:04,320 --> 00:44:07,120 Speaker 2: was guilty of allowing the ritual to be held in 555 00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:11,839 Speaker 2: her home, she was not guilty of performing it. There 556 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:15,080 Speaker 2: was no official sentence in the trial, though it was 557 00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:19,320 Speaker 2: not uncommon for trials of this nature to be suspended 558 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:22,640 Speaker 2: after a few days in court. We will never know 559 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 2: if it was the strength of her evidence, the power 560 00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:31,560 Speaker 2: of her persuasive performance, or some intervention from Domenico that 561 00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:36,239 Speaker 2: ultimately swayed the court in her favor. Fifteen eighty was 562 00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:41,800 Speaker 2: also the same year Veronica published Familiar Letters, a collection 563 00:44:42,040 --> 00:44:47,320 Speaker 2: of letters written throughout the decade prior, exploring her daily life, 564 00:44:47,680 --> 00:44:52,120 Speaker 2: expanding on her poems, and giving advice to friends. These 565 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:58,280 Speaker 2: letters were likely a mix of true correspondence and literary exercise, 566 00:44:58,840 --> 00:45:04,040 Speaker 2: but in blending her public and private voice, Veronica challenged 567 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:08,680 Speaker 2: misconceptions of the interior life of a courtesan. As she 568 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:13,400 Speaker 2: did in her poems, her letters portray her as an intellectual, 569 00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:18,359 Speaker 2: a collaborator, even a moral guide. The content of these 570 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:22,360 Speaker 2: letters has informed much of our knowledge about Veronica's life 571 00:45:22,520 --> 00:45:28,080 Speaker 2: and her values. Quite tragically, however, Letters would be her 572 00:45:28,200 --> 00:45:34,880 Speaker 2: last published work. In fifteen eighty two, Domenico died, and 573 00:45:35,080 --> 00:45:40,759 Speaker 2: upon his death, Veronica lost her greatest patron. That same year, 574 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:45,880 Speaker 2: having never recovered her stolen possessions, a tax report reveals 575 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:50,960 Speaker 2: Veronica was impoverished. From this report, we also know that 576 00:45:51,000 --> 00:45:54,040 Speaker 2: she was no longer living in that home where she 577 00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:58,200 Speaker 2: had once hosted Henry the Third, but in an area 578 00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:03,840 Speaker 2: of the city inhabited by many poor meritreachi. Her last 579 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:07,800 Speaker 2: years are undocumented, but it is known that she died 580 00:46:08,160 --> 00:46:12,040 Speaker 2: just short of a decade later in fifteen ninety one, 581 00:46:12,280 --> 00:46:16,440 Speaker 2: at age forty five. While her rise and fall in 582 00:46:16,520 --> 00:46:22,279 Speaker 2: Venetian society was relatively short lived, Veronica's decade in the 583 00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:26,360 Speaker 2: spotlight not only produced a body of work that cemented 584 00:46:26,400 --> 00:46:30,680 Speaker 2: her legacy, but one that sought to open doors for 585 00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:34,400 Speaker 2: other women to do the same, As she declared she 586 00:46:34,480 --> 00:46:40,279 Speaker 2: would be an example for them to follow. That's the 587 00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:44,239 Speaker 2: story of Veronica Franco's life. But stick around after a 588 00:46:44,280 --> 00:46:47,560 Speaker 2: brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about 589 00:46:47,600 --> 00:46:58,480 Speaker 2: her life depicted on the screen. The film based on 590 00:46:58,600 --> 00:47:03,239 Speaker 2: Veronica's life, Danger Beauty, originally shared a title with the 591 00:47:03,280 --> 00:47:09,719 Speaker 2: biography by Margaret Rosenthal, The Honest Courtisan. However, After screening 592 00:47:09,760 --> 00:47:14,279 Speaker 2: the film for American test audiences, the studio realized the 593 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:18,920 Speaker 2: title had to be changed. According to Marshall Herskovitz, they 594 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:23,480 Speaker 2: discovered that quote literally ninety five percent of movie going 595 00:47:23,520 --> 00:47:26,879 Speaker 2: audiences did not know what the word courtisan meant, but 596 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:31,080 Speaker 2: more importantly, they thought it was courtizone. The movie had 597 00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:34,440 Speaker 2: a modest but successful run at the box office and 598 00:47:34,640 --> 00:47:39,200 Speaker 2: received a respectable three and a half stars from Roger Ebert. 599 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:43,800 Speaker 2: I'm not surprised that the screenwriter is a woman, he mused. 600 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:48,200 Speaker 2: Few movies have been so deliberately told from a woman's 601 00:47:48,239 --> 00:47:52,040 Speaker 2: point of view. Most movies are made by males and 602 00:47:52,320 --> 00:48:07,560 Speaker 2: show women enthralled by men. This movie knows better. Noble 603 00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:11,080 Speaker 2: Blood is a production of iHeart Radio and Grim and 604 00:48:11,160 --> 00:48:14,719 Speaker 2: Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble Blood is hosted by me 605 00:48:15,000 --> 00:48:20,200 Speaker 2: Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannahswick, 606 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:24,480 Speaker 2: Courtney Sender, Amy Hit, and Julia Melaney. The show is 607 00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:29,600 Speaker 2: edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer rima 608 00:48:29,800 --> 00:48:34,279 Speaker 2: il Kaali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and 609 00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:39,880 Speaker 2: Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 610 00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:45,600 Speaker 2: Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.