Francesca SIVO (Università di Foggia)
DONNE FRAGILI COME BROCCHE. LEZIONI DI DIDATTICA SPIRITUALE E SOCIALE NEL MEDIOEVO
Keywords: Dhuoda, Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim, artes liberales, Middle Ages.
Abstract: Fragile women as pitchers. Lessons of spiritual and social didactics in the Middle Ages. This paper takes into consideration the works of Dhuoda (IX cent.) and Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (X cent.), two women who use their writing as a privileged means to make their voice heard, albeit for different reasons. In a traditionally misogynistic society, using a pen is also an opportunity for them to blend their authentic profession of faith with mathematical art teachings. The artes liberales, seen as a true godsend, and particularly the Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy), are in fact the basis to quest the nature of things and of the human soul.