The Contest for Women’s Degrees in Eighteenth- Century Universities: A Study and Edition of De Mulierum Doctoratu Apologetica Legalis-Historica Dissertatio (Bologna, 1722)

This project aims to produce a study and translation of an extraordinary legal text entitled ‚Bitisia Gozzadina seu De Mulierum Doctoratu Apologetica Legalis-Historica Dissertatio‚ (1722), attributed to the lawyer (and forger) Alessandro Machiavelli. It was written in the context of the frustrated attempt of a young noblewoman, Maria Vittoria Delphini Dosia, to obtain a doctorate in law in Bologna in 1722. It is a unique text in the legal scenario of the time, which sparked an important debate in academic jurists’ circles. As well as addressing polemical issues such as women’s ability to obtain academic degrees and to exercise political authority, ‚De Mulierum Doctoratu…‘ offers a comprehensive compendium of medieval and early modern legal issues relating to the nature of women and their place in society. It also provides a fruitful opportunity to explore the impact of the so-called querelle des femmes on academic jurisprudence, one of the most important sources of social images and normative statements about women in early modern societies.

https://uam.academia.edu/LauraBeckVarela
https://historiadelderechouam.com/laura-beck-varela/