La mujer del gobernador: escritura epistolar femenina en la Milán del siglo XVI

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight an example of woman’s participation in political and public matters through epistolary writing. The study examines the letters of some of the most important women of the society of Milan of the middle of the 16th century. As the wives of some of the most powerful men of the court of Milan, they held a varied correspondence with Charles V’s secretary of state, Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle. By examining the letters they exchanged with Granvelle, the analysis brings to light different examples of public and private writing of diverse importance: recommendations of people for different charges, requests in the name of family members or friends, reinforcement of the requests made by their husbands, opinions on matters of state and government… The paper also considers the particular rhetoric of these women, their point of view, their way of using the written language, the different kinds of writings they used… This correspondence enables literature historians to observe the importance of feminine writing as a space of political and social intervention. The texts are a testimony of women’s participation in public life and of their importance in the society of their time.