The Complete Writings of an Italian Heretic
Olympia Morata
Abstract
A brilliant scholar and one of the finest writers of her day, Olympia Fulvia Morata (1526–1555) was attacked by some as a “Calvinist Amazon” but praised by others as an inspiration to all learned women. This book publishes all her known writings—orations, dialogues, letters, and poems—in an English translation. Raised in the court of Ferrara in Italy, Morata was educated alongside the daughters of the nobility. As a youth she gave public lectures on Cicero, wrote commentaries on Homer, and composed poems, dialogues, and orations in both Latin and Greek. Morata also became a prominent Protestan ... More
A brilliant scholar and one of the finest writers of her day, Olympia Fulvia Morata (1526–1555) was attacked by some as a “Calvinist Amazon” but praised by others as an inspiration to all learned women. This book publishes all her known writings—orations, dialogues, letters, and poems—in an English translation. Raised in the court of Ferrara in Italy, Morata was educated alongside the daughters of the nobility. As a youth she gave public lectures on Cicero, wrote commentaries on Homer, and composed poems, dialogues, and orations in both Latin and Greek. Morata also became a prominent Protestant evangelical, studying the Bible extensively and corresponding with many of the leading theologians of the Reformation. After fleeing to Germany in search of religious freedom, she tutored students in Greek and composed what many at the time felt were her finest works: a series of translations of the Psalms into Greek hexameters and sapphics.
Keywords:
Olympia Fulvia Morata,
Calvinist Amazon,
orations,
dialogues,
letters,
poems,
Ferrara,
nobility,
public lectures,
Cicero
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2003 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780226536682 |
| Published to Chicago Scholarship Online: February 2013 |
DOI:10.7208/chicago/9780226536712.001.0001 |
