TRIDENTINE RENEWAL AND SPIRITUAL EDUCATION OF WOMEN IN THE EXPERIENCE OF FEMALE MONASTICISM. THE CASE OF VERONA IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

The catholic world of the Sixteenth century, especially after the Council of Trent, exalted the condition of monastic life as the most perfect and noblest of the conditions of life traditionally reserved for women. The monastic state became the model to which the educational path of every woman had to conform to, even if she was destined to live in the world (as mother, virgin, widow, or married woman). The strong paradigmatic value exerted by the monastic condition of life is clear from the analysis of the pedagogical literature devoted to women published in this period. The present article focuses on two relevant examples of this literature: the Costituzioni per le monache (Constitutions for Nuns, 1539) by Gian Matteo Giberti and the Ricordi lasciati alle monache (Recollections left to nuns, 1575) by Agostino Valier. The two texts contain very interesting reasons for understanding the pedagogical directions of the time, which are highlighted by the author with specific references to the historical context and thanks to the support of documentary and published sources. These two works were written by two great reformer bishops, and are highly meaningful not only because they complement each other, since both were prepared for the religious women of the diocese of Verona, but mainly because they offer one very vivid insight into the growing importance assigned to the monastic modus vivendi in Sixteenth century Catholic society.