Meredith K. Ray is the Elias Ahuja Professor of Italian in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures at the University of Delaware, USA. Her books include Writing Gender in Women's Letter Collections of the Italian Renaissance (2009), Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy (2015), and Margherita Sarrocchi's Letters to Galileo: Astronomy, Astrology, and Poetics in Seventeenth-Century Italy (2016).

Introduction: Hidden Histories

Part One: Politics and Power Brokers

1. Lucrezia Tornabuoni (1427-1482): Medici Matriarch

2. Caterina Sforza (c. 1463-1509): Countess, Warrior, Alchemist

3. Isabella d'Este (1474-1539): Diplomat and Tastemaker

4. Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519): Entrepreneur from Italy's Most Controversial Family

5. Bona Sforza (1494-1557): Italian Queen of Poland

Part Two: Poets, Reformers, and Courtesans

6. Vittoria Colonna (1490?-1547): Divine Poet, Michelangelo's Mentor

7 Lucrezia Gonzaga (1522-1576): Epistolary Icon and Religious Dissident

8 Olimpia Morata (1526-1555): Humanist and Heretic

9 Laura Terracina (1519-c.1577): Bestselling Author, Defender of Women

10. Veronica Franco (1546-1591): Celebrity Courtesan

Part Three: Musicians, Composers, and Performers

11. Gaspara Stampa (1523-1544): Renaissance Sappho

12. Tarquinia Molza (1542-1617): Virtuosa and Philosopher

13. Isabella Andreini (1562-1604): Diva of Stage and Page

14. Francesca Caccini (1587-post-1641): Opera's Star at the Medici Court

15. Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677): Trailblazing Composer

Part Four: Artists and Scientists

16. Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625): Portraitist to Kings

17. Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614): Pioneering Professional Artist

18. Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1656?): Fearless Painter, Feminist Icon

19 Camilla Erculiani (d. post-1584):Pharmacist-Philosopher

20 Margherita Sarrocchi (c. 1560-1617): Reader of the Stars, Galileo's Correspondent

Part Five: Renaissance Feminists

21 Laudomia Forteguerri (1515-1555?): Queer Poet, Civic Hero

22. Moderata Fonte (1555-1592): Visionary of Equality for Women

23 Lucrezia Marinella (1571?-1653): Champion of Women's History

24 Sarra Copia Sulam (1592-1641): Poet and Polemicist in Venice's Jewish Ghetto

25. Arcangela Tarabotti (1604-1652): Radical Nun, Feminist Force

Notes and Further Reading

Dates of Reign

Acknowledgments

Index