Renaissance humanism, which brought a new ideal of a lay woman of culture, caused interest for letters to spread quickly to female education. High class women, generally daughters and relatives to aristocrats, intellectuals, doctors and lawmen, became able to receive deep humanist educations through private tutors and libraries.[1][2] The invention of the printing press in Europe also caused reading and writing to spread among women of other social classes.[2] This phenom covered Italy, France and England, but was especially fruitful in the kingdom of Castile.[1]
Isabella's interest for the arts and letters drove her to learn Latin as soon as she could, and to call to her court many representatives of Spanish and Italian humanism, like Antonio de Nebrija, Alfonso de Palencia, Juan Luis Vives, Lucius Marinaeus Siculus and Peter Martyr d'Anghiera. Under those teachers, and encouraged by the queen herself, a circle of women consecrated to the study of classical cultures and tongues was born in the Castilian court. This expanded to the Valentian court by the influence of Viceroy Enrique de Aragón y Pimentel and the Queen Joanna of Naples.[1]
The queen, who had among his inspirations the philosopher and poet, "proided with preceptors and teachers to all who lived in her palace, be it handmaidens or pageboys, so all of them could become learned" (proveyó de preceptores y maestros a todos los de su palacio, así doncellas como pajes, porque todos aprendiesen), as described by Marinaeo Siculo. This included Beatriz Galindo, known as La Latina due to her mastery of Latin; Beatriz de Bobadilla, her handmaiden and councilor of State, and her own daughters Isabella, Joanna, Maria and Catherine. Religious writers like Teresa de Cartagena and St. Beatrice of Silva were also called, as were lay writers like Isabel de Villena and Florencia Pinar. Some of them, such as Luisa de Medrano and Juana Contreras, came to the extent of presenting conferences in the University of Salamanca,[1] originating the popular belief, although false, that Medrano became a college teacher.[2]
After Isabella's death, and with Charles I now sitting in the throne of Spain, his grand-nephew Maria became infanta of Portugal. Maria, who sought the companionship of the Castilian humanists Luisa and Ángela Sigea de Velasco, turned her palace into "a true university of women illustrious in all genres of sciences and arts" (una verdadera universidad de mujeres ilustres en todo género de ciencias y artes). It included names like Joana Vaz, Paula Vicente, Leonor de Noronha and Públia Hortênsia de Castro. Portuguese chronicler João de Barros also wrote about other intellectual women outside the royal circle, like Izabel de Castro Andrade, about whom little has survived.[1]
The Valentian court was presided by Germana de Foix, once the queen of Ferdinand the Catholic after Isabella's death, who after Ferdinand's own death was installed as Vicereine of Valencia by the emperor. Germana and her successive husbands, especially Ferdinand of Aragon, Duke of Calabria, gave the court a festive flavour on account of their French and Italian upbringings respectively, but also cultivated arts and sciences, with female exponents like Ana Cervatón and Mencía de Mendoza. Other Iberian women of lesser status but similar prestige were the Castilian Juana de Vergara, sister to humanist Juan de Vergara,[2] and the unrelated Isabel de Vergara, who translated the works of Erasmus, as well as Catalina de Paz, the Catalonian Juliana Morell and the Valentian Tecla de Borja.[1]
