De Mulieribus Claris or De Claris Mulieribus (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. It is the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in post-ancient Western literature. At the same time as he was writing On Famous Women, Boccaccio also compiled a collection of biographies of famous men, De Casibus Virorum Illustrium (On the Fates of Famous Men).

The famous women

1. Eve, the first woman in the Bible 2. Semiramis, queen of the Assyrians 3. Opis, fertility and earth goddess, wife of Saturn 4. Juno, goddess of the Kingdoms 5. Ceres, goddess of the harvest and queen of Sicily 6. Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy 7. Venus, queen of Cyprus 8. Isis, queen and goddess of Egypt 9. Europa, queen of Crete 10. Libya, queen of Libya 11 and 12. Marpesia and Lampedo, queens of the Amazons 13. Thisbe, a Babylonian maiden 14. Hypermnestra, queen of the Argives and priestess of Juno 15. Niobe, queen of Thebes 16. Hypsipyle, queen of Lemnos 17. Medea, queen of Colchis and lover of Jason in the "Argonautica" 18. Arachne of Colophon 19 and 20. Orithyia and Antiope, queens of the Amazons 21. Erythraea or Heriphile, a Sibyl 22. Medusa, daughter of Phorcus 23. Iole, daughter of the king of the Aetolians 24. Deianira, wife of Hercules 25. Jocasta, queen of Thebes 26. Amaltheia or Deiphebe, a Sibyl 27. Nicostrata, or Carmenta, daughter of King Ionius 28. Procris, wife of Cephalus 29. Argia, wife of Polynices and daughter of King Adrastus 30. Manto, daughter of Tiresias 31. The wives of the Minyans 32. Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons 33. Polyxena, daughter of King Priam 34. Hecuba, queen of the Trojans 35. Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy 36. Clytemnestra, queen of Mycenae 37. Helen of Troy, whose abduction by Paris began the Trojan War 38. Circe, daughter of the Sun 39. Camilla, queen of the Volscians 40. Penelope, wife of Ulysses 41. Lavinia, queen of Laurentum 42. Dido, or Elissa, queen of Carthage 43. Nicaula, queen of Ethiopia 44. Pamphile, daughter of Platea 45. Rhea Ilia, a Vestal Virgin 46. Gaia Cyrilla (Tanaquil), wife of King Tarquinius Priscus 47. Sappho, poet from the island of Lesbos 48. Lucretia, wife of Collatinus 49. Tamyris, queen of Scythia 50. Leaena, a courtesan who was tortured to death by the dictator Hippias 51. Athaliah, queen of Jerusalem 52. Cloelia, a Roman maiden 53. Hippo, a Greek woman 54. Megullia Dotata 55. Veturia, a Roman matron 56. Thamyris, daughter of Micon 57. A conflation of Artemisia II and Artemisia I, queens of Caria 58. Verginia, virgin and daughter of Virginius 59. Eirene, daughter of Cratinus 60. Leontium 61. Olympias, queen of Macedonia 62. Claudia, a Vestal Virgin 63. Virginia, wife of Lucius Volumnius 64. Flora, goddess of flowers and wife of Zephyrus 65. A young Roman woman 66. Marcia, daughter of Varro 67. Sulpicia, wife of Quintus Fulvius Flaccus 68. Harmonia, daughter of Gelon, son of Hiero II of Syracuse 69. Busa of Canosa di Puglia 70. Sophonisba, queen of Numidia 71. Theoxena, daughter of Prince Herodicus 72. Berenice, queen of Cappadocia 73. The Wife of Orgiagon the Galatian 74. Tertia Aemilia, wife of the elder Africanus 75. Dripetrua, queen of Laodice 76. Sempronia, daughter of Gracchus 77. Claudia Quinta, a Roman woman 78. Hypsicratea, Queen of Pontus 79. Sempronia, a Roman Woman 80. The Wives of the Cimbrian 81. Julia, daughter of the dictator Julius Caesar 82. Portia, daughter of Cato Uticensis 83. Curia, wife of Quintus Lucretius 84. Hortensia, daughter of Quintus Hortensius 85. Sulpicia, wife of Cruscellio 86. Cornificia, a poet 87. Mariamme, queen of Judaea 88. Cleopatra, queen of Egypt 89. Antonia, daughter of Antony 90. Agrippina, wife of Germanicus 91. Paulina, a Roman woman seduced by Decius Mundus pretending to be Anubis Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, 4 92. Agrippina, mother of the Emperor Nero 93. Epicharis, a freedwoman 94. Pompeia Paulina, wife of Seneca 95. Poppaea Sabina, wife of Nero 96. Triaria, wife of Lucius Vitellius 97. Proba, wife of Adelphus 98. Faustina Augusta 99. Symiamira, woman of Emesa 100. Zenobia, queen of Palmyra 101. Joan, an Englishwoman and Pope 102. Irene, Empress of Constantinople 103. Gualdrada, a Florentine maiden 104. Constance, Empress of Rome and queen of Sicily 105. Camiola, a Sienese widow 106. Joanna, queen of Jerusalem and Sicily

References Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

Primary sources Boccaccio, Poeet Ende Philosophe, Bescrivende van den Doorluchtighen, Glorioesten ende Edelsten Vrouwen (Antwerp, 1525) Boccaccio, Tractado de John Bocacio, de las Claras, Excellentes y Mas Famosas y Senaladas Damas (Zaragoza, 1494) Boccaccio, De la Louenge et Vertu des Nobles et Cleres Dames (Paris, 1493) Boccaccio, De Preclaris Mulieribus (Strassburg, 1475) Boccaccio, De Preclaris Mulieribus (Louvain, 1487) Boccaccio, De Mulieribus Claris (Bern, 1539) Boccaccio, De Mulieribus Claris (Ulm, 1473) Boccaccio, French translation (Paris, 1405)

Secondary sources Schleich, G. ed., Die mittelenglische Umdichtung von Boccaccio De claris mulieribus, nebst der latinischen Vorlage, Palaestra (Leipzig, 1924) Wright, H.G., ed., Translated from Boccaccio's De Claris Mulieribus, Early English Text Society, Original series w/Latin (London, 1943) Guarino, G. A., Boccaccio, Concerning Famous Women (New Brunswick, N.J., 1963) Zaccaria, V., ed., De mulieribus claris with Italian translation (Milan, 1967 and 1970) Branca, V., ed., Tutte le opere di Giovani Boccaccio, volume 10 (1967) Zaccaria, V., ed., De mulieribus claris, Studi sul Boccaccio (Milan, 1963) Müller, Ricarda, Ein Frauenbuch des frühen Humanismus. Untersuchungen zu Boccaccios De mulieribus claris (Stuttgart, 1992), Kolsky, S., Ghost of Boccaccio: Writings on Famous Women, (2005) Franklin, M., Boccaccio's Heroines: Power and Virtue in Renaissance Society (2006) Filosa, E., Tre Studi sul De mulieribus claris (2012)

External links

The Genealogy of Women: Studies in Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris The ghost of Boccaccio: writings on famous women in Renaissance Italy Its publishing development history by Guyda Armstrong of Brown University