A
scholar of the Italian Renaissance, Findlen has collected biographies
of medieval women, written in Italy from the 15th to 18th centuries,
several centuries after the women lived.
Through
a close examination of these texts, Findlen found that these early
modern writers were so passionate about medieval women that they
sometimes fabricated stories about them.
As
Findlen carefully tracked down the claims in these stories, she found
they varied from factual to somewhat factual to entirely false.
These
invented women were often mentioned in regional histories, with
imaginary connections to important institutions. They were described as
having law degrees or professorships, claims that turned out to be
fictitious.