Arcangela Tarabotti | The Venetian rebel forced to be a nun

Arcagela Tarabotti She is a little-known figure and yet she was one of the first feminists in history. She fought for women’s rights since she was imprisoned in her convent, where her father imprisoned her for considering her too weak to marry and bring children into the world. Discover Arcángela Tarabotti, the Venetian rebel forced to be a nun.

Arcángela Tarabotti from girl to woman in a convent where she did not want to be

Currently, women who profess in a monastic order do so voluntarily and if at any time they doubt that this is their place in the world they have the possibility of leaving the convent and reintegrating into civil life, but for centuries this was not the case. For very different reasons, the parents decided that one of her daughters was the right one to be a nun even though she had no vocation. There was no possible discussion. Escape was not contemplated since it meant living on the streets in an inhumane situation. The only option was to obey. This is what happened to Arcángela Tarabotti, but she protested this situation until the last moment of her life and she is considered a proto-feminist and one of the first theoretical politicians in history.

The early years of Arcángela Tarabotti

Elena Cassandra Tarabotti, was born in Venice in 1604. His father, Stéfano Tarabotti, was a Venetian merchant specialized in maritime trade based in the Castello neighborhood. Stéfano and his wife María Cadena had 11 children, six girls and five boys, of whom 6 apparently survived. Elena was the oldest and the only one who was assigned to the church.

Elena, apparently, had inherited from her father a physical problem that resulted in a pronounced limp. Stéfano considered that her first-born daughter was not suitable for marriage and in 1617, when the girl was 13 years old, he placed her against her will in the Benedictine monastery of Sant’Anna in the same neighborhood of Castello. Three years later she pronounced her first vows and became Sister Arcángela, in 1623 she made her final vows. She no longer left the convent in which she died from bronchitis in February 1652. She had spent more than 30 years locked behind its walls.

The rebellion of Arcángela Tarabotti

The forced entry into the convent, something quite common in Europe for centuries, was its main battlehorse. He blamed both the parents of the young women, the state, in his case the government of Venice, and the Church, which did not bother to find out whether the novices were there of their own free will or not. All of this carried a scathing criticism of the patriarchal system.

During her first years in the monastery, Arcángela refused to wear the Benedictine habit or cut her hair. She also did not hold back when she had to express her opinions and she was considered excessively frank and rebellious. Finally the Cardinal of Venice took matters into his own hands and forced her to make amends. She wore her habit, she cut her hair, but as recorded in her works, it did not change her emotions or her way of thinking. She believed that in the convent she was living a lie since she had no vocation nor had she ever wanted to be a nun.

The writings of Arcángela Tarabotti – Books and correspondence

Her works are a denunciation of what it means to be a «forced nun» and also of the general situation of women in the first decades of the 17th century. If something was positive for Arcangela Tarabotti Her early entry into the convent is that in her case she received a higher education than she would have had as a woman abroad and was allowed to read, write and acquire a solid culture. That same education is what inclined Juliana Morell, the first woman to have a university degree in the 20th century, to become religious. XVI, although in her case it was voluntarily, to be able to continue studying.

Despite the isolation in which the nuns lived, Arcangela Tarabotti He received visitors, managed to publish his works and also maintain an extensive correspondence with intellectuals of the time, disobeying ecclesiastical orders. His correspondents were very varied, from scientists to literati, astronomers, subversive and anticlerical authors, fugitive Carthusian monks and politicians. The topics on which he expressed his opinions in books and letters were especially:

  • The treatment they received from women within the church and their limitations.
  • The difference in education and schooling opportunities between both sexes.
  • He argued for women to have a more significant role within the church and society based on biblical evidence.
  • She criticized the forced confinement and mistreatment of women in monasteries.
  • She criticized misogyny and patriarchal systems, which made her an unparalleled political writer.

The mastery that Arcángela demonstrates in her writings shows an education far superior to that usually given in convents, which speaks to us of an unusual intelligence and interest. He wrote 6 books, five of them published during his lifetime and the last «Paternal Tyranny» after his death.

“Paternal Tyranny” his most provocative and subversive book

In «Paternal Tyranny» which was later published as «Deceived Simplicity,» Arcangela Tarabotti attacks parents who, with deception and false promises, take their daughters to convents that will become a prison for life. It criticizes governmental, ecclesiastical and family power structures. In his book he basically attacks male tyranny.

The book was so subversive that the same year it was published the «Congregation of the Index» attempted to place it among the banned books, which it achieved in 1661.

Her father locked her in a convent at the age of 13 against her will, but she became a fighter for women’s rights since her confinement. Did you know Arcangela Tarabotti? Do you know anything else about her, her life or her works? Share it with us! If you want to meet another woman who stood out in what seemed to be a world only for men, we invite you to read the post: Sofonisba Anguissola | 10 curiosities about a painter who paved the way.

Image: Didier Descouens