De mulieribus claris

***De Mulieribus Claris*** or ***De Claris Mulieribus*** (Latin for "**On Famous Women**") is a book by Giovanni Boccaccio, from Florence. Bocaccio started to write it  in 1361 and 1362, in Latin. In the book, he writes biographies of "famous women". Boccacio wrote the book in Latin prose. He seems to have made several changes, until his death in 1375. It was first published in 1374. It tells 106 short biographies of historically important women. Some of these women really existed, others are mythical. About a century later, in 1473/74 it was translated into German as _Von den synnrychen erluchten wyben._ Other translations into German were made 1479 and 1488. In 1483 a French translation was made, a Spanish one in 1484.   Donato Albanzani translated it into Italian in  1397. The first translation into English is in the Canterbury Tales, the biography of Zenobia is part of _The Monk's tale_. As there are many prints and translations from the 14th to the 16th century, the book was probably popular. Bocaccio calls it _The first book that is exclusively about women_. At the same time Boccauio also wrote a  collection of biographies of famous men,_ De Casibus Virorum Illustrium_ (_On the Fates of Famous Men_).

When Boccaccio selected the women to write about, he wanted those that could serve as an example, also from a Christian and ethical point of view. For some women, he re-used some of the content of his other book De casibus virorum illustrium that he had written  earlier.

The book is notable, because it is the first collection of  biographies of women in post-ancient Western literature.

## The famous women

- 1. Eve, the first woman in the Bible
- 2. Semiramis, queen of the Assyrians
- 3. Opis, wife of Saturn
- 4. Juno, goddess of the Kingdoms
- 5. Ceres, goddess of the harvest and queen of Sicily
- 6. Minerva
- 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
- 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. Almathea 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, woman of Lesbos and poet
- 48. Lucretia, wife of Collatinus
- 49. Tamyris, queen of Scythia
- 50. Leaena, a courtesan
- 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 Cimbrians
- 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
- 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

## Other websites

- _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