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

 References 

 Citations 

 Bibliography 


 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 

Category:14th-century books
Category:Italian literature