Women of the Romance Countries

The history of women's lives and behaviours in two major european countries - Italy and Spain. The hands of the invaders, had been stained with blood, and then ravaged by the great plague of which Boccaccio has given us a picture, and of the idyllic way the rich people passed their time, in his Decameron. Such being the case, this account of the women of the Romance countries does not attempt to trace in detail their gradual evolution, but rather to present, in the proper setting, the most conspicuous examples of their good or evil influence, their bravery or their cowardice, their loyalty or their infidelity, their learning or their illiteracy, their intelligence or their ignorance, throughout the succeeding years. Chroniclers and historians, poets and romancers, have all given valuable aid in the undertaking, and to them grateful acknowledgment is hereby made.