Composed in the 1360s, Boccaccio s De mulieribus claris (Famous Women) was the first attempt at female biography in the history of post-classical Western literature. However, its humanistic credentials coexist uneasily with the remnants of medieval misogyny. This book the first full-length study of De mulieribus claris in English argues that it is essential to take into account the ideological complexities of early humanism confronted with the -woman question-. It seeks to unravel the difficulties of the text, looking at its genesis, sources, relations to other writings...