Századok – 2019
2019 / 2. szám - NŐI KOMMUNIKÁCIÓS MÉDIUMOK, TEREK ÉS RITUÁLÉK A 16–18. SZÁZADBAN - Lengyel Tünde: Esettanulmány a kora újkori női műveltség kérdéséhez. Elvárások, lehetőségek, határok
ESETTANULMÁNY A KORA ÚJKORI NŐI MŰVELTSÉG KÉRDÉSÉHEZ 250 A CASE STUDY OF FEMALE LITERACY IN THE EARLY MODERN ERA Expectations, Possibilities, Limits by Tünde Lengyel SUMMARY An important aspect of the research of female social roles in the early modern era is the problem of women’s literacy. The authors of some female biographies – especially in the late nineteenth century – treated the content and formal features of letters written by women rather uncritically, assessing the literacy of their writers without examining the circumstances in which the letters were penned. In contrast to that of boys, the upbringing and education of girls is left in obscurity by the surviving evidence. The case of Erzsébet Czobor, consort of György Thurzó, dicussed in the present paper, is a perfect illustration of the expectations and limits on the female roles of that period. Married as illiterate, the girl learned, as an ideal wife, the organisation of everyday life, the administration of estates, and all the things required to be done concerning her children. Widowed, she carried on the activities of her late husband in the field of culture and spreading the faith, and was accordingly labelled as one of the most educated women of her age. In reality, however, her literacy was skin deep, and she could hardly manage without a scribe. Consequently, her example shows perfectly how critically the available sources should be treated, and argues for a prudent, individual approach to the problem of female literacy.
