What was life like for Women during the Renaissance?
Like much of the rest of history, Renaissance society subjugated women. Nevertheless, women had a few more rights and opportunities than in earlier times and some women pushed again their limits. Women had no political rights. They could not vote nor hold public office. While there were a few notable queens (Elizabeth of England, for example), they were the exception and did not improve the situation for normal women. Society expected most women to marry. Those who did not usually were religious women. Single women were distrusted and often became the targets of the growing “witch crazes.” In marriage though, women had some rights but on the whole were subjugated to her husband. He had the right to punish her for disobedience, to demand relations, to limit her movement and her behavior. However, many women lived in loving marriages in which the husbands did not enforce such rights. Moreover, more women began to push back against such restrictions. Women had limited property rights. A w
