Domenico Bruni da Pistoia

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An elegant writer and learned jurisconsult, Domenico Bruni da Pistoia flourished in the first half of the 16th century. Bruni was a priest. At first, he was Vicar General to his illustrious fellow-citizen Monsignor Benedetto Conversini, Bishop of Bertinoro. Later, under Paul III, he held the position of praetor of Cesena. Despite the nature of his employment and the arid occupations by which he was surrounded, for pleasure he devoted himself to writing the work 'Defences of Women, in which their defences are contained, from the calumny given to them by writers, and at the same time the praises of those' (Milan, 1549, and Florence, 1552), the subject of our study. Contrary to 16th century sexist polemics, the work claims a decidedly positive role for the 'fair sex'. Some attribute Bruni's authorship of Lodovico Domenichi's work 'La Nobiltà delle Donne', printed in Venice in 1549, to Bruni.