IOANNES BOCCATIVS DE

Certaldo to the most illustrious woman, Andrea de Acciarolis of
Florence, Countess of Altevilla.

Yesterday, most excellent lady, having removed myself for a short while from the idle mob and having been released from almost all other cares, I wrote a small book in the outstanding praise of the female sex and for the comfort of my friends, rather than for any great benefit to the republic. But while I was considering with myself to whom I might first transmit it, so that it might not wither away with me in idleness, and so that, supported by another's favor, it might go out into the public with more security, I turned my attention to the fates, deciding it should be dedicated not to a prince, but rather, since it speaks of women, to some distinguished woman. Seeking one more worthy than others, that brilliant Italian star and unique glory not only of women but of kings, Joanna, most serene Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily, came to mind. Having weighed both the fame of her illustrious lineage and the virtues of her ancestors, as well as the new praises she has sought for herself with a brave heart, I fell into a desire to send this humble and devoted work before the majesty of her highness. Finally, because the royal radiance is great from God, and this small work is but a nearly extinguished spark, fearing lest it be put to flight and banished into darkness by a greater light, I gradually retracted that plan. Seeking through new inquiries and many others, I finally turned my vow from the illustrious Queen to you, and not without reason. For while I turned over in my mind your mild and celebrated manners, your exceptional honesty—the highest ornament of matrons—and the elegance of your words, and perceived with these the generosity of your spirit and the powers of your wit, by which you far exceed female gifts, I saw that what nature took from the weaker sex, God in his liberality has superabundantly supplied to your breast with wondrous virtues, and has wished to designate you by the name you bear, since the Greeks call ἄνδρες men what we call humans in Latin, I judged you to be equal to the most virtuous women, even those of most ancient times. And therefore, since you are a most famous specimen of antiquity, acting with many and splendid deeds in our own time, I wish to add the gift of this little book's title to your deserved radiance, judging that I have added no less beauty to your name among posterity by these few letters than have once the mountain of Odorisi and now the earldom of Altevilla, by which fortune has made you illustrious. I send it to you, therefore, and I pray, illustrious lady, by the holy name of modesty, in which you excel most among mortals, that you receive this small gift from a scholarly man with a grateful heart; and if you are to trust me in anything, I urge you to read it sometime. It will indeed flatter your leisure with its tributes while you take joy in the virtue of women and the charm of histories. Nor do I think the reading will be undertaken in vain, if the exploits...