Bettisia Gozzadini (1209 – 2 November 1261) was a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

who lectured at the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

from about 1239. She is thought to be the first woman to have taught at a university.

Life

Gozzadini was born in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

, in northern Italy, in 1209; her parents, Amadore Gozzadini and Adelasia de' Pegolotti, were of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the realm with many e ...

. Gozzadini studied philosophy, and then studied law under Giacomo Baldavino and Tancred of Bologna at the Studium of Bologna, where she also received encouragement from Odofredo. As a young woman she dressed as a man; it is not known whether this was because of social pressures, or was from personal choice. She graduated from the university in 1237, and for two years taught law at her home. She was offered chair at the Studium, which at first she declined, but later accepted. According to legend, she had to wear a veil when teaching, to avoid distraction to her students; however, the same legend is also attached to

Novella d'Andrea Novella d'Andrea, (b. 1312 in Bologna – d. 1333 (or around 1346 or 1366)), was an Italian legal scholar and professor in law at the university of Bologna. As the daughter of Giovanni d'Andrea, a professor in Canon law at the University of Bolo ...

, and it is not known which – if either – it belongs to. Gozzadini was a noted

orator An orator, or oratist, is a public speaker, especially one who is eloquent or skilled. Etymology Recorded in English c. 1374, with a meaning of "one who pleads or argues for a cause", from Anglo-French ''oratour'', Old French ''orateur'' (14th ...

, and on 31 May 1242 she gave the

oration Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...

at the funeral of the Bishop of Bologna, Enrico della Fratta. Gozzadini died with two other women and four students on 2 November 1261, when flooding of the

Idice The Idice is a river in the Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna regions of Italy. The source of the river is in the province of Florence near Monghidoro in the Appennino Tosco-Emiliano mountains. The river flows north into the province of Bologna near M ...

caused the collapse of the house where they had taken refuge after fleeing from her villa on the river between and Riccardina, now in the

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

of Budrio to the east of Bologna. There was general mourning in the city, and the schools were closed. Her funeral was held at the church of the Padri Serviti.

Reception

Gozzadini is thought to be the first woman to have taught at a university. A

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

bust of her, one of a series of twelve representations of notable Bolognese women by the un-named "Scultore di Casa Fibbia", dates from the late seventeenth century. It was originally in the Salone d'Onore of Palazzo Fibbia Fabbri – now Palazzo Masetti Calzolari – and is now in the Museo della Storia di Bologna in

Palazzo Pepoli The Palazzo Pepoli Vecchio is a Medieval palace located on Via Castiglione number 8, in central Bologna, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The merlonated brick Gothic-style building is now the civic ''Museum of the History of Bologna''. It stands ac ...

. Gozzadini is the earliest of the twelve women depicted. Her writings, on the ''Digest'' and on the

lex omnes populi Lex or LEX may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lex'', a daily featured column in the ''Financial Times'' Games * Lex, the mascot of the word-forming puzzle video game ''Bookworm'' * Lex, the protagonist of the word-forming puzzle video ga ...

, are believed lost.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gozzadini, Bettisia 1209 births 1261 deaths 13th-century Italian women 13th-century Italian jurists Italian women lawyers Italian women academics University of Bologna faculty Women legal scholars