Arcangela Tarabotti (24 February 1604 – 28 February 1652) was a Venetian nun and Early Modern Italian writer. Tarabotti wrote texts and corresponded with cultural and political figures for most of her adult life, centering on the issues of forced enclosure, and what she saw as other symptoms and systems of patriarchy and misogyny in her works and discussions. Tarabotti wrote at least seven works, though only five were published during her lifetime. Because of the politics of Tarabotti’s works, many scholars consider her “a protofeminist writer as well as an early political theorist.”
Early life and enclosure
Sister Arcangela Tarabotti was born Elena Cassandra Tarabotti in Castello, Venice. Her parents were Stefano Tarabotti and Maria Cadena. One of her siblings was the painter Caterina Tarabotti. Tarabotti was one of eleven children and the eldest of seven daughters. Tarabotti, like her father, had physical disabilities, which made her feel physically weak and may have contributed to her father’s conclusion that she was unfit for marriage. According to her, at the age of 11 (in 1617), Tarabotti was sent as a boarder to the Benedictine convent of Sant’Anna, but the convent papers state her presence only from 1617 onwards " Such monachization—especially of daughters deemed “unmarriageable”—was common in Early Modern Europe; this practice, especially when forced or coerced, formed the thematic center of her critical works. The Chiesa di Sant'Anna still stands in the Castello district of Venice, although the inside of the building is currently inaccessible, boarded up and padlocked.
In 1620, Tarabotti took her first vows and, in 1623, she took her final vows rendering her monastic status permanent. At least during her earlier years in the cloister, Tarabotti was said to have been rebellious and outspoken; Tarabotti tells she wore the religious habit in a worldly way or cut her hair until directly ordered to do so by Catholic Cardinal and Patriarch of Venice, Federico Baldissera Bartolomeo Corner or Cornaro. Her beliefs, however, remained unchanged; Tarabotti wrote in her autobiography, explaining that "He made me amend my vanities. I cut off my hair, but I did not uproot my emotions. I reformed my life, but my thoughts flourish rampantly, and just like my shorn hair, grow all the more." Indeed, though Tarabotti remained less outwardly rebellious after this time, she wrote that, by living as a nun, she was "living a lie."
Nuns at this time lived under strict enclosure and separately from lay society, and were prohibited by Canon Law from interacting with people outside of the cloister. Enclosed as she was, Tarabotti managed to educate herself, reading and writing a great deal of prohibited books during her years in the convent; not only that, Tarabotti also managed to circulate her works among peers through correspondence, and appears to have had many visits from outsiders—all of which contact and correspondence were in direct disobedience of Church officials.
During her time in the cloister, Tarabotti appears to have educated herself and created an impressive network of correspondents, including various writers, scientists, and political figures. Tarabotti used this network to engage in critical political and literary discourse with cultural and political figures, and to help in the editing and publishing of five texts during her lifetime (and, Paternal Tyranny, her most prized work, two years after her death). Though sometimes cloistered women had opportunities to educate themselves and sometimes had access to books and writing materials, Tarabotti's level of education seemed unique even among this group of women—indeed, some historians have remarked that despite her handwriting was not "well above average.", her culture and skills were. Most unusual though, may have been Tarabotti's radical politics and connections to influential literary and political communities.
Her works incorporate a profound critique of the Catholic Church's increasing limitation treatment of its female agents in the 17th century. She particularly highlights the role of education and the disparities between male and female opportunities for schooling. Her argumentation remains thoroughly grounded in biblical evidence, highlighting the prominence of female disciples in Jesus Christ's following given the patriarchal context of first-century Judaism, and consequently arguing that women should have a more significant role in the contemporary church and world.