Journey from Childhood - Chapter 5 - The Rites of Passage

[Elkhound]

Wasn't there a noblewoman in midaeval Italy who earned a doctorate in Mathematics?  I can't remember her name. . .

[Evie]

Wasn't there a noblewoman in midaeval Italy who earned a doctorate in Mathematics?  I can't remember her name. . .

While I don't know which lady you are referring to, if she was studying in Italy, that wouldn't surprise me overly much.  Italy seems to have had a higher regard for educated, highly accomplished women than most other areas in period.  Not necessarily university educated, mind, but at least a woman's chances of gaining some sort of formal education were a little higher there than elsewhere.   

[Aerlys]

Wasn't there a noblewoman in midaeval Italy who earned a doctorate in Mathematics?  I can't remember her name. . .

Her name was Elena Cornaro Piscopia, and is known as the first woman to receive a doctorate. She was from a prominent Italian family. At seven, she was recognized as a prodigy, and was taught theology, philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, and several languages, and was a proficient musician. She began attending the University of Padua when she was 26, and from there received her doctorate of philosophy. She became a lecturer in mathematics, and stayed at the University until her death.

However, she lived from 1646 to 1684, considerably later than the 12th century.

Perhaps, through the intercession of St. Camber,  Gywnedd will allow women a similar education sooner than its real-world counterparts.

[Elkhound]

Thanks, that's the person I'm thinking of.  Weren't there also some prominent female scholars in the Byzantine Empire?

[Aerlys]

Weren't there also some prominent female scholars in the Byzantine Empire?

Two who come to mind are Anna Komnena, Byzantine princess who was born in the 12th century, and Theodora Raoulaina, from the 13th century. Komnena was much more widely educated, and is regarded as an historian.

[Evie]

Since the Norman invasion (or an analogue to it) may never have happened in medieval Gwynedd, unless one counts the Festillic Invasion as an analogue, it's possible that at least earlier Gwynedd (in Evaine's time or before that) had an educational system closer to Anglo-Saxon England rather than Norman England.  If so, women may have had greater educational opportunities (or at least there might have been precedent in Gwynedd for that in their past history), including a history of scholas in double-houses.  While such education was normally meant for those in religious life, or those who planned to become secular clerks and scribes, it was also made available to those who might need literacy skills in other areas of secular life.  While a woman in earlier times might not have needed literacy in order to achieve her career goals, per se, an educated woman could have made a more advantageous match if she were a noblewoman or of the merchant class.  She would be able to keep household ledgers, or at least understand them well enough to know if her husband's man of accounts was "cooking the books" or not.