The Example of an Honest Courtesan

As a courtesan, Veronica Franco would entertain Henry III of Valois in her Venetian home. But her greatest accomplishments would be a literary career that defied public expectation and defended her honor from men who would mock and diminish her. Support Noble Blood: — Bonus episodes, stickers, and scripts on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/noblebloodtales — Order Dana's book, 'Anatomy: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250840578/anatomyalovestory' and its sequel 'Immortality: A Love Story https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250861016/immortalityalovestory' See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:04Speaker 01

  Haven't gotten around to earning your degree yet? Don't panic. Southern New Hampshire University has what you need. Over 200 online degree programs, no set class times, some of the lowest online tuition rates in the country, and career-focused courses that help you learn actual skills, not random facts you'll forget right after graduation. So take a breath, no need to stress. You just found Southern New Hampshire University. Visit SNHU.edu/degree today. That's SNHU.edu/degree.

• 0:34Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 1:04Speaker 03

  This is the story of the one. As a shipping manager, he's running the dock, stocking supplies, and making sure every order goes out on time. And Granger helps him stay prepared. From shipping supplies, to PPE, to hand tools, he counts on Granger to keep products moving and trucks rolling. So his operation runs smoothly, no matter the shift. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click Granger.com, or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done.

• 1:34Dana Schwartz?

  Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Listener discretion advised. Around the halfway point of the 1998 drama film Dangerous Beauty, the movie's protagonist points a sword at the throat of the man who has just publicly mocked her, and she challenges him to a duel. What follows is a battle of both body and wit, as the swordsman and swordswoman trade poetic verses while engaging in a flamboyant fencing match that ends on a boat in a Venetian canal.

• 2:15Dana Schwartz?

  It's very cinematic and an incredibly fun scene to watch. I'm especially fond of the classic moment when our heroine finds the fabric of her dress punctured, so she removes the skirt to reveal a pair of pants underneath in a bit of delightful 90s feminist revisionism. The fight in the movie is a turning point for these two characters, who have previously been cordial. Earlier in the film, both of them, poets, had worked in harmony to exalt Venice's beauty. Now, our heroine's lines are criticizing her partner's disregard for the minds of women, while he's calling her a whore.

• 2:59Dana Schwartz?

  He is Mafio Veniere, and she is Veronica Franco. And as it happens, both of their accusations about the other are true. The movie Dangerous Beauty takes a lot of artistic liberty as a biopic of the Venetian courtesan and writer Veronica Franco, though it does pull from the true history found at its source material, the biography The Honest Courtesan by Margaret Rosenthal. The basic story of the movie is factual. Veronica Franco, the daughter of a courtesan, rose from obscurity to the heights of Venetian

• 3:42Dana Schwartz?

  society, entertaining and serving many high-ranking men, including a young Henry III of France. The film depicts imagined details of their, let's say, exploratory encounter in a scene you will have to watch for yourself. More extraordinarily, though, in real life, Veronica used her accumulated influence to publish her own writing and advocate for the rights of her fellow Venetian women. Where truth and fiction diverge is in the details.

• 4:20Dana Schwartz?

  For example, the film's central love story, between Veronica and Mafio's cousin Marco, was based on a real relationship, just not one that would have been quite as swoon-worthy without embellishment. The movie also takes a few liberties with regards to that battle between Veronica and Mafio. In real life, it was only scathing poems going back and forth, not swords. While blood may have been drawn on screen, the film keeps things lighter with regards to the intellectual violence of the real Mafio's virulent and darkly misogynistic verses about

• 5:05Dana Schwartz?

  Franco in real life. Where did his extreme hatred of Veronica stem from? There's some crossover between art and history. The movie portrays him as jealous that Domenico, his wealthy uncle, was more supportive of Veronica's literary ambitions rather than his own. And it portrays him as bitter that Veronica rejected his advances years earlier. The former seems to be quite true, but there's no evidence to support the latter. The sword fighting scene in the movie ends with Veronica triumphant, but Mafio, now on

• 5:46Dana Schwartz?

  the other side of the court's laughter, delivers a sucker punch to her jaw. It's an apt metaphor for life as a courtesan. For all of her success and status in Venetian high society, Veronica was never safe from the violent whims of men. It was those violent whims that would eventually place Veronica Franco in front of the Catholic Inquisition accused of witchcraft. I'm Dana Schwartz, and this is Noble Blood.

• 6:24Dana Schwartz?

  Veronica Franco was born in 1546 to Paola Fracassa and Francesco Franco, and she was the only daughter out of their four children. While not noble, the Franco family were part of a caste known as the "Citizens by Birth", which is a group that made up much of Venice's salaried bureaucracy at the time, though this citizenry were denied noble privileges, including high governmental positions or a vote in the Great Council. They could also be members of the "Co-fraternities", or "Great Schools" of Venice, which were powerful lay religious societies.

• 7:07Dana Schwartz?

  It's unknown whether or not Veronica received an education as a girl, but it's likely that she was able to sit in on lessons with her three brothers' private tutor. Even that small liberty, though, was more than most women received. In fact, any access to education was outside of the norm. For reference, the Italian Renaissance scholar Paul F. Grendler cites that fewer than 4% of Venetian women had any public schooling in the 1580s, and only 10% to 12% were literate. Men, by contrast, had a 30% literacy rate during the same period.

• 7:51Dana Schwartz?

  The women who did receive education were from the nobility and upper classes, but even then, their schooling was typically limited to rudimentary reading and writing, just enough to learn religious principles and prepare to run a major household. Veronica's rise to prominence as a writer and courtesan was, as a result, fueled by her determination to educate herself later in life.

• 8:22Dana Schwartz?

  It makes a little sense to pause here and define what and who exactly a courtesan is in the context of today's episode. Just as the English word courtesan derives from the masculine courtier, meaning a man who serves at court, the Italian cortegiana derives from the masculine cortegiano. The distinction between the cortegiana and the meritrice, or traditional prostitute, can be a bit blurry at times, but there were some key distinctions. For example, the courtesan's clientele would be of the elite classes: noblemen, merchants, even men of the cloth.

• 9:07Dana Schwartz?

  She would attract this clientele through her beauty and luxurious dress, as well as her cultural knowledge. She could play music, recite poetry, or recall the Greek and Roman classics. The best could do all of the above. Sex was, of course, at the core of the relationship between a courtesan and her patron, but it was her unique skill as a conversation partner that would lead a man of means to seek her services, as opposed to the services of a meritrice. The courtesan is in many ways similar to the Japanese geisha, who's a good reference

• 9:49Dana Schwartz?

  point, thanks to her enduring cultural legacy. Their intellectual talents are also what earned these women the title of "honest courtesan." Honest, in this instance, can be defined as respected or recognized. After all, courtesans were expected to sell a fantasy, not deliver harsh truths.

• 10:15Dana Schwartz?

  As the name courtesan implies, she also attended social functions of the court, and was often allowed in spaces that even noblewomen were prohibited from. While a Venetian noblewoman would have greater power and status than a courtesan, her life would be confined to the private, domestic sphere. Despite their differences, the courtesan and the noblewoman were sometimes visually indistinguishable, thanks to their comparable means and taste. In his famed 1590 book of costumes, the publisher Cesare Varelio notes that,

• 10:57Dana Schwartz?

  “Indeed, at times, some of these courtesans dress like widows and look very much like Venetian noblewomen to those who are not familiar with their condition.” This was very concerning to Venetian authorities, who made frequent attempts to distinguish sex workers from other women by mandating that they wear a yellow scarf in public, or forbidding them from wearing certain fabrics and materials, laws which were repeatedly, soundly ignored, especially by the courtesans. The Republic repeatedly attempted to construct legal qualifications as to what separated

• 11:42Dana Schwartz?

  a courtesan from a noblewoman, as well as a courtesan from a meritrice. But throughout the first half of the 16th century, their efforts were in vain. While many rejected the courtesan’s place in society, and many more would in the latter half of the century, courtesans at this time were integral to the city’s identity. Venice, known for its beauty and luxury goods, prized the courtesan as a jewel of society. Visitors sought to gaze upon Venice's courtesans as one would any tourist attraction. As the eccentric English travel writer Thomas Corret

• 12:26Dana Schwartz?

  described in 1608, "As for the number of these Venetian courtesans, it is very great, at the least 20,000, whereof many are esteemed so loose they are said to open their quivers to every arrow." End quote. The number is certainly an exaggeration, but such a figure fits with Venice's historical reputation as a city of pleasure. So now, let's return to Veronica's life. The Francos were not of the lowest economic class, as has been theorized by some historians in the past,

• 13:08Dana Schwartz?

  but it does not appear Francesco had any government position. And so the family certainly would need to work to support themselves. For women who needed to do that, options were quite limited. In Veronica's mother Paola's case, she supported herself as a courtesan. It was Paola who introduced her daughter to the profession. And we know Veronica established herself as a courtesan by around age 18. The catalog of all the principal and most honored courtesans of Venice, printed likely around 1565, is a famed published list of 212 actively working courtesans,

• 13:52Dana Schwartz?

  including Veronica Franco. Each woman is identified by name, location, fee, and who their pieza, or go-between, is. For Veronica, the listed go-between is her mother, Paola. Talk about momager. You can imagine the "you're doing amazing, sweetie" of the 16th century. While Veronica enjoyed great success in her career, evidence from her published collection, Familiar Letters, reveals that she may have wanted to choose a different path for herself. In one letter, she implores a friend and fellow courtesan not to introduce her daughter to their profession,

• 14:37Dana Schwartz?

  offering instead to pay the daughter's way to a home dedicated to young impoverished women. Veronica wrote, "To make oneself prey to so many men, at the risk of being stripped, robbed, even killed, along with so many other dangers of injury and dreadful contagious diseases, to eat with another's mouth, sleep with another's eyes, move according to another's will, obviously rushing toward the shipwreck of your mind and your body, what greater misery? What wealth, what luxuries, what delights can outweigh all this?"

• 15:21Dana Schwartz?

  Published in 1580, in that letter Veronica reflects on her life not simply with cynicism, but with wisdom and a greater awareness of Venice's existing social conditions. Glamorous as it might be to imagine the luxurious life of a courtesan, it simply wasn't the case, even for someone like Veronica, who was successful. In Veronica's earliest years, before her career began, she briefly did live a more traditional lifestyle. Sometime in the early 1560s, a teenage Veronica entered an arranged marriage

• 16:04Dana Schwartz?

  with a doctor, Paolo Panizza, who possessed what is possibly the most stereotypically Italian name I've come across in the history of this podcast. It was evidently not a great match as the couple separated not long after they were married. Such knowledge comes from Veronica's unusual request for the return of her dowry in her 1564 will, an important document for our understanding of Veronica's life.

• 16:36Dana Schwartz?

  Reading a will may seem like an odd place to begin telling someone's life story, but Veronica's two written wills, from 1564 and from 1570, ironically provide us with some of the earliest details of her life. More saliently, they tell us a lot about who she was and who she would become, despite the fact that they were written at the incredibly young ages of 18 and 24, respectively. For one thing, we know that she was writing her first will in 1564, when she was 18 years old, because she was pregnant.

• 17:18Dana Schwartz?

  This was common practice at the time as "necessary insurance" in case a mother died in childbirth. Notably, Veronica declares that Paolo is not the father of her unborn child. She believed, with the qualification that "only God knows for certain," the baby's father was Jacomo di Babali, a noble merchant from modern-day Croatia. It's unknown whether or not he was a lover, a client, or both, but it is highly probable that Veronica had already begun her career as a courtesan by the time of the will writing,

• 18:01Dana Schwartz?

  as her support from several patrician and noble families of Venice is noted. Veronica writes that "in honor of the love shared between them, di Babali should take responsibility for the child in the case of her death." She also bequeathed him a diamond "as a symbol of her love." Veronica orders her executors to leave her accumulated capital in the care of di Babali, but only under the condition that he matches the amount with 5% interest for the benefit of their son or daughter until he or she reaches legal age.

• 18:41Dana Schwartz?

  If they have a daughter, Franco insists that, at such a point, the remaining capital plus interest be given directly to her in the form of a dowry. Making sure that women have money, and importantly, access to that money, is a recurring point of order in Veronica's will. For example, she leaves ten ducats to Agnesina, the daughter of her brother's wet nurse, to be repeated any time Agnesina marries. Additionally, when Veronica requests the return of her dowry from Paolo, she asks that it be given to her mother "to do with as she pleases",

• 19:24Dana Schwartz?

  quote, "like her who gave it to me." This implies that the money for Veronica's dowry was provided not by her father, but by her mother and her mother's work as a courtesan. By the time Veronica wrote her second will, six years later, in 1570, her life had changed considerably. For one, her mother was dead. It's unlikely Veronica found a new piazza and instead began managing her own transactions. It's clear that she had become a sought-after courtesan by this point, evidenced by a considerable rise in means

• 20:05Dana Schwartz?

  and the appearance of higher-ranking associates in her will. Veronica's literary career would not begin for a few more years, but we see she had already endeared herself to Venice's elite. In this new will, she dictates that the majority of her capital is to be left to the care and education of her two epically-named sons: Achille, the child with whom she was pregnant at the time of writing her first will, and Ennio. According to Veronica, Ennio is the son of Andrea Tron, a Venetian nobleman. Andrea himself, a son of a prominent senator,

• 20:49Dana Schwartz?

  was already married to a noblewoman at the time of their son's birth. And it's unknown whether or not he ever claimed their son as his own. This will is more detailed than the first. We see how Veronica has carefully divided her capital between her two children, the children of those she's close to, and her brother's family. She once again designates money for the dowries of young women in need, but this time she circumvents the balloting system. Instead, she directs the "surplus" of her capital to provide for the marriages of "two worthy maidens."

• 21:31Dana Schwartz?

  She adds an additional clause that if her executors can find "two prostitutes who want to 'leave their wicked life by marrying or entering a convent,' then they should be embraced rather than the two maidens." "Wicked" here is not necessarily a moral judgment in this instance, rather a reflection of the hardships endured by the sex workers during this time in Venice. Veronica was evidently successful enough that she had her own home and the luxury of employing a small staff, because her will also designates money to be left to her cook, her maid, and a former maid.

• 22:16Dana Schwartz?

  It was in her own home that the courtesan welcomed the young King Henry III of Valois, son of Catherine de Medici, who visited Venice in July of 1574, during his journey from Poland to France to claim the throne there following the death of his older brother. Henry's stay in Venice marked the most extravagant reception of a foreign dignitary that the city had ever witnessed. The then-23-year-old Henri and his cousin spent the evenings attending balls and theatrical performances

• 22:56Dana Schwartz?

  before spending the nights seeking out Venice's other most famous attractions. It's unknown how Henry came to meet Veronica specifically, but it's likely he was introduced through one of the nobles assigned to attend to him, Andrea Tron, the father of her second child.

• 23:19Dana Schwartz?

  Henri is mainly known for two things: his assassination, which ultimately marks the end of the House of Valois, and his sexuality. It is believed that he enjoyed cross-dressing at masquerades and that he had sexual relationships with his male favorites. However, because rumors surrounding his bisexuality and “effeminacy” were used by Catholic detractors to prove that he was unfit for the throne, historians have never entirely been able to distinguish fact from fiction with certainty: what’s real and what’s propaganda. By the time of his and Veronica’s encounter,

• 24:04Dana Schwartz?

  even before taking the French throne, Henri had already gained something of a reputation. Though their encounter was almost certainly sexual in nature, Veronica later published a sonnet, platonically singing the young king’s praises. “So to my modest dwelling, without the shine and dazzle of royal pomp, Came Henri, called to so vast a kingdom, That one world alone cannot contain it. Although he came disguised, He nonetheless so imprinted upon my heart His heavenly merit, That my natural strength abandoned me.”

• 24:47Dana Schwartz?

  It was a combination of luck, her status, and skill that led Veronica to live the life of a courtesan who would host foreign kings rather than a life as a simple meritriche. She seems to understand that, and it may have informed why she would choose to pursue another kind of work at this time that seemed untouchable for most women of her time and place.

• 25:19Dana Schwartz?

  Sometime in the early 1570s, Veronica became a member of the intellectual circle cultivated by one of the most powerful noble clans of Venice, the Venier family. At the top of the familial hierarchy sat Domenico, the patron and protector. After relinquishing his duty as senator in 1546 because of his painful chronic gout, Domenico devoted his time to establishing an informal literary academy that met regularly at his residence. What set Domenico apart from other patrons and hosts was his sponsorship of numerous

• 26:03Dana Schwartz?

  female artists and intellectuals. It does not appear that his support of these women, including Veronica, was dependent on sexual relationships. As noted earlier, only around 10% of Venetian women were literate during this time period, and an even smaller percentage were publishing written work. In the absence of a powerful and extremely progressive father, women who sought to not only cultivate intellectual lives but also publish would need to rely on the generosity of patrons like Domenico. Originally, Veronica's literary career was dedicated to compiling the poems of other

• 26:48Dana Schwartz?

  members of this circle for volumes, a unique role for a woman. Letters reveal she acted as the organizer of numerous collections throughout the 1570s. The patriarch's influence on Veronica and this circle at large is evident in her first published collection of poetry, 1575's "Poems in Terzarima." Domenico was interested in pre-Petrarchan poetic forms, which encouraged a revival of Dante's third rhyme structure first seen in the Divine Comedy.

• 27:30Dana Schwartz?

  This collection consisted of 18 poems, with some in the format of proposta and riposta between Veronica and anonymous male poets, a back-and-forth.

• 27:45Dana Schwartz?

  By publishing a collection including poetic exchanges instead of merely her own compositions, Veronica was seeking to elevate her status by putting her work on the same level as her male contemporaries. Typically preferred for academic, satirical, and comic compositions, Veronica utilizes that back-and-forth format to wittily and critically engage with both her lover's and her detractors' perceptions of her. Take the first two poems in the collection. Capitolo I, credited to an unknown author, is written in the tradition of the Petrarchian

• 28:29Dana Schwartz?

  lover, desperate for his feelings to be requited. Unlike the other works in poems credited to unknown authors, we actually do have the identity of this forlorn man. He was Marco Veniere, Domenico's nephew and Veronica's lover. The first copies of poems identified him as the author of this poem, but then subsequent printings anonymize him alongside the other writers for reasons unexplained. His poem rhapsodizes Veronica's cruel, or perhaps even dangerous, beauty, but also

• 29:10Dana Schwartz?

  flatters her writing talent, which Marco calls "a gift from Apollo himself." Quote: "And so among beauties you are famous for your learning, and among learned women you are known for your beauty; and in both you excel, one group and the other." He, however, follows this praise with a question: "But if knowledge in you is so nobly fruitful, why is it that beauty, also a treasure, comes to ruin through your hard heart?" Marco's seduction hinges on the argument that Veronica has been blessed by both Venus

• 29:50Dana Schwartz?

  and Apollo, but by denying him her love, she squanders Venus's gift. He declares: "You must put to good use all the gifts that she made you, as you do with the gifts granted you by Apollo. You will make your name immortal through Venus's gifts, no less than you will do with your ink." Veronica's reply uses her Apollo-given wit to turn Marco's arguments against him. Quote, "If you think I'm so dear to Phoebus for composing poems, in the works of love you'll find me dear still to Venus."

• 30:31Dana Schwartz?

  With this assurance that she is a perfectly skilled and confident lover, Veronica makes it clear that she does not hold back her affection out of cruelty or flippancy, but rather because she is too wise to be persuaded by words alone. She asks her lover to show the extent of his feelings through deeds instead. Quote, "Prove your love to me by other means than compliments, for I take care not to be fooled by them. Please me more with deeds and praise me less." She specifies exactly what that means.

• 31:12Dana Schwartz?

  Quote, "I do not ask you now to express your love with gold or silver, for to have an understanding with a noble man in order to extract from him a treasure is most unsuited to the decorum of any but an utterly venal soul. Such behavior does not befit my profession. But leaving words aside, I clearly state that deeds must prove your love. You know quite well what I like best. Persevere in this as I already told you before, and you shall be my unique and only lover." Here, she subverts popular expectations of the courtesan by affirming that it's not

• 31:57Dana Schwartz?

  gold or silver that draws her to a lover, but what she likes, quote, "best." Which, despite what you may be thinking that it's something salacious, she defines later in the poem as creative literary collaboration. And who can blame her? Still, she assures Marco that their "collaboration as lovers" will be just as rewarding as their "collaboration as writers." Quote, "Whenever I am in bed with one who, as I sense, loves and enjoys me, I become so delectable and tender that my pleasure surpasses all other delights.

• 32:38Dana Schwartz?

  And what appeared to be a very tight knot of love grows even tighter. I perform so well in bed that this form of art proves vastly superior to the art of Apollo." There is, obviously, some sexual meaning there, which was not uncommon in the works of courtiers, but stands out to historians as a rare instance of a 16th-century woman describing her own sexuality in such unabashed terms. Veronica additionally subverts the dominant erotic language of Marco's poem.

• 33:20Dana Schwartz?

  "I would like to take the burnished gold of those tresses in my hand and pull that fine treasure ever so gently to avenge my hurt, by portraying sex as more pleasurable when it is an equal experience." Quote, "Let me see the works I've asked for from you, for then you'll enjoy my sweetness to the full, and I will also take pleasure in yours, in the way that mutual love allows, which provides delight free from all pain." This exchange of poems is not only a debate between lovers, but a debate as to what it means to be a lover.

• 34:05Dana Schwartz?

  In publishing this work, Veronica defines herself, and by extension, the courtesan, as a collaborator first and foremost. This is also a direct counter of Marco's declaration that she is the Oprah or artifact of his affection and inspiration. Veronica is not a passive subject in the art of love and poetry, but rather an active participant in its creation. The same tactics used in a debate about love would be needed in a debate about her honor. When the first poem mocking Veronica began to circulate, she believed that the author might have actually been Marco again.

• 34:48Dana Schwartz?

  But then the poems continued, and the language got darker, and the attacks became on her very character, and she realized she was wrong. She soon learned that the true author of these poems was in fact Mafia Vannier, Marco's cousin and Domenico's nephew. The Mafia from the cinematic fencing match. Mafia was a courtier and prominent poet, and though he had all the privilege afforded to a son of the Vannieri clan, he was something of a black sheep for his lack of involvement

• 35:27Dana Schwartz?

  in politics and his tendency to avoid the responsibilities bestowed upon him. He did, however, perform one year of service in the Medici court. When he returned to Venice in 1575, the city that greeted him was not the one he had left. Struck by the plague earlier that year, Venice was in social and financial disorder. Returning to the Caviarner's circle and finding a socially mobile courtesan gaining respect in the literary scene, it seems Mafia found an easy target, representing all of the city's

• 36:11Dana Schwartz?

  ills in his mind. His three poems, first "Believe Me, Franca, That by San Mafia," second "Wouldn't You Like That: What Sort of Game Is This?" and "Veronica, Veritably Unique, Or," begin as more straightforward satire and devolve into a true display of resentful misogynistic vitriol. That last poem is the most deplorable, opening with an imagined depiction of Veronica's "monstrous body covered in syphilitic sores." I quote: Veronica, veritably unique whore,

• 36:55Dana Schwartz?

  Franca, iddest, foxy, flighty, flimsy, flabby, smelly, scrawny, scrimpy, and the biggest scoundrel besides, who lives between Castello, ghetto, and the customs. A woman reduced to a monster made of human flesh: plaster, chalk, cardboard, leather, and wooden board. A grisly spook, a scabby ogre, a crocodile, a hippogriff, an ostrich, a knock-kneed mare. To sing of all that is wrong with you, your flaws, your faults, would take a hundred concepts, thousands of pens and inkwells, and countless poets.

• 37:37Dana Schwartz?

  Veronica's response opens with a denouncement of Marco's character, pointing out his lack of chivalry, his blows against an "unarmed" woman. However, she claims that her vulnerability has diminished and his attacks have only made her stronger. "And bitter medicines likewise bring health, and we make use of steel and fire to clean and cauterize infected wounds." By bringing attention to her health, she also counters Mafia's accusation of disease without needing to directly address it. Veronica then challenges him to "any kind of duel",

• 38:20Dana Schwartz?

  whether it be on paper or with swords. She notes that while he may find it unfair to joust with a woman, she assures him that he is under an illusion enforced by societal standards. "When we women too have weapons and training, we will be able to prove to all men that we have hands and feet and hearts like yours. And though we may be tender and delicate, some men who are delicate are also strong, and some, though coarse and rough, are cowards. And to prove to you that I speak the truth, among so many women I will act first, setting an example for them all to follow." Veronica then makes the argument

• 39:04Dana Schwartz?

  that perhaps most aligns with our modern times, calling him, in not so many words, "an incel."

• 39:13Dana Schwartz?

  "I undertake to defend all women against you who despise them so that rightly I'm not alone to protest it. It is certain that you miss great pleasure by being unable to savor our sweetness, and I blame your bad habits for being the cause." Employing another tried and true tactic, she digs into Mafia's grasp on language. "You called me 'Tiere Unica,' veritably 'unique,' and all the rest alluding to my name Veronica. But while you meant it as abuse, according to my dictionary, I fail to see how one

• 39:55Dana Schwartz?

  can properly call a thing 'unique.'" In other words, she asserts that "unique" is in fact a positive word, and she continues, "And though you call me prostitute, either you imply that I'm not one of them, or that among them some merit praise, whatever goodness prostitutes may have, whatever grace and nobility of soul the sound of your word assigns to me." Veronica does not take the root of distinguishing herself from poor prostitutes; rather, she's defending them all as a class. She closes her defense with another challenge to duel and a threat for good measure.

• 40:37Dana Schwartz?

  "You will have nowhere to run from me." In 1580, Mafia venere contracted syphilis and ultimately succumbed to the illness six years later, a fact that I will present with no comment. Unfortunately, their only in-person swordfight happened in the movies. Five years after Veronica's debate with Mafia, Veronica was forced to once again publicly defend her good name. Only this time, the stakes were far higher. On October 8th, 1580, Veronica was summoned by the Inquisition Courts on charges of performing "heretical incantations."

• 41:22Dana Schwartz?

  To curb the unrest caused by the plague, the Fourth Ottoman Venetian War, and a series of natural disasters, Venetians of all classes were encouraged by authorities to support the Republic in their fight against heresy, even if that meant turning in your neighbor or employer. Courtesan were among a number of marginalized groups, including Jewish and queer people, denounced for luxuria and frequently targeted. The language in the accusation against Veronica reflects this influence. "If this witch, this public masked and cheating prostitute is not punished,

• 42:06Dana Schwartz?

  many others will begin to do the same things against the holy Catholic faith." While the charge was filed anonymously, we know now that her accuser was Rodolfo Vanitelli, her children's tutor. The historian Richard Kiekeffer has concluded that many witchcraft trials were born of worldly petty arguments. He notes, "In many cases, the accuser feels guilty and reverses his guilt by projecting it on the accused." Veronica had been the victim of more than one robbery by 1580, so when another theft occurred that year, she threatened to withhold her household staff's salaries

• 42:50Dana Schwartz?

  until the culprit was found, assuming that the robbery had come from somewhere within. In her version of events, the staff then begged to perform a magic ritual specifically designed to target thieves.

• 43:06Dana Schwartz?

  The attempt was evidently unsuccessful, and Veronica began to point fingers. This was around the same time Vanitelli filed his accusation, which doesn't quite feel coincidental. Specifically, he wrote that "in order to recover her lost items, she had invoked the names of demons in a ritual involving a wedding ring, a blessed olive branch, blessed candles, and holy water." To support his accusations, things take a turn for the Mafiosque when he calls her "a witch and a public whore," among other unflattering descriptors.

• 43:49Dana Schwartz?

  He concludes his filing by calling for the harshest punishment possible to be enacted as quickly as possible, so she can "no longer contaminate the city." This specific line invokes Mafio's accusation that Veronica was spreading syphilis, calling her "the woman who makes our present century blind and contaminates it." Thus, when Veronica was summoned to the Inquisition courts on October 8, 1580, it was not only to defend herself against accusations of heresy, but to defend her morality.

• 44:31Dana Schwartz?

  In court, Veronica sought to use her command of language to persuade the Inquisitor. For example, when asked why she allowed such a ritual to take place in her home, she responded that "any sin she may be guilty of was only with 'effect' and not 'affect,' because ultimately she did not believe in it." The Inquisitor was not easily swayed by such language nitpicking, which led Veronica to employ the tactics we find in her debate about love back with Marco and her poetic battle with Mafio, turning her opponent's argument against him.

• 45:14Dana Schwartz?

  "It was Vanitelli," she claimed, "who begged her to perform the ritual in her home." She reported threatening him, telling him that only "the cord of the night patrol, without so many candles, will find the truth." In redirecting the accusation of heresy towards her accuser, Veronica was evidently able to convince the tribunal that while she was guilty of allowing the ritual to be held in her home, she was not guilty of performing it. There was no official sentence in the trial, though it was not uncommon for trials of this nature to be suspended after a few days in court.

• 45:56Dana Schwartz?

  We will never know if it was the strength of her evidence, the power of her persuasive performance, or some intervention from Domenico that ultimately swayed the court in her favor. 1580 was also the same year Veronica published Familiar Letters, a collection of letters written throughout the decade prior, exploring her daily life, expanding on her poems, and giving advice to friends. These letters were likely a mix of true correspondence and literary exercise. But in blending her public and private voice, Veronica challenged misconceptions of the

• 46:39Dana Schwartz?

  interior life of a courtesan. As she did in her poems, her letters portray her as an intellectual, a collaborator, even a moral guide. The content of these letters has informed much of our knowledge about Veronica's life and her values. Quite tragically, however, Letters would be her last published work.

• 47:05Dana Schwartz?

  In 1582, Domenico died, and upon his death, Veronica lost her greatest patron. That same year, having never recovered her stolen possessions, a tax report reveals Veronica was impoverished. From this report, we also know that she was no longer living in that home where she had once hosted Henry III, but in an area of the city inhabited by many poor merittrici. Her last years are undocumented, but it is known that she died just short of a decade later, in 1591, at age 45.

• 47:48Dana Schwartz?

  While her rise and fall in Venetian society was relatively short-lived, Veronica's decade in the spotlight not only produced a body of work that cemented her legacy, but one that sought to open doors for other women to do the same, as she declared she would be "an example for them to follow." That's the story of Veronica Franco's life, but stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear a little bit more about her life depicted on the screen.

• 48:30Speaker 02

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 help make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 49:00Dana Schwartz?

  You know all those pieces in your closet that you find yourself reaching for over and over again? You know, the sweater that works with every outfit you try on and the jeans that you know will always fit you just right? Or the bag you carry everywhere? Those are the exact pieces that earn a place in your wardrobe. And that's exactly what Quince does so well. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, and premium stretch denim. The designs are timeless, thoughtfully crafted, made to be worn again and again. And as the weather gets colder, Quince has everything you need to round out your wardrobe,

• 49:39Dana Schwartz?

  from warm, responsibly sourced down jackets and cozy cashmere scarves and gloves to beautiful 14-karat jewelry that adds the perfect finishing touch and hem might make an excellent holiday present. Quince also doesn't just do clothes. My work bag, my leather bag that I bring every day with me to work is from Quince, and I absolutely love it. It goes with everything I wear, and it's just like a classic that makes me feel sophisticated and grown up. And everything at Quince is priced 50% to 80% less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories, cutting out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality and not brand markup.

• 50:21Dana Schwartz?

  Find the fall pieces you will reach for most at quince.com. Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365-day returns, now available in Canada and the UK, too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Noble Blood. It is the best way to support this show, honestly, because I just want the Quince sponsorship to continue so I can keep buying Quince clothes and products over and over again.

• 50:58Speaker 04

  Hey, it's Niall Rogers, host of Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series. I'm driving across the country, meeting some of today's most fascinating artists. We're exploring the stories before the moment that changed everything. This week, I'm joined by my friend, John Legend. How does music actually enter your mind?

• 51:20Speaker 05

  I'm not sure why or how the music comes to me, but I think people who love music and write music, our brains are just filled with music.

• 51:30Speaker 04

  Right.

• 51:30Speaker 05

  Like, we have listened to so much music, we've been a part of so much music. I think of the story that I want to tell, the mood that I want to create with the music, start playing chords, see where they lead me.

• 51:41Speaker 04

  Sometimes, I'm just not even thinking about music, right? And I hear this little thing, and I go, oh, that could be this.

• 51:52Speaker 05

  You know, you just have to be ready for when the inspiration hits.

• 51:55Speaker 04

  And it comes. Experience Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on the iHeart Radio app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 52:05Speaker 06

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A plus by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star Trust Pilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 52:33Dana Schwartz?

  You know all those pieces in your closet that you find yourself reaching for over and over again? You know, the sweater that works with every outfit you try on, and the jeans that you know will always fit you just right? Or the bag you carry everywhere? Those are the exact pieces that earn a place in your wardrobe. And that's exactly what Quince does so well. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials like Mongolian cashmere, organic cotton, and premium stretch denim. The designs are timeless, thoughtfully crafted, made to be worn again and again. And as the weather gets colder, Quince has everything you need to round out your wardrobe.

• 53:12Dana Schwartz?

  From warm, responsibly sourced down jackets and cozy cashmere scarves and gloves to beautiful 14 karat jewelry that adds the perfect finishing touch and might make an excellent holiday present. Quince also doesn't just do clothes. My work bag, my like leather bag that I bring every day with me to work is from Quince and I absolutely love it. It goes with everything I wear and it's just like a classic that makes me feel sophisticated and grown up. And everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands because they work directly with ethical factories, cutting out the middlemen. So you're paying for quality and not brand markup. Find the fall pieces you will reach for most

• 53:57Dana Schwartz?

  at quince.com. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK too. And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Noble Blood. It is the best way to support this show, honestly, because I just want the Quince sponsorship to continue so I can keep buying Quince clothes and products over and over again.

• 54:31Speaker 04

  Hey, it's Niall Rogers, host of Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series. I'm driving across the country, meeting some of today's most fascinating artists. We're exploring the stories before the moment that changed everything. This week, I'm joined by rising star Sienna Spiral. What is so fascinating to you about impermanence?

• 54:53Speaker 07

  Everything about us, everything we do is temporary. And I just got terrified of that. You know, what we do with our time and how I feel like the way the world is today and how fast paced it is and how much we don't even acknowledge anything around us. How I felt temporary to the people around me and how that made me scared and how much I wanted to last and make an impact on people. And I guess to change the way I looked at things and to change myself and to change how I guess I approached everything in my life. It's important that things are impermanent because nothing would feel special and enjoying, you know, learning to love with knowing it's not going to last.

• 55:27Speaker 04

  Experience Before the Moment, a Lincoln original series on the iHeartRadio app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 55:36Dana Schwartz?

  The film, based on Veronica's life, Dangerous Beauty, originally shared a title with the biography by Margaret Rosenthal, The Honest Courtesan. However, after screening the film for American test audiences, the studio realized the title had to be changed. According to Marshall Herskovitz, they discovered that, quote, "Literally 95% of movie-going audiences did not know what the word 'Courtesan' meant, but more importantly, they thought it was 'cortisone.'" The movie had a modest but successful run at the box office and received a respectable three-and-a-half stars from Roger Ebert.

• 56:19Dana Schwartz?

  "I'm not surprised that the screenwriter is a woman," he mused. "Few movies have been so deliberately told from a woman's point of view. Most movies are made by males and show women enthralled by men. This movie knows better."

• 56:46Dana Schwartz?

  Noble Blood is a production of iHeartRadio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manke. Noble Blood is hosted by me, Dana Schwartz, with additional writing and research by Hannah Johnston, Hannah Zwick, Courtney Sender, Amy Height, and Julia Milani. The show is edited and produced by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer Reema Ilkayali and executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

• 57:28Speaker 08

  This is Jonas Knox from Two Pros and a Cup of Joe. Buy smart, drive for less, and trade for more. That's Toyota affordability, and it starts with a great deal on an off-road-ready Tacoma or half-ton Tundra, two of Toyota's longest-lasting trucks, combining power for work, tech for adventures, and style in between. Built on a reputation for quality and reliability, Toyota trucks are known for holding their value, which could mean big savings when it's time for your next Toyota. So get a great deal today and a great value tomorrow. Shop toyota.com for more. Toyota, let's go places.

• 58:04Speaker 06

  OnDeck is built to back small businesses like yours. Whether you're buying equipment, expanding your team, or bridging cash flow gaps, OnDeck's loans up to $400,000 make it happen fast. Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau and earning thousands of five-star TrustPilot reviews, OnDeck delivers funding you can count on. Apply in minutes at ondeck.com. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by OnDeck or Celtic Bank. OnDeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.

• 58:32Speaker 09

  She's been thinking about this sleepover all week, but I think about her food allergies all the time. Fortunately, her doctor prescribed Zolair, omalizumab. It's proven to significantly reduce allergic reactions if a food allergy accident happens.

• 58:45Speaker 10

  Zolir 150mg is a prescription medication used to treat food allergy in people one year of age and older to reduce allergic reactions due to accidental exposure to one or more foods. While taking Zolir, you should continue to avoid all foods to which you are allergic. Don't use if you are allergic to Zolir. Zolir may cause a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction called anaphylaxis. Tell your doctor if you ever had anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have trouble breathing or if you have swelling of your throat or tongue. Zolir should not be used for the emergency treatment of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis. Zolir is for maintenance use to reduce allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, while avoiding food allergens. Serious side effects such as cancer, fever, muscle aches and rash, parasitic infection, or heart and circulation problems have been reported. Please see zolir.com for full prescribing information. Ask an allergist about Zolir.

• 59:28Speaker 10

  This is an advertisement for Zolir paid for by Genentech and Novartis.

• 59:32Dana Schwartz?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.