The author, Agneto Fierenzuola, an intellectual of mid 16th century Italy, was also speaking about "What is love? What is the love attraction?" He was using the ancient androgyny myth from Plato which postulates that in the beginning there were three sexes and human beings had two sides. There were some with a male and a female on each side. Some were female on both sides and some were male on both sides. They did something wrong so Zeus had them cut in half. That gives us our present day human being, which is a human being that seeks the other half. We still use the term "my better half", referring to the spouse.

Those who were male on both sides seek out men. Those who were female on both sides seek other women and those who were androgynous (originally meaning male plus female) will seek the opposite sex. Plato states (and Fiorenzuela repeats) that the majority of people, were androgynous so today we have a heterosexual society. That does not preclude that there should also be homosexual attraction-male to male or female to female. They're trying to reunite with that original partner that was male or female.

I also had a rare treatise on Astronomy. It is important in the Renaissance to look at the dedicatory letters in these books because they're dedicated to important persons. This book was dedicated to Laudomia Forteguerri. I was fascinated that the dedicatory letter outed a woman in 1540 Italy. It said that she had a relationship with Margaret of Austria. Margaret was the daughter of the Emperor Charles V. So we're talking about a then unknown woman, the daughter of the Emperor. A woman, who twenty years later, would become Regent of the Netherlands.

So I started doing some research. I spent four months in Italy looking through the archives and the libraries and found some really interesting information about these two women. We find that they had a relationship that was pretty much platonic. But none the less, it's presented as a lesbian relationship. The fact that there was no actual sex is not important.

They loved each other tremendously. They were always corresponding, exchanging letters. On the two occasions where they did meet face to face, they spent all their time together.

Laudomia wrote six sonnets, five of which were written to and express her love for Margaret of Austria, including "I miss you." "Here's an expression of my love." "Send me a picture of you so I can look at it." "I wish you were here. You're my goddess, my diva."

This love relationship is presented as sexually not consummated and that's an important point. Sodomy and Homosexuality was illegal, punishable by death by fire. It's not something you really want to be involved in. So their love was seen as a Platonic love and that's acceptable. If these women were sexually active with each other, that might cloud things a little bit.

The second aspect to remember is that this is two women. There is no man here and the way the 16th century views sexuality is phallocentric. If you don't have a penis, there is no sex. Sex is insertion, so two women together can do whatever they want together, it's still not sex.

Sonnet by Laudomia Forteguerri

Translated by Konrad Eisenbichler

To Madam Margaret of Austria

Alas, for my beautiful Sun will not turn
It's holy rays towards me. Must I therefore
Live without my treasure? May it not please God
That I should ever live on earth without it?
Ah cruel fortune, why do you not arrange it
For my body to go where my heart goes?
Why do you keep me in this wretched state
With no hope ever that my woes will end?
Turn, at last, happy and benign, your face
Towards me, for it is not a glorious deed
To cut down someone of the feminine sex.
Listen to my words, how they are ready
To beseech you; for I want nothing else
But that you keep me close to my Goddess.