Women's Secrets: A Translation of De Secretis Mulierum

Description

I'm not sure on what grounds Lemay considers this work to be by "pseudo-Albertus Magnus" and not St. Albert himself, perhaps because, according to A Companion to Albert the Great, it includes "astrology" (but really it discusses the influence of astronomical bodies on terrestrial ones, which is strictly not astrology). Also, as Lemay's intro. says, the work is a hybrid of St. Albert's writings and later additions/commentaries; determining its authenticity is thus complex. (It reminds me of the questions surrounding Aristotle's works' authenticity; cf. PDF pp. 44ff. of Grant's A History of Natural Philosophy.) The argumentation in this book doesn't seem as solid as in St. Albert's undoubtedly authentic works.

Mentions signs of conception, infertility, etc.

St. Albert's Mariale is a first great treatise on the woman, the Blessed Virgin Mary; he even wrote a treatise on Proverbs 31:10-31 on the "Strong/Valiant Woman," De Muliere Forte .

Women's Secrets provides the first modern translation of the notorious treatise De secretis mulierum, popular throughout the late middle ages and into modern times. The Secrets deals with human reproduction and was written to instruct celibate medieval monks on the facts of life and some of the ways of the universe. However, the book had a much more far-reaching influence. Lemay shows how its message that women were evil, lascivious creatures built on the misogyny of the work's Aristotelian sources and laid the groundwork for serious persecution of women.

Both the content of the treatise and the reputation of its author (erroneously believed to be Albertus Magnus) inspired a few medieval scholars to compose lengthy commentaries on the text, substantial selections from which are included, providing further evidence of how medieval men interpreted science and viewed the female body.

"The book is to be commended for making accessible an extremely influential medieval and Renaissance text." -- Linda Ehrsam Voigts, University of Missouri-Kansas City

"This is a smooth translation of an interesting and significant document. The introductory material is of high quality; Lemay is well aware of the interplay between philosophers and medical writers on a number of issues." --A. Synan, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies and the University of Toronto

**