Domenico Bruni

Domenico Bruni (circa 16th century, exact dates unknown) was an Italian author, jurist, and priest.

Very little is known about Bruni. He was born in the first half of the 16th century in Pistoia (Tuscany). During his ecclesiastical career, Bruni was the vicar general of the bishop of Bertinoro in Emilia-Romagna and, at another point, he was the magistrate of Cesena.

He is the author of La Difesa delle Donne e insieme le lodi di quelle [The Defense and Praise of Women], first published in Milan in 1549 and in Venice in 1552. This work was dedicated to Eleanor of Toledo (1522–1562), Duchess of Florence. La Difesa is divided into four books: the first addresses male authors’ defamatory statements about women; the second defends women from these calumnies and lists their noble deeds; the third addresses the harm caused to women by the legal system and the necessity of defending women from it; and the fourth discusses the ways in which women are superior to men and the perfection of the female sex.

Sources

Capponi, Vittorio. “Bruni Domenico.” In Biografia pistoiese o notizie della vita e delle opere dei pistoiesi. Pistoia: Tipografia Rossetti, 1878. pp. 66–67. Facsimile. Bologna: Forni editore, 1972.

Zaccaria, Francesco Antonio. “Bruni (Dominicus).” In Bibliotheca Pistoriensis. Augusta Taurinorum (Turin): Typographia Regia, 1752. p.172.