ASPECTE PRIVIND FEMEILE ȘI ȘTIINȚA DE CARTE ÎN IMPERIUL BIZANTIN ȘI ÎN REGATUL UNGARIEI PÂNĂ ÎN SECOLUL AL XIV-LEA.

This paper is a preliminary exploration of the question of literacy among women in Byzantium and the kingdom of Hungary, focusing on the types of writing that are most likely to indicate the participation of women in the written culture. The paper discusses the historiography of women’s literacy the Byzantine and Western areas and some examples of letters destined to noble women from the Banat are discussed. There are several private letters addressed to women dating from the 1360s. For example, the letters of the Himfi family show that women in this family received letters from the monarch, bishops, noblemen, knezes, and family members. By the second half of the fourteenth century there is evidence of common use of written communication through private letters among nobles, including noblewomen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]