writing_womans_lives_symposium_paper_book_v2

Reading periodicals
Many princes, including Constantin Mavrocordat, Grigorie Callimachi, Grigorie Ghica or Alexandru
Ioan Mavrocordat considered newspapers as their main sources of information and bought them
from all the corners of Europe: Gazetta de Colonia and Gazetta des Deux‐ponts from France, Gazetta
de Londres (in French too), Gazeta de Altona, Gazeta de Aachen, Gazeta de Utrecht from Germany or
Wiener Zeitung from Viena. Chesarie, a bishop from Râmnic, asked for books and newspapers from
Paris, especially Mercures. 26 Around Tudor Vladimirescu’s uprising of 1821, local princess read Le
Constitutionnel, Le Libéral and Journal de Francfort. Apart from these, news came from towns located
closer, in the proximity of the Austrian Empire as well.
In Moldavia, boyars, doctors and priests subscribed to newspapers and magazines sent from the
West: in French – Le journal littéraire, Le spectateur, L’Almanach des dames, Le spectateur du Nord,
l’Abeille du Nord, Mercure politique and Mercure de France; in Italian – Corriere ordinario, Notizie del
mondo and Il redattore italiano; in German – Die fliegende post and Ofener Zeitung; and in Russian –
Severnaia pcela. 27
Read at the beginning of the 19th century, L’Almanach des dames was a magazine published in
Paris between 1803 and 1821 and later between 1823 and 1828. It was especially published for
women and contained poetry, literature and useful advice, engravings accompanied by
commentaries, portraits of contemporary French writers such as Madame Périé‐Candeille and
Madame Guizot, who had written books for children’s education.
Reading was not an individual, solitary activity. On the contrary, learners normally read aloud, for
themselves or for others. Silent reading was less known and practised. No matter whether sacred or
profane literature, that was initially transmitted orally. 28 The reason why literature was read aloud
during the Middle Ages was that there were not many lettered people at the time. Reading aloud
represents a lifestyle, related to a specific worldview, which is not individual but collective. 29 Reading
a book was thus a modality of spending the time in a relaxing way and a source of information for the
inquisitive spirit. Evening used to be the time for reading, after a whole day of work. It used to be a
public event, people used to read together, aloud, sometimes on holy days. 30
Keywords: Women, Reading, Danubian principalities, Middle ages
Carmen MANOLACHI
MA in History
University of Bucharest
Bucharest, Romania
manolachi2012@yahoo.com
Notes
1
Șarlota Solcan, Femeile din Moldova, Transilvania şi Ţara Românească în Evul Mediu (Bucharest: EUB,
2005), 91.
2
Shirley Lees ed., Rolurile femeii (Oradea: Cartea Creştină, 2004), 49.
3
Dimitrie Cantemir, Descrierea Moldovei, trans. Gheorghe Guțu, (Bucharest: ARSR, 1973), 373.
4
Solcan, Femeile din Moldova, 240‐241.
5
Constantin Șerban, Vasile Lupu. Domn al Moldovei (1634‐1653) (Bucharest: EAR, 1991), 33.
6
Solcan, Femeile din Moldova, 15.
7
Maria Holban et al., Călători străini despre Țările române, vol. X, part I (Bucharest: EAR, 2000), 211.
8
Paul Cernovodeanu et al., Călători străini despre Țările române în secolul al XIX‐lea, new series,
vol. 1 (1801‐1821) (Bucharest: EAR, 2004), 687.
9
Nicolae Iorga, Femeile în viața neamului nostru (Vălenii de Munte: Neamul românesc, 1911),
134.
10
Ibid., 139.
11
Paul Cernovodeanu et al., Călători străini, 788.
12
Solcan, Femeile din Moldova, 220.
13
Ibid., 240; George Marcu ed., Enciclopedia personalităților feminine din România (Bucharest:
707