What was then called modesty (_pudor_) was the natural grace of a gifted woman increased by education and association.

This modesty Lucretia Borgia possessed in a high degree.

In woman it corresponded with that which in man was the mark of the perfect cavalier.

It may cause the reader some astonishment to learn that the contemporaries of the infamous Caesar spoke of his 'moderation' as one of his most characteristic traits.

By this term, however, we must understand the cultivation of the personality in which moderation in man and modesty in woman were part and manifestations of a liberal education.
It is true that in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries emancipated women did not sit on the benches of the lecture halls of Bologna, Ferrara, and Padua, as they now do in many universities, to pursue professional studies; but the same humane sciences to which youths and men devoted themselves were a requirement in the higher education of women.