If, however, Infessura's picture of the convents of Rome is a faithful one, the cardinal was wise in hesitating to entrust his daughter to these saints.

Nevertheless there certainly were convents which were free from immorality, such, for example, as S.Silvestre in Capite, where many of the daughters of the Colonna were educated, and S.Maria Nuova and S.Sisto on the Appian Way.

On one occasion during the papacy of Alexander, Lucretia chose the last named convent as an asylum, perhaps because she had there received her early spiritual education.
Religious instruction was always the basis of the education of the women of Italy.

It, however, consisted not in the cultivation of heart and soul, but in a strict observance of the forms of religion.

Sin made no woman repulsive, and the condition of even the most degraded female did not prevent her from performing all her church duties, and appearing to be a well-trained Christian.