Disputatio nova contra mulieres

Disputatio nova contra mulieres, qua probatur eas homines non esse (English translation: A new argument against women, in which it is demonstrated that they are not human beings) is a satirical misogynistic Latin-language treatise first published in 1595 and subsequently reprinted several times, particularly throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Disputatio was written anonymously, although it has been attributed to Valens Acidalius, a 16th-century German critic.

Despite the fact that the treatise was meant to parody the Socinian Anabaptist belief that Jesus of Nazareth was not divine, several anti-feminists utilized a literal interpretation of the tract to support their views. Disputatio proved to be unusually provocative in its time for a publication of its size, which eventually led to the Catholic Holy See listing the manuscript in its Index Librorum Prohibitorum (List of Prohibited Books) on multiple occasions.

See also

• Valens Acidalius

References

• Disputatio Nova Contra Mulieres/A New Argument Against Women A Critical Translation from the Latin with Commentary, Together with the Original Latin Text of 1595, Hart, Clive, Edwin Mellen Press, 1998. ISBN 0-7734-8280-6.
• Treatise on the Question Do Women Have Souls and Are They Human Beings?: Disputatio Nova Expanded and Revised Edition, Hart, Clive, Edwin Mellen Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7734-6541-3.
• Czapla, Ralf G. [Ed.]; Burkard, Georg [Ed.]; Burkard, Georg [Trans.]: Disputatio nova contra mulieres, qua probatur eas homines non esse / Acidalius, Valens. (Neue Disputation gegen die Frauen zum Erweis, dass sie keine Menschen sind). Heidelberg 2006. ISBN 3-934877-51-6