Rome, 1530s. A young woman named Antonia wonders what life in a convent is really like. Her worldly friend Nanna — hardly a model of piety — decides to enlighten her.
What follows is equal parts confession, gossip, and satire. Pietro Aretino’s The Life of Nuns turns sacred spaces into stages, where hypocrisy wears the holiest of robes. In our premiere episode, we begin to see how Aretino used women’s voices — sharp, witty, and shockingly honest — to reveal what society preferred to hide.
Think less “choir practice,” more “Renaissance reality show with incense.”
Listen to the full episode here →
Aretino wasn’t just mocking religion. He was showing how desire and devotion shared the same stage. The Church wanted obedience; Aretino gave them laughter. By putting irreverent words in the mouths of women, he created a kind of cultural heresy: humor as defiance.
His audience knew exactly what he was doing. They were reading what everyone suspected but no one dared to say aloud: that holiness didn’t erase humanity.
Quaiacum (KWAI-uh-kum): A much-touted Renaissance “cure” for syphilis, distilled from New World “holy wood.” Famous more for sweat and hope than results.
Feast Day of Magdalene: July 22, honoring Mary Magdalene, long (mis)cast as a repentant courtesan in medieval/Renaissance tradition.
Te Deum Laudamus (TAY DAY-um LAH-dah-moos): “Thee, O God, we praise.” A hymn of thanksgiving used for big, public gratitude.
Benedicamus (BEH-neh-DEE-kah-moos): “Let us bless [the Lord].” A liturgical dismissal/response near the close of services.
Oremus (oh-RAY-moos): “Let us pray.” A cue to the congregation that prayer is beginning.
Pyramus and Thisbe (PEER-uh-muss and THIS-bee): Star-crossed lovers from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; their tragic mix-up prefigures Romeo and Juliet.
What makes this story irresistible isn’t just the scandal, it’s the honesty. The nuns may have taken vows, but Aretino knew better than to believe vows could silence desire.
Be sure to comment if there's anything else you'd like to know and I'll be sure to answer with an update.
Next Wednesday, we follow Nanna and Antonia into the secrets of married life—because in Renaissance Venice, matrimony was less about vows and more about strategy.
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