Novella d'Andrea

Who was Novella d'Andrea?

Novella d'Andrea, was an Italian legal scholar and professor in law at the university of Bologna.

As the daughter of Giovanni d'Andrea, professor in Canon law at the university of Bologna, she was educated by her father and reportedly took over his lectures at the university during his absence. According to Christine de Pisan, she talked to the students through a curtain so they would not be distracted by her beauty. She married the lawyer Johannes Calderinus and died young. Her father supposedly gave his work about the decretals of Pope Gregory IX the name Novellae to her memory.

Her sister, Bettina d'Andrea, is reported to have taught law and philosophy at the university at Padua, where her husband was also employed, until her death in 1335.