The Life of Veronica Franco Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1546, Venice

She died in 1591 at the age of 45.

Answer: Margaret Rosenthal

It was published by the University of Chicago Press in December of 1992, and then re-released in 1997. "The Honest Courtesan" was also the original title for the 1998 movie about Franco but early research showed that most people didn't know what the word 'courtesan' meant. Most thought it was a skin cream. They changed the title to "Dangerous Beauty".

Answer: False

She was forced to be a courtesan by her mother who needed Veronica to support her financially. Courtesans were educated, sophisticated women who offered their patrons more than just sex - courtesans could engage a man's intellect as well as his libido.

Answer: True

She was married to a physician for a short time when she was young and had a child with him, but the marriage was loveless and arranged. In Venice at this time, women were granted divorce but it was very hard to sue for material possessions and alimony.

Answer: Poet

Feeling compassion for other courtesans who were suffering because of their profession, Franco built a halfway house for courtesans and their children from her "honest" earnings as a poet.

Answer: True

Scholars now think that she taught herself.

Answer: All of these

Thanks to her high-placed patrons, Franco rapidly climbed the social ladder and found an audience and patronage for the poetry and letters she wrote.

Answer: Maffio Venier

Maffio attacked Franco over and over in bawdy, satirical verse and Franco repeatedly struck back in published letters and poetry. But there is no record of them ever having a physical duel, as seen in the movie.

Answer: Terze Rime

She was very talented. Here's an excerpt: "...and to prove that I speak the truth, amongst so many women, I will be the first to act, setting an example for them to follow; and on you who have sinned against them all, I turn with whichever weapon you may choose, with the wish and hope of throwing you to the ground."

Answer: A plague had broken out

Upon returning to Venice, she discovered that many of her possessions had been stolen in her absence.

Answer: Ridolfo Vanitelli

Franco suspected that Vanitelli was the one who robbed her while she was away from Venice. When she was robbed again, Vanitelli anonymously denounced her to the Inquisition, accusing her of performing incantations, casting spells on merchants to make them fall in love with her, and of eating meat on Fridays.

Answer: Twice

Conviction would mean public humiliation and severe penalties such as whipping or banishment. Death was not a punishment, as the movie suggests.

Answer: No

The film also depicts Franco's patrons openly supporting her which was most likely inaccurate as well. The trials were strictly inquisitorial; there were no witnesses or defense counsel, solely inquisitors interrogating Franco herself. Franco had to use her poetic skill with language to save herself.

Answer: Tintoretto

The painting shows Franco adorned in lavish clothes and jewelry. Courtesans were often mistaken for women of aristocracy as they flaunted their wealth and success through opulent clothing. Courtesans often set the fashion for the day.

Answer: All of these

She wrote no more - or if she did, she published none of it, possibly indicating that the charge of witchcraft and consorting with the devil had been her social undoing. She never recovered her stolen possessions and by 1582 her main patron, Domenico Venier, was dead and Franco was broke.