In this episode we are joined by special guest Ella Swain who has just finished her History degree at the University of Leeds. Ella talks about the life of Veronica Franco. Franco was born in 1546 and became an inspirational Italian poet and courtesan in Venetian Renaissance. She used her literary work to subtly protest women’s independence and some have called her one of the first ‘feminist activists’. Ella talks about Franco’s societal status, how she used her education to become so successful, as well as how the plague of 1575 deeply affected her later life.