On the Nobility and Excellence of the Female Sex

ON THE NOBILITY AND PREEMINENCE [OF THE FEMALE SEX]

...proceeding toward perfection. From here, first minerals came forth, then vegetables, plants, and trees; then zoophytes Organisms that appear to be both plants and animals, such as coral or sponges; in the Renaissance, these were seen as "bridge" species between kingdoms., and finally brute animals, in an order including reptiles, flying creatures, and quadrupeds.

But last of all, He created Genesis 2. two humans like unto Himself: the male first, and finally the female. In her, the heavens and the earth were perfected, along with all their adornment original: "ornatus eorum." This refers to the "furnishing" or finishing of the universe, echoing the language of the Latin Vulgate Bible.. For the Creator, arriving at the creation of woman, rested in her, as if having nothing more honorable left to create. In her was concluded and consummated all the wisdom and power of the Creator, beyond whom no other creature is found, nor can even be imagined.

Since, therefore, woman is the last of creatures, the end and most perfect complement of all the works of God, and the very perfection of the universe itself, who will deny that she is most worthy of preeminence over every creature? Without her, the world itself—even if it were already polished to the highest degree original: "ad unguem," literally "to the fingernail." A Latin idiom for a work of art finished with total precision. and complete in all its parts—would have been imperfect; for the world could not be perfected except in the most perfect of all creatures.

For it is inconsistent and absurd to think that God finished such a great work in something imperfect. Since the world itself was created by God like a whole and most perfect circle, it was necessary that it be completed in that part which would join the first of all things with the last of all things in a most unified bond within itself.

Thus, while woman was the last of all things created in time during the world's creation, she was the first of all in the concept of the Divine Mind, both in authority and dignity. Just as it is written concerning her by the Prophet: "Before the heavens were created, God chose her and pre-elected her" Agrippa here adapts a passage from Proverbs 8 regarding Divine Wisdom, traditionally interpreted as a precursor to the creation of the world, and applies it to the essence of womanhood..