Born: Unknown (1400s), Italy
Died: 14 July 1498
Country most active: Italy
Also known as: Gentile Cimieri
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
Gentile Budrioli was an influential astrologist and herbal healer in 1400s Bologna, renowned for her skills, a close friend of the ruler’s wife, and even briefly a councillor at the Bolognese court. However, when she failed to save the ruler’s son from illness, her enemies saw an opportunity to strike at her and the ruling family she served. She was accused and the Inquisition fabricated evidence against her and tortured her. Perhaps no man was more envious of her than her own husband, who had opposed her pursuits and testified against her at her trial, claiming she had bespelled him to hamper his own intelligence.