ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the educational differences of assimilated and Old Christian women who in turn were distinguished by class status. It discusses educational expectations for young girls and women, and the various methods by which they achieved different levels of literacy in the early modern period. It presents an overview of the various spaces of women's education, from early literacy to cultured and learned forms of knowledge. In early modern Spain, the process of learning to read—an activity that was considered different from that of writing and thus learned separately—was, for women, oriented mainly toward the consumption of religious texts. When the women were from rural areas and/or assigned lower occupations, their level of literacy dropped considerably. In contrast, levels of education rose markedly for urban women, especially conversas, who were often involved in family businesses.
