Pompeo Colonna (1479–1532) was a mercenary captain before becoming a cardinal of the Catholic church. Margaret L. King is professor emerita of history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Franco Minonzio is an Italian classical philologist, historian of science, and author.

"The King-Minonzio edition of In Defense of Women by Pompeo Colonna presents a remarkable text by a fascinating author and locates it within the complexities of the Renaissance period. The Latin text and English translation are enhanced by excellent contributions, including a foreword on key issues, a meticulous introduction, an extensive glossary of names, and a substantial postscript on the querelle des femmes, all of which will be useful to scholars and students. Overall, this volume is an exemplary work of collaborative scholarship and offers an important male-authored defense of women."

• Acknowledgments Illustrations Abbreviations Foreword Introduction In Defense of Women Book One Dedicatory Letter to Vittoria Colonna A Woman Is Not an Imperfect Creature The Charges against Women Refuted Book Two On the Fortitude, Magnanimity, and Constancy of Women On the Liberality and Beneficence of Women On the Temperance and Continence of Women On the Wisdom and Prudence of Women On Justice Apologia mulierum Liber primus Mulierem non esse animal imperfectum Obiectorum solutio Liber secundus De fortitudine, magnanimitate atque constantia mulierum De liberalitate et beneficentia mulierum De temperantia et continentia mulierum De sapientia et prudentia mulierum De iustitia Postscript: The querelle des femmes: Male- and Female-Authored Texts Table: The querelle des femmes: Selected Male- and Female-Authored Texts Glossary of Names Bibliography Index