CHRISTINE DE PIZAN

(1361–1431)

First professional female writer and a woman of extraordinary talent. A well-respected writer during her lifetime, her work was admired and widely imitated. She became the official biographer of the French king, Charles V; her father, Thomas of Pisano, called Thomas the Astrologer, was a professor of astrology at the University of Bologna until he was retained by King Charles as court astrologer. It was through this relationship that Charles became aware of Christine’s talents.

After the death of her husband, Christine became the sole support of her family, and she made a living as a copyist, later writing “for the market.”

Her military treatise, "The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry", was so wildly popular that even eighty years later, the English king, Henry VII, asked the venerable printer William Caxton to translate the work into English and to distribute it to his soldiers. A copy of this treatise was even owned by Napoleon Bonaparte’s aide-de-camp.

During her lifetime, Christine enjoyed influential patronage. Much of her work survives in lavishly illustrated and bound manuscripts that circulated widely at court. Her works were translated into many other languages while she was alive. She was also respected as a literary critic.

Many of her manuscripts deal with “women’s issues,” and she argues that male writers present a negative and hostile picture of women. She encourages women to use their own experience to guide them instead of listening to the defamations of men, and she offers stories of good, honorable women as role models (although, of course, the term is not one she would have understood).

For nearly a century after her death, Christine’s works continued to be read, as the example of her military treatise shows. Both her prose and her poetry were copied and circulated throughout the courts of various lands. New editions continued to be produced. Her popularity peaked in two different places at two different times. Around the mid–fifteenth century, her writings became popular at the Court of Burgundy. The first two dukes collected all of her works, manuscripts of which resided in the court library for many years. A number of the manuscripts circulated not only among members of the court but also among middle-class officials and their families.

In the second half of the fifteenth century, Christine’s popularity increased in the Houses of Bourbon, Brittany, and Orleans. Again, copies of her manuscripts were ordered and kept in the libraries of these houses. Anne of Brittany, in particular, enjoyed Christine’s work and was instrumental in getting some of the manuscripts printed.

The printer records—that is, the number of printed manuscripts that survive—show that during the latter part of the fifteenth century, Christine’s most famous work was “Othea’s Letter to Hector,” followed by "The Book of Three Virtues".

During the century following her death, readers considered Christine’s writings practical and wise. Her works on philosophy, politics, and religion are comprehensive and encyclopedic as medieval works tend to be. She touched on social and political issues that seemed contemporary even one hundred years later; her reasoned, calm approach and sensible solutions were admired. Her advice was valued even several generations after her death. As tastes changed, however, her writings fell out of favor.

Her works include one commissioned by Philip II, the history of his brother Charles V., "Livre des fais et bonnes meurs due sage Roy Charles V (Deeds and Good Manners of the Wise King Charles V)". Among her other works are: "Avision Christine", "Epsitre au dieu d’Amours (Epistle to the God of Love)", "Epitre d’Othéa, Livre de cité des dames (The Book of the City of Ladies", long considered her major work), "Livre des corps de policie (On the Body of Policy)", "Livre des trois vertus (The Book of Three Virtues)", "Livre du chemin de long estude (Book of the Long Road of Study)", and "Mutaction de Fortune".

Written by Jennifer Lawler in "Encyclopedia of Women in the Middle Ages", McFarland & Company, USA, 2008. Digitized, adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.