Christine de Pizan
Author of The Book of the City of Ladies
About the Author
Image credit: Christine de Pizan lecturing men. http://bcm.bc.edu/issues/winter_2010/endnotes/an-educated-lady.html
Works by Christine de Pizan
Christine De Pizan's Letter of Othea to Hector: Translated With Introduction, Notes, and Interpretative Essay (The… (1970) 22 copies
Le livre de la Cité des Dames 4 copies
La rosa y el principe / The Rose and the Prince (Clasicos Medievales / Medieval Classics) (Spanish Edition) (2005) 3 copies
L'oroyson nostre dame 1 copy
Žene i filozofija 1 copy
"The God of Love’s Letter" and "The Tale of the Rose": A Bilingual Edition. With Jean Gerson, “A Poem on Man and… (2021) 1 copy
de Pisan, Christine Archive 1 copy
Associated Works
The Defiant Muse: French Feminist Poems from the Middle Ages to the Present: A Bilingual Anthology (French and English… (1986) — Contributor — 26 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Pisan, Christine de
Pizan, Christine de - Birthdate
- 1364-09-11
- Date of death
- c. 1430
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- Republic of Venice (birth)
France - Country (for map)
- France
- Birthplace
- Venice, Italy
- Place of death
- Poissy, France
- Places of residence
- Venice, Italy (birth)
Paris, France - Occupations
- poet
composer
biographer - Relationships
- Castel, Jean (son)
- Short biography
- Christine de Pizan was born in the Republic of Venice, in present-day Italy. Her father Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano was a scholar, physician, and astrologer who encouraged her education. Her mother's name is unknown, but it is believed that she came from an aristocratic family. When Christine was four years old, the family moved to Paris, France, where her father was appointed court astrologer to King Charles V.
She was drawn to literature at an early age, but this was discouraged by her mother, who wanted her to concentrate on so-called women's work, such as spinning cloth and other domestic chores. In 1378, at about age 15, she was married to the French court secretary, Etienne du Castel, with whom she had three children. Ten years later, her father and then her husband died suddenly, leaving debts, and Christine had sole responsibility for the care of three children, her niece, and her mother.
She began writing poetry to make herself feel better, but eventually became the first female professional writer of the Middle Ages. She was able to win the support of wealthy and noble patrons who enjoyed her poems, ballads, and prose, and also gave her commissions.
In her work, she was unusually outspoken in her belief that women were the equals of men in every regard and should be given the same rights, opportunities, and respect. Her most important work, La cité des dames (The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405) was written to combat the sexist attitudes and negative stereotypes about women in her era. Although medieval women were not supposed to express their ideas or be independent, Christine de Pizan managed to do both successfully.
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Statistics
- Works
- 45
- Also by
- 6
- Members
- 2,977
- Popularity
- #8,570
- Rating
- 3.8
- Reviews
- 25
- ISBNs
- 119
- Languages
- 11
- Favorited
- 6
An alternate title could be "Lean In for Princesses." Christine wants you to be good, but she also wants you to be smart. On the surface, she is a grumpy moralizer, but a close reading shows she believes deeply in women's abilities and intelligence and wants them to succeed in a world that's rigged against them. She wants women to protect themselves by being on their best behavior, even if she recognizes these standards of behavior are unfair.
Lots of great details about the everyday lives of powerful women in late medieval Europe. Alas, despite purporting to speak to "all women," Christine has much less to say to people at the bottom, and her advice is deeply classist: but this is not surprising.… (more)