About
Christine de Pizan (born in Venice around 1364, died around 1430) was the first woman in Europe to earn her living as a writer. Raised at the court of Charles V, she received an exceptional humanist education. Widowed at 25, she wrote to support her three children. Her work, comprising 41 titles, includes political treatises, poems, and writings in defense of women. Her Book of the City of Ladies (1405) is considered a foundational feminist text. She was involved in the quarrel over the Romance of the Rose and ran a workshop for copying and illuminating manuscripts. Her last work, a poem in honor of Joan of Arc, dates from 1429.
† 1430-01-01
Major works
- Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (1405)allegorical treatise
- Le Livre des trois vertus (1405)practical guide
- Le Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V (1404)biography
- Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (1429)poem
Key milestones
- 1364Born in Venice, daughter of Thomas de Pizan, physician and astrologer to Charles V.
- 1389Widowed at 25, with three children to support.
- 1405Publishes The Book of the City of Ladies, a foundational feminist text.
Themes
defense of womeneducationpoliticsmoralitypatriotism
Sources: kbr.be · oxfordbibliographies.com · id.loc.gov