"I had to become a man."
251: Christine de Pisan
Feminist Author and Poet
Born: 11 September 1364, Venice, Italy
Died: 1430, Poissy, France
Alternate Spelling: Christine de Pizan
Christine wrote a biography on Charles V of France as well as several works championing women—including The Book of the City of Ladies (originally Le Livre de la cité des dames).
Her husband died after ten years of marriage leaving her to raise their three young children, mother, and her niece all alone.
Christine took up writing to support her family.
She is known as the first professional female writer of the Middle Ages and was the first woman in France to earn her income solely through writing.
The City of Ladies would appear in the personal libraries of many influential royal women including Anne of Brittany and Queen Elizabeth I.
In later life Christine retired to a convent where she wrote Le Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc the only work written about Joan of Arc to be published during Joan’s lifetime (in 1429).
I first learned Christine’s story through Amanda Foreman’s Ascent of Woman Docu-Series. I’ve linked Episode Three: Power, to the left.
Badges Earned:
Find a Grave Marked
Located In My Personal Library:
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind the Wars of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood
National Geographic History Magazine Article "Christine de Pisan: France's First Lady of Letters" (March/April 2020 Edition)
Powers & Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones
Sources:
https://www.ancient.eu/Christine_de_Pizan/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Christine-de-Pisan
https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/christine_de_pisan
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200117421/christine-de_pisan