Christine de Pizan, an Italian by birth who became known as the first professional female writer in France, faced adversity and triumph in equal measure. Her journey from a young widow to a celebrated author underscores her resilience and intellectual prowess. Her seminal work, The Book of the City of Ladies, serves not only as an allegory but also as a powerful defense of women against the pervasive misogyny of medieval literature.

Early Life and Motivation

Christine de Pizan was born in Italy and relocated to Paris when her father took a position as the court astrologer for King Charles V of France. Her marriage to Estienne de Castel, a French notary, ended prematurely with his untimely death, leaving Christine a widow at twenty-five with the responsibility of caring for her three children and her mother. Despite societal pressures and her mother's objections, Christine's father supported her educational pursuits, which became a lifeline in her quest for financial independence and intellectual fulfillment.

Left without a male provider, Christine turned to writing to sustain her family. Her early works, mostly poetry, garnered attention and favor among the French nobility, helping her establish a network of patrons. Her ability to navigate the male-dominated literary world of her time highlights her tenacity and strategic acumen.

Challenging Misogyny and Building a Literary City

Christine's literary journey took a critical turn around 1400 when she began to address the rampant misogyny permeating literary works. Her participation in the well-documented epistolary debate on the Roman de la rose marked her as a vocal critic of misogynistic language and themes. Christine's most renowned works, The Book of the City of Ladies and its sequel The Book of Three Virtues, serve as her response to the male-dominated narratives that often disparaged women.

In The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine constructs an allegorical city inhabited by women of virtue. The structure of this city mirrors her literary task of creating space for women's stories within the broader cultural narrative. Guided by allegorical figures—Reason, Rectitude, and Justice—Christine embarks on a narrative journey to "take the trowel of your pen" and "mix the mortar in your ink bottle" to construct this symbolic city.

Allegory and Structure

The book is divided into three sections, each representing a stage in the city's construction. In the first section, Christine, guided by Reason, lays the metaphorical and literal foundations by recounting the lives of women who contributed positively to society. As the city walls rise in the second section, Rectitude guides her, drawing from examples of women who demonstrated strength and virtue. Finally, under Justice's guidance, the city stands complete in the third section, with high towers housing revered figures such as the Virgin Mary and various female saints.

Through this allegory, Christine ingeniously weaves together a series of biographical sketches that elevate the narratives of women from antiquity and contemporary French history. The framework of the city allows her to explore various themes such as women's strength, intellectual contributions, and marital faithfulness, each illustrated through the lives of exceptional women.

Sources and Originality

Christine's narrative draws on a rich tapestry of both classical and medieval sources. Influences such as Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy, Dante's The Divine Comedy, and St. Augustine’s The City of God resonate within her work. Particularly notable is her use of Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women, from which she derives inspiration for her biographical sketches.

While Christine's reliance on established works might appear derivative from a modern perspective, it aligns with medieval literary practices that emphasized adaptation and reinterpretation over originality. Her...