Book description
Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1430) was France's first professional
woman of letters. Her pioneering Book of the City of Ladies begins
when, feeling frustrated and miserable after reading a male writer's
tirade against women, Christine has a dreamlike vision where three
virtues - Reason, Rectitude and Justice - appear to correct this view.
They instruct her to build an allegorical city in which womankind can
be defended against slander, its walls and towers constructed from
examples of female achievement both from her own day and the past:
ranging from warriors, inventors and scholars to prophetesses, artists
and saints. Christine de Pizan's spirited defence of her sex was
unique for its direct confrontation of the misogyny of her day, and
offers a telling insight into the position of women in medieval
culture.
THE CITY OF LADIES provides positive images of women, ranging from
warriors and inventors, scholars to prophetesses, and artists to
saints. The book also offers a fascinating insight into the debates
and controversies about the position of women in medieval culture.
Christine de Pizan (1364-c. 1430) was one of the most remarkable
and respected literary figures in the courts of medieval Europe. She
was the only professional woman writer of her time and secured an
enviable reputation with her lyric poetry. She went on to write with
success on moral and political issues, as well as producing a
biography of Charles V.
Rosalind Brown-Grant is Lecturer in French at the University of
Leeds, where she specializes in medieval literature.
Rosalind Brown-Grant took he BA and Ph. D. at the University of
Manchester and is now Lecturer in French at the University of Leeds,
where she specialises in medieval literature.
