Overview
Christine de Pizan (1364–c. 1430) was an Italian-born writer active at the French court who authored poetry, political advice books, and The Book of the City of Ladies. Widowed young, she supported herself by letters and became an early public defender of women’s intellectual and moral dignity against misogynist literary tradition.
Main ideas
Christine argues that women share fully in humanity and divine peoplehood, that education and virtue are open to them, and that calumnies against women often rest on envy and ignorance. Her allegorical city gathers exemplary women as a counter-history to inherited prejudice.
Major works
- The Book of the City of Ladies
- The Treasure of the City of Ladies
- The Book of the Body Politic
Legacy
She is a founding figure for feminist intellectual history and late-medieval political thought, bridging courtly literature and civic counsel.