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''The Book of the City of Ladies'' or ''Le Livre de la Cité des Dames'' (finished by 1405), is perhaps Christine de Pizan's most famous literary work, and it is her second work of lengthy prose. Pizan uses the vernacular French language to compose the book, but she often uses Latin-style syntax and conventions within her French prose. The book serves as her formal response to
Jean de Meun Jean de Meun (or de Meung, ) () was a French author best known for his continuation of the '' Roman de la Rose''. Life He was born Jean Clopinel or Jean Chopinel at Meung-sur-Loire. Tradition asserts that he studied at the University of Paris. He ...
's popular ''
Roman de la Rose ''Le Roman de la Rose'' (''The Romance of the Rose'') is a medieval poem written in Old French and presented as an allegorical dream vision. As poetry, ''The Romance of the Rose'' is a notable instance of courtly literature, purporting to prov ...
''. Pizan combats Meun's statements about women by creating an allegorical city of ladies. She defends women by collecting a wide array of famous women throughout history. These women are "housed" in the City of Ladies, which is actually the book. As Pizan builds her city, she uses each famous woman as a building block for not only the walls and houses of the city, but also as building blocks for her thesis. Each woman introduced to the city adds to Pizan's argument towards women as valued participants in society. She also advocates in favour of education for women. Christine de Pizan also finished by 1405 ''
The Treasure of the City of Ladies ''The Treasure of the City of Ladies'' (''Le trésor de la cité des dames'', also known ''The Book of the Three Virtues'') is a manual of education by medieval Italian-French author Christine de Pisan. Finished, like her previous ''The Book of t ...
'' (''Le tresor de la cité des dames de degré en degré'', also known ''The Book of the Three Virtues''), a manual of education, dedicated to Princess Margaret of Burgundy. This aims to educate women of all estates, the latter telling women who have husbands: "If she wants to act prudently and have the praise of both the world and her husband, she will be cheerful to him all the time". Her ''Book'' and ''Treasure'' are her two best-known works, along with the ''Ditie de Jehanne D'Arc''.


Summary


Part I

Part I opens with Christine reading from Matheolus's ''Lamentations'', a work from the thirteenth century that addresses marriage and argues that women make men's lives miserable.*Brown-Grant, Rosalind. Introduction. ''The Book of the City of Ladies'' by Christine Pizan. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. xvi-xxxv. Print. Upon reading these words, Christine becomes upset and feels ashamed to be a woman: "This thought inspired such a great sense of disgust and sadness in me that I began to despise myself and the whole of my sex as an aberration in nature".*De Pizan, Christine. ''The Book of the City of Ladies''. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. Print. The three Virtues then appear to Christine, and each lady tells Christine what her role will be in helping her build the City of Ladies. Lady Reason, a virtue developed by Christine for the purpose of her book, is the first to join Christine and helps her build the external walls of the city. She answers Christine's questions about why some men slander women, helping Christine to prepare the ground on which the city will be built. She tells Christine to "take the spade of erintelligence and dig deep to make a trench all around he citynd Reason willhelp to carry away the hods of earth on ershoulders." These "hods of earth" are the past beliefs Christine has held. Christine, in the beginning of the text, believed that women must truly be bad because she "could scarcely find a moral work by any author which didn't devote some chapter or paragraph to attacking the female sex. herefore shehad to accept hese authorsunfavourable opinion of women since it was unlikely that so many learned men, who seemed to be endowed with such great intelligence and insight into all things, could possibly have lied on so many different occasions." Christine is not using reason to discover the merits of women. She believes all that she reads instead of putting her mind to listing all the great deeds women have accomplished. To help Christine see reason, Lady Reason comes and teaches Christine. She helps Christine dispel her own self-consciousness and the negative thoughts of past writers. By creating Lady Reason, Christine not only teaches her own allegorical self, but also her readers. She gives not only herself reason, but also gives readers, and women, reason to believe that women are not evil or useless creatures but instead have a significant place within society.


Women discussed

The following 36 women are discussed in Part I of the ''Book of the City of Ladies''.Table of Contents
* Mary Magdalene *
Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
*
Fredegund Fredegund or Fredegunda (Latin: ''Fredegundis''; French: ''Frédégonde''; died 8 December 597) was the Queen consort of Chilperic I, the Merovingian Frankish king of Soissons. Fredegund served as regent during the minority of her son Chlot ...
*
Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile ( es, Blanca de Castilla; 4 March 1188 – 27 November 1252) was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during ...
* Jeanne d'Évreux * Blanche of France *
Marie of Blois, Duchess of Anjou Marie of Blois (1345-1404) was a daughter of Joan of Penthièvre, Duchess of Brittany and Charles of Blois, Duke of Brittany. Through her marriage to Louis I, Duke of Anjou, she became Duchess of Anjou, Countess of Maine, Duchess of Touraine ...
*
Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dr ...
* Amazons: Thamiris, Menalippe,
Hippolyta In Classical Greek mythology, Hippolyta, or Hippolyte (; grc-gre, Ἱππολύτη ''Hippolytē'') was a daughter of Ares and Otrera, queen of the Amazons, and a sister of Antiope and Melanippe. She wore her father Ares' ''zoster'', the Gr ...
,
Penthesilea Penthesilea ( el, Πενθεσίλεια, Penthesíleia) was an Amazonian queen in Greek mythology, the daughter of Ares and Otrera and the sister of Hippolyta, Antiope and Melanippe. She assisted Troy in the Trojan War, during which she w ...
, Synoppe, Lampheto,
Marpesia In ancient Greek and Roman legendary history, Marpesia (Greek: Μαρπησία "Snatcher"; sometimes wrongly spelled Marthesia) was Queen of the Amazons with Lampedo ("burning torch"), her sister, as a co-ruler. They ruled with Hippo ("horse") ...
, Orithyia (Amazon) *
Zenobia Septimia Zenobia ( Palmyrene Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; AD 240 – c. 274) was a third-century queen of the Palmyrene Empire in Syria. Many legends surround her ancestry; she was probably not a commoner and she married the ruler of the city ...
*
Artemisia II of Caria Artemisia II of Caria (Greek: Ἀρτεμισία; died 350 BC) was a naval strategist, commander and the sister (and later spouse) and the successor of Mausolus, ruler of Caria. Mausolus was a satrap of the Achaemenid Empire, yet enjoyed the s ...
* Lilia, mother of Theodoric * Camilla *
Laodice of Cappadocia Berenice or Laodice of Cappadocia, also known as Laodice ( grc, Λαοδίκη ''Laodíkē''; flourished from the mid-120s BC to the 90s BC) was a princess from the Kingdom of Pontus and a queen of the Kingdom of Cappadocia by marriage to Ariara ...
*
Cloelia Cloelia ( grc, Κλοιλία) was a legendary woman from the early history of ancient Rome. Biography She was one of the women taken hostage by Lars Porsena, as a part of the peace treaty which ended the war between Rome and Clusium in 508 BC. ...
*
Cornificia Cornificia (c. 85 BCc. 40 BC) was a Roman poet and writer of epigrams of the 1st century BC. Life Cornificia belongs to the last generation of the Roman Republic.Stevenson, Jane: ''Women Latin Poets: Language, Gender, and Authority from Antiqu ...
*
Faltonia Betitia Proba Faltonia Betitia Proba (c. AD 306/315 – c. 353/366) was a Latin Roman Christian poet, perhaps the earliest female Christian poet whose work survives. A member of one of the most influential aristocratic families, she composed the '' Cento Ver ...
* Sappho * Manto *
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
*
Circe Circe (; grc, , ) is an enchantress and a minor goddess in ancient Greek mythology and religion. She is either a daughter of the Titan Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse or the goddess Hecate and Aeëtes. Circe was renowned for her vas ...
* Carmenta *
Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Rom ...
* Ceres *
Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...
*
Arachne Arachne (; from , cognate with Latin ) is the protagonist of a tale in Greek mythology known primarily from the version told by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BCE–17 CE), which is the earliest extant source for the story. In Book Six of his ...
* Pamphile * Thamaris * Irene * Iaia * Sempronia * Woman of Valor * Gaia Cirilla (also known as
Tanaquil Tanaquil ( Etruscan: ''Thanchvil'') was the queen of Rome by marriage to Tarquinius Priscus, fifth king of Rome. Life The daughter of a powerful Etruscan family in Tarquinii, Etruria, Tanaquil thought her husband would make a good leader, but s ...
) *
Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...
* Ops * Lavinia


Part II

In Part II, Lady Rectitude says she will help Christine "construct the houses and buildings inside the walls of the City of Ladies" and fill it with inhabitants who are "valiant ladies of great renown". As they build, Lady Rectitude informs Christine with examples and "stories of pagan, Hebrew, and Christian ladies" who possessed the gift of prophecy, chastity, or devotion to their families and others. Christine and Lady Rectitude also discuss the institution of marriage, addressing Christine's questions regarding men's claims about the bad qualities women bring to marriage. Lady Rectitude corrects these misconceptions with examples of women who loved their husbands and acted virtuously, noting that those women who are evil toward their husbands are "like creatures who go totally against their nature". Lady Rectitude also refutes allegations that women are unchaste, inconstant, unfaithful, and mean by nature through her stories. This part ends with Christine addressing women and asking them to pray for her as she continues her work with Lady Justice to complete the city.


Women discussed

The following 92 women are discussed in Part II of the ''Book of the City of Ladies''. *
Sibyl The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece. The sibyls prophesied at holy sites. A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local tradi ...
s: Erythraean Sibyl, Cumaean Sibyl *
Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...
* Elizabeth (biblical figure) *
Anna the Prophetess Anna ( he, חַנָּה, grc, Ἄννα) or Anna the Prophetess is a woman mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. According to that Gospel, she was an elderly woman of the Tribe of Asher who prophesied about Jesus at the Temple of Jerusalem. She ...
*
Queen of Sheba The Queen of Sheba ( he, מַלְכַּת שְׁבָא‎, Malkaṯ Šəḇāʾ; ar, ملكة سبأ, Malikat Sabaʾ; gez, ንግሥተ ሳባ, Nəgśətä Saba) is a figure first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. In the original story, she bring ...
*
Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...
* Basina of Thuringia * Carmenta *
Theodora (wife of Justinian I) Theodora (; Greek: Θεοδώρα; 50028 June 548), sometimes enumerated as Theodora I, was Byzantine empress by marriage to emperor Justinian. She became empress upon Justinian's accession in 527 and had commanding or considerable influence o ...
* Dripetrua *
Hypsipyle In Greek mythology, Hypsipyle (Ancient Greek: Ὑψιπύλη) was a queen of Lemnos, and the daughter of King Thoas of Lemnos, and the granddaughter of Dionysus and Ariadne. When the women of Lemnos killed all the males on the island, Hypsipyle ...
* the virgin Claudine * Roman Charity *
Griselda (folklore) Griselda (anglicised to Grizzel and similar forms) is a figure in European folklore noted for her patience and obedience. In literature In the most famous version of the Griselda tale, written by Giovanni Boccaccio , Griselda marries Gual ...
*
Hypsicratea Hypsicratea or Hypsikrateia (flourished 63 BC), was the concubine, and perhaps wife, of King Mithridates VI of Pontus. Life Nothing is known of the family background of Hypsicratea, although it has been noted that her name suggests that her fam ...
* Triaria *
Artemisia I of Caria Artemisia I of Caria ( grc, Ἀρτεμισία; fl. 480 BC) was a queen of the ancient Greek city-state of Halicarnassus and of the nearby islands of Kos, Nisyros and Kalymnos,Enc. Britannica, "Artemisia I" within the Achaemenid satrapy of ...
*
Argea In Greek mythology, Argia or Argea (Ancient Greek: Ἀργεία ''Argeia'') was a daughter of King Adrastus of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, and of Amphithea, daughter of Pronax. She was married to Polynices, the exiled king of Ancient Thebes (B ...
*
Agrippina the Elder Agrippina "the Elder" (also, in Latin, , "Germanicus's Agrippina"; – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Augustus) a ...
*
Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar) Julia (c. 76 BC – 54 BC) was the daughter of Roman dictator Julius Caesar by his first or second wife Cornelia, and his only child from his marriages. Julia became the fourth wife of Pompey the Great and was renowned for her beauty and virtue ...
*
Aemilia Tertia Aemilia Tertia, also known as Aemilia Paulla (c. 230–163 or 162 BC), was the wife of the Roman consul and censor Scipio Africanus. She was the daughter, possibly the third surviving daughter, of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus and the ...
*
Xanthippe Xanthippe (; , , ; 5th–4th century BCE) was an ancient Athenian, the wife of Socrates and mother of their three sons: Lamprocles, Sophroniscus, and Menexenus. She was likely much younger than Socrates, perhaps by as much as 40 years. Name ...
* Pompeia Paulina *
Sulpicia (wife of Lentulus Cruscellio) In De mulieribus claris. Sulpicia (c. 69 – 14 BC) was the wife of Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Cruscellio. Lentulus was the son of Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Crus. Sulpicia's mother was Tullia ("Julia") Caesaris (c. 86 – 34 BC) and her father w ...
* Lacedaemonian women who saved their husbands from execution *
Porcia Catonis The gens Porcia, rarely written Portia, was a plebeian family at Ancient Rome. Its members first appear in history during the third century BC. The first of the gens to achieve the consulship was Marcus Porcius Cato in 195 BC, and from then un ...
* Curia (wife of Quintus Lucretius) *
Cornelia Metella Cornelia Metella ( 73 BC – after 48 BC) was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica (who was a consul in 52 BC and originally from the gens Cornelia). She appears in numerous literary sources, including an official dedicat ...
*
Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; grc, Ἀνδρομάχη, ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means 'man battler ...
*
Stateira II Stateira ( el, Στάτειρα; died 323 BC), possibly also known as Barsine, was the daughter of Stateira and Darius III of Persia. After her father's defeat at the Battle of Issus, Stateira and her sisters became captives of Alexander ...
*
Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
*
Stateira II Stateira ( el, Στάτειρα; died 323 BC), possibly also known as Barsine, was the daughter of Stateira and Darius III of Persia. After her father's defeat at the Battle of Issus, Stateira and her sisters became captives of Alexander ...
* Bithia *Judith of the Book of Judith *
Esther Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
*
The Rape of the Sabine Women The Rape of the Sabine Women ( ), also known as the Abduction of the Sabine Women or the Kidnapping of the Sabine Women, was an incident in Roman mythology in which the men of Rome committed a mass abduction of young women from the other citi ...
*
Veturia Veturia was a Roman matron, the mother of the possibly legendary Roman general Gnaeus Marcius Coriolanus. According to Plutarch her name was Volumnia. Veturia came from a patrician family and encouraged her son's involvement in Roman politics. A ...
*
Clotilde Clotilde ( 474–545), also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde etc. (Latin: Chrodechildis, Chlodechildis from Frankish ''*Hrōþihildi'' or perhaps ''*Hlōdihildi'', both "famous in battle"), was a Queen of All the Franks. She was s ...
*Catulla *Saint
Genevieve Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...
*
Hortensia (orator) Hortensia, daughter of consul and advocate Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, earned renown during the late Roman Republic as a skilled orator. She is best known for giving a speech in front of the members of the Second Triumvirate in 42 BC that resulte ...
* Novella d'Andrea *
Susanna (Book of Daniel) Susanna (; : "lily"), also called Susanna and the Elders, is a narrative included in the Book of Daniel (as chapter 13) by the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches. It is one of the additions to Daniel, plac ...
* Sarah * Rebecca *
Ruth (biblical figure) Ruth (; ) is the person after whom the Book of Ruth is named. She was a Moabite woman who married an Israelite. After the death of all the male members of her family (her husband, her father-in-law, and her brother-in-law), she stays with her m ...
*
Penelope Penelope ( ; Ancient Greek: Πηνελόπεια, ''Pēnelópeia'', or el, Πηνελόπη, ''Pēnelópē'') is a character in Homer's ''Odyssey.'' She was the queen of Ithaca and was the daughter of Spartan king Icarius and naiad Periboea. Pe ...
*
Mariamne I Mariamne I (died 29 BCE), also called Mariamne the Hasmonean, was a Hasmonean princess and the second wife of Herod the Great. She was known for her great beauty, as was her brother Aristobulus III. Herod's fear of his rivals, the Hasmoneans, ...
* Antonia Minor * Sulpitia *
Lucretia According to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ ''loo-KREE-shə'', Classical Latin: ʊˈkreːtɪ.a died c.  510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subseq ...
* Chiomara * Hippo (Greek woman) * Sicambrian women *
Verginia Verginia, or Virginia (c. 465 BC449 BC), was the subject of a story of ancient Rome, related in Livy's ''Ab Urbe Condita''.Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology > v. 3, page 1267 /ref> The story of Verginia In 451 BC ...
*
Claudia Octavia Claudia Octavia (late 39 or early 40 – June 9, AD 62) was a Roman empress. She was the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and Valeria Messalina. After her mother's death and father's remarriage to her cousin Agrippina the Younger, she becam ...
*
Claudia Antonia Claudia Antonia (Classical Latin: ANTONIA•CLAUDII•CAESARIS•FILIA (edd), ''Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III'', Berlin, 1933 - A 886) (c. AD 30–AD 66) was the daughter and oldest surviving child of the Roman Emperor ...
* Athaliah *
Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and
) was the daughte ...
*
Brunhilda of Austrasia Brunhilda (c. 543–613) was queen consort of Austrasia, part of Francia, by marriage to the Merovingian king Sigebert I of Austrasia, and regent for her son, grandson and great-grandson. In her long and complicated career she ruled the eastern ...
* Florence of Rome * Wife of Bernabo the Genovan * Leaena *
Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...
*
Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
*
Thisbe Pyramus and Thisbe are a pair of ill-fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid's ''Metamorphoses''. The story has since been retold by many authors. Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses. Their ...
* Hero of
Hero and Leander Hero and Leander is the Greek myth relating the story of Hero ( grc, Ἡρώ, ''Hērṓ''; ), a priestess of Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology) who dwelt in a tower in Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, and Leander ( grc, Λέ ...
* Ghismonda of Salerno * Lisabetta of Messina * Dame de Fayel * Dame de Vergi * Iseult * Deianira *
Juno (mythology) Juno ( ; Latin ) was an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counsellor of the state. She was equated to Hera, queen of the gods in Greek mythology. A daughter of Saturn, she was the sister and wife of Jupiter and the mother of ...
*
Europa (mythology) In Greek mythology, Europa (; grc, Εὐρώπη, ''Eurṓpē'', ) was a Phoenician princess of Argos, Peloponnese, Argive Ancient Greece, Greek origin, and the mother of Basileus, King Minos of Crete. The continent of Europe may be named after ...
* Jocasta *
Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...
* Helen of Troy *
Polyxena In Greek mythology, Polyxena (; Greek: ) was the youngest daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen, Hecuba. She does not appear in Homer, but in several other classical authors, though the details of her story vary considerably. After the ...
*
Claudia Quinta Claudia Quinta was a Roman matron said to have been instrumental in bringing the goddess Cybele, "Great Mother" of the gods from her shrine in Greek Asia Minor to Rome in 204 BC, during the last years of Rome's Second Punic War against Carthage. ...
*
Blanche of Castile Blanche of Castile ( es, Blanca de Castilla; 4 March 1188 – 27 November 1252) was Queen of France by marriage to Louis VIII. She acted as regent twice during the reign of her son, Louis IX: during his minority from 1226 until 1234, and during ...
* Busa of Canosa di Puglia * Marguerite, Dame de la Riviere *
Isabeau of Bavaria Isabeau of Bavaria (or Isabelle; also Elisabeth of Bavaria-Ingolstadt; c. 1370 – September 1435) was Queen of France from 1385 to 1422. She was born into the House of Wittelsbach as the only daughter of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria-Ingols ...
* Joan of Armagnac * Valentina Visconti, Duchess of Orléans *
Margaret of Bavaria Margaret of Bavaria (1363 – 23 January 1424, Dijon) was Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to John the Fearless. She was the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1404–1419 and the regent in French Burgundy ...
*
Marie, Duchess of Auvergne Marie de Berry (c. 1375 – June 1434) was ''suo jure'' Duchess of Auvergne and Countess of Montpensier in 1416-1434. She was the daughter of John, Duke of Berry, and Joanna of Armagnac. She was married three times. She acted as administrator of ...
*
Margaret of Burgundy, Duchess of Bavaria Margaret of Burgundy (October 1374 – 8 March 1441) was Duchess of Bavaria as the wife of Duke William II and the mother of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut Life Margaret was the third child and first daughter out of nine children born to Phi ...
*
Isabella of Valois Isabella of France (9 November 1389 – 13 September 1409) was Queen of England as the wife of Richard II, King of England between 1396 and 1399, and Duchess (consort) of Orléans as the wife of Charles, Duke of Orléans from 1406 until her ...
*
Marie of Savoy, Countess of Saint-Pol Marie of Savoy, Countess of Saint-Pol, de Brienne, de Ligny, and Conversano (20 March 1448) was the second wife of Louis de Luxembourg, Count of Saint-Pol, Constable of France. She was a younger daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy and Anne de Lusig ...
* Anne de Bourbon


Part III

In Part III, Lady Justice joins with Christine to "add the finishing touches" to the city, including bringing a queen to rule the city. Lady Justice tells Christine of female saints who were praised for their martyrdom. At the close of this part, Christine makes another address to all women announcing the completion of the City of Ladies. She beseeches them to defend and protect the city and to follow their queen (the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
). She also warns the women against the lies of slanderers, saying, "Drive back these treacherous liars who use nothing but tricks and honeyed words to steal from you that which you should keep safe above all else: your chastity and your glorious good name".


Women discussed

The following 37 women are discussed in Part III of the ''Book of the City of Ladies''. * The Virgin
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
* The Virgin Mary's sisters and Mary Magdalene. * Saint
Catherine of Alexandria Catherine of Alexandria (also spelled Katherine); grc-gre, ἡ Ἁγία Αἰκατερίνη ἡ Μεγαλομάρτυς ; ar, سانت كاترين; la, Catharina Alexandrina). is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, ...
. * Saint
Margaret of Antioch Margaret, known as Margaret of Antioch in the West, and as Saint Marina the Great Martyr ( grc-gre, Ἁγία Μαρίνα) in the East, is celebrated as a saint on 20 July in the Western Rite Orthodoxy, Roman Catholic Church and Anglicanism, o ...
. *
Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse (283–304), also called Saint Lucia ( la, Sancta Lucia) better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, ...
. * Blessed Martina. * Saint Lucy (different than the Saint Lucy above) * Saint Benedicta * Saint Fausta * Saints
Cyprian and Justina Saints Cyprian and Justina are honored in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy as Christians of Antioch, who in 304, during the Diocletianic Persecution, suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia (modern-day İzmit, Turkey) on ...
* Blessed Eulalia * Saint Macra * Saint Fida * Blessed Marciana * Saint Euphemia * Blessed Theodosina *
Saint Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in t ...
* Saint Dorothy * Saint Cecilia * Saint Agnes of Rome * Saint
Agatha of Sicily Agatha of Sicily () is a Christian saint. Her feast is on 5 February. Agatha was born in Catania, part of the Roman Province of Sicily, and was martyred . She is one of several virgin martyrs who are commemorated by name in the Canon of the ...
*
Saint Christina of Bolsena Christina of Bolsena, also known as Christine, or in the Eastern Orthodox Church as Christina the Great Martyr, is venerated as a Christian martyr of the third century. Archaeological excavations of an underground cemetery constructed over her tom ...
* Several female saints who were forced to watch their children being martyred: blessed Felicia, blessed Julitta,
Saint Blandina Saint Blandina (french: Blandine, c. 162–177 AD) was a Christian martyr who died in Lugdunum (modern Lyon, France) during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Context In the first two centuries of the Christian era, it was the local Roman of ...
*
Euphrosyne of Alexandria Euphrosyne of Alexandria ( el, Ἁγία Εὐφροσύνη tr. "good cheer"'','' 410–470),Swan, p. 83Kirsch, Johann Peter (1913). "St. Euphrosyne". In Charles G. Herberman; ''et al''. (eds.). ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. 5. New York: Encyclope ...
* Blessed Anastasia * Blessed Theodota * Saint Natalia of Nicomedia *
Saint Afra Saint Afra (died 304) was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich, she is a patron saint of Augsburg. Her feast day is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. Thro ...
* Several ladies who served the Apostles: Drusiana, Susanna, Maximilla, Saint Ephigenia,
Helena of Adiabene Helena of Adiabene ( he, ''Hellēnī''; d. ca. 50–56 CE) was a queen mother of the Parthian vassal state of Adiabene (modern-day Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan). With her husband and brother Monobaz I, she was the mother of Izates II and Monobaz II. ...
, Saint
Plautilla Plautilla (died 67 AD) was an early Christian saint, a Roman widow who was by some accounts baptized by Saint Peter and saw the martyrdom of Saint Paul. See also * Plautia gens * List of early Christian saints This is a List of 1,085 Early Chri ...
, Saints Julian and Basilissa


Boccaccio's influence

Christine's main source for information was Giovanni Boccaccio's ''
De mulieribus claris ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...
'' (
On Famous Women ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...
), possibly in the French version, ''Des Cleres et Nobles Femmes''. This text was a biographical treatise on ancient famous women. Christine also cited from Boccaccio's '' Decameron'' in the latter stages of ''The City of Ladies''. The tales of Ghismonda and Lisabetta, for example, are cited from Boccaccio's ''Decameron''. Boccaccio's influence can be seen in Christine's stance on
female education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...
. In the tale of Rhea Ilia, Boccaccio advocates for the right of young women to choose a secular or religious life. He states that it is harmful to place young girls into convents while they are "ignorant, or young, or under coercion". Boccaccio states that girls should be "well brought up from childhood in the parental home, taught honesty and praiseworthy behavior, and then, when they are grown and with their entire mind know what of their own free will" they can choose the life of monasticism. Boccaccio believes that young girls need to be taught about life and virtues before they are consecrated to God. While he does not say women should have a formal education, he is still advocating for women to have a say in their lives and the right to be well informed about their possible futures. Therefore, Boccaccio's belief in educating young girls about secular and religious life could have acted as a stepping stone for Christine's belief in female education. Boccaccio's outlook was however, according to Margaret King and Albert Rabil, "sexist in that he praised the traditional values of chastity, silence, and obedience in women, and furthermore depicting women in the public sphere as suffering as in form of punishment for transcending boundaries." Boccaccio's text is mainly used for Parts I and II of the book, while Part III is more reliant upon Jean de Vignay's ''Miroir historical'' (1333). This text is the French translation of the historical portions of '' Speculum Maius'', an encyclopedia by Vincent of Beauvais that was begun after 1240.King, Margaret, and Albert Rabil. Introduction. "Dialogue on the Infinity of Love." Tullia d'Aragona. 1547. Trans. Rinaldina Russell and Bruce Merry. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1997. Print.


Themes

''The Book of the City of Ladies'' is an allegorical society in which the word "lady" is defined as a woman of noble spirit, instead of noble birth. The book, and therefore the city, contains women of past eras, ranging from pagans to ancient Jews to medieval Christian saints. The book includes discussion between Christine de Pizan and the three female Virtues which are sent to aid Christine build the city. These Virtues – Reason, Rectitude, and Justice – help Christine build the foundations and houses of the city, as well as pick the women who will reside in the city of ladies. Each woman chosen by the Virtues to live in the city acts as a positive example for other women to follow. These women are also examples of the positive influences women have had on society. Christine asks the virtues if women should be taught as men are and why some men think women should not be educated. Other questions that are explored are: the criminality of rape, the natural affinity in women to learn, and their talent for government.


See also

* ''
The Legend of Good Women ''The Legend of Good Women'' is a poem in the form of a dream vision by Geoffrey Chaucer during the fourteenth century. The poem is the third longest of Chaucer's works, after ''The Canterbury Tales'' and '' Troilus and Criseyde'', and is poss ...
'' (Chaucer) * ''
De Mulieribus Claris ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...
'' (Boccaccio) * Le Livre de la mutation de fortune (Pisan, 1403)


Sources

;Original sources * De Pizan, Christine. ''The Book of the City of Ladies''. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. Print. * Boccaccio, Giovanni. ''De mulieribus claris. English & Latin. Famous women''. Ed. by Virginia Brown. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001. * Pizan, Christine. ''A Medieval woman's mirror of honor: the treasury of the city of ladies''. Trans. by Charity Cannon Willard, ed. by Madeleine Pelner Cosman. Tenafly: Bard Hall Press, 1989. ;Secondary sources * Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate and Kevin Brownlee. ''The Selected Writings of Christine De Pizan: New Translations, Criticism''. New York, Norton Critical Editions, 1997. * Brabant, Margaret. ''Politics, gender, and genre: the political thought of Christine de Pizan''. Boulder: Westview Press, 1992. * Brown-Grant, Rosalind. Introduction. ''The Book of the City of Ladies'' by Christine Pizan. 1405. Trans. Rosalind Brown-Grant. London: Penguin, 1999. xvi-xxxv. Print. * Fenster, Thelma. "‘Perdre son latin’: Christine de Pizan and Vernacular Humanism." ''Christine de Pizan and the Categories of Difference''. Ed. Marilynn Desmond. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P: 1998. 91-107. Print. Medieval Cultures 14. * Forhan, Kate Langdon. ''The Political Theory of Chrisine Pizan''. Burlington: Ashgate: 2002. Print. Women and Gender in the Early Mod. World. * Gaunt, Simon. ''Gender and genre in medieval French literature''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. * King, Margaret, and Albert Rabil. Introduction. "Dialogue on the Infinity of Love." Tullia d'Aragona. 1547. Trans. Rinaldina Russell and Bruce Merry. Chicago: The University of Chicago, 1997. * Miller, Paul Allen, Platter, Charles, and Gold, Barbara K. ''Sex and gender in medieval and Renaissance texts: the Latin tradition''. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1997. * Quilligan, Maureen. ''The allegory of female authority: Christine de Pizan's Cité des dames''. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991.


References


External links


"An Educated Lady"
Boston College Magazine *
The Boke Of The Cyte Of Ladyes
on Early English Books Online {{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of The City Of Ladies Book of the City of Ladies, The Book of the City of Ladies, The Book of the City of Ladies, The Feminist fiction Allegory Giovanni Boccaccio Utopian fiction Biographical dictionaries of women Cultural depictions of Sappho Cultural depictions of Judith Cultural depictions of Esther Cultural depictions of Helen of Troy Cultural depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus Cultural depictions of Dido Cultural depictions of Agrippina the Elder Cultural depictions of Sempronia (wife of Decimus Brutus) Cultural depictions of Tanaquil Cultural depictions of Claudia Octavia