Christian Women of the Medieval Era – Part 52

We have presented over fifty stories of the incredible women who lived during the Middle Ages! There are in fact many hundreds of great stories, but we have just focused on a few. From Genovefa (423 – 502) through Dorothy of Montau, we have discovered that there were many ministering female believers including queens, abbesses, nuns, Beguines, sisters in monasteries, writers, godly wives, mothers, empresses, social reformers, and many others. Thousands of women were called and gifted by God to serve Christ during this very interesting time in history. 

Some of the most famous women in church history were mystics – Birgitta (Bridget) of Sweden,^[1] Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena,^[2] Dorothea of Montau,^[3] Christine de Pizan, and Margery Kempe. Their experiences were different from most of ours and I am looking forward to comparing our stories when I get to heaven. While Christine de Pizan was considered a mystic, she was so much more. She was highly intelligent, and her writing was very practical even to this day. Let’s continue with the story of her ongoing contribution to the kingdom of God.

Christine de Pizan (1364-1431) Part 2

Christine was only twenty-five when she found herself to be the head of her household and in charge of taking care of her family. As a typical fourteenth century woman she was unprepared for the task. She did her best but was often taken advantage of.  She wrote:

         For it was the custom for married men not to talk about or declare the complete state of their affairs to their wives, from which often comes harm as it was to happen to me in my experience, and it makes no sense unless women, instead of being ignorant, learn wise management of such matters.^[4]   

Christine’s complaint is still true in many places in our day. Women are too often unprepared to assume the duties and care of loved ones. Christine knew that she was called to care for her family. She also knew that she was called to do something about the plight of women in her culture. She was spurred into action after she read Matheolus’s Lamentations. Matheolus was a fourteenth century writer who was famous for his writing about women. Today we would definitely call him a misogynist. He said for example: 

         Now you can see how foolhardy it is to take a wife. What will your response be? What is the point of your studying the matter? Don’t get married, have mistresses. If you are weak by nature, it will be safer for you to have a hundred of them rather than devote yourself to one; treat them as if they were no more important than a straw. And if you are strong, take my advice, don’t plunge yourself in the mire or frequent either one woman or many – I forbid you to have anything to do with them, for in the garden lurks a snake; and no one approaches if without regretting it afterwards.^[5]

Christine was appalled. She said:

         Just the sight of this book…made me wonder how it happened that so many different men . . . are so inclined to express both in speaking and in their treatises and writings so many wicked insults about women and their behavior.^[6]

For centuries men had taken for granted their misogynist perceptions about women. They just assumed that their beliefs were true and didn’t hesitate to put their low view of women in their writing. Almost no one challenged them. While others thought that Matheolus was amusing, Christine did not. She knew that she was nothing like the women described in his writing, and neither were most of the women she knew. She believed that he was telling lies about women. Christine picked up the gauntlet. She decided to defend women in writing.

Christine began her writing as a series of letters in response to Jean de Montreuil, secretary to the King. Montreuil had written a popular poem, Roman de la Rose (The Romance of he Rose). Among other egregious things in his poem, he presented women as always wanting to be unfaithful to their husbands. Christine attacked this lie with counter arguments. 

Christine was often very bold in her assertions. I wonder how she got away with some of the things she said in the fourteenth century. For example, when it was suggested in Jean’s poem that men should never tell women a secret, Christine called it “hodgepodge, rubbish, and wasted words.”^[7] She even accused Jean of only frequenting the company of bad women, since that was all he seemed to think he knew about them. 

Far from getting into trouble with her boldness, Christine actually became very famous with her exchange of letters. She had many supporters including some at court. When some of her letters were presented to the French queen, Isabeau de Baviere in 1402, Christine was encouraged to write a book.

The Book of the City of Ladies was written in 1404-5. It is meant as a justification of women and it presents an ideal community for women. It is divided into three parts, based on three women characters named – Reason, Rectitude, and Justice. In the plotline, the main character, also named Christine, poses questions. The answers are in the form of stories about women. A great historian as well as a writer, Christine covers the history of women from earliest recorded history to her time from a woman’s perspective.

There had been other books written about women in Christine’s time. Some examples are – Bergamo’s Of Illustrious Women, Brantome’s Lives of Illustrious Women, Le Moyne’s Gallerie of Heroic Women, de Ribera’s Immortal Triumphs and Heroic Enterprises of 845 Women(How did he find so many? Why didn’t anybody else?). The book which Christine seemed to be responding to in her Book of the City of Ladies was Boccaccio’s Concerning Famous Women. 

In his book Boccaccio told the stories of 106 notable women, ninety-eight of which were pagan Greek, only one was biblical (Eve) and seven were from medieval religious culture. He singled out women for his stories who had the male ideals for women – chastity, silence, and obedience. Any woman in his book who was in a leadership position was painted as lascivious and horrible for entering the male sphere. He talked about women but only with male biases. It was a rare woman in his book who had any virtue. To counter this unfair view of women In her book Christine portrays the virtue of women as universal. She was a lone voice in a sea of misogyny. Centuries have gone by and while women have made some gains, the view still persists that men are superior to women intellectually and creatively. 

Christine wanted her readers to know that women could be creative as well as erudite. The printing press had not been developed in Europe until the 1450’s. Each of Christine’s books were copied by hand. In addition to her talented storytelling, Christine was an imaginative illustrator. She directed her scribes as well as the artists who were Illuminating (hand painting) her books. The artists were careful to illuminate Christine’s books exactly as she desired. She wanted women to have a correct picture of a proper life for women.

Christine went on to write The Treasure of the City of Ladies: Or the Book of Three Virtues as a handbook for women’s behavior. This book contained advice for women of all ages and in all levels of society from the royal court to prostitutes. Giving a detailed picture of daily life she gave instructions for running a household, dressing properly, and maintaining good etiquette and an honorable reputation. Her books became popular, even being read by royalty. They were discussed all over France and in many other parts of Europe.

Christine also wrote poetry, an advice book for her son, and a history of King Charles V of France. Her books are still widely read today. You can read her last poem, featuring Joan of Arc, in its entirety.^[8]

Christine’s is a voice from the past that should be rediscovered. It is a challenge to us to see that the things she was concerned about 600 years ago are still things that concern us today. Christine’s life and writings were an inspiration to many and should be even more to us in the twenty-first century.

Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. (Psalm 45:6-7a)

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^[1] See posts on July 6 and July 20, 2021. 

^[2] See posts on May 4, 2021, May 18, 2021, and June 8, 2021.

^[3] See post August 10, 2021

^[4] Elizabeth Alvilda Petroff, Medieval Women’s Visionary Literature (NY: Oxford University Press, 1986), 338. As a quote in Susan Signe Morrison. A Medieval Woman’s Companion, “Christine de Pizan” (Oxford: Oxbow Books2017) 162.

^[5] Reprinted from:  https://lamentationsandchristine.wordpress.com

^[6] Christine de Pizan. The Book of the City of Ladies, Trans. Earl Jeffrey Richards, foreword by Marina Warner (New Your, 1982), 1.1.1, pp. 3-4.

^[7] Susan Signe Morrison: A Medieval Woman’s Companion, “Christine de Pizan” (Oxford: Oxbow Books2017) p164.

^[8] Christine de Pizan, Le Ditie de Jehanne D’Arc.  Stanza XIII. You can read the whole poem here: https://www.jeanne-darc.info/contemporary-chronicles-other-testimonies/christine-de-pizan-le-ditie-de-jehanne-darc/