Christine de Pisan
A Poet and Peacemaker (c. 1364-1429)

Christine de Pisan is Europe’s earliest known professional woman writer, and few medieval documents are more masterful or astonishing than her Book of the City of Ladies and its sequel, The Treasure of the City of Ladies.  Both titles allude to St. Augustine’s City of God.  Christine writes about women’s strengths, such as compassion, faith, wisdom, love of justice, and peacemaking, as a counterpoint to the long tradition of misogynist medieval literature denouncing women as sinners and temptresses.  Greatly respected and admired in her time by men and women alike, she convinced society that women were not after all without souls but had values, convictions, intelligence, knowledge, and communication skills to contribute to life.

Christine was born in Venice but moved to France in early childhood when her father was called to the court of King Charles V as court physician and astrologer.  The family’s status climbed steadily, and at fifteen she married a young nobleman, Etienne de Castel.  In 1380, however, her fortune met with sudden reversal when the king died and her father was demoted.  Within a few years, her father and also her husband died, leaving her at twenty-five a widow with a mother and three children to support, and this in an era that offered virtually no professional opportunities for women.

Christine turned to writing to try to earn a living, and – against all odds – succeeded, first as a lyric poet, soon as a prolific authority on women’s role in society.  Ingeniously, she simply filled a huge gap in European society by assuming a moral and spiritual leadership role rarely attempted in prior history except by nuns.  Before long she had become the authoritative center of a virtual movement among upper-class women, inspiring them to turn away from materialism, consumerism, and frivolity to take part consciously and morally in society.

Christine’s biography of Charles V and writing on the art of government, public affairs, education, and related matters also met with success, and she won the respect of men as well as women.  Through her career, a succession of wealthy and influential patrons supported her, and some commissioned artists to make sumptuously illustrated copies of her manuscripts, many of which have been preserved in European museums.

Christine’s books were forgotten as mores changed, but she has earned a second reading in our time because of her courage, independence, and ability to shape public opinion, and for the trailblazing accomplishment of giving medieval women a voice – a voice tempered by the requirement of honoring others.
– Mary Ford-Grabowsky.

How A Wise Woman, In The Year 1405, Works For Peace.

by Christine de Pisan

If a neighboring or foreign prince is preparing to start a war for some reason, perhaps against her husband, or if her husband wants to start a war, the wise woman will reflect on this mindfully.  She will consider the great evil and infinite cruelty, destruction, slaughter, all the terrible outcomes of war.  She will ponder carefully and deeply how she might intervene to prevent this war.  Knowing what a delicate matter this is, she will want to work mindfully, first calling on God, praying for Divine assistance, then counseling the parties involved, doing whatever she can to find a peaceful solution.

Or perhaps one of the princes of the kingdom or one of the barons or knights or powerful subjects commits some crime, and a neighboring power wants to make war on him…and she sees that if he is warred against or taken prisoner and punished, great evils can befall the country.  Such cases have been seen in France and in other lands…. Indeed it happened not long ago that my lord Robert d’Artois, in a dispute with the king, greatly injured the kingdom of France to the benefit of England.

The wise woman will meditate on these things and, feeling compassion and dreading loss of life, will work for peace.  She will counsel everyone involved, her husband and his council, to think through the consequences of war before undertaking any action, pondering it in the light of the evil that could come about.  She will say that deep deliberation is needed, as engaging in war is no small matter, and it would be far better to think of some appropriate way to reach agreement.  She will not hesitate an instant, but (preserving her honor of course and that of her husband) will speak or have someone else speak to the ones who have committed the misdeed.  She will reprimand them for it severely, saying that what they did was gravely wrong, and that the prince is quite rightly offended and quite understandably wants to avenge himself.  She, however, who always wants the blessing of peace, should they be willing to atone for their wrong or to make appropriate amends, will gladly go to great trouble if need be to bring about peace between them and her husband.

With words like these, the wise woman will always serve to the best of her ability as the means to peace, even as good Queen Blanche, mother of St. Louis, did with her many efforts to bring about peace between the king and the barons – with the count of Champagne and others.  This work is properly the duty of the wise queen and princess:  to be the means to peace and harmony.  Women must attend to the business of peace, because men are instinctually more bold and hot-headed…

Oh, God, what great blessings have been brought about in the world by noble woman making peace between enemies…The Scriptures are full of such examples….Blessed is the land where such a woman lives….She is like a goddess in whom one can trust and hope.

Sincere thanks to Mary Ford-Grabowsky for permission to use the Christine de Pisan introduction and quote in her book Sacred Voices: Essential Women's Wisdom Through the Ages (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002).