Ancient history

Christine de Pisan reigns over letters

Born in Italy in 1364, Christine de Pisan arrives in France with her father, Tommaso Pizzano, a doctor and astrologer who entered the service of Charles V. Married and mother of three children, she was widowed at the age of 25. From 1395 to 1405, she wrote texts testifying to her talent for writing and an interest in the intellectual and political debates of her time. She is one of the first to deplore the dominated condition of women. In 1405, in The City of Ladies , she writes:“If one wanted to claim that women are not intelligent enough to learn the law, experience clearly proves the contrary […]. We have seen many women […] who were very great philosophers and who were able to master disciplines that were much more difficult and nobler than written law and the statutes of men. »