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0521641942 - Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women: Reading beyond
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Rosalind Brown-Grant
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Christine de Pizan's Livre de la Cite des Dames (1405) is justly
renowned for its full-scale assault on the misogynist stereotypes
which dominated the culture of the Middle Ages. Rosalind
Brown-Grant locates the Cite in the context of Christine's
defence of women as it developed over a number of years and
through a range of different texts. Arguing that Christine
tailored her critique of misogyny according to the genre in
which she was writing and the audience whom she was addressing, this study shows that Christine's case for women nonetheless had an underlying unity in its insistence on the moral, if
not the social, equality of the sexes. Whilst Christine may not
have been a radical in modern feminist terms, she was able to
draw upon the cultural resources of her day in order to
construct an intellectual authority for herself that challenged
the prevailing orthodoxy of the medieval period.
Rosalind Brown-Grant lectures in the Department of French at
the University of Leeds. She has translated Christine de Pizan's
Book of the City of Ladies for Penguin Classics (1999), and has
published essays on medieval literature and culture in numerous scholarly journals.
© Cambridge University Press
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Cambridge University Press
0521641942 - Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women: Reading beyond
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Rosalind Brown-Grant
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cambridge studies in medieval literature
General editor
Alastair Minnis, University of York
Editorial board
Patrick Boyde, University of Cambridge
John Burrow, University of Bristol
Rita Copeland, University of Minnesota
Alan Deyermond, University of London
Peter Dronke, University of Cambridge
Simon Gaunt, University of London
Nigel Palmer, University of Oxford
Winthrop Wetherbee, Cornell University
This series of critical books seeks to cover the whole area of literature written
in the major medieval languages ± the main European vernaculars, and
medieval Latin and Greek ± during the period c. 1100±1500. Its chief aim is
to publish and stimulate fresh scholarship and criticism on medieval
literature, special emphasis being placed on understanding major works of
poetry, prose, and drama in relation to the contemporary culture and
learning which fostered them.
Recent titles in the series
32 Patricia E. Grieve `Floire and Blanche¯or' and the European Romance
0 521 43162 X
33 Huw Pryce (ed.) Literacy in Medieval Celtic Societies 0 521 57039 5
34 Mary Carruthers The Craft of Thought: Meditation, Rhetoric, and the
Making of Images, 400±1200 0 521 58232 6
35 Beate Schmolke-Hasselmann The Evolution of Arthurian Romance: The
Verse Tradition from ChreÂtien to Froissart 0 521 41153 x
36 SiaÃn Echard Arthurian Narrative in the Latin Tradition 0 521 62126 7
37 Fiona Somerset Clerical Discourse and Lay Audience in Late Medieval
England 0 521 62154 2
38 Florence Percival Chaucer's Legendary Good Women 0 521 41655 8
39 Christopher Cannon The Making of Chaucer's English: A Study of Words
0 521 59274 7
A complete list of titles in the series can be found at the end of the volume
© Cambridge University Press
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Cambridge University Press
0521641942 - Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women: Reading beyond
Gender
Rosalind Brown-Grant
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CHRISTINE DE PIZAN AND
THE MORAL DEFENCE
OF WOMEN
Reading beyond gender
ROSALIND BROWN-GRANT
© Cambridge University Press
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0521641942 - Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women: Reading beyond
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Rosalind Brown-Grant
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PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP, United Kingdom
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK http://www.cup.cam.ac.uk
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011±4211, USA http://www.cup.org
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
# Rosalind Brown-Grant 1999
The book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant
collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the
written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1999
Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge
Typeset in Baskerville 11/1212 [ c e ]
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 521 64194 2 hardback
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0521641942 - Christine de Pizan and the Moral Defence of Women: Reading beyond
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Rosalind Brown-Grant
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For Liliane, who ®rst helped me
on to the `chemin de long estude'
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Contents
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations
page x
xi
Introduction
1 The `querelle de la Rose': Christine's critique of
misogynist doctrine and literary practice
2 The Epistre OtheÂa: an ethical and allegorical alternative
to the Roman de la Rose?
3 The Avision-Christine: a female exemplar for the princely
reader
4 The Livre de la Cite des Dames: generic transformation and
the moral defence of women
5 The Livre des Trois Vertus: a betrayal of the Cite ?
Conclusion
1
128
175
215
Index
220
7
52
89
ix
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Jane H. M. Taylor and Peter F. Ainsworth for
all their encouragement during the early stages of this project. In the
®eld of `Christine studies', I owe a great debt of thanks to the
following colleagues either for their kindness in making their work
available to me prior to publication or for their helpful advice:
Angus J. Kennedy, Ann J. Kettle, Christine M. Laennec, Nadia
Margolis, Glenda McLeod and Katharina M. Wilson, Karen Pratt,
Benjamin Semple and Margarete Zimmermann. I am particularly
grateful to Liliane Dulac for her generosity in giving me access to
her extensive library when I was just starting out on this study, for
her invaluable help on various articles which have been incorporated
into it, for her inspirational scholarly works in the ®eld, and for her
friendship. This book is fondly dedicated to her. I am, above all,
indebted to Steve Rigby for his unfailing support, critical rigour, and
constant willingness to comment on innumerable draft versions of
this book. The above are, of course, absolved of all responsibility for
what follows.
x
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Abbreviations
The following list of abbreviations includes the most frequently cited
works by Christine de Pizan and other medieval authors as well as key
secondary studies on Christine. Lack of space precludes the provision of a
bibliography of all other primary and secondary sources but full bibliographical details of each item are given the ®rst time it is cited in each
chapter.
works by christine de pizan
Avison: Lavision-Christine: Introduction and Text, ed. Sister Mary Louis Towner,
The Catholic University of America Studies in Romance Languages
and Literatures, 6 (Washington DC: The Catholic University of
America, 1932).
CiteÂ: Maureen Cheney Curnow, `The Livre de la Cite des Dames of Christine
de Pisan: a Critical Edition', 2 vols. (unpublished PhD dissertation,
Vanderbilt University, 1975).
DeÂbat: Christine de Pisan, Jean Gerson, Jean de Montreuil, Gontier and
Pierre Col, Le DeÂbat sur le Roman de la Rose, ed. Eric Hicks, BibliotheÁque
du XVe SieÁcle, 43 (Paris: Champion, 1977).
Dieu d'Amours: Poems of Cupid, God of Love; Christine de Pizan's `Epistre au dieu
d'Amours' and `Dit de la Rose'; Thomas Hoccleve's `The Letter of Cupid'; George
Sewell's `The Proclamation of Cupid', ed. and trans. Thelma S. Fenster and
Mary Carpenter Erler (Leiden: Brill, 1990).
Duc des vrais amans: Christine de Pizan: Le livre du duc des vrais amans, ed.
Thelma S. Fenster, Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies, 124
(Binghampton, New York: Center for Medieval and Early Renaissance
Studies, 1995).
Fais et bonnes meurs: Le Livre des fais et bonnes meurs du sage roy Charles V, ed.
Suzanne Solente, 2 vols. (Paris: Champion, 1936±40).
Mutacion: Le Livre de la mutacion de Fortune, ed. Suzanne Solente, 4 vols. (Paris:
Picard, 1959±66).
OtheÂa: Halina D. Loukopoulos, `Classical Mythology in the Works of
Christine de Pisan, with an Edition of L'Epistre OtheÂa from the
xi
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List of abbreviations
Manuscript Harley 4431' (unpublished PhD dissertation, Wayne State
University, 1977).
Paix: Le `Livre de la Paix' of Christine de Pisan: A Critical Edition with Introduction
and Notes, ed. Charity Cannon Willard (The Hague: Mouton, 1958).
Policie: Le Livre du corps de Policie, ed. Robert H. Lucas, (Geneva: Droz, 1967).
Trois Vertus: Le Livre des Trois Vertus, ed. Charity Cannon Willard and Eric
Hicks, BibliotheÁque du XVe sieÁcle, 50 (Paris: Champion, 1989).
works by other medieval authors
Boccaccio on Poetry: Boccaccio on Poetry: Being the Preface and the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth Books of Boccaccio's Genealogia Deorum Gentilium, ed. and trans.
Charles G. Osgood (Indianapolis/New York: The Library of Liberal
Arts, 1956).
Chavalier: Geoffroy de La Tour Landry, Le Livre du Chevalier de La Tour Landry
pour l'enseignement de ses ®lles, ed. Anatole de Montaiglon (Paris: Jannet,
1854).
City of God: St Augustine, Concerning the City of God Against the Pagans, trans.
Henry Bettenson (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972).
Confessio Amantis: John Gower, Confessio Amantis, in The English Works of John
Gower, ed. G. C. Macaulay, Early English Texts Society, extra series 81,
2 vols. (Oxford University Press, reprinted 1957).
De Casibus: Giovanni Boccaccio, De Casibus Virorum Illustrium, ed. Pier
Giorgio Ricci and Vittorio Zaccaria, in Tutte le opere di Giovanni
Boccaccio, ed. Vittore Branca, vol. 9, I Classici Mondadori (Verona:
Mondadori, 1970).
De Doctrina Christiana: St Augustine, De Doctrina Christiana; ed. and trans.
R. P. H. Green (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
De Mulieribus: Giovanni Boccaccio, De Claris Mulieribus, ed. Vittorio
Zaccaria, in Tutte le opere di Giovanni Boccaccio, ed. Vittore Branca, vol. 10,
I Classici Mondadori (Verona: Mondadori, 1970).
De Viris: Francesco Petrarca, De Viris Illustribus, ed. Guido Martellotti, 2
vols. (Florence: Sansoni, 1964).
Lamentations: Les Lamentations de Matheolus et le Livre de Leesce de Jehan le FeÁvre, de
Ressons, ed. A.-G. Van Hamel, 2 vols. (Paris: Emile Bouillon, 1892±1905).
Livre des bonnes meurs: Jacques Legrand, Archiloge Sophie, Livre des bonnes meurs,
ed. Evencio Beltran, BibliotheÁque du XVe sieÁcle, 49 (Paris: Champion,
1986).
Menagier: Le Menagier de Paris, ed. Georgine E. Brereton and Janet M. Ferrier
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981).
êuvres compleÁtes: Jean Gerson, êuvres compleÁtes, ed. P. Glorieux, 10 vols.
(Paris: Desclee & Cie, 1968).
Ovide moraliseÂ: `Ovide moraliseÂ': PoeÁme du commencement du quatorzieÁme sieÁcle, publieÂ
d'apreÁs tous les manuscrits connus, ed. C. de Boer, 5 vols. (Amsterdam:
Johannes MuÈller, 1915±38).
xii
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List of abbreviations
Religieux: Le Religieux de St Denis: Chronique de Charles VI, ed. L. F. Bellaguet,
Collection de documents ineÂdits sur l'histoire de la France, seÂrie 1, 6
vols. (Paris: BibliotheÁque Nationale, 1839±52).
Rose: Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung, Le Roman de la Rose, ed. FeÂlix
Lecoy, 3 vols., Classiques FrancËais du Moyen Age (Paris: Champion,
1965±70).
Three Medieval Views: Three Medieval Views of Women: `La Contenance des fames',
`Le Bien des fames', `Le Blasme des fames', ed. and trans. Gloria K. Fiero,
Wendy Pfeffer and Mathe Allain (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1989).
Vieil pelerin: Philippe de MeÂzieÁres, Le Songe du vieil pelerin of Philippe de MeÂzieÁres,
Chancellor of Cyprus, ed. G. W. Coopland, 2 vols. (Cambridge University
Press, 1969).
Woman Defamed: Woman Defamed and Woman Defended: An Anthology of Medieval
Texts, ed. Alcuin Blamires (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992).
secondary sources on the works of christine de pizan
Bornstein, Ideals: Ideals for Women in the Works of Christine de Pizan, ed. Diane
Bornstein, Medieval and Renaissance Monograph Series, ed. Guy R.
Mermier and Edelgard E. DuBruck, 1 (Michigan Consortium for
Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 1981).
Brabant, Politics: Politics, Gender and Genre: The Political Theory of Christine de
Pizan, ed. Margaret Brabant (Boulder, Colorado/Oxford: Westview
Press, 1992).
Delany, ` ``Mothers'' ': Sheila Delany, ` ``Mothers to think back through'':
Who are they? The ambiguous case of Christine de Pizan', in her
Medieval Literary Politics: Shapes of Ideology (Manchester University Press,
1990), 88±103.
Dulac and RibeÂmont, Une Femme: Une femme de Lettres au Moyen Age: Etudes
reÂunies autour de Christine de Pizan, ed. Liliane Dulac and Bernard
RibeÂmont (Orleans: Paradigme, 1995).
Kennedy, Guide: Angus J. Kennedy, Christine de Pizan: A Bibliographical Guide
(London: Grant and Cutler, 1984).
Kennedy, Supplement: Angus J. Kennedy, Christine de Pizan: A Bibliographical
Guide: Supplement I (London: Grant and Cutler, 1994).
RibeÂmont, Sur le chemin: Sur le chemin de longue Âetude . . . Actes du colloque
d'OrleÂans juillet 1995, ed. Bernard RibeÂmont, Etudes christiniennes, 3
(Paris: Champion, 1998).
Richards Reinterpreting: Reinterpreting Christine de Pizan, ed. Earl Jeffrey
Richards et al. (Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press,
1992).
Schibanoff, `Taking the gold': Susan Schibanoff, `Taking the gold out of
Egypt: the art of reading as a woman', in Elizabeth A. Flynn and
Patrocinio P. Schweickart, eds., Gender and Reading: Essays on Readers,
xiii
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List of abbreviations
Texts and Contexts (Baltimore/London: Johns Hopkins University Press,
1986), 83±106.
Willard, Life: Charity Cannon Willard, Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works
(New York: Persea Books, 1984).
Zimmermann and De Rentiis, City: The City of Scholars: New Approaches to
Christine de Pizan, ed. Margarete Zimmermann and Dina De Rentiis,
European Cultures: Studies in Literature and the Arts, 2 (New York/
Berlin: De Gruyter, 1994).
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