Christine de Pisan

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Christine de Pisan wrote for a living (years before any woman did this in Britain). She is remarkable both as a sophisticated, polished, and versatile writer of poetry in French, and as a proto-feminist. Her works (more than a dozen of them) quickly reached print (still a rarity when she was writing), both in their original French and in English translations: their titles take varying forms.
  • BirthName: Christine de Pisan
    Her name de Pisan comes from the original locale of her father's family, the small northern Italian town of Pizzano near Bologna. Her father's name, Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano, was gallicised by the French to Thomas de Pisan.
    McLeod, Glenda P., and Christine de Pisan. “Introduction”. Christine de Pizan: Christine’s Vision, Garland, 1993, p. xi - lv.
    xi-xii
    Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Persea, 1984.
    17
    Yenal, Edith. Christine de Pisan: A Bibliography of Writings by Her and about Her. Scarecrow Press, 1982.
    5

  • Indexed: de Pizan

Milestones

1364

Christine de Pisan was born in Venice.
Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Persea, 1984.
16

By 1394

After a course of self-education, Christine de Pisan began writing verse.
Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Persea, 1984.
43-4
McLeod, Glenda P., and Christine de Pisan. “Introduction”. Christine de Pizan: Christine’s Vision, Garland, 1993, p. xi - lv.
xiii

1405

Christine de Pisan wrote Le livre des trois vertus and finished writing Le livre de la cité des dames.
Yenal, Edith. Christine de Pisan: A Bibliography of Writings by Her and about Her. Scarecrow Press, 1982.
44-6
McLeod, Glenda P., and Christine de Pisan. “Introduction”. Christine de Pizan: Christine’s Vision, Garland, 1993, p. xi - lv.
xvi

31 July 1429

Christine de Pisan finished her Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc, a poem commemorating Joan of Arc 's victory at Orléans that year, and the subsequent coronation of Charles VII .
McLeod, Glenda P., and Christine de Pisan. “Introduction”. Christine de Pizan: Christine’s Vision, Garland, 1993, p. xi - lv.
xxi

August 1429

Christine de Pisan was alive in this month (she wrote her last poem on 31 July); but she was not heard from again and the exact date of her death is unknown.
Yenal, Edith. Christine de Pisan: A Bibliography of Writings by Her and about Her. Scarecrow Press, 1982.
18
McLeod, Glenda P., and Christine de Pisan. “Introduction”. Christine de Pizan: Christine’s Vision, Garland, 1993, p. xi - lv.
xxi
Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Persea, 1984.
207

Biography

Birth and Background

1364

Christine de Pisan was born in Venice.
Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. Persea, 1984.
16