Christine de Pizan

1364 – c. 1430

Christine de Pizan was an Italian-born French court writer and poet, widely regarded as Europe's first professional woman of letters. Widowed at twenty-five, she supported her family through her writing, producing works such as The Book of the City of Ladies that defended women against misogynist literary tradition. Her final poem celebrated Joan of Arc in 1429.

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Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Christine de Pizan.

Life events

Born in Venice
1364

Christine de Pizan was born in Venice in 1364, the daughter of the physician and astrologer Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to Paris with her family
c. 1368

Around 1368 Christine's family moved to Paris, where her father served as court astrologer and physician to King Charles V of France.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Married Étienne du Castel
1379

In 1379, at the age of fifteen, Christine married Étienne du Castel, a royal secretary at the French court.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Widowed by an epidemic
1389

Christine's husband died of an epidemic in 1389, leaving her at twenty-five with three children and little income.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Began a professional writing career
c. 1390

In the 1390s Christine turned to writing ballads and commissioned works for noble patrons, becoming one of the first women in Europe to live by her pen.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Took part in the debate over the Romance of the Rose
c. 1401 – c. 1402

Between about 1401 and 1402 Christine engaged in a public literary debate criticizing the misogyny of Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Wrote The Book of the City of Ladies
1405

In 1405 Christine completed The Book of the City of Ladies, an allegorical defense of women's achievements, followed by its sequel The Treasure of the City of Ladies.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Retired to a convent
c. 1418

Around 1418, amid the civil war and English occupation of Paris, Christine withdrew to a convent, probably the Dominican priory at Poissy where her daughter was a nun.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Composed the Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc
31 July 1429

Christine completed her final known work, a poem celebrating Joan of Arc's victories, on 31 July 1429.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Died, probably at Poissy
c. 1430

Christine de Pizan is believed to have died around 1430; the exact date and circumstances are not recorded.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓