I . EARLY LIFE

A . First Woman to make a good living at writing

B . Born in Venice, ca. 1364, and forever proud of its Classic founding, republic, power on the sea: "a Rose among thorns"

C . Father, Thomas of Pizano -- a village near Florence -- he was a lecturer in astronomy/astrology, studied medicine at Bologna -- (in terms of Defining Terms, a definite context here of Renaissance geography, chronology & Studia Humanitatis)

1 . 1357: Thomas moved to Venice, working in Health Services and councilor for the Republic

2 . Petrarch was often in Venice; Thomas & Petrarch had friends in common

3 . 1364-5 the family returned to Bologna; Thomas then off to the French Royal Court: Family joined him in 1368

D . Childhood at the French Court of King Charles V

 

1 . King Charles' "love of learning for its own sake, his essentially secular spirit that accompanied a conventional respect for religion, his striving for the ideal of good government, and his love of beauty in the material world" -- he "had some of the traits of a Renaissance prince" CW23, including being a patron of the arts and humanities 2 . Thomas, as a personal advisor of the king, brought Christine regularly to the inner circles of the court

3 . When Christine was 15, engaged to Etienne de Castel

4 . King d.1380, Thomas d.1388, Etienne d. 1390

II . A NEW LIFE

A . 1399-1404 she frequented the Court of Orleans

B . Then became a successful writer of Ballads

III . THE QUARRELLE OVER THE ROMANCE OF THE ROSE (popular 13C work)

A . Debate was over Jean de Meun's abilities, misogyny

1 . The Quarrelle in part showed the influence of Italian Humanists on the Parisian intellectuals, CW73-4 2 . Christine also objected to Reason being subjected to Deceit in order to slander and subject women 3 . A "forerunner" of Castiglione's Courtier, CW89

 

IV . MORE LITERARY WORK

A . The Long Road of Learning and its Dante connection

B . The Mutation of Fortune: Be wary

C . 1404: Duke of Burgundy (Philip the Bold) hired Christine to write a bio of his brother, King Charles V

D . 1405: completed both "City" books

E . CW 145-6: Treasure unlike medieval writings of its sort

1 . Christine's moral education: Humanist?

"One must suspect that Christine's advanced educational ideas were a part of her Italian heritage. Although she was not sufficiently well educated to advocate a program of classical reading as advanced as those developed by the Italian humanists, she nevertheless insisted on the importance of a moral education for civic responsibility based on the lessons of history, mythology, and the example of famous people." CW175

F . 1429: Joan of Arc raised the siege of Orleans; Christine came back with one of her most powerful literary pieces in praise of Joan and what she had done for France, for women, for the cosmos.

G . Christine died, out of the public eye, between 1430-7

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