Christine de Pizan

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 June 2017

⏱️ 50 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and works of Christine de Pizan, who wrote at the French Court in the late Middle Ages and was celebrated by Simone de Beauvoir as the first woman to 'take up her pen in defence of her sex.' She wrote across a broad range, and was particularly noted for challenging the depiction of women by famous writers such as Jean de Meun, author of the Romance of the Rose. She has been characterised as an early feminist who argued that women could play a much more important role in society than the one they were allotted, reflected in arguably her most important work, The Book of the City of Ladies, a response to the seemingly endless denigration of women in popular texts of the time. The image above, of Christine de Pizan lecturing, is (c)The British Library Board. Harley 4431, f.259v. With Helen Swift Associate Professor of Medieval French at the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Hilda's College Miranda Griffin Lecturer in French and Fellow of St Catharine's College, Cambridge and Marilynn Desmond Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Binghamton University Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the BBC.
0:02.0	Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:05.0	There's a reading list to go with it on our website.
0:07.0	And you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time.
0:12.0	I hope you enjoyed the programs.
0:14.0	Hello, Christine de Pisan born in 1364 earned her living as a writer at the Court of the French Kings in Paris.
0:20.0	It said she was the first professional woman writer in France and perhaps in Europe.
0:25.0	Her best known work is the Book of the City of Ladies,
0:28.0	which defended women against the endless attacks on them in popular histories and literature,
0:32.0	which were written by men.
0:34.0	She challenged prejudices against women and led debate on the role of women in society.
0:38.0	Her themes were inspired by her own situation, a widow, who would defend for herself,
0:43.0	and by the turmoil in France in the Hundred Years' War.
0:46.0	Her last poem before her death in 1430 was in Praise of Joan of Arc,
0:50.0	who was stirring up the fight against the English.
0:53.0	With me to discuss Christine de Pisan,
0:55.0	our Helen Swift, associate professor of Medieval French at the University of Oxford and Phillips and Hilda's College,
1:01.0	Miranda Griffin, lecturer in French and Phillips and Catherine's College Cambridge,
1:05.0	and Marilyn Desmond, distinguished professor of English and comparative literature
1:09.0	at Binghampton University, New York.
1:12.0	Helen Swift, Christine was born in Venice in 1364.
1:17.0	How and when did she come to Paris?
	...

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