NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 9Working Woman
She found work as the manager of a
scriptorium, where she supervised the
work of calligraphers, bookbinders, and
miniaturists. In her spare time she
wrote, drawing on her wealth of reading.
For additional income, Christine began
sending the poems she composed to in-
fluential figures, hoping to attract their
patronage.
Her boldness paid off, and she gained
appreciative sponsors. Writing became
Christine’s livelihood, and she was able
to support her family. Her principal
patron and source of income was King
Charles VI (the son of the French king
Charles V, who died in 1380). Christine
was able to attract more noble patrons,
even some from outside France. They
included Philip II of Burgundy, Queen
Isabella of Bavaria, and England’s Earl
of Salisbury.
Beyond writing poetry, Christine
proved to be an outspoken and influ-
ential social and literary critic. In the
early 1400s she debated the king’s sec-
retaries about the moral fitness of the
Roman de la Rose, a long allegorical poem
first written by Guillaume de Lorris and
then continued by Jean de Meun in the13th century. Christine argued that the
work’s portrayal of women was prob-
lematic, attributing negative traits to
allegorical female figures and also por-
traying women as mere objects to satisfy
male desires. She was outspoken in her
criticism of the work, helping to launch
a more general debate in the French court
about the status of women. She argued
that women’s inferior position was not
natural, but cultural.
In 1405 Christine further explored
her defense of women in what became
one of her most famous works, Le Livre
de la cité des dames (The Book of the CityCHRISTINE DE PISAN helped
craft the beautifully illustrat-
ed manuscripts of her literary
creations. Using her experi-
ence as manager of a scrip-
torium, she oversaw the work
of skilled miniaturists to pro-
duce these detailed images. In
some editions she is often the
subject of the illustrations. In
a 15th-century edition of her
1405 work One Hundred Bal-
lads of a Lover and a Lady, she
is shown working in her study
(left). As in this image, she is
often shown wearing a long
blue dress and a white wim-
ple, the standard attire across
many other portraits of her.PORTRAITS
IN BLUECHRISTINE DE PISAN AT WORK, IN A MINIATURE
FROM A 15TH-CENTURY EDITION OF ONE
HUNDRED BALLADS OF A LOVER AND A LADY.
BRITISH LIBRARY, LONDON
BRIDGEMAN/ACI