most distinguished of the many artists who enjoyed his
patronage. He was also a patron of scholarship and litera-
ture, under whose auspices the Cretan Zacharias Callier-
gis (c. 1473–c. 1524) set up the first Greek press in Rome
and published an important edition of Pindar (1515).
Christian IV (1577–1648) King of Denmark and Norway
(1596–1648)
Despite his ambitious endeavors to broaden the influence
of his country, the status of Denmark as a great power in
Europe was weakened during his reign. He embarked
upon a series of wars against Sweden including the
Kalmar War (1611–13), which Denmark won, and the
Torstensson Feud (1643–49), which it lost and as a result
of which parts of the kingdom were ceded to Sweden. His
intervention in the Thirty Years’ War from 1625 to 1629
against Emperor Ferdinand II resulted in the occupation
of Jutland by German troops from 1627 to 1629. He
erected a number of buildings in Copenhagen, including
the Gothic-style Rosenborg Palace (1608–17).
Christian Majesty, His Most (Latin Rex Christianis-
simus) A title accorded to the kings of France, especially
in papal correspondence of the 15th century onward.
Christine de Pisan (c. 1364–c. 1430) Venetian-born
French poet and prose writer
Christine de Pisan grew up at the court of Charles V of
France, where her father was astrologer and physician to
the king. Widowed with three children at age 25, she
began to write poetry to support her family: the success of
her early love ballads encouraged her to embark on more
serious works in defence of women, such as Épître au dieu
d’amour (1399), Cité des dames (1405; translated as The
Book of the City of Ladies, 1982), and Livre des trois vertus
(1406). She vigorously countered the prevalent view
(based on Aristotle’s De generatione animalium) that women
were intrinsically inferior to men, illustrating her argu-
ment with examples of outstanding women from antiquity
to more recent times. Socially conservative, she supported
the institution of marriage and a hierarchical society, but
argued that women by exercising virtue and moral re-
sponsibility were as important as men in maintaining the
fabric of society and that they should be educated and re-
spected accordingly. Her treatise on the education of
princes, Le Livre du Corps de Policie (1407) was translated
into Middle English as The Bodye of Polycye. Her other
writings include a biography of Charles V, Livre des faits et
bonnes moeurs du roi Charles V (1404), and a number of
patriotic stories, notably Ditié de Jeanne d’Arc. After the
French defeat at Agincourt (1415) Christine took refuge
in a convent, where she spent the latter years of her life.
Further reading: Charity Cannon Willard, Christine
de Pisan: Her Life and Works (New York: Persea Books,
1984); Kate Langdon Forham, The Political Theory of
Christine de Pisan (Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 2002).Christus, Petrus (c. 1410–72/73) Netherlands painter
Born in Baerle, Christus became in 1444 a citizen of
Bruges, which remained his base for the rest of his life. His
style was directly conditioned by that of Jan van EYCK,
who was probably his master, and his early works such as
the Exeter Madonna (Berlin) and a pair of triptych wings
of 1452 (Berlin) are derived from Eyckian compositions.
Christus’s Frankfurt Madonna and Child (1457) reveals an
early mastery of one-point perspective, which may have
been learned in Italy. The latter hypothesis remains un-
proven, although Christus’s work was appreciated in Italy
shortly after his death and it seems likely that he influ-
enced ANTONELLO DA MESSINA. Christus’s style was essen-
tially a simplification and systemization of Jan van Eyck’s,
which nevertheless perpetuated his mentor’s influence
during a period when most Netherlands painters sought
inspiration in the work of Rogier van der WEYDEN.chronicles See HISTORIOGRAPHYChrysoloras, Manuel (1350–1415) Greek diplomat and
teacher of Greek
Chrysoloras was born in Constantinople and was a pupil
of PLETHON. In 1393 he was sent by Emperor Manuel
Palaeologus to seek aid from the Italian states against the
Turks. He returned to Constantinople but was invited in
1395 to Florence, where he became professor of Greek; his
pupils included Poggio BRACCIOLINI, Leonardo BRUNI, and
Francesco Barbaro; he also translated Homer and Plato
into Latin during his stay there. Chrysoloras then (1400)
moved to Milan, Pavia, and Venice, remaining in the last
for several years. He then went to Rome and in 1408 was
sent to Paris as the Greek emperor’s representative. In
1413 he served on the embassy that prepared the way for
the Council of CONSTANCE. He died en route for the coun-
cil to represent the Greek Church. His Erotemata (printed
1484) was the first Greek grammar used in the West. His
influence was important in introducing a more critical ap-
proach to literature based on a close study of language.Cicero, Marcus Tullius (106–43 BCE) Roman statesman
and orator. Cicero was important to the Renaissance on
two grounds: the morals that could be drawn from his
writings and his private and public life and the example
set by his prose style. The former first made him an object
of interest to PETRARCH, who as a philosopher and moral-
ist himself was struggling to reconcile the counterclaims
of the active and the contemplative life. Coluccio SALUTATI
was more swayed by admiration for Cicero’s important ca-
reer in public life, and his view of the Roman statesman
generally prevailed among the Florentine humanists and
was transmitted through them to later Renaissance moral-11004 4 CChhrriissttiiaann IIVV