Search -
The Vision of Christine de Pizan (Library of Medieval Women) (Library of Medieval Women)
The Vision of Christine de Pizan - Library of Medieval Women The last of Christine de Pizan's book-length allegories, Christine's Vision was written in conflict and crisis, at a crossroads in both the history of France and her own professional life. In its pages Christine, a long-time intimate of the French court, analyses the origins and possible future of the 1405 crisis, calling for its resolution in t... more »he voice of a prophet. Interwoven with this analysis is her own validation as a counselor and public advisor; as she traces her ascent from recording scribe to student commentator to authoritative author, she demonstrates and applies the arts of interpretation to French history, contemporary politics, authoritative texts, and her own life. This review not only documents the difficulties faced by a medieval woman left widowed in the prime of life but also explores issues of gender and authorship, interpretation and misinterpretation in Christine's remarkable career as a writer and advisor of princes. Christine's Vision offers its readers a powerful contemporary response to the chaos that would eventually precipitate Henry V's invasion of France as well as a fascinating view of the author's own progress as a woman reader, writer, and public commentator in the late Middle Ages.« less