"If you steal from one author, it's plagiarism; if you steal from many, it's research." Wilson Mizner, 1876-1933, American Author (Please use appropriate citations)

Christine de Pizan: An illuminated Voice

By Doré Ripley, ©2004

Christine de Pizan displays an enlightened mind through her voice in text and illustration. Her works tell the story of a woman very much in touch, but out of sync, with her patriarchal society, and by studying her creative output, and the process she undergoes to manufacture a finished product, the reader has the opportunity to glimpse into the lifestyle of a writer struggling to create and maintain her reputation, and standard of living.

After the death of her husband, Christine began writing as therapy: "It is very difficult to keep one's pain bottled up….Fortune could not hurt me so deeply to keep me from having the company of the poets' muses. [T]hey induced me to write tearful complaints in rhyme, to lament my dead beloved husband" (Christine's Vision 192). Christine's lyrical rehabilitation led to the invention of a new genre of poetry, a genre lamenting widowhood (Blumenfeld-Kosinski 5). In the decade following her husband's death, and prior to the publication of any of her texts, Charity Cannon Willard believes Christine "worked as a copyist, or perhaps a corrector in a workshop where manuscripts were being prepared for the expanding book trade" (Writings xi),and workshops were struggling to keep up with demand (Thomas 11). Even while job opportunities for women steadily declined (McWebb 8), illumination and transcription were two of the "few professional opportunities open to women" (Willard Writings xi) throughout the fourteenth century. Familiar vocations to Christine, she describes them in The Biography of Charles V, saying the king, "had all the most outstanding works…all very well written and richly decorated, for always the best scribes who could be found were engaged to him" (240). Curiously, Christine ignores gender when speaking of Charles' copyists, nor does she ever say she worked for Charles V. In addition, Willard does not describe how women illuminators or scribes functioned in the male-dominated workshop. Christine does, however, comment on the notorious reputations of the secular Parisian artists in The Book of the Body Politic:

Fig. 1. Cité des Dames Workshop. Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City. 1407-1408. "Presented to John, Duke of Berry, dated 1407/1408" (Richards xliv). Cité des Dames Workshop, ca. 1405: Housed at Paris, Bibl. Nat., fr. 607 fol. 2" (Meiss Plate 36). Image obtained: Disse, Dorothy. Other Women's Voices. 16 May 2004. <http://www.bnf.fr/loc/bnf030.jpg>

Under these circumstances, it seems doubtful Christine worked within the confines of a Paris art studio, a workshop filled with men of dubious morals.

After Christine's rise as a writer, Earl Jeffrey Richards asserts she "was one of the first vernacular authors who supervised the copying and illuminating of her own books"(endnote 1) (xxi): considering the many obstacles a medieval woman faced, how that management occurred is of special interest. After studying five copies of the illustration entitled, Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City, Sandra Hindman concludes, "Christine surely supervised the production of these miniatures, instructing her miniaturists either verbally or with written guides that are now lost" (470) (see figs. 1-5, Index of Selected Illustrations)(endnote 2). All five diptych-style illustrations were published in different copies of The Book of the City of Ladies. They represent the moment the Three Virtues appear to Christine in her study (on the left), and Christine and Reason's later building of the wall of the City (on the right). Yet, they are slightly different; the architecture of Christine's study is dissimilar, there are a fluctuating number of books on Christine's desk, the clothing of the Three Virtues varies and individual body positions differ. However, Christine's likeness is consistent throughout, including the way she applies mortar while holding up her skirts. Although agreeing with Hindman's assumption regarding Christine's supervision on the basis of resemblance, the supposition that Christine left written guides seems unlikely. A thousand words may not be enough to describe how Christine should clutch her skirt while cementing building blocks. On the other hand, understanding pictorial direction is easy enough when comparing the early grisaille sketch, circa 1400 (fig. 6), to the finished illumination, circa 1410-11 (fig. 11). The two artworks depict a kneeling Christine, who presents her large metal-clasped book to Louis, Duke of Orleans. In both representations, an elaborately robed Louis sits on a throne, with a fleur-de-lis covered hanging in the background, surrounded by three hovering courtiers. Christine's wimple flaunts larger horns in the color illumination, but she still wears her familiar "simple" dress (Path of Long Study 69) (see figs. 1-7, 9-12). The multicolored feathered headdresses of the men juxtapose the rather plain headdresses they sported in the grisaille drawing. Christine's scribal experience included the skills needed to generate sketches as creative patterns for distribution within the framework of the Bohemian male workshops. Finding Christine in a Parisian workshop seems unlikely, but in light of the claims regarding the presence of female illustrators by both Willard and Millard Meiss (Late 14th Century 3-4), it is apparent, there were at least some female artists.

Christine's medieval feminine sensibilities forced her to find female artists in order to facilitate her career as a writer. Christine writes about a woman artist she employed saying,

Fig. 2. Cité des Dames Workshop. Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City. 1407-1410. "Executed between November 1407 and 1410" (Richards xliv). "Cité des Dames Workshop, ca. 1406: Paris, Bibl. Nat., fr. 1179, fol. 3" (Meiss Plate 35). Image obtained: (Meiss Plate 35).

Fig. 3. Cité des Dames Workshop. Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City. Prior to 1410. "Came from the library of the dukes of Burgundy and was probably copied for John the Fearless and his wife prior to 1410" (Richards xliv). "Cité des Dames Workshop, ca. 1405: Brussels, Bibl. Royale. Ms. 9393, fol. 3" (Meiss Plate 37). Image obtained: (Meiss Plate 37)

Fig. 4. Cité des Dames Workshop. Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City. 1410-1415. "Dated between 1410 and 1415, belonged to Isabella of Bavaria" (Richards xliv). "Cité des Dames Workshop, ca. 1410" (Meiss Plate 38). Image housed and obtained: British Library. "Harley 4431." Images Online. 20 April 2004. <http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/ textsearch?text=Christine&idx=1&start=23>.

Since The Book of the City of Ladies was completed in 1405, Anastasia illuminated some of Christine's earlier texts (See Chronology). Christine's prior works include The Letter from Othea, "dated around 1400" (Richards xxiv), and The Book of Fortune's Transformation finished in 1403 (Richards xxiii). Both works were illumined at the workshop of the Epître master, an illustrious step up from the grisaille sketches of Christine's earlier manuscripts (Disse 4). This jump in quality not only "augmented the beauty of a manuscript," it also drove up its price (Buettner, Profane 76). The finest surviving example of Christine's most famous contemporary work, The Letter from Othea was supervised by Christine (Richards xxiv) and illuminated by the Epître master (Meiss, Late 14th Century 23). Further, the so-named Epître Master only worked for Christine, beginning approximately 1403 and ending around 1412 (Thomas Plate 18). This exclusive arrangement indicates a close working relationship, one that a man and woman could not engage in without risking a woman's reputation.

This begs the question, who was the early Epître master? Could it be the Anastasia Christine describes in her 1405 work, The Book of the City of Ladies? While the dates may coincide, it is not possible, according to Milliard Meiss, the recognized authority of fifteenth-century French manuscript illumination (Endnote 3). Meiss asserts Anastasia was not a master, but "skilled in…subordinate specialties rather than in the painting of 'histories' themselves" (Limbourgs 14). Marcel Thomas speculates that the Epître master was not Parisian, and his/her artistic style indicates a possible Lombardy background (Plate 18). Perhaps, the Epître master set up a workshop of artisans sharing a common language, the language of Christine's birth, a workshop employing many subordinate specialists, including female border illustrators and background painters. Even while recognizing the differing allegiances of the myriad Italian city-states, Pizzanos and Lombardies did share the same language. Perhaps, closer examination of two full-page quires from the Epître workshop, dated 1404 (figs. 7-8), can shed light on a single workshop and its many employees.

As previously stated, a master's workshop contained many specialists in addition to master illustrators, including parchment producers, pigment grinders and mixers, border and background painters, scribes and palimpsest creators. The use of so many experts meant different artists worked on the same piece (Thomas 13-14). Master's were paid more than border painters or pigment mixers and women were paid less than everyone. Meiss records Albrecht Drurer's amazement at the cheap price he paid for a woman's expertly executed painting (Late 14th Century 3), and this cheap source of labor may have trumped gender considerations to the operator of a medieval workshop. While charming, close scrutiny of the backgrounds and borders produced in the pre-1405 Epître workshop (figs. 7-8), do not live up to Christine's enthusiastic description of Anastasia's work. While they appear to be executed by the same person, the borders are simple designs made up entirely of the three-lobed French leaf. The backgrounds of the 'histories' lack the faceting displayed by the Cité des Dames workshop (see fig. 4). Overall, the backgrounds and borders of the Epître workshop do not display the quality of the later Cité de Dames workshop (figs. 1-4, 9-12). Meiss believes the Epître master and the Cité des Dame master worked together from 1407 to 1412, adopting one another's techniques and style (see Chronology) (Limbourgs 299). Like the Epître master, the Cité des Dames master exhibits an Italian flair (Thomas 20), so perhaps they too associated due to a stylistic and language connection. If Anastasia worked in the Epître workshop when the Epître master affiliated with the Cité des Dames master, it would be reasonable to assume she became connected to the later Cité des Dames workshop when the Epître master ceased working altogether. Mutual linguistic and stylistic roots, coupled with ability and economic incentives, may have led these two studios to merge and/or hire female illustrators such as the illustrious Anastasia.

Christine admits she is "a person who desires to be well known" (Fortune's Trans. 91), because books "will for all time to come keep [my] memory alive before princes and the whole world" (Christine's Vision 194). Acknowledging that a good portion of her popularity arose from her gender, she records that her audience, "marveled at my labor, not for its greatness but for the novelty to which they were not accustomed" (Debate 44), because of "the unusual fact that a woman could write" (Christine's Vision 194). Throughout her works, Christine exploits her feminine novelty by sprinkling the epithet "I, Christine," while at the same time, visually repeating this theme through her many illustrative renderings. We see Christine in her study, writing, presenting her work(s), and even wielding a trowel in the building of the City of Ladies (see figs. 1-7, 9-12). There is no doubt she was a prolific author; in her Vision she tells us, "between 1399 when I began writing and the present year, 1405, during which I am still writing, I have compiled fifteen major works, without counting some smaller works, which together are contained in seventy large-size quires" (194). At this juncture in her career, it is astonishing to find such a eminent author acting as her own scribe. Sandra Hindman notes that the famous Harley 4431 manuscript of Christine's Collected Works, given to Queen Isabeau of France, was "written entirely in Christine's hand" (461) (figs. 4, 9-12). Fifty-five of Christine's surviving works have been identified as "partial or complete autographs" (Hindman 459). A woman author trying to publish (transcribe and illuminate), and distribute her texts would find it difficult to contract with the predominately male workshops, especially in light of their low reputations. However, if Anastasia (or some other female artist) worked in a master's workshop, she would occupy the perfect position to act as a go between for Christine and those facilities, thereby enabling production of Christine's works and protecting her chaste reputation.

Christine warns women, "whether noble, bourgeois, or lower class-be…cautious in defending your honor and chastity against enemies" (City of Ladies 256). A woman's inheritance was especially susceptible and Christine warns widows to beware of those who would, "wrong her by claiming what should be hers-as often happens to widows both the exalted and the humble" (Three Virtues 120). Two of a widow's great distresses are "the variety of lawsuits and demands of certain people regarding debts, claims on your property, and income…[and] the evil talk of people who are all too willing to attack you" (Three Virtues 197). When Christine took an assertive stance, arguing in court for her husband's back wages, she was subjected to "many annoying remarks…how many stupid looks, how many jokes from some fat drunkard did I suffer; and because I was afraid of putting my case at risk and was so dependent on its outcome, I hid my thoughts" (Christine's Vision 190). Even so, Christine believed widows should administer their own households, and not "have so little confidence in their own good sense that they will claim that they don't know how to manage their own lives" (Three Virtues 201). Finally, she cautions widows "who are sufficiently comfortable…[that] remarriage is complete folly" (Three Virtues 201). Christine may have felt comfortable providing for herself, while at the same time, she protected her chaste reputation by avoiding direct contact with the dubious character of Paris' masculine workshops. Hand in hand with chastity goes obedience and silence, characteristics she needed to cultivate in order to maintain her elevated status, frequent the noble court, and forward her authorial career through the acquisition of patrons.

When it comes to patronage, Christine not only exploits her feminine novelty to advantage, but also flatters and obligates the aristocracy. Many of her works contain presentation pieces (figs. 6, 9, 11-12), a common medieval practice (Buettner, Past Presents 602), though unknown for a woman. She plays on her patron's conceits by illustrating them as benefactors of poets whose worldly courts cannot be surpassed. Christine knew aristocratic tastes and was well acquainted with the royal library, "where [Charles V] had all the most outstanding works compiled by great authors, whether of the Holy Scriptures, or theology, or the sciences, all very well written and richly decorated" (Charles V 240). The library of Jean, Duke of Berry, contained "a larger number of romances and poetry" (Buettner Profane 75). In medieval Europe, books were considered works of art, an admired luxury, and before mass marketing, their distribution was accomplished via gift exchange (Hindman 459; Buettner, Past Presents 598). In two representative instances, Christine cultivated noble covenants by presenting copies of Fortune's Transformation, produced by the Epître master (Meiss, Limbourgs 9), "to a very important patron, Jean, Duke of Berry" (Koninklijke Bibliotheek 1), and, as a New Year's gift, to the Lord of Burgundy (de Pizan, Charles V 233). Christine reminds her noble patrons that if a "simple person should do her service or give her some curious trifle because of affectionate regard, she will consider the person's situation in life as well as the service, value, beauty, or curiosity of the gift, and suitably return the gesture with praiseworthy largess" (Three Virtues 117). Her many strategies seem to have paid off: she recounts to her audience that the Lord of Burgundy "told and explained to me how and on what subject it please him that I work….I took my leave, content of my charge, holding this commission" (Charles V 234). At the same time, Christine laments cheap princesses, who should avoid having persons "endure the great trouble and expense in going to the counting house or to her agents one hundred times or more with the same bill before they are paid" (Three Virtues 114). Christine, who longs to live a quiet life in pursuit of study, informs us she "does not care about the lure of money, [and she has] to act against her natural inclination…forced by her great responsibilities to pursue-with great effort-these men of finance and to be led on day after day by their empty promises" (Christine's Vision 197).

Christine's "great responsibilities" consisted of supporting her mother, out of "love and responsibility, pleasant though it is" (Christine's Vision 197), her children, and a niece. She claims she was poor, and "often shivered under my fur-lined cloak and my fine surcoat that was not often refurbished but kept in good condition" (Christine's Vision 188), hardly a picture of economic disaster. Since her two brothers survived to adulthood, inheriting their father's estates (Willard, Her Life 39), it appears Christine had no real obligation to support her kinswomen. On the other hand, Christine's mother and young niece were likely attracted to the French court, instead of some backwater country estate. The addition of two grown women to Christine's household also had an upside: they could help insure Christine's chastity by acting as chaperone/companions while accompanying her on errands. At the end of The Book of Three Virtues, a veritable do-it-yourself manual for women, Christine boasts she has enough capital, and confidence in her ability, to publish her texts,

Fig. 5. Anonymous. Reason, Rectitude and Justice appear to Christine; Reason helps Christine build the City. 1410-1418. "Dated between 1410 and 1418" (Richards xliv). Not recorded by Meiss. Image housed and obtained: Bibliothèque Nationale, Fonds francais 1178, f. 3. 20 April 2004. <http://expositions.bnf.fr/utopie/grand/1-56.htm>.

Fig. 7. Master of the Epître d'Othea, Paris. Christine de Pizan writing. 1404. Koinklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands. Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. 20 April 2004. <http://www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/search/index.html>. Path: Author, title=Christine de Pisan; 3. The Hague, KB, 78 D 42.

Fig. 8. Master of the Epître d'Othea, Paris. A siege. 1404. Koinklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands. Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. 20 April 2004. <http://www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/search/index.html>. Path: Author, title=Christine de Pisan; 3. The Hague, KB, 78 D 42.

In other words, she has enough money, not only to support her family, but also to market her works, in the hope her book will trickle down through the nobility to women of many different circumstances.

In this spirit of women's intelligence and patronage, Christine presents her Collected Works to Queen Isabeau of France sometime between 1410 and 1415. This collection, now found in the British Library and catalogued as the Harley 4431 manuscript, was executed by the later Cité des Dames workshop (figs. 4, 9-12), and contains none of Christine's later princely political tracts (endnote 4). This beautifully decorated manuscript boasts the only example of a presentation frontispiece consisting solely of females (Buettner, Past Presents 609) (fig. 12), and as previously asserted by Hindman, is completely transcribed by Christine. This document is by far the best-illuminated example of Christine's surviving works; the backgrounds are complicated and exact (figs. 4, 10, upper corners of 11), while the intricate, symmetrical borders contain more than just the three-lobed leaf (figs. 9, esp. 10, 12). Could Anastasia have created the magnificent borders and backgrounds of this manuscript? Christine's final supervision of an illuminated manuscript (Hindman 461) may reflect a female author's words, transcribed by a female scribe, illustrated by a female artist, and presented to a female court; perhaps this epitomizes Christine's "New Kingdom of Femininity" (City of Ladies 117).

After presenting her Collected Works to Queen Isabeau, Christine no longer supervised the publishing of her manuscripts. She moves away from her novel tracts of feminine defense and advice, to tracts on good government, a fashionable genre for art and literature. Other popular medieval political works include Suger's A Picture of a Good Feudal King: Louis VI of France, and Lorenzetti's frescos on the Effects of Good and Bad Government (figs. 13, 14). Christine's concern for politics begins quietly in her 1403 work The Path of Long Study, which established her contemporary scholarly reputation (Zago 12). It concludes with allegories on the proper behavior of princes and chivalry (Zago 17), but does not reveal the identities of corrupt aristocrats or knights. In her letter to Eustache Morel, dated 1404, Christine laments the state of the French state while marketing her texts, "if you would like to see examples of my little understanding in my works, you can order them" (110). Morel's flattering response is guarded; "I am coming to you to learn…you will learn more about my opinions which agree with yours in all things" (112). In 1412, when the French noble factions threaten civil war, Christine writes The Lamentation on the Evils That Have Befallen France and begins naming aristocratic evildoers. The same year marks Christine's disappearance as an active publisher, and it is likely these two events are connected. It is one thing to write tracts "counteract[ing] the canon of misogynist texts" (McWebb 3, 8), or advising queens and anonymous kings on ethical behavior, but something entirely different when openly scolding the princely powers about their deeds. Christine was in a precarious position during the lead up to the French civil war; she had patrons on both sides of the fence, and in 1418, in the midst of political upheaval, Christine leaves Paris, never to return.

Christine de Pizan, as a widow, head of household, may have been an illustrator like the famous Anastasia she describes in The Book of the City of Ladies. As an author, she supervised the production of her works, moving from simple grisaille sketches to illuminations produced by master artists. Her need for a chaste reputation may have led her to interact with women artisans while, at the same time, forcing her to cultivate and maintain her female relatives. Her desire for fame leads her to exploit her feminine novelty both textually and visually, while at the same time, lamenting the treatment of women. Her desire for female community may have been answered in the noble courts and workshops of Paris as Christine's illuminated mind develops through her words and pictures. Nevertheless, in the end, her political opinions force her to flee her beloved Paris, only to end up weeping in a convent "enclosed here because of…treachery" (Joan 253).

Endnotes

1. Along with Earl Jeffrey Richards, Millard Meiss makes the same assertion; Christine was "the one writer of her time, furthermore, who regularly commissioned illustrated copies of her works" (Limbourgs 8). I add this endnote because neither scholar points to the direct evidence supporting this claim.

2. The dates of individual manuscripts and their illustrations vary by institution and expert. For figs. 1-5, I have provided all available dates in each figure's citation. For purposes of this paper, I have adopted the dates of Earl Jeffrey Richards. "Introduction." The Book of the City of Ladies. New York: Persea Books, 1982. xliv. For purposes of identifying workshops/artists, I have adopted the assignments of Millard Meiss, French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry. "The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries. Plate Volume." New York: Braziller, 1974.

3. Even though Meiss' 1974 work appears to be dated, any article concerning the illuminations of Christine de Pizan's many works references Milliard Meiss as the premier expert in this area. These articles include those listed in works cited by Brigitte Buettner, Sandra Hindman, Earl Jeffrey Richards, Marcel Thomas, and Charity Cannon Willard.

4. Works contained within Harley 4431; Cent balades, plusieurs autres balades, encore autres balades, Epistre au dieu d'amours, Debate des ii amans, Live des iii jugemens, Cent balades de dame et d'amant, Dpistre Othéa, Livre du chemin de long estude, Epistles on Roman de la Rose, Livre des trios virtues, and Cité de dames (Hindman 461).

Fig. 9. Master of the Cité des Dames and workshop, Paris. Christine de Pizan presenting her book to King Charles VI of France. 1410-1411. "From Le Chemin de long estude." Brit. Lib. "Harley 4431." Images Online. 19 April 2004. <http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/textsearch ?text+Christine&idx=1&start=25>.

Fig. 10. Master of the Cité des Dames and workshop, Paris. Christine de Pizan writing in her study. 1410-1411. "From Cent Ballades." Brit. Lib. "Harley 4431." Images Online. 19 April 2004. <http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/ textsearch?text=Christine&idx=1&start=6>.

Fig. 11. Master of the Cité des Dames and workshop, Paris. Christine de Pizan presenting her book to Louis of Orleans. 1410-1411. "From L'Epître d'Othéa." Brit. Lib. "Harley 4431" Images Online. 19 April 2004. <http://ibs001.colo.first.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/textsearch? text=Christine&idx=1&start=31>.

Works Cited

Blumenfeld-Kosinski, Renate. "Introduction(s)" to various writings. The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. xi-xvi.

British Library. "Illustrated Catalogue." Tours. 19 April 2004 <http://prodigi.bl.uk/illcat/tours/Harl4431.htm>.

---. "Harley 4431." Images Online. 20 April 2004 <http://ibs001.colo.firstnet.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/textsearch?text= Christine&start=0>.

Buettner, Brigitte. "Past presents: New Year's gifts at the Valois courts, Ca. 1400." The Art Bulletin 83.4 (2001). 598-626.

---. "Profane Illuminations, Secular Illusions: Manuscripts in Late Medieval Courtly Society." The Art Bulletin 74.1 (1992). 75-91.

de Pizan, Christine. "The Biography of Charles V." The Writings of Christine de Pizan. New York: Persea, 1994. 233-48.

---. The Book of the City of Ladies. Trans. Earl Jeffrey Richards. New York: Persea, 1982.

---. "The Book of Fortune's Transformation." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 88-109.

---. "The Book of Three Virtues." A Medieval Woman's Mirror of Honor: The Treasury of the City of Ladies. Trans. Charity Canon Willard. Ed. Madeleine Pelner Cosman. New York: Persea, 1989.

---. "Christine's Vision." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 173-201.

---. "Debate on the Romance of the Rose." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 41-5.

---. "A Letter to Eustache Morel." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 109-12.

---. "The Path of Long Study." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. New York: Norton, 1997. 59-87.

---. "The Tale of Joan of Arc." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 252-62.

Disse, Dorothy. Other Women's Voices. 4 April 2004 <http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/>. Path: Christine de Pizan; Epistre d'Othea a Hector (illustration).

Hindman, Sandra L. "With Ink and Mortar: Christine de Pizan's Cité des dames (an Art Essay)." Feminist Studies 10.3 (1984): 457-83.

Koinklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands. Medieval Illuminated Manuscripts. 20 April 2004 <http://www.kb.nl/kb/manuscripts/search/index.html> . Path: Author, title=Christine de Pisan; 3. The Hague, KB, 78 D 42.

Lorenzetti, Ambrogio. "Allegory of Bad Government: Effects of Bad Government in the City." 1338-40. Fresco. Palazzo Publico, Siena Italy. 20 May 2004 <http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/l/lorenzet/ambrogio/governme/4effect1.jpg> .

---. "Allegory of Good Government: Effects of Good Government in the City." 1338-40. Fresco. Palazzo Publico, Siena Italy. 20 May 2004 <http://www.abcgallery.com/L/lorenzetti/alorenzetti7.html>.

McWebb, Christine. "Female City Builders: Hildegard von Bingen's Scivas and Christine de Pizan's Livre de lat cite des dames." The Florin Website. 21 April 2004. 1-11. <http://www.florin.ms/beth5a.html>

Meiss, Millard. "The Late Fourteenth Century and the Patronage of the Duke. Text Volume." French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry. New York: Phaidon Pub., Inc., 1969.

---. "The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries. Text Volume." French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry. With the assistance of Sharon Off Dunlap Smith and Elizabeth Home Beatson. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1974.

---. "The Limbourgs and Their Contemporaries. Plate Volume." French Painting in the Time of Jean de Berry. With the assistance of Sharon Off Dunlap Smith and Elizabeth Home Beatson. New York: George Braziller, Inc., 1974.

Morel, Eustache. "Morel's Answer." The Selected Writings of Christine de Pizan. Trans. Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski and Kevin Brownlee. Ed. Kevin Brownlee. Norton Critical Edition. New York: Norton, 1997. 112-113.

Richards, Early Jeffrey. "Introduction." The Book of the City of Ladies. By Christine de Pizan. Trans. Earl Jeffrey Richards. New York: Persea, 1982. xix-li.

Thomas, Marcel. The Golden Age: Manuscript Painting at the Time of Jean, Duke of Berry. New York: Braziller, 1979.

Willard, Charity Cannon. Christine de Pizan: Her Life and Works. New York: Persea Books, 1984.

---. The Writings of Christine de Pizan. New York: Persea Books, 1994.

Zago, Ester. "Dante Alighieri and Christine de Pizan: Le Livre du Chemin de Long Estude." The Florin Website. 21 April 2004. 12-26. <http://www.florin.ms/beth5a.html>

Fig. 12. Master of the Cité des Dames and workshop, Paris. Christine de Pizan presenting her book to Isabeau of Bavaria, Queen of France. 1410-1411. "From Epître à la Reine Isabelle." Brit. Lib. "Harley 4431" Images Online. 19 April 2004. <http://ibs001.colo.first.net.uk/britishlibrary/controller/textsearch? text=Christine&idx=1&start=11>

Fig. 13. Lorenzetti, Ambrogio. Allegory of Good Government: Effects of Good Government in the City. 1338-40. Fresco. Palazzo Publico, Siena Italy. 20 May 2004. <http://www.abcgallery.com/L/lorenzetti/alorenzetti7.html> .

Fig. 14. Lorenzetti, Ambrogio. Allegory of Bad Government: Effects of Bad Government in the City." 1338-40. Fresco. Palazzo Publico, Siena Italy. 20 May 2004. <http://gallery.euroweb.hu/art/1/lorenzet/ambrogio/governme/ 4effect1.jpg> .