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“That women have such vices I deny;
I take my arms up in defense of them…”
(Christine de Pizan, Epistle to the God of Love, British
Library, Harleian MS 4431)
Hailed as a proto-feminist, Christine de Pizan (circa 1364–circa
1431) railed against the misogynist view of love that had been
promoted in Ovid and the Roman de la Rose. Such works
filled her with a hatred of self “and of the entire feminine
sex, as though we were monstrosities of nature.” Her response
was Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (1405), which
laid the foundation for a renewed interest in women, on women's
terms. Using works that had often been used in misogynist ways,
Christine highlighted the virtuous actions of the women therein,
focusing on their steadfastness and nobility in the sphere of
love.
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Le Livre de la Cité des Dames de Christine de Pizan
Circa
1405. Master of the Cité
des dames. Illumination. Bibliothèque nationale de
France, Département de Manuscrits (division occidentale):
Français 607, fol. 2.
12 x 18 cm.
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