Christine de Pisan

It is unexpected in any era to find a woman writing a book on the art of warfare, but in the fifteenth century it was unbelievable. Not surprisingly, therefore, Christine de Pizan's The Book of Deeds of Arms & of Chivalry, written around 1410, has often been regarded with disdain. Many have assumed that Christine was simply copying or pilfering earlier military manuals. But, as Sumner Willard & Charity Cannon Willard show in this faithful English translation, The Book of Deeds of Arms & of Chivalry contains much that is original to Christine. As a military manual it tells us a great deal about the strategy, tactics, & technology of medieval warfare & is one of our most important sources for early gunpowder weapon technology. It also includes a fascinating discussion of Just War. Since the end of the fifteenth century, The Book of Deeds of Arms & of Chivalry has been available primarily through Antoine Verard's imprint of 1488 or William Caxton's 1489 translation, The Book of the Order of Chivalry. Verard even suggested that the work was his own translation of the Roman writer Vegetius, making no mention of Christine's name. Caxton attributed the work to Christine, but it is impossible to identify the manuscript he used for his translation. Moreover, both translations are inaccurate. The Willards correct these inaccuracies in a clear & easy-to-read translation, which they supplement with notes & an introduction that will greatly benefit students, scholars, & enthusiasts alike. Publication of this work should change our perception both of medieval warfare & of Christine de Pizan. Includes information on Frontinus, Hannibal, defense of castles and towns, equipment for assault, sea battles, siege warfare, war machine, Scipio, Vegetius, etc.

Christine de Pizan (1364-1429?), France's first woman of letters, is widely known for her Book of the City of Ladies (Persea, 1982), a classic work of revisionist history that seeks to show that women are the moral and intellectual equals of men. In recent years, Christine has taken her place within the canon of Western literature alongside Boccaccio and Dante, and yet very little of this writer's considerable oeuvre has been translated into English. The Writings of Christine de Pizan remedies this situation. In this volume, major scholars and acclaimed translators unite in a single endeavor: to make the full range of this important writer's work and thought widely known. Edited by Charity Cannon Willard, foremost authority on Christine de Pizan, The Writings presents lengthy excerpts from nearly all of Christine's works in accurate and gracious translations. Introductory essays by Dr. Willard mark the major divisions of the book and set the writings in an historical, biographical, and literary context. References are annotated, and the sources of the translations are cited. The volume also includes biographical notes on the translators, extensive bibliography, and an index. Many years in the making, The Writings of Christine de Pizan has been long-awaited by both the general reader and the specialist . Among the writings are passages from Christine's autobiography; lyric and allegorical poetry; excerpts from her official biography of King Charles V the Wise; her writings on women, warfare, politics, love, and the human condition; writings from her part in the famous Quarrel of the Rose; and Christine's triumphant poem on Joan of Arc, the only contemporaneous account in existence. The translators are Barbara K. Altmann, Diane Bornstein, Regina deCormier, Dwight Durling, Thelma S. Fenster, Eric Hicks, Nadia Margolis, June Hall McCash, Glenda McLeod, Christine Reno, Earl Jeffrey Richards, Kittye Delle Robbins-Herring, Sandra Sider, James J. Wilhelm, Charity Cannon Willard, and Sumner Willard.

"'An Epistle of Noble Poetrye' is a late-fifteenth-century English translation of Christine de Pizan's 'L'Epistre d'Othéa' (ca. 1400). The 'Epistle' survives in London, British Library, MS Harley 838, a family volume that passed from Anthony Babyngton (who probably acted as copyist) to his great-grandson and namesake who plotted the assassination of Elizabeth I. Presented as a letter of advice from the goddess Othea to the young Hector of Troy, the work draws on two distinct traditions: the glossing of Roman myth and the encyclopedic gathering of maxims and aphorisms from authoritative sources. In one hundred brief verses, Othea alludes to narratives that might guide Hector's behaviour. Each verse is followed by a prose 'Glose' and 'Moralyté' that explain the chivalric and spiritual lessons to be drawn from the myth. This is the first critical edition of the Middle English text to include a discussion of Christine's original text and the techniques of the translator, a study of the Epistle's codicological context, and an analysis of the language of the scribe. The text is followed by a commentary, glossary, index of names, and bibliography."--

Discusses the education and behavior appropriate for princes, nobility and common people, so that all classes can understand their responsibilities towards society as a whole.

"Critical editions and translations of two early works by the French proto-feminist author Christine de Pizan addressing the misogynist ideology of the Roman de la Rose and other writings, with a translation of a related Latin work by the contemporary theologian Jean Gerson"--