During the Hundred Year's war, a few significant female heroes took on roles that many women before them had not dared to take on. Examples of such women that I will be looking at are Joan of Arc, Christine de Pisan, and the less known Jeanne Hachette. For now I want to take a look at Christine and Jeanne since this week I am presenting in class on Joan of Arc (I will make a post for her a little later).

Christine de Pisan

Christine was born in 1365, not in France, but in the Italian city of Venice. Her father had knowledge in many fields including astrology and medicine. As a young girl, Christine moved to France with her family when her father became the royal physician to Charles V of France. An intelligent and motivated young women, Christine took advantage of all the knowledge she had access to within the French court. Christine married Etienne du Castel, a royal secretary, when she was 23. In 1390, Christine's husband suddenly died, leaving 24 year old Christine alone to support her two children. Complications in collecting her late husband's salary/ estate, led to Christine's writing career.

Christine's writing got attention from the nobles of the French court. They were some of her first patrons, apparently fascinated by a widowed woman who wrote love ballads and poems. Christine had to support her family and writing was surprisingly lucrative for her. She was a novelty in her time, women were wives and mothers, most were far to uneducated to even dream of having a career like Christine. In 1429, Christine wrote The Poem of Joan of Arc, a tribute to a woman willing to sacrifice herself for her country and to take on the role of a man, defying the rules of society. This was Christine's last poem, written when she was about 65 years old. Throughout her life Christine encouraged women to break out of the confines of a society created by men because of this she is thought of as France's first feminist.

The Song of Joan of Arc
By Christine de Pisan
Stanza 11

A miracle it was and who
would ever believe if not perfect
and were less well known and not
crystal-clear in every respect,
It is a fact worth remembering,
that God should have laid
(and this is the truth!) His
great blessing and grace upon
France through a young maid.