After more veraes. of this kind, Christine proceeds to say-that, ^inc'etj^ had
received the queen’s order to make the volume for her, sbb’j^ad caused ijHp
life written, chaptered' (iAèsi adorned with initials), and illuminated” in tpeSSst
manner in her power
SSi I’ay fait, ma dame, ordener,
_ -Depuis que je soeus que assener
Le dévoyé à vpus, si que ay sceü,
- Tout au mieulx, et le parfiner,.
; DesOftpre,;ët_bien enluminer,!
Dès que vo command en receu,”~etc.
Christine de Pisan was one of the most remarkable wonleh of*'her1 tame. * 'She
Vas the daughter of Thomas de Pisan, a famous sc®îfarç bf • Bologna-j „ who®n
1368, when His daughter was five years of age' went' to Paris atom#invitation
of Charles V., who made him his astrologer. Thomas de- Pisan was made .rich
by the munificence of his royal patron, and' Christine, grot d) lc nming» like
hetofàlhér, - was educated with care," and became' her** 1 (jcefelunited as .oiïéçof
the most learned ladies of the age in which "she lived Hir mained «1 guitlem ui
of Picardy, named Stephen Castel, whom the king- ^mediately .appointed Sne
of his notaries and .secretaries, But the prosperity of-tffi^^^ompliÆm tinnilv
was destined to be suddenly cut short.- Charles Y. died înSljJHO, thr peirMon
rof Thomas de Pisan ended with the life of hisaj patron^ and^ .reduced to\raüj-
parative poverty, he died broken-hearted;^and -Stephenfesttlfo\ayVif rer .ijPvv
years, carried off by a contagious disease". Çhri^jf^ was tints leftSa, wijlow;
in poverty, with three children depending lipon -hejwTbtotheir jpujqîort^ JTioni
this time she dedicated herself to literary ^^positltps, and 15y
her talent obtained-patrons and protectors.
Thus Christine, when she had retired from the* world'ra ^ o n ^ ^ p nor^l^o
had sought tranquility in a convent), was brought berarè
her writings. She was thrown on troubled and
a woman, she did not hesitate to employ her talent Jn fnel^^ trbvmgivsiwmÉl
then tore her adopted country. On one side she .took âi^fcciYe paid w ith « !
celebrated chancellor Gerson in writing against’thèyPomap^p la Rose ; while
on the other, by her political treatises, she - attempfgdr to arrest ®||*stonn wmlji
was breaking over France in the earlier part of the fifteenth? cenfiirÿ. t If'she-
was not successful in her efforts, she-nevertheless merited the gratitude of her
contemporaries, and the admiration of future times. She looked-forward in
hope to better times, and lived at least to see them mend ; both Gerson and
Christine welcomed by their writings the appearance of. the Maid of Orleans.
The waitings of Christine are extremely numerous, "both in prose and verse,
and are historically of great importance. It is to he hoped that the zeal of Mr
continental neighbours for their early literature will lead-to their publication,
A clever and interesting publication,’"by $L. Thomassy, entitled Essai swr ’Jes
Ecrits politiques de Christine de Pisan, suivi djune notice littéraire et de Pièces
inédites, bas already paved the way* The manuscripts are tolerably numerous.
The initial letter on the preceding page is taken from the same volume which
furnished the illumination.