1364-Circa 1430
Poet And Author

Privileged Upbringing. Christine de Pizan was born in Italy, the daughter of a highly-educated man who was appointed medical and astrological adviser to the French king Charles V. Christine thus grew up at the French court, where her father made sure she received an excellent education, arranging for her to be tutored along with her brothers. She married at fifteen to a young man, Etienne du Castel, who looked as if he would also have a brilliant career at court, and the couple quickly had three children. Etienne died in an epidemic in 1390, however, leaving Christine widowed at twenty-six with young children and an elderly mother to support, as her father had also died. Women in this situation would normally rely on their family members for support and go to live in the house of a brother or sister. This option...