Christine de Pizan was undoubtedly one of the most revolutionary writers in history. She broke the mould at a time when both society and literature were dominated by men, building a career that was unprecedented for women in the Middle Ages. In the words of writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, Pizan was the first woman to “take up her pen in defence of her sex”.
Pizan was born in Venice in 1364. Her father was Thomas de Pizan, a councillor for the Republic of Venice and a physician, but unfortunately we don’t know who her mother was, other than that she was an aristocratic woman. When she was fouryears-old, Pizan and her family moved to Paris after her father was appointed the court astrologer to King Charles V - she would remain in France for the rest of her life.