The present Doodle commends the 657th birthday celebration of Italian writer and poet Christine de Pizan. She is viewed as the first woman in Europe to help herself exclusively by composing professionally.
Christine de Pizan was brought into the world in the Republic of Venice on this day in 1364. She spent her youth investigating libraries in the court of France’s King Charles V, where her dad filled in as court astrologer. Furnished with a pen and her adoration for writing, she started composing heartfelt songs in 1393. This early introduction to wordsmithing enchanted a few incredible patrons, including King Charles VI.
De Pizan is most popular today for her role in an medieval literary fight that equals any modern celebrity drama. It started in the mid 1400s with warmed discussions in regards to the well known poem “The Romance of the Rose.” De Pizan criticized the work’s treatment of ladies and struck back in 1405 with one of her most renowned works, “The Book of the City of Ladies.”
In it, she joined stories that featured the leadership and insight of significant women from history and folklore. She released the sequel, “The Treasure of the City of Ladies,” sometime thereafter, finishing the series currently viewed as among the most punctual women’s activist writing.
All through her vocation, de Pizan distributed 10 volumes of poetry, a significant number of which were “complaints,” the term for medieval protest poems and songs against vice or injustice.
Today, de Pizan is among the 1,038 compelling ladies addressed in Judy Chicago’s notorious 1970s art installation “The Dinner Party” in plain view at the Brooklyn Museum.
Happy Birthday, Christine de Pizan!