CHRISTINE DE PISAN 



Christine was born at Venice in 1363, where 

 her father, Thomas de Pisan, of Bologna, dis- 

 tinguished for his knowledge of medicine and 

 astrology, had settled on his marriage with a 

 daughter of one of the Councillors of the 

 Republic. When five years of age, she was 

 taken by her mother to Paris to join her father, 

 who had been summoned thither some time 

 before by the King, Charles the Fifth, to serve 

 as his astrologer. At the end of the fourteenth 

 century astrology played a very real and import- 

 ant part in men's lives. Before wars or journeys 

 were undertaken, or additions to castle or chapel 

 made, or even a new garment put on, the stars 

 were consulted for the propitious day and hour. 

 So deeply was Charles the Fifth imbued with a 

 belief in the efficacy of this occult art that 

 when he wished to confer some special honour, 

 or to express his gratitude for some service 

 rendered to him or to the State, he sought to 

 enhance his bounty by sending an astrologer 

 as part of his gift. By the time little Christine 

 arrived in Paris her father had gained the 

 confidence and esteem of the King, and was 

 settled at Court with substantial maintenance. 

 Here she was brought up as a maiden of quality, 

 surrounded by much magnificence, for Charles 

 loved beautiful things, and never stayed his hand 

 to procure them, even when the gratification of 

 his desires involved hardship to his people. He 

 possessed many virtues, but economy was not 

 one of them. The dismal castle of the Louvre, 



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