Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)Intro

Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)
Introduction: Christine de Pizan (ca. 1364 – 1434) was one of
the first European women to earn a living off of her own
writing. Born in Venice, her family moved to the court of King
Charles V of France where her father was the court astrologer.
Her husband died of the plague leaving her with few options for
supporting her family. She began writing for vernacular
literature for the French aristocracy and was even support by
the French queen for her endeavors. She was an outspoken
advocated for female education as can be seen in her work, The
Book of the City of Ladies. This work is an allegory that had a
hidden and usually moralistic or political meaning. As you are
reading the excerpt keep in mind that these women are not
necessarily real women, but characters that Pizan has created to
argue for female education and improvement of the position of
women within society more generally.
Questions to consider: How does Pizan portray women’s
abilities to learn? How does she portray the resistance of men to
female education?
One day as I was sitting alone in my study surrounded by books
on all kinds of subjects, devoting myself to literary studies, my
usual habit, my mind dwelt at length on the weighty opinions of
various authors whom I had studied for a long time. I looked up
from my book, having decided to leave such subtle questions in
peace and to relax by reading some small book. By chance a
strange volume came into my hands, not one of my own, but one
which had been given to me along with some others. When I
held it open and saw its title page that it was by Matheolus, I
smiled, for though I had never seen it before, I had often heard
that like books it discussed respect for women. I thought I
would browse through it to amuse myself. I had not been
reading for very long when my good mother called me to refresh

myself with some supper, for it was evening. Intending to look
at it the next day, I put it down. The next morning, again seated
in my study as was my habit, I remembered wanting to examine
this book by Matheolus. I started to read it and went on for a
little while. Because the subject seemed to me not very pleasant
for people who do not enjoy lies, and of no use in developing
virtue or manners, given its lack of integrity in diction and
theme, and after browsing here and there and reading the end, I
put it down in order to turn my attention to more elevated and
useful study. But just the sight of this book, even though it was
of no authority, made me wonder how it happened that so many
different men - and learned men among them - have been and
are so inclined to express both in speaking and in their treatises
and writings so many wicked insults about women and their
behavior. Not only one or two and not even just this Matheolus
(for this book had a bad name anyways and was intended as a
satire) but, more generally, from the treatises of all
philosophers and poets and from all the orators - it would take
too long to mention their names - it seems that they all speak
from one and the same mouth. Thinking deeply about these
matters, I began to examine my character and conduct as a
natural woman and, similarly, I considered other women whose
company I frequently kept, princesses, great ladies, women of
the middle and lower classes, who had graciously told me of
their most private and intimate thoughts, hoping that I could
judge impartially and in good conscience whether the testimony
of so many notable men could be true. To the best of my
knowledge, no matter how long I confronted or dissected the
problem, I could not see or realize how their claims could be
true when compared to the natural behavior and character of
women. Yet I still argued vehemently against women, saying
that it would be impossible that so many famous men - such
solemn scholars, possessed of such deep and great
understanding, so clear-sighted in all things, as it seemed -
could have spoken falsely on so many occasions that I could
hardly find a book on morals where, even before I had read it in

its entirety, I did not find several chapters or certain sections
attacking women, no matter who the author was. This reason
alone, in short, made me conclude that, although my intellect
did not perceive my own great faults and, likewise, those of
other women because of its simpleness and ignorance, it was
however truly fitting that such was the case. And so I relied
more on the judgment of others than on what I myself felt and
knew. I was so transfixed in this line of thinking for such a long
time that it seemed as if I were in a stupor. Like a gushing
fountain, a series of authorities, whom I recalled one after
another, came to mind, along with their opinions on this topic.
And I finally decided that God formed a vile creature when He
made woman, and I wondered how such a worthy artisan could
have designed to make such an abominable work which, from
what they say, is the vessel as well as the refuge and abode of
every evil and vice. As I was thinking this, a great unhappiness
and sadness welled up in my heart, for I detested myself and the
entire feminine sex, as though we were monstrosities in nature
and in my lament I spoke these words:
Oh, God, how can this be? For unless I stray from my faith, I
must never doubt that your infinite wisdom and most perfect
goodness ever created anything which was not good. Did You
yourself not create woman in a very special way and since that
time did You not give her all those inclinations which it please
You for her to have? And how could it be that You could go
wrong in anything? Yet look at all these accusations which have
been judged, decided, and concluded against women. I do not
know how to understand this repugnance. If it is so, fair Lord
God, that in fact so many abominations abound in the female
sex, for You Yourself say that the testimony of two or three
witnesses lends credence, why shall I not doubt that this is true?
Alas, God, why did You not let me be born in the world as a
man, so that all my inclinations would be to serve You better,
and so that I would not stray in anything and would be as
perfect as a man is said to be? But since Your kindness has not
been extended to me, then forgive my negligence in Your

service, most fair Lord God, and may it not displease You, for
the servant who receives fewer gifts from his lord is less
obliged in his service.
I spoke these words to God in my lament and a great deal more
for a very long time in sad reflections, and in my folly
considered myself most unfortunate because God had made me
inhabit a female body in this world.
The story continues in the form of allegory, as three women
(Lady Reason, Lady Rectitude, and Lady Justice) come to
instruct Christine and to show her how to build a city for
virtuous women.
Christine and Lady Reason discuss women's education.
{4}Christine, spoke, "My lady, I realize that women have
accomplished many good things and that even if evil women
have done evil, it seems to me, nevertheless, that the benefits
accrued and still accruing because of good women-particularly
the wise and literary ones and those educated in the natural
sciences whom I mentioned above-outweigh the evil. Therefore,
I am amazed by the opinion of some men who claim that they do
not want their daughters, wives, or kinswomen to be educated
because their mores would be ruined as a result." She responded
, Here you can clearly see that not all opinions of men are based
on reason and that these men are wrong. For it must not be
presumed that mores necessarily grow worse from knowing the
moral sciences, which teach the virtues, indeed, there is not the
slightest doubt that moral education amends and ennobles them.
How could anyone think or believe that whoever follows good
teaching or doctrine is the worse for it? Such an opinion cannot
be expressed or maintained. . . .
{5}To speak of more recent times, without searching for
examples in ancient history, Giovanni Andrea, a solenm law
professor in Bologna not quite sixty years ago, was not of the
opinion that it was bad for women to be educated. He had a fair
and good daughter, named Novella, who was educated in the
law to such an advanced degree that when he was occupied by
some task and not at leisure to present his lectures to his

students, he would send Novella, his daughter, in his place to
lecture to the students from his chair. And to prevent her beauty
from distracting the concentration of her audience, she had a
little curtain drawn in front of her. In this manner she could on
occasion supplement and lighten her father's occupation. He
loved her so much that, to commemorate her name, he wrote a
book of remarkable lectures on the law which he entitled
Novella super Decretalium, after his daughter's name.
. . . .
{6}Thus, not all men (and especially the wisest) share the
opinion that it is bad for women to be educated. But it is very
true that many foolish men have claimed this because it
displeased them that women knew more than they did. Your
father, who was a great scientist and philosopher, did not
believe that women were worth less by knowing science; rather,
as you know, he took great pleasure from seeing your
inclination to learning. The feminine opinion of your mother,
however, who wished to keep you busy with spinning and silly
girlishness, following the common custom of women, was the
major obstacle to your being more involved in the sciences. But
just as the proverb already mentioned above says, No one can
take away what Nature has given,'your mother could not hinder
in you the feeling for the sciences which you, through natural
inclination, had nevertheless gathered together in little droplets.
I am sure that, on account of these things, you do not think you
are worth less but rather that you consider it a great treasure for
yourself; and you doubtless have reason to. " And Christine,
replied to all of this, "Indeed, my lady, what you say is as true
as the Lord's Prayer."
Adapted from:
https://history.hanover.edu/courses/excerpts/165pisan.html
(accessed 8 December 2020)
The Goodman of Paris (Le Ménagier de Paris) 1393
Introduction: This treatise was a household guidebook for young

women to follow. The author, while unna med, is given the voice
of an elderly husband, probably of the merchant class, providing
advice and guidance to his new young bride. The work provides
an inside glimpse into the workings of a modest household,
including food recipes. Additionally, modern scholars can use
the guidebook to understand the ideals that were prescribed to
gender roles in the later medieval period. As you read the
except keep in mind that this would have been an ideal situation
and the reality of how men and women related to each other
may have differed.
DEAR SISTER,
You being the age of fifteen years and in the week that you and
I were wed, did pray me to be indulgent to your youth and to
your small and ignorant service, until you had seen and learned
more; to this end you promised me to give all heed and to set all
care and diligence to keep my peace and my love, as you spoke
full wisely, and as I well believe, with other wisdom than your
own, beseeching me humbly in our bed, as I remember, for the
love of God not to correct you harshly before strangers nor
before our own folk, but rather each night, or from day to day,
in our chamber, to remind you of the unseemly or foolish things
done in the day or days past, and chastise you, if it pleased me,
and then you would strive to amend yourself according to my
teaching and correction, and to serve my will in all things, as
you said. And your words were pleasing to me, and won my
praise and thanks, and I have often remembered them since. And
know, dear sister, that all that I know you have done since we
were wed until now and all that you shall do hereafter with
good intent, was and is to my liking, pleaseth me, and has well
pleased me, and will please me. For your youth excuses your
unwisdom and will still excuse you in all things as long as all
you do is with good intent and not displeasing to me. And know
that I am pleased rather than displeased that you tend rose-trees,
and care for violets, and make cl-raplets, and dance, and sing:
nor would I have you cease to do so among our friends and

equals, and it is but good and seemly so to pass the time of your
youth, so long as you neither seek nor try to go to the feasts and
dances of lords of too high rank, for that does not become you,
nor does it sort with your estate, nor mine. And as for the
greater service that you say you would willingly do for me, if
you were able and I taught it you, know dear sister, that I am
well content that you should do me such service as your good
neighbours of like estate do for their husbands, and as your
kinswoman do unto their husbands. Take counsel privily of
them, and then follow it either more or less as you please. For I
am not so overweening in my attitude to you and your good
intent that I am not satisfied with what you do for me therein,
nor with all other services, provided there be no disorder or
scorn or disdain, and that you are careful. For although I know
well that you are of gentler birth than I, nathless that would not
protect you, for by God, the women of your lineage be good
enough to correct you harshly themselves, if I did not, and they
learnt of your error from me or from another source; but in you
I have no fear, I have confidence in your good intent. Yet
although, as I have said, to me belongs only the lesser service, I
would that you know how to give good will and honour and
service in great measure and abundance more than is fit for me,
either to serve another husband, if you have one, after me, or to
teach greater wisdom to your daughters, friends, or others, if
you list and have such need. For the more you know the greater
honour will be yours and the greater praise will therefore be
unto your parents and to me and to others about you, by whom
you have been nurtured. And for your honour and love, and not
for my service (for to me belongs but the common service, or
less,) since I had pity and loving compassion on you who for
long have had neither father nor mother, nor any of your
kinswoman near you to whom you might turn for counsel in
your private needs, save me alone, for whom you were brought
from your kin and the country of your birth, I have often
wondered how I might find a simple general introduction to
teach you the which, without the aforesaid difficulties, you

might of yourself introduce into your work and care. And lastly,
me-seems that if your love is as it has appeared in your good
words, it can be accomplished in this way, namely in a general
instruction that I will write for you and preto you, in three
sections containing nineteen principal articles....
The seventh article of the first section showeth how you should
be careful and thoughtful of your husband's person. Wherefore,
fair sister, if you have another husband after me, know that you
should think much of his person, for after that a woman has lost
her first husband and marriage, she commonly findeth it hard to
find a second to her liking, according to her estate, and she
remaineth long while all lonely and disconsolate and the more
so still if she lose the second. Wherefore love your husband's
person carefully, and I pray you keep him in clean linen, for
that is your business, and because the trouble and care of
outside affairs lieth with men, so must husbands take heed, and
go and come, and journey hither and thither, in rain and wind,
in snow and hail, now drenched, now dry, now sweating, now
shivering, ill-fed, ill-lodged, ill-warmed and ill-bedded. And
naught harmeth him, because he is upheld by the hope that he
hath of the care which his wife will take of him on his return,
and of the ease, the joys and the pleasures which she will do
him, or cause to be done to him in her presence; to be unshod
before a good fire, to have his feet washed and fresh shoes and
hose, to be given good food and drink, to be well served and
well looked after, well bedded in white sheets and nightcaps,
well covered with good furs, and assuaged with other joys and
desports, privities, loves and secrets whereof I am silent. And
the next day fresh shirts and garments .
Certes, fair sister, such services make a man love and desire to
return to his home and to see his goodwife, and to be distant
with others. Wherefore I counsel you to make such cheer to
your husband at all his comings and stayings, and to persevere
therein; and also be peaceable with him, and remember the
rustic proverb, which saith that there be three things which

drive the goodman from home, to wit a leaking roof, a smoky
chimney and a scolding woman. And therefore, fair sister, I
beseech you that, to keep yourself in the love and good favour
of your husband, you be unto him gentle, and amiable, and
debonnair. Do unto him what the good simple women of our
country say hath been done to their sons, when these have set
their love elsewhere and their mothers cannot wean them there
from. Sure it is that when fathers and mothers be dead and
stepfathers and stepmothers that have stepsons rail at them and
scold them and repulse them and take no thought for their
sleeping, nor for their food and drink, their hose and their
shirts, nor for their other needs or affairs, and these same
children find elsewhere a good refuge and counsel from s me
other woman, that receiveth them unto herself and taketh
thought to warm them by some poor gruel with her, to give them
a bed and keep them clean and mend their hosen, breeches,
shirts and other clothes, then do these same children follow her
and desire to be with her and to sleep and be warmed between
her breasts, and they be altogether estranged from their mothers
and fathers, that before took no heed of them, and now be fain
to get them back and have them again; but it may not be, for
these children hold more dear the company of strangers that
think and care for them, than of their kinsfolk that care no whit
for them. Then they lament and cry and say that these same
women have bewitched their children and that the lads be spell
bound and cannot leave them and are never at ease save when
they are with them. But, whatever they may say, it is no
witchcraft, but it is for the sake of the love, the care, the
intimacies, joys and pleasures that these women show unto them
in all things and, on my soul, there is none other enchantment.
For whoever giveth all its pleasure to a bear, a Wolf, or a lion,
that same bear, wolf, or lion will follow after him, and so the
other beasts might say, could they but speak, that those thus
tamed must be bewitched. And, on my soul, I trow that there is
none other witchcraft than well doing, and no man can be better
bewitched than by giving him what pleaseth him.

Wherefore, dear sister, I beseech you thus to bewitch and
bewitch again your husband that shall be, and beware of
roofless house and of smoky fire, and scold him not, but be unto
him gentle and amiable and peaceable. Have a care that in
winter he have a good fire and smokeless and let him rest well
and be well covered between your breasts, and thus bewitch
him. And in summer take heed that there be no fleas in your
chamber, nor in your bed, the which you may do in six ways, as
I have heard tell. For I have heard from several that if the room
be strewn with alder leaves, the fleas will be caught thereon.
Item I have heard tell that if you have at night one or two
trenches [of bread] slimed with glue or turpentine and set about
the room, with a lighted candle in the midst of each trencher,
they will come and be stuck thereto. The other way that I have
tried and 'tis true: take a rough cloth and spread it about your
room and over your bed, and all the fleas that shall hop thereon
will be caught, so that you may carry them away with the cloth
wheresoe'er you will. Item, sheepskins. Item, I have seen
blanchets [of white wool] set on the straw and on the bed, and
when the black fleas hopped thereon, they were the sooner
found upon the white, and killed. But the best way is to guard
oneself against those that be within the coverlets and the furs,
and the stuff of the dresses wherewith one is covered. For know
that I have tried this, and when the coverlets, furs or dresses,
wherein there be fleas, be folded and shut tightly up, as in a
chest tightly corded with straps, or in a bag well tied up and
pressed, or otherwise put and pressed so that the aforesaid fleas
be without light and air and kept imprisoned, then will they
perish forthwith and die. Item I have sometimes seen in divers
chambers, that when one had gone to bed they were full of
mosquitoes, which at the smoke of the breath came to sit on the
faces of those that slept, and stung them so hard, that they were
fain to get up and light a fire of hay, in order to make a smoke
so that they had to fly away or die, and this may be done by day
if they be suspected, and likewise he that hath a mosquito net
may protect himself therewith.

And if you have a chamber or a passage where there is great
resort of flies, take little sprigs of fern and tie them to threads
like to tassels, and hang them up and all the flies will settle on
them at eventide; then take down the tassels and throw them
out. Item, shut up your chamber closely in the evening, but let
there be a little opening in the wall towards the east, and as
soon as the dawn breaketh, all the flies will go forth through
this opening, and then let it be stopped up. Item, take a bowl of
milk and hare's gall and mix them one with another and then set
two or three bowls thereof in places where the flies gather and
all that taste thereof will die. Item, otherwise, have a linen rag
tied at the bottom of a pot with an opening in the neck, and set
that pot in the place where the flies gather and smear it within
with honey, or apples, or pears; when it is full of flies, set a
trencher over the mouth and then shake it. Item, otherwise, take
raw red onions and bray them and pour the juice into a bowl and
set it where the flies gather and all that taste thereof will die.
Item, have whisks wherewith to slay them by hand. Item, have
little twigs covered with glue on a basin of water. Item, have
your windows shut full tight with oiled or other cloth, or with
parchment or something else, so tightly that no fly may enter,
and let the flies that be within be slain with the whisk or
otherwise as above, and no others will come in. Item, have a
string hanging soaked in honey, and the flies will come and
settle thereon and at eventide let them be taken in a bag. Finally
meseemeth that flies will not stop in a room wherein there be no
standing tables, forms, dressers or other things whereon they
can settle and rest, for if they have naught but straight walls
whereon to settle and cling, they will not settle, nor will they in
a shady or damp place. Wherefore meseemeth that if the room
be well watered and well closed and shut up, and if nought be
left lying on the floor, no fly will settle there.
And thus shall you preserve and keep your husband from all
discomforts and give him all the comforts whereof you can
bethink you, and serve him and have him served in your house,
and you shall look to him for outside things, for if he be good

he will take even more pains and labour therein than you wish,
and by doing what I have said, you will cause him ever to miss
you and have his heart with you and your loving service and he
will shun all other houses, all other women, all other services
and households. All will be as naught to him save you, who
think for him as is aforesaid, and who ought so to do, by the
ensample that you see of horsemen riding abroad, for you see
that as soon as they be come home to their house from a
journey, they cause their horses to be given fresh litter up to
their bellies; these horses be unharnessed and made
comfortable, they be given honey and picked hay and sifted
oats, and they be better looked after in their own stables on
their return than anywhere else. And if the horses be thus made
comfortable, so much the more ought the persons, to wit the
lords, to be so at their own expense on their return. Hounds
returning from the woods and from the chase be littered before
their master and he maketh their fresh litter himself before the
fire; their feet be greased at the fire with soft grease, they be
given sops and be well eased, for pity of their labour; and
likewise, if women do thus unto their husbands, as men do unto
their horses, dogs, asses, mules, and other beasts, certes all
other houses, where they have been served, will seem to them
but dark prisons and strange places, compared with their own,
which will be then a paradise of rest unto them. And so on the
road husbands will think of their wives, and no trouble will be a
burden to them for the hope and love they will have of their
wives, whom they will be fain to see again with as great longing
as poor hermits and penitents are fain to see the face of Jesus
Christ; and these husbands, that be thus looked after, will never
be fain to abide elsewhere nor in other company, but they will
withhold, withdraw and abstain therefrom; all the rest will seem
unto them but a bed of stones compared with their home; but let
it be unceasing, and with a good heart and without pretence.
But there be certain old hags, which be sly and play the wise
woman and feign great love by way of showing their heart's
great service, and naught else; and wot you, fair sister, that the

husbands be fools if they perceive it not; and when they
perceive it, if the husband and wife be silent and pretend one
with another, it is an ill beginning and will lead to a worse end.
And some women there be, that in the beginning serve their
husbands full well, and they trow well that their husbands be
then so amorous of them and so debonnair that, trow they, those
husbands will scarce dare to be wroth with them, if they do less,
so they slacken and little by little they try to show less respe ct
and service and obedience, but-what is more-they take upon
themselves authority, command and lordship, at first in a small
thing, then in a larger, and a little more every day. Thus they
essay and advance and rise, as they think, and they trow that
their husbands, the which because they be debonnair or
peradventure because they set a trap, say nought thereof, see it
not because they suffer it thus. And certes, it is an ill thought
and deed, for when the husbands see that they cease their
service, and mount unto domination, and that they do it too
much and that by suffering ill good may come, then those
women be all at once, by their husband's rightful will, cast
down even as Lucifer was....
Adapted from:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/goodman.asp (Accessed
8 December 2020)
The Life of St. Liutberga, 9th Century
Introduction: Saint Liutberga (d. ca 870) was a nun in the
kingdom of Saxony. She was taken out of a convent by a
countess name Gisla who traveled in order to supervise her
scattered properties. Liutberga, who was already educated, was
trained as Gisla’s assistant and traveled with her. Her Life was
written shortly after her death by a monk named Halberstadt
who had known her later in her life.
As you read this consider how this account portrays optional
roles for women within medieval society.

1. In his time, the emperor Charles the Great, first to bear the
august title of caesar in German lands, subjugated many nations
to the kingdom of the Franks. Among them he acquired many of
the most noble and prepotent men of the Saxon people of that
age with great estates. He subdued some by way of war and
[converted] others by the industry of his own ingenuity and
great sagacity from pagan rites to the religion of the Christians.
One of the first and most noble among these was named Hesse
with whom he kept company more than others. He sustained him
with great honors because he remained faithful to him in
everything. Hesse lacked male children, for his only son died in
the flower of his youth leaving his rich substance to his
daughters. When he grew very old he distributed the inheritance
among his daughters and entered the Lord's service at Fulda and
died happily in the monastic habit.
2. One of his daughters, Gisla, born first among the others, took
a husband named Unwan by whom she had a son, Bernhart, and
two daughters, one called Bilihild and the other Hruothild, both
of whom founded monasteriola after the death of their husbands
and took the sanctimonial habit: one in Winithohus
(Windenhausen) in Saxony, in the country called Harthagewi
(Harz) which separated Saxony and Thuringia; the other in
Franconia in Salugewe, in the neighborhood of Bochonia in the
place called Karolsbach (east of Gemundae at Moenum). Each
of the girls ruled their own congregations of virgins
respectively (Bilihild at Windenhausen and Hruothild at
Karolsbach). Gisla herself in widowhood led a religious life,
building many churches and giving alms and caring for
pilgrims. I don't know you should discern a virile soul in the
feminine sex with sharp ingenuity in carrying out various
affairs, or whether you might wonder at the effect of piety.
3. When this matron was travelling on business, because she had
to care for possessions in many different places, she arrived at a
certain place where the hour forced her to request hospitality.
The monastery of virgins there had a guesthouse nearby and the
proper buildings they had prepared seemed comfortable enough.

One of the maidens serving her caught her eye for that young
girl (virgunculam) seemed to excel the others of her age in form
and intelligence. With a servant's diligence, she directed them
all at a nod with a clever mind. [The matron] silently observed
her consideration and way of acting and began to make inquiries
about who she was and what family she sprang from, her birth
and profession of condition. She answered all this prudently and
in order, saying she came of decent parents from Salzburg,
explaining their ancestry and condition and expounding her
whole way of life. And she would willingly have taken vow
except for her tender age. Suddenly [Gisla's] mind was made up
and she began to urge her powerfully to go with her and commit
herself to her in trust, swearing under divine witness that she
would remain with her for all time as beloved as her own
daughter born.
4. Believing this promise, [Liutberga] took the road with [Gisla]
and, as I believe by consent of divine providence, the will of
both of them was fulfilled. Afterward, she asserted that this
happened by divine will because she had vowed to be a pilgrim
and God, to whom she had given herself in her mind, had made
it possible. So that maiden Liutberga went with the matron
Gisla touring all her possessions and the maid continued this
office with charity as day followed day and became ever more
dear not only to those with whom she dealt but among all who
knew her. So she lived in the house of her great lady, noble by
nature, and all her virtues grew into flower as she matured. She
was wise in counsel, truthful in word, honest in her duties,
generous in alms, constant in works, excellent in piety,
foremost in every benignity, caring for the sick and ending
discord. Opening her heart to the misery of the needy, she loved
everyone, and everyone loved her. This happy virago
overflowing with her many gifts, daily augmented her
perfection step by step, more and more pleasing to God as to
men.
5. As we said, the virago Liutberga was fit for everything,
strong in her ways, particularly tireless in divine praises,

psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles according to the
apostle in her heart offering to her Lord the devout sacrifices of
her mind. To explicate briefly the study of her behavior,
whatever she thought might be pleasing to God she embraced
with all the love in her heart, and she avoided the enticements
of an evil world as a steep cliff. She worked steadily at holy
scripture and, meditating daily, became ever more proficient so
that her intellect gained a profundity that would have become
even more learned had she not been impeded by the imbecility
of her sex.
6. She was so greatly skilled in those diverse arts that pertain to
woman's work that in places where she was known the people
called her Daedala. She remained faithful to her mistress, and
yet so merciful that she was called mother of the poor. So it
happened that the common people proclaimed her happy fame
and she came to the notice of the nobility, the leading men and
matrons, and her friends increased and came to love her most
heartily. It was wonderful how she was first dear and then
became more beloved so that she had friends in every part of
the country where she travelled.
7. By time she was mature the venerable matron Gisla had
become infirm and the day of her death drew near. She called
her son Bernard and told him: "My son, don't neglect your
mother's words but give heed to my last precepts. I leave you
with full substance and diverse possessions, buildings and
ornaments which should suffice to sustain you in this life if God
wills. May you always remember to strive for the restoration of
the church and recuperation of the derelict and take care of your
sisters sollicitously, showing them the diligence of benign
supervision and brotherly love. For custody easily suffers a
little defect in women, if every manly vigilance has not been
given in good time to their tuition. And one other thing I
commend to you one way and the other, from the faith of your
mother, and require by most urgent petition and maternal
affection; it is that you will give fitting honor to my beloved
daughter Liutberga whom I have adopted by promise of faith as

my own daughter and that you will procure her fitting honor and
hold her in love joined among the number of your sisters and
heed her counsel and commit to her care any precious things
you possess; because I have always held her in the highest
trust." And grasping his hand she commended her in trust to her
son and kissing him and saluting all in peace, ended her life.
And she was buried with honors in the time of the emperor
Louis, father of Lothar and Pepin and Louis and Charles, and
she left her son Bernhard as heir.
8. For a long time, Liutberg remained in the house of her lord
according to the disposition of his mother. She had the
governance of the things [Gisla] had possessed so that the rule
of the house constituted a burden for her. His lordship held her
in maternal love and sincere honor and she all the domestics of
both sexes loved her as a mother and so did the whole familia..
Bernhard took as wife a daughter of the great count Lothar,
named Reginhild, who bore him two sons, one named for his
father and the other named Otwin. And the she burned with so
much love for the venerable Liutberga that she was not readily
deceived by her appearance at that time. As from maternal
example she copied her good habits and honest gravity of
manners, and provided [everyone] daily with many things from
her generosity. And after she had been confined for a long time
in sickness, still in youthful immaturity, her life ended and she
left her husband and her sons in a storm of sorrow.
9. And Bernhard not able to sustain his youthful life without the
consolation of a wife, took another of the noblest birth, a wife
of the greatest beauty and propriety, and with this wealth
lessened the sorrow of the first wound. She was called
Helmburg, from whom four sons and two daughters were born,
of whom the eldest was named Unwan, then Adalbert, the third
Asic, the fourth Ediram, names drawn from her relatives, and
two daughters named Gisla and Bilihild. And the mother and
children grew strong under the care of venerable Liutberga and
showed her the highest devotion of love so much that she was
called genetrix rather than nutrix.

10. Bernhard, having many possessions from both his parents,
and many properties in various places, could not easily tolerate
the absence of the venerable woman because she was the
faithful guardian and dispensatrix of his things. But wherever
she was staying, she never omitted to visit the house of God by
day and night and attend divine services assiduously and keep
vigils in the night till dawn, She was so strenuous in never
permitting any detriment pertaining to the divine work that
everyone began thought it a great miracle. She had great
learning and exacted from her body the labor of a man, not an
imbecile. Divine help gave constancy to her soul, rising toward
the heavens without doubt. She never bent beneath the weight of
her burdens but daily contended among the men of the
palaestrum against the allurements of the world and the
temptations of the flesh, incentives to bodily lust and mental
petulance, smooth blandishments against her chastity, and
maintained sobriety to extirpate the roots of evil delight.
11. Having made fasts and vigils, worn down with labor, as we
noted, she began to consume her body with inedia. The color of
her face changed and her physical vigor languished. Pallor
began to replace the living color of her countenance and her
skin adhered to her bones stretching her emaciated aspect, for
the more she progressed, from the parts from the night by which
she was most sharply tested, the more she kept watch. Therefore
it soon became her custom, if she were staying somewhere
where there was no church known to her, she would [seek one
out] to keep vigil all night with only a little boy or girl. She
would generally hear mass or take communion before going on
her way. She thus governed her lord's house not only with
words but with the example of virtue.
12. Seeing her thus grow pale and emaciated, the count paid
heed to her saying to those who stood by: "What infirmity grips
our beloved mother Liutberga?" He was answered that the cause
of this was not illness but rather inedia and wakefulness and
constant affliction of her body. She was continually going by
night to distant churches that were difficult of access with no

company but a little boy or little girl. Every night, she was
wandering in her bare feet. Stupefied, the count called her to
him and addressed him in his accustomed respectful and soft
manner, saying: "Dearest, mother, who has always led the way
in gravity and honesty of life, not only in words but in making
yourself a mirror, do you now take so precipitous a way as
though striving to reach a premature death before the time
predestined by God? There is an armed and frightful man
hereabouts, a pagan or one false to the name of Christian, who
day and night unnerves the hearts even of the strong because of
his thieving. For there is so much danger from his fury that,
unless you leap into the teeth of ravening beasts or the jaws of
the wolves, you will find nothing worse. Our worst enemies, not
sorrowing, could say nothing except that this [behavior] springs
from evil and superstition. So all the fame of your beautiful life
will be reduced to nothing."
13. To which venerable Liutberga replied with submissive
voice, "My lord, I do not seek to pay heed to the garrulity of
wicked men who always rashly make mock of pious and sober
living and threaten good deeds with ravening jaws and tear men
to pieces with poisoned tongues. For that malignity sprang from
the first born of our first parents, Cain, who in turn propagated
the wicked, sewing evil seed in depraved hearts far and wide
throughout the world. But having no malice toward them, we
put our care in the Lord's hand, like the prophet and he feeds us.
Nor will he throw the just to the flood but will keep them from
the works of the wicked. And so it is written: "If God is for us,
who can be against us?" And so speaks the psalmist: "The lord
is my shepherd, I shall not fear what man may do to me." And
elsewhere: "The lord is my shepherd and I shall despise my
enemies." And: "Good is it to confide in the Lord, rather than in
man. For the help of man is vain." And innumerable other pages
of scripture show the right way to the heavenly fatherland can
be lost by inoffensive feet, repulsed afar by terror of the enemy
so that even the faithful psalmist presumes to say trustingly, "I
trust in the Lord, who has said to my soul, Cross the mountain,"

and the same prophet exults as a victor, glorifying the Lord:
"You have given over my enemies to me and have thrown down
those who hate me." So should we not raise our eyes from this
brief and uncertain life? Where is the power of the great? Where
the wealth of the rich? Where are the innumerable armies of the
strong? Where the flowing luxury made by kings? And the
insatiable desires of their servants? Where are those who
constantly thirsted, piling up gold and silver wherever they
could? They are the ones who become more thirsty the more
they drink. They build up treasure and do not know for whom;
taken by rapine and theft, its lovers follow money into
perdition. We do not fear them, saying with the Lord: "Do not
fear them who kill the body for they cannot kill the soul. Rather
fear him who can lose body and soul in Gehenna." And
elsewhere the Savior says: "Who loves his soul for my sake will
keep it in eternal life." Why should I fear death for my Lord's
sake? Who keeps watch except our Lord order it saying: "Watch
and pray lest you fall into temptation." And he who orders us to
watch, orders us to pray: "Pray that your flight be not in winter
nor on the sabbath." And about fasting it is written: "In your
day of fasting you will find your will." And what more could be
our will than that God will give us grace and we mortals may
deserve immortality in his kingdom?
14. This and other words of the same sort guided the count's
disturbed spirit to tranquility and the swelling fury which had
begun to grow in him was sedated by this medicine. Turning to
her he said: "Your statements, if I may speak thus, are more
from divinity than from yourself. You have so much obliged my
spirit by the justice of your desires that I can deny you nothing.
I pray that you may fulfill your vow for whose name, in the face
of so many difficulties, you have not flinched from going
forward. And whatever it may suit your will to require of me,
you shall ask." When she heard this offer, her soul was so
overcome that she would have thrown herself at his feet if he
had not prevented her. She said: "Then, my lord, with a heart
overflowing for your piety, I willingly ask this favor, and as a

reward conceded from divinity, I will never cease to thank you
for your strength if the petition of your servant is conceded."
And he said to her: "Speak, I pray; hide nothing that is in your
soul. Trust what I have said already: I will concede any
reasonable petition you make, life and health and God
permitting." Then she drew a long sigh from within and soon
bursting into tears said: "I am a great sinner, lord, bound in
many chains so that even at the boundaries of age I live a
delicate and erroneous life in this world of voluptuous desires;
here and there in the course of my wanderings, I made promises
of the most binding nature to the Lord which then have been
ignored and forgotten. Now I ask of your piety that I may cease
wandering and spend the rest of my life in penance for my sins
and for the benefit of them who need my mercy. For I believe
that you and your mother of happy memory will thus gain more.
The Lord has said, "What you do for one of the least of these
you do for me." And James said, "Who changes her life from the
error of sins, her soul will be saved from death and bury a
multitude of sins."
15. Then responding with a pleasant face, he said: "And where
can we find a place of such quietude where you may hide safely
without the turbulent racket of this world or the floods of the
age?" Then she said: "I have prepared a place for myself as the
days of my littleness approach. There if your piety would order
a little cell built, it would suffice for my habitation and produce
abundance for my days far from the wealth, delight and joys of
the world." Admiring the constancy of the woman and the virile
fidelity of her soul, after a long silence, he said: "Do I
understand that you would attempt to sustain life in this isolated
place in solitude and seclusion from others in the common life?
Surely these are counsels for priests and for our bishop rather
than for layfolk." And she answered: "My lord, I have never
thought to make such a beginning without being examined by
our holy rectors to ensure that not my will but God's be done
and that would be shown through their counsel." The priests and
bishops gathered to consider the reasoning of this case

deliberated together over her arguments for a long time. The
colloquy ended, they put faith in her promises and she was
restored to her joyous spirit leaving hope of divine piety in all
her undertakings.
16. Some time after, the bishop of that province, Theogrim of
blessed memory, visited in the same count's house (B of
Halberstadt, 827-40) because they had a firm friendship
between them. And there he spent the night and the next day the
venerable Liutberga took the opportunity to approach him
desiring to consult his opinion privately. God disposed that he
should appear at this time and place. Prostrating herself humbly
at his feet, she with a humble voice spoke to ask his clemency.
At first he was thunderstruck, for he had formerly taken good
notice of her as devoted to honest customs and he knew that she
held the place of a genetrix in the house of her lord. Thus he
had in mind to be merciful and gently spoke to her: "There, my
beloved sister, expose freely whatever words of complaint may
be in your mind. In me, you have truly acquired one who
volunteers as your consoler." And she followed the advice of
scripture: "Just in the first words is his own accuser," calling
herself a sinner and accusing herself of many crimes and
imploring his help with the sins she had committed and
whatever came to her mind she exposed without hesitation.
17. After hearing her arguments and listening carefully,
knowing that she was always desirous to procure justice and
should rather be called a helper of virtue rather than a repeller ,
when there was total silence, he quickly leaned his face to her
and said: "I believe proposal in your mind, beloved daughter,
springs from the fountain of piety but first we must seek by
careful deliberation how to find the path of your salvation.
First, we must pray for divine help so that our counsel prosper
in cooperation with the author of all good and having thus
begun the voyage well under his governance we may come
safely to port." And saying this, he had Bernhard called to
himself and sat down with him and then the bishop said to him:
...

Adapted from:
https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/basis/liutberga.asp (Accessed
8 December 2020)

Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)Intro

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from VinaOconner450

More from VinaOconner450 (20)

Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies (1405)Intro