The Book of the City of Ladies

by Christine Pizan

  ‘Erythrea accomplished an even greater and more marvellous feat in her prediction and revelation of the secret of God’s majesty, which is the mystery of the Holy Spirit and the incarnation of the Son of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary, a secret that the prophets had only revealed through the use of obscure figures and cryptic symbols. In her book, she had written “Jesus Christos Theon nios soter”, which is Greek for “Jesus Christ, Son of God, our saviour”. She went on to recount his life and works, his betrayal and capture, his humiliation and death, his resurrection, victory and ascension, as well as the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, and Jesus’s return on the Day of Judgement. Once again, it was as if she had given a succinct account of the mysteries of the Christian faith rather than simply predicting what was to come.

  ‘On the subject of the Day of Judgement, this is what Erythrea wrote: “On that terrible day, as a sign of judgement, the earth will sweat blood. Down from the heavens will come the Lord to judge the whole of humankind as the good and the evil appear before Him. Every soul will rejoin its body and every person will be judged according to their just deserts. Riches and false idols will be as nought. Fire will sweep over everything and all living creatures shall perish. Then, in their distress, the people will give themselves up to weeping, wailing and gnashing their teeth. The sun, moon and stars will grow dark, the mountains and the valleys will be flattened out, and the sea, the earth and all things here below will become as one. The trumpet of the heavens shall sound, calling the human race to judgement. A great terror will fall upon the world as all people bewail their sinfulness. The earth will be created anew as kings, princes and all others appear before the judge and are repaid that which each of them is due. Bolts of lightning will fall from the heavens and set fire to the depths of hell.” The sibyl devotes twenty-seven lines to describing these events.

  ‘According to Boccaccio and all the other eminent writers who have mentioned her, her great talents are ample proof that she was loved by God and that she should be honoured above all women except the Christian saints of paradise. She remained a virgin all her life and was also presumably free of all bodily impurity, for it is impossible that such bright knowledge of the future could ever shine in a tainted and sinful heart.’

  3. About the sibyl Almathea.

  ‘As I’ve already mentioned, the sibyl Almathea was born in the region of Campania, which is situated near Rome. This lady was similarly blessed with an exceptional gift of prophecy. According to some history books, she was born at the time of the destruction of Troy and lived up until the reign of Tarquin the Proud. Some called her Deiphebe. Though this lady lived to a ripe old age, she was a virgin all her life. Because of her great knowledge, certain poets claimed that she was loved by Phoebus, whom they called the god of wisdom, and believed that her learning and longevity were gifts from him. This should be interpreted to mean that she was loved by God for her chastity and purity, and that it was He, the radiant source of all wisdom, who lit up within her the light of prophecy which allowed her to predict and describe many future events. In addition, it is written of her that as she stood on the shore of Lake Avernus near Baiae, she received a most marvellous message of divine revelation which she wrote down in the verse which bears her name. Though this revelation is very ancient, it is still an extraordinary testament to the greatness and wisdom of this lady, as anyone who consults it and reads it will see. Some tales tell how she led Aeneas down into the underworld and brought him back out again.

  ‘Almathea came to Rome, carrying nine of her books with her which she offered for sale to King Tarquin. However, since he refused to give her the price she was asking for, she burnt three of the books in front of him. The next day, she asked him for the same price as she had done for the nine books, even though there were now only six left. She informed him that if she didn’t receive the sum she wanted, she would burn three more of the books there and then, and the remaining three the following day, whereupon King Tarquin paid her the original price she had requested. The books were kept in a safe place, for it was discovered that they gave a full account of all the deeds that the Romans would go on to accomplish in the future. Moreover, all the great events that subsequently occurred turned out to have been predicted in these books which were carefully stored away in the emperors’ treasury and were consulted just as one would a divine oracle.

  ‘So, take note, my sweet friend: see how God showed great favour on this woman, giving her the ability to counsel and advise not just one emperor in her own lifetime but, in a sense, all future Roman rulers, as well as to predict all that the empire itself would go on to accomplish. Indeed, I ask you, was there any man who ever did as much? Yet you, like a fool, used to be very unhappy about belonging to the same sex as creatures such as these, thinking that God despised women!

  ‘Virgil devoted some lines to this sibyl in one of his books. Almathea ended her life in Sicily, where her tomb was kept on display for a very long time.’

  4. About several prophetesses.

  ‘Yet these ten ladies were not the only ones in the world to whom God granted His great gift of prophecy. Indeed, there have been many of them belonging to all the different religions that have ever existed. If you look at the Jewish faith, you will find many examples, such as Deborah, who was a prophetess at the time of the Judges of Israel. It was thanks to the foresight of this Deborah that God’s chosen people were delivered out of the hands of the king of Canaan who had held them in subjection for twenty years.

  ‘Likewise, the blessed Elizabeth, cousin of Our Lady, was no less of a prophet when she said to the glorious Virgin who had gone to visit her: “How is it that the Mother of Our Lord has come to me?” She couldn’t have known that Mary had already conceived of the Holy Ghost if she hadn’t been moved by the spirit of prophecy.

  ‘This is also the case with Anna, the good Hebrew lady who lit the lamps of the temple. Didn’t she too have the gift of prophecy just the same as the prophet Simeon, to whom Our Lady presented Jesus Christ at the altar of the temple on the Feast of Candlemas? The holy seer recognized Jesus as the saviour of the world and took him into his arms, declaring: “Nunc dimittis”.1 As soon as the good lady Anna, who was going about her duty in the temple, saw the Virgin coming through the door with the child in her arms, she too realized intuitively who Jesus was and so knelt down before him to adore him, exclaiming out loud that he was the one who had come to save humankind.

  ‘You’ll find plenty of other examples of female prophets if you look carefully in the Jewish faith, as well as countless examples in the Christian religion, several of whom are saints. But let’s put them to one side, because you could say that God showed them particular favour, and let’s talk about some more pagan women instead.

  ‘The Queen of Sheba was extremely learned and the Holy Scriptures tell how, on hearing about the wisdom of Solomon whose fame had spread far and wide, she conceived a great desire to see him. She therefore left her home in the most remote corner of the lands of the East and rode overland through Ethiopia and Egypt, journeyed along the shores of the Red Sea, and crossed the great deserts of Arabia. She was accompanied with great ceremony by a noble host of princes, lords, knights and ladies, and came laden with many treasures. Arriving at the city of Jerusalem, she went to meet the wise King Solomon in order to see for herself whether what the whole world was saying about him was true. Solomon received her with all honours, as was her due, and she stayed with him for a long while, testing his wisdom in many different areas. She asked him various questions and set him plenty of difficult and obscure riddles, to all of which Solomon answered so fully that she declared that his great wisdom could not have come from mere mortal intelligence but was a special gift from God Himself. This lady made him a present of various costly objects, amongst which were certain small trees which could be tapped for the balm which they gave. Solomon had these trees planted near a lake called Allefabter, giving instructions that they should be cultivated and looked aft
er with great care. She also gave him several precious jewels.

  ‘Some of the writings which describe the wisdom of this woman and her gift of prophecy tell the story of how, when she was in Jerusalem and taken by Solomon to look at the magnificent temple that he had built, she saw a long wooden beam laid across a dirty puddle which was being used as a plank to step over the mud. On seeing the beam, the lady stopped to adore it, saying: “This plank, which is at present being treated as a lowly object fit only to be trodden underfoot, will one day be honoured above all trees in the world and will be adorned with priceless stones from the treasuries of princes. On the wood of this tree will die the man by whose hand the Jewish faith will be destroyed.” The Jews did not take her words in jest but carried the plank away to be buried in a place where they thought no one would ever find it. However, what God chooses to safeguard will be safeguarded: the Jews did not manage to prevent the plank from being found again at the time of the passion of Jesus Christ Our Lord. From this tree it is said that they made the cross on which Our Lord met his death and was martyred. Thus this lady’s prophecy turned out to be true.’

  5. About Cassandra and Queen Basine, as well as more about Nicostrata.

  ‘That Nicostrata whom we discussed earlier was also a prophetess. As soon as she crossed the River Tiber and had climbed up on to Mount Palatine with her son Evander, of whom the history books make great mention, she prophesied that on that hill would be built the most famous city that had ever existed, one which would rule over all other earthly kingdoms. In order to be the first person to lay down a founding stone, she constructed a fortress there, as we have said before, and it was on this spot that Rome was founded and subsequently built.

  ‘Likewise, wasn’t the noble Trojan maiden Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy and sister of the illustrious Hector, also a prophetess, she who was so learned that she knew all the arts? Having chosen never to take any man for her lord, no matter how high-born a prince he might be, this girl foresaw what would happen to the Trojans and was forever sunk in sorrow. The more she saw the glory of Troy flourish and prosper in the period before the conflict between the Trojans and the Greeks began, the more she wept, wailed and lamented. The sight of the city in all its wealth and magnificence, and of her brothers in all their splendour, especially the noble Hector who was so full of valour, made it impossible for Cassandra to keep to herself all the horror that was to come. On seeing the war break out, her grief intensified and she never left off crying, shrieking and imploring her father and brothers to make peace with the Greeks for heaven’s sake, warning them that otherwise the war would destroy every one of them. But her words were all in vain for no one believed her. Moreover, since she refused to be silent but understandably gave full vent to her sorrow at all this destruction and killing, she was often beaten by her father and brothers who told her that she was mad. Yet she never let up for a moment: even if her life depended on it, she would never stop telling them about what was going to happen. In the end, in order to have some peace and to block out the incessant noise she made, they had to shut her up in a distant room far away from other people. However, it would have been better for them if they had believed her, because everything came to pass just as she had said. They eventually regretted what they had done, but by then it was too late.

  ‘Likewise, weren’t the prophecies of Queen Basine equally extraordinary, she who had been married to the king of Thuringia and then became the wife of Childeric, the fourth king of France, as the chronicles recall? The story goes that, on her wedding night, she persuaded King Childeric that if he kept himself chaste that night he would receive a marvellous vision. Thereupon she told him to get up and go to the bedroom window and to describe what he could see outside. The king did as she said and it seemed to him that he could see great beasts such as unicorns, leopards and lions coming and going in the palace. Turning round to the queen in terror, he asked her what it all meant. She replied that she would reveal the answer to him in the morning and reassured him that he had nothing to fear but should go back to the window again. This he did, and the second time he thought he saw fierce bears and enormous wolves which seemed to be attacking each other. The queen sent him back to the window a third time and he thought he could see dogs and other small creatures tearing each other to pieces. The king was so horrified and amazed at these things that the queen had to explain to him that the animals he had seen in his vision represented their descendants, the successive generations of French princes who would one day sit on the throne. The different types of animal symbolized what the temperament and behaviour of these various princes would be like.

  ‘So, you can clearly see, my dear Christine, how often God has disclosed His secrets to the world through women.’

  6. About Antonia, who became empress of Constantinople.

  ‘It was no small secret which God revealed to Justinian, who later became emperor of Constantinople, by means of a woman’s vision. This Justinian was keeper of the coffers and treasures of the Emperor Justin. One day, Justinian went out for a walk in the fields, taking with him for company the woman he loved, who was called Antonia. At noon, Justinian wanted to take a nap and so lay down under a tree to sleep with his head resting in his lady’s lap. Whilst he was asleep, Antonia saw a great eagle hovering overhead which was stretching out its wings in an effort to protect Justinian’s face from the heat of the sun. Being a wise woman, she knew exactly how to interpret this sign. When Justinian woke up, she spoke to him most sweetly, saying to him: “My dearest heart, I love you and have always loved you: being the master of my body and my affection, you know this full well. Since no lover who is so adored by his lady should refuse her anything she asked him, I want you to grant me a favour in return for my virginity and the love which you have received from me, a favour which may seem insignificant to you but which means a great deal to me.” Justinian replied that she shouldn’t be shy about making her request, since there was nothing he wouldn’t give her that was in his power to give. She thus spoke up, “The favour which I ask from you is that when you are emperor, you will not scorn your lover, the poor Antonia, but will faithfully take her in marriage to be your honoured companion who will rule at your side. Please promise me this here and now.” When Justinian heard these words, he burst out laughing, for he supposed that she was only joking. Thinking that it was impossible that he should ever become emperor, he vowed that he would not fail to marry her if he did. He swore to this by all the gods, for which she thanked him. As a token of this promise, she made him give her his ring in exchange for hers. She then said to him, “Justinian, believe me when I tell you that you will become emperor, and very soon.” With that, they took their leave of each other.

  ‘Not long afterwards, it so happened that, having gathered his army together for battle against the Persians, the Emperor Justin fell ill and died. The barons and princes met to choose a new emperor but were unable to come to an agreement. To spite each other, they decided to elect Justinian as emperor. Without a second thought, Justinian launched his army into a furious attack against the Persian enemy. He was triumphant in the battle and took the king of Persia prisoner, thus covering himself in glory and winning the spoils of victory. On his return to the palace, his lover Antonia did not hesitate but made her way in secret to where he sat on his throne surrounded by all the princes. Kneeling down before him, she told him that she was a maiden come to ask him for justice concerning a young man who had betrothed himself to her and exchanged rings with her. The emperor, who had no idea who she was, replied that if it was true that the young man was engaged to her, the law required him to keep his word. He would gladly rule in her favour, if she could prove her case. Antonia took the ring off her finger and held it out to him, exclaiming, “Noble emperor, I can certainly prove it with this ring. See if you recognize it.” The emperor realized that he had condemned himself out of his own mouth but chose none the less to keep his promise. He therefore had Antonia taken to his apartments and d
ecked in finery, whereupon he promptly married her.’

  7. Christine addresses Lady Rectitude.

  ‘My lady, the more evidence I see and hear which proves that women are innocent of everything that they have been accused of, the more obvious it is to me how in the wrong their accusers are. Yet I can’t help myself from mentioning a custom which is quite common amongst men and even some women, which is that when wives are pregnant and give birth to a daughter, their husbands are very often unhappy and disgruntled that they didn’t bear them a son. Their silly wives, who should be overjoyed that God has delivered them safely and should thank Him with all their hearts, are also upset because they see that their husbands are distressed. But why is it, my lady, that they are so displeased? Is it because girls are more trouble than boys or less loving and caring towards their parents than male children are?’

  Rectitude replied, ‘My dear friend, since you’ve asked me why this happens, I can assure you that those who upset themselves tend to do so out of ignorance and stupidity. However, the main reason why they are unhappy is because they worry how much it’s going to cost them to marry off their daughters since they will have to pay for it out of their own pockets. Others, though, are dismayed because they’re afraid of the danger that a young and innocent girl can be led astray by the wrong sort of people. Yet neither of these reasons stands up to scrutiny. As for being worried that their daughters will disgrace themselves, all the parents have to do is bring them up properly when they’re little, with the mother setting them an example through her own respectable behaviour and good advice; though if the mother has lax morals, she will hardly be a fit example for the daughter to follow. Daughters should be kept on a tight rein away from bad company and taught to fear their parents because bringing infants and children up strictly helps to establish good conduct later in life. Likewise, on the question of the expense involved, I would say that if the parents, whatever social class they may be, looked carefully at what it costs them to set their sons up or to pay for them to study or learn a trade, let alone all the extra money which their sons spend on disreputable acquaintances and unnecessary luxuries, they would soon realize that sons are scarcely less of a financial burden than daughters. Not to mention all the terrible anguish and worry that many sons frequently inflict on their parents by getting into nasty fights and vicious brawls or by falling into depraved habits, all this to the shame of their parents and at their expense. To my mind, this far outweighs any distress that their daughters might cause them.