Book of the Body Politic

Christine de Pizan (c. 1364–c. 1430) was an Italian-born poet and author who grew up in France. Angus J. Kennedy is emeritus Stevenson professor of French at the University of Glasgow.

“Kennedy’s new edition and translation of Christine’s Livre du corps de policie offers a copiously annotated introduction which covers Christine as political writer in this and other treatises; her extraordinary career as a woman writer claiming a voice equal to that of her male contemporaries; and the manuscripts of her Book, its dating, its historico-political context, and its sources. The translation, which highlights, in Kennedy’s words, ‘Christine’s uncompromising, labyrinthine, muscular style,’ closely follows the words and the sentence structure of the original. Together, edition and translation provide readers with an entirely reliable text and a meticulous translation of one of the most important works of lay political thought at the end of the Middle Ages in France.”

• Acknowledgments ixIntroduction 1Christine de Pizan and The Other Voice 1Christine’s Life and Works 7Manuscripts and Date of Composition 15Analysis of the Text 22Historical Context 22The Sources and Their Integration 36Afterlife 45Note on the Translation 52Book of the Body Politic 55Part 1 57Part 2 115Part 3 149Concordance 169Bibliography 173Manuscripts 173Catalogues 173Dictionaries 174Bibliographies 175Texts A: Christine de Pizan 175Texts B: Other Texts 182Critical Studies 185Annotated Index of Proper Names and Titles 197