I had never heard of The Treasure of the City of Ladies until I found it in a used bookstore while looking for medieval literature to help my research for my next novel. Once I read this book, I started to hear about it everywhere. I was not surprised to find it listed among the wisdom literature of the great thinkers of that era. What did surprise me is that I had never heard about Christine De Pizan, a prolific and intelligent female writer, until now. It should be noted that there have been great women throughout history, even during some of the most patriarchal periods. For some reason, it seems as if many feminists waste their time railing against the unfairness of a narrow perception of history rather than diving in and seeing the great female minds that were always there.
The Treasure of the City of Ladies was written in 1404 in the midst of Christine’s many other writings. It should not be mistaken for The Book of the City of Ladies by the same author which is an allegory. The Treasure of the City of Ladies is a book of advice to women of all stations and classes given from the mouths of three ladies of Virtue: Reason, Rectitude, and Justice. The book begins with advice to princesses which is probably the main people who would be able to afford to have a book like this. The advice to princesses in the largest section, but then it goes on to give advice to their governesses and nurses. It then works it’s way down the classes to give advice to the women at court, duchesses, baronesses, nobility, rich widows, merchant wives, artisan wives, maids, farmer’s wives, young women, old women, poor widows, prostitutes, and the poor. The advice is set in the customs and laws of that time in medieval France. It reveals a lot about how people really lived as a great primary source of research. It also has a surprising amount of relevant advice to women today. It is very Christian and focuses heavily on those who take that worldview seriously.
I don’t usually read other people’s reviews of books before I write mine, but I was curious this time. I was not surprised to find a huge range of opinions on this book. By far, most people read this book as a historical relic of a past time and past thoughts. Some liked in that context and some hated it. Most saw the book as being irrelevant to today’s women. I find this fascinating and sad. Today’s women are not happier and freer because we take on ourselves the responsibility to be everything and do everything. We are not respected or loved more because we are vulgar, ignorant, wasteful, lazy, overworked, or selfish. I am not saying all women today are these things, but Christine is explicitly advising women against these traits. Why would that be irrelevant?
The Treasure of the City of Ladies actually has high expectations of women for any time period. She gives advice for them to obtain a good education in multiple languages, learn about money and budgeting, learn how to defend one’s castle and estate, learn the trade of one’s husband, learn a craft (even as nobility!), and to learn theology. She urges women to be smart, wise, cunning, and economical. Yes, she also advises women to be humble, obedient, quiet, and meek, but the loud foolishness women today post online certainly does not help them. A little humbleness in our society would be a good cure to many evils.
I highly recommend this book to both men and women middle school and up as wisdom literature. Yes, it is good as a primary source for learning about the middle ages too, but if you read this and apply its principles in the same way as reading Confucious or Aristotle, you will have a better life.
What do you think?