
TIMELINE & RECOMMENDED READING

WORDS TO KNOW BEFORE THE SHOW
ALLEGORY – A form of literature, popular in the Middle Ages, that joined biblical and classical traditions together in a story which often had a hidden or double meaning. Various human qualities and virtues could be depicted as male or female characters in the story.
TRÉBUCHET – A military device for hurling stones, arrows, etc. Often used in a siege to launch stones and other objects over a wall onto a city under attack, it originated in China.
CHIVALRY - A code of behavior and training for knights in the Middle Ages, emphasizing correct conduct in war and in everyday life, with an emphasis on courtesy towards women.
CLERIC - Member of a religious order. Clerics played significant roles in education and government because of their ability to read and write Latin.
DITIÉ - Term from Old French meaning a composition or poem, which might be spoken aloud. From the Latin words for “to dictate” and “to speak.”
HUMANISM – A philosophical movement influenced by Classical literature and centered in Italy during the 15th Century. Emphasis was on education for everyone in order to create more autonomous and free-thinking individuals, which in turn would encourage them to behave prudently and virtuously in society.
LOMBARD – Medieval French term for an Italian person; many Italians living in Paris were originally from the region of Lombardy.
MANTLE - A loose sleeveless cloak or cape, worn especially by women.
ROMANCE - A book in prose and/or verse, with the story usually centering on themes of love and courtly manners, popular in the Middle Ages.
SURCOAT – A sleeveless over-dress or outer coat of rich material.
VIRELAY – A form of French verse with interlacing rhymes, having alternating long and short lines.
RECOMMENDED READING
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Christine de Pizan, Her Life and Works, Charity Cannon Willard, Persea Books, 1984.
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The Writings of Christine de Pizan, Charity Cannon Willard, Persea Books, 1994.
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The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan, Transl. Earl Jeffrey Richards, Persea Books, 1982
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The Vision of Christine de Pizan, Glenda McLeod & Charity Cannon Willard, D.S.Brewer, 2005
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Christine de Pizan and the Fight for France, Tracy Adams, Penn State Press, 2014
FURTHER READING
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Debating the Roman de la Rose, Christine McWebb, Editor, Routledge Medieval Texts, 2007.
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The Romance of the Rose, Guillaume de Loris, Jean de Meun, Transl. Francis Horgan, Oxford U. Press, 1994
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The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius, Transl. Victor Watts, Penguin Classics, Rev. Ed. 1999
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A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman, Random House Trade Paperbacks 2014
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Blood Royal, Eric Jager, Little, Brown and Company, 2014
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more to come...