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Dominican University of California

Paris and Patronage: Christine De Pizan and Her Writer's Market

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>Christine de Pizan (c. 1364-1431), known as the first professional female French author, was successful in becoming a professional writer because she understood the medieval manuscript business in Paris, she knew the aristocrats and royalty who might buy her works, and she knew how to market her work to her prospective patrons. As a young widowed mother in Paris, Christine built a career as an author not just to support her family but to build fame and espouse her views on the importance of education, moral conduct, personal responsibility, and women’s place in history. This study investigates the significance of the city of Paris in Christine’s career, the important events in her life, and the content of some of her diverse writings, such as The Letter of Othea, The Book of the City of Ladies, and The Book of the Body Politic, to show how she successfully marketed her work, earning her a unique position in history.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts
Level thesis:degree_level
Master's Thesis
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Humanities
Year
2000

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Sawyer, Cynthia J.
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Patricia Dougherty, OP, PhD
  • Leslie Ross, PhD

Subjects

dc:subject × 2

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:scholar.dominican.edu:humanities-print-theses-1221

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Dominican University of California
Base URL
scholar.dominican.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Sawyer, Cynthia J.. Paris and Patronage: Christine De Pizan and Her Writer's Market. Master's Thesis thesis, 2000. https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/222