The Hundred Years' War: Battle of Sluys from a manuscript of
Froissart's Chronicles, Bruge, c.1470
Christine de Pizan wrote Les Epistres sur le Roman de la Rose in the early years of the 15th century. This was a particularly trying time in France. Since the 1330s, the French had been involved in a series of conflicts with England that would later be dubbed the Hundred Years War. Though intense moments of fighting were followed by interludes of peace, these political struggles over the succession of the French monarchy divided France’s population.
The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, was also rampant during these times. Although the peak of this ravaging disease had been in
the mid-14th century, France’s population was still in decline in the early-1400s. At the time Christine de Pizan began her literary career, France was politically divided, militarily active, and decimated by the disease.
The bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, was also rampant during these times. Although the peak of this ravaging disease had been in
the mid-14th century, France’s population was still in decline in the early-1400s. At the time Christine de Pizan began her literary career, France was politically divided, militarily active, and decimated by the disease.Painting shows a scene of people suffering from
the Bubonic Plague in the 15th century from the
Toggenberg Bible. --- Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
For more information on the context see:
Renate Blumenfeld-Kosinski, "Christine De Pizan and the Political Life in Late Medieval Franc," in Christine De Pizan: A Casebook, ed. Altmann Barbara K. and Deborah L. McGrady (New York: Routledge, 2003), 14.; for more general information on France see Graeme Small, Late Medieval France (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), Chapter 4 “Royal France”.
