I, Christine, replied: ‘Now that you mention it, my lady, it occurs to me that I’ve definitely seen other women act like this. No matter what it is they find out, they carry on loving their husbands and being pleasant to them, even helping and looking after the women their husbands make pregnant, despite the fact that their husbands are so disloyal to them. In particular, I’ve heard about a lady from Brittany, the countess of Coëmen, who died recently whilst still in the flower of her youth: she was the loveliest of women and acted just like this with exemplary kindness and loyalty.’
21. About Xanthippe, wife of the philosopher Socrates.
‘The honourable lady Xanthippe was a very wise and virtuous woman who married the great philosopher Socrates. Though he was already very old and spent more time poring over his books than buying his wife little treats and presents, the good lady never stopped loving him. Indeed, she thought so highly of his extraordinary wisdom, as well as his great goodness and steadfastness, that she loved him very deeply and took enormous pride in him. When the brave and noble Xanthippe learnt that the Athenians had sentenced her husband to death for having attacked their practice of worshipping idols and for claiming that there was only one god whom they should honour and serve, she was unable to control her emotions. Rushing out into the street with her hair all undone and racked with sobbing, she fought her way into the palace where her husband was being held and found him surrounded by the treacherous judges who were already handing him the cup of poison that would end his life. She came into the room just as Socrates had raised the cup to his lips and was about to drink the poison, whereupon she dashed it from his hands and spilt all the liquid on to the floor. Socrates chided her for this and tried to comfort her by telling her to have patience. Unable to do anything to prevent his death, she gave full vent to her sorrow, crying, “What a crime and a great loss it is to kill such a good man! What a sin and an injustice!” Socrates kept on trying to console her, explaining that it was better to be wrongfully put to death than to have deserved one’s punishment. So he died, but throughout the rest of her life his loving wife never stopped grieving for him in her heart.’
22. About Pompeia Paulina, Seneca’s wife.
‘Despite being very old and totally preoccupied with his studies, the wise philosopher Seneca was greatly loved by his young and beautiful wife, who was called Pompeia Paulina. This noble lady’s only thoughts were of serving her husband and of creating a tranquil place for him to work, for she loved him dearly and with great loyalty. When she learnt that the tyrant, the Emperor Nero, who had been Seneca’s pupil, had sentenced his old teacher to bleed to death in a bath, she went out of her mind with anguish. Wanting to die along with her husband, she went and screamed obscenities at Nero in order to make him punish her in the same way. All her efforts were in vain, but she was so struck down with grief at her husband’s death that she only outlived him by a short time.’
I, Christine, interrupted Rectitude, saying, ‘Most worthy lady, your words have certainly made me think of many other examples of young and beautiful women who adored their husbands even though they were old and ugly. In my own lifetime, I’ve seen plenty of women who cherished their lords and were loyal and loving towards them for the whole of their lives. One such noble lady, the daughter of one of the great barons of Brittany, was given in marriage to the valiant Constable of France, my lord Bertrand du Guesclin. Though he was old and physically very ugly whilst this lady was in the flower of her youth, she none the less set greater store by his virtuous qualities than by his appearance, loving him so deeply that she grieved for his death as long as she lived. I could cite many other similar cases but I’ll leave it there for now.’
Rectitude replied, ‘I can well believe it. I’ll now tell you more about women who were devoted to their husbands.’
23. About the noble Sulpicia.
‘Sulpicia was the wife of Lentulus Cruscellio, a Roman nobleman, who clearly showed just how much she loved her husband. The judges of Rome sentenced him to spend the rest of his life in exile and poverty for certain crimes of which he had been accused. Despite being a very wealthy Roman lady who could have carried on living in the lap of luxury, surrounded by every comfort, the devoted Sulpicia preferred to follow her husband into penury and banishment rather than lead a pampered existence without him. She thus decided to give up all her inheritance and possessions and leave her native land. Her family put her under close guard but she managed to give them the slip by disguising herself and going off to join her husband.’
I, Christine, said, ‘Yes, my lady, it occurs to me from what you’ve been saying about these women that I too have seen similar cases amongst my contemporaries. There are some I’ve known whose husbands have fallen ill with leprosy and had to be isolated from the world and sent to a leper colony. Their honourable wives have refused to leave them, preferring to go and look after them in their sickness and to respect the marriage vows they have sworn rather than stay behind in their comfortable houses without their husbands. Right now I know of one woman, a kind, young and lovely person, whose husband is suspected of having this illness. Though her parents are advising and urging her to leave him and live with them, she has told them that if he is taken to a doctor and found to have the disease, which will mean that he will have to be sent away, she intends to go with him. Her parents have had to agree to let him be seen by a doctor.
‘Likewise, I know of other women, though I’ll not give you their names because they might not want me to, whose husbands are so despicable and degenerate in their ways that the wives’ parents wish they were dead and try everything they can to persuade their daughters to leave their dreadful husbands and to live with them instead. Yet these women do not abandon their husbands, preferring to be beaten and badly fed, to go penniless and be treated like drudges by them, saying to their family, “Since you chose him for me, I intend to live and die at his side.” Such things are everyday occurrences, but no one remarks upon it.’
24. About several ladies who, together, saved their husbands from execution.
‘Along with all these ladies who dearly loved their husbands, I want to tell you about one particular group of women. It so happened that, after Jason had gone to Colchis to win the Golden Fleece, some of the knights he had brought with him, who were originally from a town in Greece called Orchomenos, decided to leave their native land and settle in another Greek city by the name of Lacedaemonia. They were welcomed with great honour, as much for their noble lineage as for their great wealth. There they married various high-born girls of the city. They increased their fortune and status so rapidly and became so swollen with pride that they decided to plot against the rulers of the city and to seize power for themselves. However, their plans were discovered and they were thrown into prison and sentenced to death. Their wives were devastated by what had happened and they gathered together as if to meet in mourning, though in fact it was to see if they could find a way to save their husbands.
‘In the end, they agreed amongst themselves that they would all dress up one night in their oldest clothes, wrapping their faces in cloaks so as not to be recognized. They then went off to the prison dressed like this and, with tears in their eyes, bribed the guards with gifts and promised rewards to let them see their husbands. Once they were alone with them, they made their husbands put on their clothes whilst they took the ones that the men had been wearing. They then sent their husbands out and the guards mistook them for the women leaving to go home. On the day that the prisoners were due to be killed, the jailers came to take them to the place of execution. When it was discovered that it was the wives of the condemned men, everyone was amazed by their clever trick and sang their praises. The townspeople took pity on their daughters, all of whom were spared. Thus these brave ladies saved their husbands from death.’
25. Christine speaks to Lady Rectitude about those who claim that women cannot keep a secret. In her reply, Rectitude talks about Portia, Cato’s daughter.
‘My lady, I am now totally convinced of what I have often seen for myself: many women of both the past and the present have clearly shown their husbands how much they love them and are devoted to them. That’s why I’m so puzzled by a saying which is very common amongst men, including Master Jean de Meun in his Romance of the Rose, as well as other writers, that a man should avoid telling a woman anything which he wants kept secret because women are incapable of keeping their mouths shut.’
Rectitude replied, ‘My dear friend, as you are aware, not all women are necessarily very wise and neither are all men. Therefore, if a man has any sense, he should judge for himself if his wife is trustworthy and well-meaning before he tells her anything in confidence, because it could have dangerous consequences. Any man who knows that his wife is dependable, careful and discreet can rest assured that there is no other creature in the world whom he can trust more implicitly nor on whom he can rely so completely.
‘On the question of whether women are as indiscreet as some maintain, we also come back to the issue of wives who loved their husbands. The noble Brutus of Rome, who was married to Portia, certainly did not subscribe to this opinion. This fine lady, Portia, was the daughter of Cato the Younger, the nephew of Cato the Elder. Knowing how wise and virtuous she was, her husband did not hesitate to tell her that he and Cassius, another Roman nobleman, planned to kill Julius Caesar in the senate. However, foreseeing that this deed would have terrible repercussions, the sensible lady did her best to dissuade her husband from carrying out his plan. She was so disturbed by the thought of what he intended to do that she was unable to sleep at all that night. The next morning, as Brutus left the bedroom to go off and execute his plan, in a desperate attempt to stop him, Portia seized a barber’s razorblade as if to clip her fingernails with it and dropped it on the floor. She then reached down to pick it up again and deliberately dug it deep into her hand. Horrified by the sight of her wound, her ladies screamed so loudly that Brutus turned back. When he saw how she had cut herself, he scolded her and told her that it was a barber’s job to use the razor, not hers. She replied that she hadn’t acted as stupidly as he might think: she had done it on purpose in order to find out how to kill herself, should any harm come to him after he had carried out his plan. Still refusing to change his mind, Brutus left the house. Soon after, he and Cassius together killed Julius Caesar. They were sent into exile for what they had done and Brutus was subsequently murdered, even though he had already been banished from Rome. When his wife, Portia, learnt of his death, she was so distraught that she had no further desire to live. Since all the sharp instruments and knives had been taken away from her, because it was obvious what she intended to do, she went over to the fire and swallowed some live coals instead. The noble Portia thus killed herself by burning her insides, truly the strangest death that anyone has ever suffered.’
26. On the same subject: about the noble lady Curia.
‘I’ll give you some more examples which refute what those men say about women being unable to keep secrets, examples which are also part of the series of wives who bore a great love for their husbands.
‘Curia, a noble lady of Rome, who was as wise as she was loving, showed exemplary loyalty and devotion towards her husband, Quintus Lucretius. He and a group of other men were condemned to death for a certain crime of which they had been accused. Fortunately, they got wind of the fact that a warrant was out for their arrest and they all had time to make their escape. For fear of being discovered, they went to hide in some caves lived in by wild beasts, although even there they didn’t dare make a proper shelter for themselves. Lucretius was the only one who, instead, heeded his wife’s sensible advice and decided not to budge from his bedroom. When the men who were searching for him burst into the chamber, his wife wrapped her arms around him in bed and managed to hide him so convincingly that they didn’t realize he was there. She found a cunning hideaway for him in between the walls of the bedroom and none of her servants nor anyone else ever found him. She also cleverly covered her tracks by running up and down the streets, in and out of temples and churches, dressed in rags and with her hair all unkempt and face streaked with tears, wringing her hands as if she had lost her mind from grief. She rushed around searching everywhere for someone who might tell her what had happened to her husband or where he had gone, saying that wherever he was, she wanted to join him in exile and share his hardships. She put on such a convincing act that nobody ever guessed the truth. This was how she saved her husband and consoled him in his terrible distress. In short, she was able to deliver him from both exile and death.’
27. More on this subject.
‘Now that we’ve started to discuss examples which disprove what certain men have said about women being unable to hold their tongues, I could certainly give you countless more examples but will limit myself to just one.
‘At the time when the mighty Emperor Nero ruled over Rome, there was a group of men who thought that they would be doing the city a great service if they killed the emperor because of all the terrible atrocities and outrages he was committing. They decided to plot against him and to plan how best to assassinate him. These men met at the house of a woman whom they trusted so implicitly that they didn’t worry about discussing their plot in front of her. One night, when they had made up their minds that they were going to execute their plan the next day, they were eating at this lady’s house but didn’t watch carefully enough what they were saying. Unfortunately, they were spied on by someone who wanted to ingratiate himself with the emperor and so went straight to Nero to tell him exactly what he had overheard. The conspirators had scarcely left the woman’s house when the emperor’s officers arrived at her door. Finding none of the men there, they took the woman to the emperor, who questioned her at great length about the plot. However, Nero was unable to make her tell him who the men were or even admit that she knew anything about it either by promising her rewards or by submitting her to prolonged torture. She thus proved herself to be extremely loyal and trustworthy.’
28. Proof against those who claim that only an idiot takes his wife’s advice or puts his trust in her. Christine asks some questions to which Rectitude replies.
‘My lady, having heard your arguments and seen for myself how sensible and dependable women are, I’m amazed that some people claim that only a stupid idiot listens to his wife and trusts her advice.’
Rectitude replied, ‘I pointed out to you earlier that not all women are wise. However, those men who do have responsible, trustworthy wives are fools if they refuse to put their faith in them. You can see this from what I’ve just told you: if Brutus had let Portia persuade him not to assassinate Julius Caesar, he himself would not have been killed and he could have avoided causing all the harm that was subsequently done. Whilst we’re on this subject, I’ll tell you about certain other men who suffered the consequences of not listening to their spouses. Afterwards, I’ll go on to give you some examples where the husbands did well to take their wives’ advice.
‘If Julius Caesar, whom we’ve just mentioned, had trusted his sensible and intelligent wife, who had seen various signs foretelling her husband’s assassination and had a terrible dream about it the night before, which made her do everything she could to try to stop him from going to the senate that day, he would not have gone and met his death.
‘The same can be said of Pompey, who first married Julia, daughter of Julius Caesar, as I told you before, and then took as his second wife another noble lady, by the name of Cornelia. Going back to what we were talking about earlier, this lady loved her husband so dearly that she refused to leave him, no matter what misfortune befell him. Even when he was forced to escape by sea after having been defeated in battle by Julius Caesar, this good lady Cornelia went with him and faced every danger at his side. When Pompey arrived at the kingdom of Egypt, the treacherous King Ptolemy pretended that he was glad to receive him, sending his people ahead to welcome Pompey although in fact their mission was to kill him. These pe
ople told Pompey to get back on board ship and leave everybody else ashore so as to lighten the vessel of its load and thus manoeuvre it more easily into port. Pompey was happy to comply with their wishes but his loyal wife tried to dissuade him from separating himself from all his men by doing so. Seeing that he wasn’t going to change his mind, she tried to jump back on to the ship with him because she suspected deep down that something was amiss. However, he wouldn’t allow her to do so and had to have her held back by force. That was the point at which all this lady’s sorrow began, a sorrow which was to haunt her all her life. No sooner had her husband sailed only a short way out than, having never taken her eyes off him for a second, she saw him being killed by the traitors on board. She was so distraught that she would have thrown herself into the sea if she hadn’t been restrained.
‘Likewise, the same sort of misfortune struck the worthy Hector of Troy. The night before he was killed, his wife Andromache had a most extraordinary dream which told her that if Hector went into battle the next day he would surely lose his life. Horrified by what she took to be not simply a nightmare but a true prophecy,4 this lady went down on her knees and begged her husband with hands joined together in supplication not to join the fighting that day, even bringing their two lovely children before him in her arms. However, he took no notice of her words, thinking that he would bring irreparable dishonour on himself if he allowed a woman’s advice to stop him from going into combat. Neither was he moved by his mother’s and father’s entreaties after Andromache had asked them to intercede on her behalf. It thus all happened exactly as she had said and it would have been better for Hector if he had listened to her because he was killed by Achilles in battle.
The Book of the City of Ladies Page 18
