The Book of the City of Ladies

by Christine Pizan

  I, Christine, then said, ‘My lady, from what you’ve told me, these ladies were no less chaste for all their attractiveness, whereas lots of men claim that it is hard to find a lovely woman who is also pure.’

  Rectitude replied, ‘Those who say this are telling it all wrong: there always have been and there always will be women who are just as spotless as they are beautiful.’

  42. Against those who assert that there are very few chaste and attractive women: the example of Mariamme.

  ‘Mariamme, a Hebrew woman, was the daughter of King Aristobulus. She was so lovely that, at the time, it was thought not only that she surpassed all other women in beauty, but also that she was more of a godlike and heavenly creature than a mere mortal woman. Her portrait was painted and sent to Mark Antony, King of Egypt, who, when he saw how lovely she was, declared that she must be the daughter of the god Jupiter himself, for he could not believe that this lady could be the child of any ordinary human being. Despite the fact that many great princes and kings were tempted by her stunning looks to try to seduce her, Mariamme resisted them all, thanks to her great virtue and tremendous courage, which only increased her fine reputation further. This was all the more to her credit considering that she was very unhappily married to Herod Antipater, king of the Jews. He was a terribly cruel man who had earlier had her own brother killed. For this reason, and for other atrocities which he committed, she bore him nothing but hatred. However, she never stopped being a faithful and honourable wife for all that, even when she found out that he had decreed that she should be put to death immediately if he died before she did, so that after him no one else would enjoy her great beauty.’

  43. More on this subject: the example of Antonia, wife of Drusus Tiberius.

  ‘It’s often said that it’s very hard for a beautiful woman to keep herself inviolate and to fend off the attentions of young men and courtiers who are eager to have affairs: it’s like being in the midst of flames without getting burnt. The virtuous Antonia, wife of Drusus Tiberius, who was the brother of the Emperor Nero, was one such woman who knew how to defend herself. Whilst she was still a dazzlingly beautiful woman in the bloom of youth, this noble lady was plunged into grief by the loss of her husband, Tiberius, whom Nero poisoned to death. Having resolved to live a chaste life as a widow and never to marry again, this lady respected this vow for as long as she lived and was more highly commended for her exemplary virtue than any other pagan woman. Boccaccio states that she was especially deserving of praise considering that she lived at court surrounded by handsome, elegant and attractive young men who led an indolent and hedonistic existence. She spent her life free of criticism for even the least little hint of immoderation. Boccaccio goes on to say that Antonia was particularly worthy of acclaim, being not only a young and supremely beautiful woman but also the daughter of Mark Antony, a man who lived an extremely dissolute and disreputable life. Despite the dreadful behaviour she could see all around her, she preserved her chastity intact throughout her life, right up until she died of old age. Never once was she burnt by the flames of sensuality.

  ‘I could find you many other such examples of chaste and beautiful women who lived a worldly existence at court, constantly prey to the attentions of young men. Even today, you can be sure that there are plenty of women like this, no matter what wagging tongues may say to the contrary. This is just as well, for it seems to me that at no other time in history have there ever been as many gossips as there are nowadays, nor so many men who are constantly ready to slander women without reason. I can’t help wondering whether if all the lovely, innocent ladies of the past whom I’ve just mentioned to you were living now, they would be roundly attacked by envious tongues, as opposed to receiving the kind of praise which their contemporaries lavished on them in antiquity.

  ‘To come back to what we were saying about virtuous, untainted women who led an honest existence, despite the fact that they frequented those who were extremely worldly, Valerius discusses the noble Sulpicia, an extraordinarily beautiful lady who, of all the women in Rome, was none the less considered to be the most chaste.’

  44. In order to contradict those who claim that women want to be raped, here begins a series of examples, the first of which is Lucretia.

  I, Christine, then said, ‘My lady, I fully believe what you say and I’m sure that there are many beautiful women who are upright, decent and fully able to protect themselves from the traps laid by seducers. It therefore angers and upsets me when men claim that women want to be raped and that, even though a woman may verbally rebuff a man, she won’t in fact mind it if he does force himself upon her. I can scarcely believe that it could give women any pleasure to be treated in such a vile way.’

  Rectitude replied, ‘My dear friend, you can be sure that women who are chaste and lead a moral existence would find no pleasure in being raped. On the contrary, they think that it is the worst thing that could possibly happen to them. There are several examples, such as that of Lucretia, which prove that this is definitely the case. Lucretia, a high-born lady of Rome and, indeed, the most virtuous of all Roman women, was married to a nobleman called Tarquinius Collatinus. Unfortunately, Tarquin the Proud, son of King Tarquin, was deeply smitten with the great Lucretia. Having seen with his own eyes how supremely chaste she was, he didn’t dare approach her directly. Despairing of being able to persuade her with bribes and entreaties, he plotted how to win her by trickery. He therefore pretended to be a close friend of her husband’s, which meant that he was able to come and go as he pleased in her house. One day, when he knew that her husband was absent, he was welcomed most honourably by his noble hostess, as befitted a guest whom she took to be her husband’s great friend. That night, Tarquin, who had other ideas, scared Lucretia out of her wits when he broke into her bedroom. In short, having made her numerous promises of gifts and presents if she would do what he wanted, he saw that pleading with her was getting him nowhere. He therefore pulled out his sword and threatened to kill her if she made a sound or refused to give herself to him. She told him to go ahead and kill her because she preferred to die rather than submit to his advances. When he realized that his threats were all in vain, Tarquin came up with another despicable ruse, declaring that he would let it be known publicly that he had found her with one of her servants. To cut a long story short, the thought that he would do such a thing so appalled her that she finally gave in to him.

  ‘Yet Lucretia was unable to bear this awful offence with resignation. When morning came, she went to find her husband, father and close relatives, who were all the most prominent citizens of Rome. With great sobs and moans, she confessed to them the deed that had been perpetrated on her. As her husband and family were trying to comfort her in her terrible distress, she drew out a knife from under her gown, saying: “Though I can absolve myself of sin and prove myself innocent this way, I can’t get rid of my suffering and pain: henceforth no woman need live in shame and dishonour because of what has been done to me.” With these words, she plunged the knife deep into her breast and immediately fell down dead in front of her husband and his friends. Like madmen, they all rushed after Tarquin. The whole of Rome was incensed by what had happened: they deposed the king and would have killed his son if they had caught him. After that, Rome never had another king. Some say that because of the outrage done to Lucretia, a law was passed which sentenced to death any man who raped a woman, a law which is moral, fitting and just.’

  45. On this same subject: the example of the queen of the Galatians.

  ‘The story of the noble queen of the Galatians, wife of King Ortiagon, is an apt example to illustrate this argument. During the time that Rome was engaged in its great conquests of foreign lands, the king of the Galatians and his wife were taken prisoner by the Romans. During their captivity, one of the generals of the Roman army who was keeping them prisoner became infatuated with the noble queen, who was not only beautiful and modest but also virtuous and chaste. He pleaded with her at great length and tr
ied to bribe her with gifts, but, seeing that his entreaties were having no effect, he forced himself upon her. The queen was so distressed by this outrage that she couldn’t stop thinking about how to avenge herself upon him. She therefore bided her time and hid her feelings until the right moment came. When the ransom arrived which would free the king and herself, the lady insisted that the money should be handed over in her presence to the general who was holding them captive. She advised him to weigh the gold to make sure that he was being given the right amount and not being cheated. Whilst he was busy checking the ransom money and when none of his men were present, the lady picked up a knife, slit his throat and killed him. She then cut off his head and, without a hint of remorse, took it to show her husband, telling him exactly what had happened to her and how she had taken her revenge.’

  46. Still on this same subject: the examples of the Sicambrians, and of several virgins.

  ‘I can give you examples of many married women who were unable to bear their anguish at being raped. I could also tell you as much again about widows and virgins. Hyppo, a Greek woman, was kidnapped by the sailors and pirates who were enemies of her country. As she was a very beautiful woman, they made her all sorts of advances. Seeing that she was unable either to escape or to avoid being raped, Hyppo was so horrified and dismayed at this prospect that she preferred to die. She therefore threw herself overboard and was drowned.

  ‘Likewise, during one of their raids on Rome, the Sicambrians (or the Franks, as they’re now known) attacked the city with a huge army and a great host of people. Thinking that they would succeed in destroying the city, the Sicambrians had brought their wives and children along with them. However, the battle suddenly turned against them. When their wives realized this, they agreed that they would rather die defending their honour than be defiled, for they were well aware that, as was then the custom, they were very likely to be raped, every last one of them. They therefore barricaded themselves behind their carts and chariots and took up arms against the Romans. They defended themselves as best they could, killing many of the enemy. Yet, in the end, almost all of them were slaughtered. Those who were still alive begged the Romans on bended knees to spare them from dishonour and to allow them to spend the rest of their days serving in the temple of the Vestal Virgins. On hearing that their request would not be granted, they all decided to kill themselves rather than be raped.

  ‘Likewise, on the subject of virgins, there was Virginia, the noble Roman maiden, whom the corrupt judge Claudius tried to win first by trickery and then by force when he realized that pleading with her was useless. Though she was only a very young girl, she thought it preferable to kill herself than to be taken against her will.

  ‘Likewise, there was a city in Lombardy whose lord was killed by the enemy. The lord’s daughters, who were very beautiful girls, were so convinced they would be raped that they found a very unusual way to defend themselves, for which they should be applauded. They took raw chicken meat and tucked it between their breasts. The meat soon went off in the heat and so, when the enemy approached them, they smelt the stench and left them alone, saying: “My God, these Lombard women really stink!” Thanks to their foul smell, these women kept themselves very fragrant.’

  47. Proofs to refute the view that women are lacking in constancy: Christine asks questions, to which Rectitude replies with various examples of emperors who were unreliable and inconsistent.

  ‘My lady, the women you’ve been talking about were certainly extremely steadfast, resolute and faithful. Could one say as much of even the strongest men who ever lived? Yet, of all the vices that men, and especially authors, accuse women of possessing, they are unanimous that the female sex is unstable and fickle, frivolous, flighty and weak-minded, as impressionable as children and completely lacking in resolution. Are men therefore so unwavering that it is utterly unheard of for them to vacillate, given that they criticize women for being so unreliable and changeable? If, in fact, they themselves are lacking in constancy, it’s totally unacceptable for them to accuse others of having the same failing or to insist that others should possess a virtue which they themselves do not.’

  Rectitude’s reply was, ‘My dear sweet friend, haven’t you heard the common saying that fools are very quick to spot the mote in their neighbour’s eye but slow to see the beam in their own?5 I’ll show you just how unreasonable it is for men to criticize women for being inconstant and capricious. Their argument goes like this. First, they all assume that women are by nature weak. Then, having accused women of weakness, they presumably think themselves to be constant, or at least that women are not as constant as they are. Yet it’s undeniable that they expect far greater constancy from women than they themselves can muster. Though they consider themselves to be so strong and to be made of such noble stuff, they’re unable to stop themselves from falling prey to some awful vices and failings. Nor is this by any means always out of ignorance. Indeed, it’s often down to deliberate bad intentions, because they’re well aware that they’re committing a sin. But they then excuse themselves, saying that to err is to be human. However, should a woman fall into error, usually thanks to a man’s incessant scheming, lo and behold, they declare this to be due to women’s innate weakness and inconstancy. Considering that they think women are so feeble, they should, rightly speaking, show greater tolerance of female frailty and not accuse women of dreadful sins that they consider to be only minor peccadilloes when they themselves are guilty of them. For there is no law, no written text, which says that they are allowed to sin more than women, or that their vices are any more excusable. None the less, they in fact give themselves such moral authority that, far from letting women get away with anything, they fall over themselves to impute to the female sex all manner of crimes and offences. Neither do they give women any credit for being strong and steadfast in the face of such awful criticisms. So, whatever the argument is, men have it both ways and always turn out to be in the right. You yourself have discussed this at length in your Letter of the God of Love.

  ‘You asked me earlier whether men are so upright and worthy that they are justified in accusing others of inconstancy. I would say that if you examine human history from antiquity up to the present day, taking evidence from books and from both what you have seen with your own eyes in the past and what you can still see all around you today, and looking at men not just from the lower or uneducated classes but also from the upper classes, you can judge for yourself what perfection, strength and constancy they’ve displayed! This is the case with the vast majority of men, though there are some, thank heavens, who are wise, strong and steadfast.

  ‘If you want me to give you examples of male inconstancy from the recent and distant past, since men persist in attacking women for this failing as if their own hearts were never subject to instability or change, just look at the behaviour of the most powerful princes and the most eminent men, in whom these are more dangerous faults than in others. Not to mention how many emperors are guilty of these things! I ask you, was the mind of a woman ever as weak, fearful, pathetic and frivolous as that of the Emperor Claudius? He was so unstable that whatever he ordered one minute, he reversed the next. It was impossible to take him at his word and he agreed with anything anybody said. In a fit of mad cruelty, he had his wife killed, and then, that night, he asked why she wasn’t coming to bed! To those of his friends whom he had beheaded, he sent word that they should come and play with him! He was so lacking in courage that he lived in a constant state of fear and was unable to trust anyone. What can I tell you? Every kind of moral and mental debility was to be found in this atrocious emperor. But why am I just talking about this particular one? Was he the only ruler to sit on the imperial throne who was prey to such weakness? Was the Emperor Tiberius any better? Wasn’t he more guilty of inconstancy, changeability and immorality than any woman has ever been?’

  48. About Nero.

  ‘Whilst we’re on the subject of emperors, what about Nero? It was glaringly obviou
s just how unstable and weak he was. Initially he was very laudable and made an effort to please everyone. Soon, however, his lechery, cruelty and greed knew no bounds. The better to indulge his vices, he would often arm himself at night and go off with his partners in crime to seek out places of depravity and corruption, amusing himself by running round town gratifying his obscene desires. As a pretext for committing his foul deeds, Nero would bump into people in the street and, if they said anything, he would attack them and kill them. He broke into taverns and brothels and raped women, on one occasion narrowly escaping death at the hands of a man whose wife he had raped. He organized lewd bathing parties and feasts that lasted all night. He would order first one thing and then another, as his capricious fancies took him. Nero indulged in all sorts of carnal pleasures, excesses and perversions, and there were no limits to his arrogance and extravagance. He loved those who were wicked and persecuted those who were virtuous. He was complicit in the murder of his father and he later had his own mother killed. When she was dead, he ordered her body to be opened up so that he could see where he had been conceived. Seeing her like that, Nero declared that she had once been a truly beautiful woman. He killed Octavia, his first wife, who was a fine lady, and took a second one, whom he loved at first but then had her murdered as well. He also ordered the death of Claudia, who had been the wife of his predecessor, since she refused to marry him. Nero similarly had his stepson killed when he was not yet seven years old purely because it was said of the boy that, when he was at play, his behaviour was obviously that of the son of an emperor.

  ‘Nero’s teacher Seneca, the noble philosopher, was also put to death by the emperor’s orders, for he was unable to contain his shame at what was going on before his very eyes. Nero poisoned his prefect by pretending to give him a cure for his toothache. Likewise, he gave poisoned food and drink to the noblest of his princes and to the most venerable and illustrious of his barons, who exercised a great deal of power. Not only did he murder his aunt and seize all her wealth, but he also destroyed all the most notable families of Rome and drove them into exile, killing all their children in the process. He trained a ferocious Egyptian man to eat human flesh so that he could feed him living victims to devour. What can I tell you? It would be impossible to relate all his appalling crimes or the full extent of his foul wickedness. To cap it all, he set Rome on fire and let it burn for six whole days and nights. Many people died in this terrible catastrophe, whilst he stood singing on his tower, watching the inferno rage through the city and taking enormous delight in the beauty of the flames. At his dinner table, he had Saints Peter and Paul beheaded, as well as many other martyrs. For fourteen years he continued in this fashion until the Romans could finally take no more and rebelled against him. In his despair, he took his own life.’