Christine de Pizan et son époque: actes du colloque international des 9, 10 et 11 décembre 2011 à Amiens by Danielle Buschinger et al. (review)

The current vogue of unrelenting interest in Christine de Pizan has fulfilled Martin Le Franc's prediction that her fame would endure for ever. This publication is particularly revealing, in that it is one of an increasing number of monographs on Christine unrelated to the triennial colloquia of the International Christine de Pizan Society. The twenty-one articles (plus one varia contribution by Agata Sobczyk on Gautier de Coinci) reflect a wide variety of interests, constituting a distinguished tribute to the dedicatee, Liliane Dulac. Olivier Delsaux, the late Gilbert Ouy, Christine Reno, and Inès Villela-Petit deploy collective detective work in arguing that Chantilly, MSS Condé 492-493 constitute the first 'Queen's manuscript'. Iconography is represented by Anne-Marie Barbier on the fusion of secular and profane in the Epistre d'Othea, and by Olga Vassilieva-Codognet on alterations made to miniatures in the Mutacion. Two of the six textual studies are particularly welcome, as they deal respectively with as yet unedited works: the Heures de contemplation (Liliane Dulac and Earl Jeffrey Richards) and Prudence (Barbara Falleiros); the others concern the German and English Fais d'armes (Danielle Buschinger), the Cité des dames (Maria Alessandra Soleti), and the Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (Claire Le Ninan on national cohesion, Muriel Schmid on prophecy). Four studies are literary-historical in approach: Tracy Adams challenges the view that Christine became disillusioned with Louis d'Orléans in the early 1400s; Thierry Lassabatère argues that cross-comparisons of Du Guesclin and Louis II de Bourbon show that, for Christine, their exploits redound not to their own glory but to that of the monarchy; Bernard Ribémont carries out a perceptive reassessment of a 1378 trial, arguing that Christine may have felt more at ease with justice in the abstract rather than in practice; Lori Walters examines the didactic purpose underlying Philippe le Hardi's loan to Queen Isabeau of the Grandes chroniques. The remaining eight contributions are all thematically based: Thelma Fenster on Jewish history in the Mutacion, Ana Pairet on Circe, Malgorzata Posturzyńska-Bosko on associative anaphora, Delphine Reix on justice, E. Jeffrey Richards on the word 'tyrant', Shigemi Sasaki on fame, Anna Slerca on the folklore roots of the theme of rival contenders, and Friedrich Wolfzettel on feminine discourse. While admiring the ingenuity with which Schmid reads the Ditié's prophetic dimension in the light of Isaiah, some readers will remain uneasy about the importance attached to 'crier Noël' (which just means to 'shout words of welcome', particularly on royal occasions, irrespective of season) and the selective nature of some of the evidence (Isaiah 43. 2b is quoted, but not 43. 2a). There are frequent misprints (e.g. p. 55, read Fig. 5; p. 190, read ornithologique), although only a few hinder comprehension (e.g. p. 167, for Science read Sciene, for fleur read fleuri). Despite the claim made on p. 232 to the contrary, there is a modern edition of the Cité des dames. No doubt cost considerations explain the densely printed pages, but a slightly larger font for main and footnote text would have been welcome.