The Book of the Body Politic

Description

Christine de Pizan was born in Venice and raised in Paris at the court of Charles V of France. Widowed at the age of twenty-five, she turned to writing as a source of comfort and income, and went on to produce a remarkable series of books, including poetry, politics, chivalry, warfare, religion and philosophy. She is considered to be France's first female professional writer. This was the first translation into modern English of Christine de Pizan's major political work, The Book of the Body Politic. Written during the Hundred Years' War, it discusses the education and behaviour appropriate for princes, nobility and common people, so that all classes can understand their responsibilities towards society as a whole. A product of a time of civil unrest, The Book of the Body Politic offers a medieval political theory of interdependence and social responsibility from the perspective of an educated woman. 01.0_pp_i_viii_Frontmatter 02.0_pp_ix_x_Contents 03.0_pp_xi_xii_Acknowledgments 04.0_pp_xiii_xxiv_Introduction 05.0_pp_xxv_xxv_Note_on_the_Text 06.0_pp_xxvi_xxviii_Principal_events_in_Christine_de_Pizans_life 07.0_pp_xxix_xxxi_Bibliography 08.0_pp_xxxii_xlii_Glossary 09.0_pp_1_2_The_Book_of_the_Body_Politic 09.1_pp_3_57_On_Princes 09.2_pp_58_89_On_Nobles_and_Knights 09.3_pp_90_110_On_the_Common_People 10.0_pp_111_113_Index 11.0_pp_114_118_Cambridge_Texts_in_the_History_of_Political_Thought