Die Dame Vernunft und das Schreiben von Geschichte / Lady Reason and the Writing of History

Le livre de la cité des dames (The Book of the City of Women) by the French writer and philosopher Christine de Pizan (1364-ca. 1430) is one of the most widely read writings of the early 15th century and is considered one of the first feminist works of European literature. As the fruit of the immense reading activity of a highly educated author, it reflects the intellectual and socio-political debates of its time and also testifies in its book aesthetics that Christine de Pizan was intent on disseminating her word and image compositions in a multi-layered as well as self-confident form. The multidisciplinary examination of the complex research field of "Christine de Pizan" continues unabated to this day. The art historian and philosopher Monika Leisch-Kiesl, well versed in historical gender research and an expert in the field of book illumination, now succeeds in a convincing way in taking the viewer-reader into the often surprising world of thought of a young woman writer at the French court at the beginning of the Renaissance. In doing so, she also emphasises the utopian potential of the 15th-century Parisian poet, which is still effective today. Moreover, Sibylle Ryser's extraordinary and congenial book design sets a jewel of medieval book art - in an edition that is also bilingual - in an illuminating dialogue with its scholarly analysis. VOICES ON THE BOOK “Monika Leisch-Kiesl manages to cast scholarly writing in a style that is also addressed to a to a readership beyond expert circles (...) The combination of image and text make this publication itself a comprehensive artistic composition. Monika Leisch-Kiesl’s transdisciplinary work can be recommended to anyone interested in history, art history, philosophy, theology or feminist gender studies. The book has a few more surprises in store, and will certainly bring astonishment to the faces of many readers.” (Raphaela Hemetsberger, ThPQ 170/2022)