Newnham College : Christine de Pizan, Epistre Othea

Christine de Pizan [Pisan]

Newnham College

Although today, Christine de Pizan (d. c. 1430) is remembered primarily as the author of Le Livre de la Cité des Dames (Book of the City of Ladies), during her lifetime it was her Epistre Othea (Othea’s Letter) that was something of a bestseller. Christine authored the Epistre Othea sometime between 1399 and 1402. It survives in forty-seven medieval manuscripts and later copies. One of these medieval copies can be found in Newnham College MS 5. While this manuscript is undoubtedly of the fifteenth century, scholars disagree about when exactly it was made: Seymour de Ricci (1926) dates it to c. 1430, Gianni Mombello (1967) more broadly to the first half of the fifteenth century, Neil R. Ker (1977) to the middle of the fifteenth century, Rosamond McKitterick (2005) to the second quarter of the fifteenth century, and Sandra L. Hindman (1986) and Anne-Marie Barbier (2008) to the beginning of the fifteenth century. Hindman’s and Barbier’s early datings are supported by the identification of the manuscript’s likely illuminator as the artist of a copy of the Grandes Chroniques de France, now <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc49100z'>Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 2597</a>, that has been located to Paris and dated to c. 1400–1410 [Hedeman (1991), p. 189]. This not only suggests that Newnham College MS 5 dates to Christine’s lifetime but also to a period when she was overseeing the copying and illuminating of her works by a group of scribes and artists in Paris (c. 1399–1418). Six copies of the Epistre Othea are known to have been prepared under Christine’s supervision. These so-called ‘author-manuscripts’ date to c.1399–1414. But while Newnham College MS 5 theoretically could be another author-manuscript, there are indications that make it less likely that Christine was involved in this manuscript’s production.Form and LayoutThe first chapter to the Othea sets out the purpose of the text that follows—to instruct its recipient in the behaviour of a proper knight. The remaining ninety-nine chapters are made up of a mixture of poetry and commentary. The text is presented as an epistle delivered by Othea, Goddess of Wisdom, to the Trojan prince, Hector in a poetic form. Each section of poetry is accompanied by a miniature that depicts an assortment of divinities including Apollo, Minerva, and Bacchus, and mortals such as Pygmalion, Pasiphaë, Medea, and Arachne, among others. The two commentaries take the form of prose readings of the central text: on the left a "Glose", or gloss, providing explanations and contextual information to accompany the poem, and on the right an "Alegorie", or Christian allegorical reading ending with a line from Scripture in Latin.The text falls into the genre of a 'mirror for princes'; though these didactic texts designed to provide moral guidance for leaders often assumed a male readership, women are likely to have formed part of Christine de Pizan’s intended audience. The allegorical approach to Christianising ‘pagan’ Greek and Roman mythology can also be seen in the fourteenth-century Ovide Moralisé, Boccaccio’s De Genealogia Deorum and De Claris Mulieribus, and Chaucer’s Legend of Good Women. Texts relating to moral instruction, similar to Jacques Legrand’s Livre des bonnes mœurs, were popular too.As would become common in later Othea manuscripts, each chapter in this manuscript starts on a new page. This stands in contrast to Christine’s known author-manuscripts which, except for <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc510963'>Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS Français 848</a>, proceed continuously on the same page. The result is a presentation that is uniform across the manuscript’s individual pages but can be visually uneven as the elements of each chapter vary considerably in length, creating irregular gaps. Moreover, in contrast to most author-manuscripts that present the text in a two-column format, the Newnham manuscript features a three-column format. It shares this format with only two other copies of the Othea: <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc510963'>MS Français 848</a> (c. 1400) and <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://www.armarium-hautsdefrance.fr/document/18465'>Beauvais, Médiathèque municipale, MS 9</a> which, having only been dated to approximately 1410–1420, may be contemporary with the Newnham manuscript, although the miniatures in the Beauvais manuscript are believed to have been added at a later date [Barbier (2008), p. 283].In presenting the text in three columns, Newnham College MS 5 features narrow left and right columns and a wider central one. On certain folios, the ruling of the frames that delimit the three column areas can still be seen. These frames feature a central text area that is approximately 73mm wide, whilst the left and right columns are each 40mm wide. Despite being shorter, the verses that contain Othea’s advice are given primary importance, appearing in the wider, central column beneath an equally central image. The left-hand column presents the glose, which often stretches into the space beneath the verses in the central column if there is insufficient space otherwise (see f. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(13);return false;'>4r</a> as an example). The alegorie, which is usually shorter, then features in the right-hand column, although it too sometimes extends into the space beneath the verses if needed (for instance, see ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(56);return false;'>25v-27r</a>).Script and DecorationMaking a medieval manuscript required the skills of a number of craftspeople, from those who treated and prepared the parchment, to scribes, illustrators and illuminators, and, eventually, book binders. Newnham College MS 5 is no exception.Several decorative features serve to help a reader navigate this complex text and to emphasise the beauty of the manuscript. The three textual elements are clearly labelled (as in all manuscript copies of the Othea), in this case with vivid red rubrics. Although the rubrics above the columns feature different forms for the same letters (e.g. see the "A" in the sections devoted to "Alegorie" and "G" in the sections for "Glose" on ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(15);return false;'>5r</a>, <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(16);return false;'>5v</a>, <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(23);return false;'>9r</a>, <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(70);return false;'>32v</a>, and <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(108);return false;'>51v</a>), they were almost certainly added by one rubricator who may have used different letter forms for aesthetic reasons. The main body of the text is more consistent in its forms, and therefore also likely to be the work of a single scribe.In the first chapter, the rubric is somewhat worn, and parts of some letters have become removed from the surface of the parchment. This could be because the parchment undulates slightly where these letters are found, which might have caused them to become worn. Whilst the parchment is now somewhat discoloured throughout, it is noticeable that the first folio is particularly so and that the surface of folio <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(7);return false;'>1r</a> has become shiny through handling. This might also indicate that the manuscript was not bound for some time.Newnham College MS 5 contains 100 miniatures. The width of the miniatures is consistent, measuring approximately 70mm throughout, but their height varies slightly, ranging from 55 to 70mm. McKitterick describes them as "skilfully drawn pen-and-ink miniatures [...] whose colouring is restricted to washes in yellow, green, and blue". She refers to the artist’s style as "swift and sketch-like, so that the faces and gestures of the human figures are often animated and expressive" [McKitterick (2005), p. 269]. Tinted drawings are also seen in two later Othea manuscripts: <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://opac.kbr.be/LIBRARY/doc/SYRACUSE/10741566'>Bruxelles, KBR, MS 4373-76</a> (c. 1460) and <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://medieval.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/catalog/manuscript_1454'>Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Bodley 421</a> (dated only approximately to the third quarter of the fifteenth century).When comparing the miniatures of Newnham College MS 5 with those of the author-manuscripts, few similarities can be found. Only the miniatures on ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(13);return false;'>4r</a> and <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(108);return false;'>51v</a> bear a particular resemblance to those in the manuscripts overseen by the author (<a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://arca.irht.cnrs.fr/ark:/63955/md77sn00b53d'>Chantilly, Bibliothèque et archives du Château, MS 492</a>, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MSS Français <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc77937p'>606</a>, <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc510963'>848</a>, and <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://archivesetmanuscrits.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cc13026h'>12779</a>), and only a few are similar to those found in the latest copy that is known to have been prepared by Christine, now London, British Library, Harley MS 4431 (ff. 95r-141v), dating to c. 1410–1414. Elsewhere, although the composition of the images is different, elements familiar from the author-manuscripts have been rearranged in a simplified manner – characters who had been placed on different levels are presented side-by-side, for instance, and any background or landscape detail has been removed.Another difference between Newnham College MS 5 and the author-manuscripts is that it does not feature an opening miniature that shows Christine either as the Othea’s author or presenting her work to Louis I, Duke of Orléans. This makes the manuscript seemingly comparable to later copies of the work: as it was copied, first by the author and later by translators and notable authors such as Jean Miélot, the Othea’s iconographic programme and layout underwent various changes, and its female authorship was downplayed by erasing textual and visual references to Christine. Yet the absence of a portrait of Christine can be explained by the fact that this miniature typically accompanies the preface to the Othea, which is omitted in the Newnham manuscript. Instead, the Newnham manuscript begins at the first chapter of Othea, illustrated with a miniature of Hector receiving Othea’s letter. This miniature illustrates the first chapter in the author-manuscripts as well. Nevertheless, it is notable that Hector receives the letter from a male letter carrier in the Newnham manuscript whereas it is delivered to him directly by Othea in the author-manuscripts. It is possible that this focus on male protagonists is informed by an expected or intended male audience.Linguistic FeaturesThe linguistic features of the glosses and allegories indicate that this example of the Epistre Othea was copied in the northern, central part of France, and most likely in the region of Paris. This can be determined using the overwhelming preference for "et" over "e" (there is no noted presence of the Tironian "7") as a conjunction – in fact, there are very few abbreviations throughout, aside from those one might expect, such as contractions of "con"/"com" and "que". The scribe(s) also tends towards use of the adverb "moult" over "tres", use of the negation "pas" over "mie" and show the preference for -ieurs endings ("plusieurs", "seigneurs") over -ors/-urs that is typical of the region. Similarly, though not entirely consistent throughout, there is a general preference for -aage over -aige (though it should be noted that there is at least one example where both "sage" and "saige" are used). Given that spelling has not yet been fully standardised at this stage of the French language’s development, and the potential for two scribes to be at work on the manuscript or a single scribe who was influenced by the dialect of their exemplar, this is neither troubling nor prevalent enough to shift the hypothesis away from the general Parisian region.AudienceCopies of medieval texts created for a wider public are revealing in terms of how texts were adapted, copied and received by contemporary readers [Schieberle (2019)]. Luxury presentation copies such as Christine’s Harley manuscript were the preserve of only a few royal and noble readers, and therefore can only tell us so much about how readers responded to the Othea. Newnham College MS 5 may provide information about the work’s reception among a different stratum within medieval society. This is suggested by the fact that, as mentioned above, it does not (and never did) feature the dedication or preface that is present in most other copies of the text, launching straight into chapter one. The lack of dedication is one of several factors that suggest it was created for the marketplace in order to attract a bourgeois buyer, rather than prepared for a specific, noble individual.Furthermore, the illuminator seems to have had a particular taste for representing gorier details, often pared down in Christine’s manuscripts, as trails of red are often added to the miniatures to represent blood pouring out of wounds in rather dramatic ways (for instance, see ff. <a href='' onclick='store.loadPage(48);return false;'>21v-22r</a>). This appears to be the same ink as that used for the rubrications, making it possible that the addition of blood to the images was the work of the rubricator. Martha Breckenridge suggests that representations of increased violence such as these may link it to a bourgeois audience [Breckenridge (2008), p. 159].An Author-Manuscript?Following a description of various aspects of the manuscript, we can finally consider the question of whether or not it too could have been created in Christine’s own scriptorium. As noted, while the manuscript shares features with some author-manuscripts, there are also marked differences.Whereas it has been suggested that Christine herself might be the creative force behind the preparation of the iconographic programme that can be found in Newnham College MS 5 [Hindman (1986), pp. 141-142], the divergence from the programme of manuscripts produced under her supervision [see Cooper-Davis (2023), pp. 37-44 and 60-62] and the downplaying of themes that were close to her heart, such as the connection between women and literacy, make this unlikely. Nevertheless, the Newnham copy of the Othea appears to have had a significant impact on later copies of the work: Barbier (2008) argues that it was used as an exemplar to prepare the copies that survive in <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://arca.irht.cnrs.fr/ark:/63955/md47dr270z7p'>Lille, La médiathèque Jean Lévy, MS 175</a> and <a target='_blank' class='externalLink' href='https://manuscripts.kb.nl/show/manuscript/74+G+27'>The Hague, KB, nationale bibliotheek, MS 74 G 27</a>. It therefore forms an important witness to the fifteenth-century transmission of the Othea prior to its first edition in print around the close of the century.Dr Charlotte Cooper-Davis Author, and specialist of Medieval French Literature Cambridge University LibraryDr Geneviève Young Research Associate in "Musical Lives: Towards an Historical Anthropology of French Song, 1100–1300" King's College London (alumna of Newnham College)Select Bibliography<div style='list-style-type: disc;'><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Barbier, Anne-Marie, 'Le Cycle iconographique perdu de l’Epistre Othea de Christine de Pizan: Le Cas des manuscrits Beauvais, BM 09 et Oxford, Bodleian Library, Bodley 421', Cahiers de recherches médiévales, 16 (2008), 279-299</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Breckenridge, Martha, 'Christine de Pizan’s Livre d’Epitre d’Othea a Hector at the Intersection of Image and Text’ (unpublished PhD Dissertation, University of Kansas, 2008)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Cooper-Davis, Charlotte, Christine de Pizan: Empowering Women in Text and Image (York: Arc Humanities Press, 2023)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Hedeman, Anne D., The Royal Image: Illustrations of the “Grandes Chroniques de France 1274–1422 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 181-186</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Hindman, Sandra L. Christine de Pizan’s “Epitre Othéa”: Painting and Politics at the Court of Charles VI, Studies and Texts, 77 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1986)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Ker, N.R., and Alan J. Piper, Medieval Manuscripts in British Libraries, 5 vols (Oxford: Carendon, 1969–2002), II (1977): Abbotsford-Keele, p. 240</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>McKitterick, Rosamond, ‘Christine de Pizan, L’Episte d’Othéa’, in The Cambridge Illuminations: Ten Centuries of Book Production in the Medieval West, ed. Paul Binski and Stella Panayotova (London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2005), pp. 268-269</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Mombello, Gianni, La tradizione manoscritta dell'Epistre Othéa di Christine de Pizan. Prolegomeni all'edizione del testo, Memorie dell'Accademia delle scienze di Torino, Classe di Scienze morali, Storiche e Filologiche, Series 4, 15 (Torino: Accademia delle scienze, 1967)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Pizan, Christine de, Epistre Othea, ed. Gabriella Parussa (Geneva: Droz, 1999)</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Ricci, Seymour de, ‘Les manuscrits de la collection Henry Yates Thompson’, Bulletin de la Société française de reproductions de manuscrits à peintures, Année 10 (1926), 42-72</div><div style='display: list-item; margin-left: 20px;'>Schieberle, Misty, ‘The Lytle Bibell of Knyghthod, Christine de Pizan’s Epistre Othea, and the Problem with Authorial Manuscripts’, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 118:1 (2019), 100-128</div></div>