IMAGE OF FRENCH KING BY CHRISTINЕ DE PIZAN: PERFECT SOVEREIGN IS REAL PERSONALITY OR LITERARY HERO

Abstract

The paper analyses an image of the French king Charles V in works of Christine de Pizan (1365–1430), the first European professional writer. She devoted a special work to the description of the French monarch. Information on Charles V’s life, within traditional chronology from birth to death, comes from sixteen years of his reign. The work was meant to be a tribute to the memory of the king, a panegyric of his advantages and edification for the next generation of princes (in particular, dauphin Louis, Duke of Guyenne). However, the book is beyond purely biographic genre. Christine prefers a philosophical reflection rather than simple narration about events, she often deliberately excludes some historical details, ignores linear chronology, gives events and moralizing examples from different periods of the monarch’s life out of temporal order. The structural paradigm of the work meets the purposes of creation of a new ideal of sovereign; Charles V’s image for Christine is a behavior model for monarch, an example that should be followed by. The previous instructive literature – Specula – used historical examples to illustrate specific qualities of a governor. Christine de Pizan for the first time personified an ideal in a character and deeds of one person – the king Charles V. The paper considers main qualities offered by Christine as a new monarchic ideal. The author’s methods of image creation, compliance of literary model with real personality are considered; a role of author’s digressions in formation of “vivid”, realistic image of a character
are noted in the paper