Video: Suzanne Savoy Presents JE CHRISTINE: A MEDIEVAL WOMAN IN HER OWN WORDS, April 24 at Southwestern University, April 29 at the Curtain Theatre

 

SUZANNE SAVOY  brings France’s first professional author, Christine de Pizan, to vivid life in this 90-minute tour-de-force compiled entirely from Christine’s own writings. She appears at Southwestern University in Georgetown on Monday, April 24,2017and at the Curtain Theatre of The Baron's Men on Richard Garriott's estate in Austin on Saturday, April 29.

 Her works include her own biography, poetry (she is known to have written more than 600 ballades), books and letters in support of the just treatment of women, a treatise on warfare and chivalry, the official biography of King Charles V, colorful allegories, etc.—more tha  40 works in all. Live music composed by her contemporary, Guillaume de Machaut, underscores Christine’s words, translated by Ms. Savoy from de Pizan’s original Middle French manuscripts.
 

Intimate, poignant, and rousing, Christine’s story offers a glimpse into a turbulent era of war, civil unrest, climate change and rampant epidemic, and the wit and spirit with which she prevailed. (This show is not appropriate for young children.)

 

(via jechristine.com)
 

CHRISTINE DE PIZAN  (1364 - C.1429) was born in Venice.  From the age of five she lived in Paris, as her father had been summoned by King Charles V to act as his medical and astrological advisor.  Christine was encouraged in her love of learning by her father and had access to the royal library.  Widowed at the age of twenty-five and with a family to support, Christine achieved notice by writing poems for the nobility.  When she publicly entered into a famous literary debate concerning a controversial book, The Romance of the Rose, her position as an important scholarly voice was secured.

 

​During a time of war, plague, and political upheaval, Christine's written counsel became increasingly valued by the royal family.  Christine published her own books, employing scribes, illuminators, and book-binders.  Her many works cover a range of styles:  love poetry, allegory, biography, educational treatises, public correspondence, spiritual writings, and a heroic poem dedicated to Joan of Arc, who was Christine's contemporary. The City of Ladies and The Book of the Three Virtues stood in defense of women's worth five centuries before feminism became a recognized cause.  The Book of Deeds of Arms and of Chivalry, a manual on preparation for battle and on the laws and philosophy of war, is still referenced at military academies.

www.jechristine.com

Je Christine
by Christine de Pizan, adapted by Suzanne Savoy
Southwestern University

Monday,
April 24, 2017
Mood-Bridwell Bldg.
Atrium
Southwestern University, 1001 E. University Ave.
Georgetown, TX, 78626

5 PM in Mood-Bridwell Bldg. Atrium, Southwestern University, Georgetown, TX

FREE ADMISSION (to reserve seats, please send us an email through the contact form at bottom of Welcome page), free parking in the Admissions lot on Maple, just north of University Ave, on the right.

Suzanne Savoy will also present Je Christine at the Curtain Theatre, Austin's outdoor Renaissance-style theatre on the Richard Garriott estate, on Saturday, April 29. Click here for more information about that performance.