Christine de Pizan and Her Treatise on Fortifications (1410)

Abstract

Christine de Pizan/ Cristina da Pizzano (1365–1430) is well known as poet and as author of The Book of the City of Ladies (1405), in which she describes female leaders in history. Instead it’s quite unknown her book Livre des fais d’armes et de chevalrie, written around 1410, translated in English in 1489 and also in 1932 (The Book of fayttes of armes and of chyualrye). Apart from editorial events, this Treatise is important especially because it’s the first to re-cognize the role of technology of medieval warfare and it’s an important source for gunpower weapon technology, as well as for strategy and tactics. Based on Vegetius’s theory on fortifications, she describes—in the second part—new forms and features of fortresses, also introducing parade grounds along the walls, which was an advanced system of defense for the XV century. She has been the first to talk about artillery and its importance to organize (also geometrically) fortresses in a Treatise, while other important authors, such as L. B. Alberti or Filarete, completely ignored this item in their books. The importance of the Book has been recognized by Italian military historians since the XIX century, for example Carlo Promis and Ignazio Calvi.