Christine was born in Venice, Italy in 1364. When Christine was three, her father, Tommaso di Benvenuto da Pizzano, or Thomas de Pizan, moved from Venice to France to take a noble position as a court astrologer and later physician to King Charles V. With the help of her father's conncetions, Christine received a strong education; similar to that of a well-educated boy her age. Her early schooling covered topics in classical languages, literature, mythology, history, and biblical studies.
At age 15, she married Etienne de Castel. Her husband became a legal secretary who represented the court. Royal secretaries in those times were considered the intellectual elite. Together, Christine and Etienne has three children, one of whom died in childhood. Through her husband, Christine learned how to write legal script and ars dictaminis, which is basically a fancy word for writing letters. The same year Christine got married, Charles V passed away, leaving the Pizan family in debt and poverty. Her father passed away some years later, and then her husband also. With all the men in her life gone, the widowed Christine took on the role of the "man on the house." She had to take on the responsibilities of providing for her family, along with her mother and niece.
In order to support herself and her family, Christine wrote and published her work for income. She bacame an accomplished poet, however, she gradually moved toward writing prose. She wrote legal scripts, letters, poetic ballads, an autobiography, and numerous novels.
christine de Pizan: personal history