The Book of the City of Ladies by Christine Pizan

Author:Christine Pizan [Pizan, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literary Collections, Essays
ISBN: 9780141907581
Google: cIR-RcDCwQMC
Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 1983-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

30. Christine talks about all the good that women have brought into the world, both now and in the past.

‘My lady, though I can see that women have brought countless good things into the world, these men still claim that they have brought only evil.’

Rectitude replied, ‘My sweet friend, you can tell by what I’ve already explained to you that the opposite of what they say is true. No man can match the great services that women have done and continue to do for humanity. I proved this to you by the examples of those noble ladies who invented different arts and sciences. However, if what I’ve said about the earthly benefits that they have brought is not enough for you, let me tell you about the spiritual benefits. How can men be so ungrateful as to forget that it is thanks to a woman, the Virgin Mary, as I pointed out earlier, that the gates of paradise have been opened to them and that God has taken human form? What greater good could one ask for? And who could forget all the good things that mothers do for their sons and wives for their husbands? I beg them at least not to forget these gifts which are spiritual blessings. Let’s look at the ancient faith of the Jews: if you take the story of Moses, to whom God gave the written laws of the Hebrews, you’ll find that it was a woman who saved him from death, this holy prophet who was to be the source of so much good, as I’ll now go on to tell you.

‘At the time when the Jews were taken into captivity by the kings of Egypt, it was prophesied that one day a Hebrew man would be born who would deliver the people of Israel from slavery. When the noble lord Moses was born, his mother was unable to look after him and was forced to put him into a little wicker basket and to send him down the river. As God willed it – for He always saves those whom He wants to save – Thermutis, the daughter of King Pharaoh, was wandering along the riverbank just as the basket was floating by. She immediately had it pulled out of the water to see what was inside. As soon as she saw that it was a baby, the most beautiful child that was ever seen, she was overjoyed. She had him looked after and brought him up as her own son. Since he was miraculously unable to be fed by a woman who was not of his own faith, Thermutis brought in a Hebrew wet nurse to feed him. When he became an adult, Moses was chosen by God as the one to receive His laws. Moses also delivered the Jews out of the hands of the Egyptians, crossing the Red Sea and becoming the leader and ruler of the children of Israel. So it was thanks to the woman who saved Moses that such good came to the Jews.

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