As was typical of the time period, her parents arranged a marriage for Christine when she was fifteen. The bridegroom was a twenty-four year old minor French aristocrat named Etienne de Castel. He was a kind, gentle husband and it became a love match between the two. Luckily, she had a happy marriage that helped her weather the death of her dear father. Her husband became the sole support of Christine, their two children, her mother, and two brothers (who were born in France). Etienne had a good position in court as a secretary and so was able to support his own and extended family.
Tragedy was to strike Christine once again though when her husband died from an illness (probably the plague) while traveling with the king to Beauvais. They had only been married for ten years. Aside from the loss of her beloved husband she faced economic hardship with the loss of his income. Her father had left almost no estate in France due to careless management. Her two brothers returned to Italy, so that they could claim their father's Italian estate. However, their mother remained behind with Christine. As a result, Christine had to seek a source of income for her family. This was the catalyst for her to begin her writing career. With no formal education (which was typical for women of this time period), she was mostly self taught.
Christine lived in a turbulent time in history and it was quite remarkable that she was able to survive not only the unstable environment, but her personal tragedies as well. She managed to do this along with becoming the first successful, published woman author. Quite an accomplishment at anytime, let alone as a woman in the Middle Ages.
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