Summary

Christine's accomplishments are considerable when you take into account that she did not begin to write until she was thirty-five years old (with shorter life expectancy this would have been considered middle age). Much of her energy, following her husband's death, was spent in educating herself. This was a necessity for enabling herself to write at the level she did. Her major works were written between 1400-1418. The Book of the Queen was produced towards the end of this time period in 1414. The manuscript was begun with a request by Queen Isabeau for "copies of all that she had written" (McLeod, p.136, 1976). Since this was a request by the Queen it was actually more of a royal command. It is very fortunate that the book was commissioned by the queen because it has enabled generations of book lovers, artists, and historians to appreciate both Christine as an exceptional woman and to display the talents of the craftsmen and artists personally involved in its production. When one takes into account all of the manuscripts lost through the years due to wars, religious disagreements, and ordinary ignorance, it is miraculous that this manuscript was able to survive.

What perhaps helped in the survival of the manuscript, given the setting of the Hundred Years' War between England and France (1337-1453), was the appreciation of her work in both the English and French royal circles. At one time she was even asked to join the English royal court(Henry IV of England sent ambassadors pleading with her to go and live at his court), though she would never have done so. Christine might have been Italian by birth, but she was very much a French nationalist.

Another gift that Christine gave future generations was her glimpses into the lives of women around 1400. They did not include solely the court circles she was familiar with, but they gave portraits of ordinary women whether they were a peasant, a servant, or even the wife of a merchant.

Christine's surviving son had three children, two sons and one daughter. Descendants of one of her grandsons became one of her modern biographers.