; a queen of France, in an age
when physical strength seemed essential in warfare, could subdue her
enemies and make herself a great queen, if she were a Blanche de
Castille. Under the new order, however, woman's activities and talents
will be directed into channels more appropriate to her sex; in
literature, in art, in social life, in diplomacy, woman will now play
her part, more quietly, perhaps, but not with less far-reaching
influence on the history of France than if she actually controlled the
armies of France. The really great women from this time forth will be
found not on the throne but in the salon. In writing of Catherine de'
Medici we should have to tell a great deal of the history of France, in
writing of Anne d'Autriche, less; in writing of Madame de Maintenon,
still less; but the life of such a woman as Blanche de Castille is the
history of France, and in the life of such a woman as Jeanne d'Arc is
the very spirit and soul of the nation.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

PREFACE

I. IN THE DAYS OF THE CAPETIAN KINGS.
II. FAMOUS LOVERS.
III. WOMEN IN EARLY PROVENCAL AND FRENCH LITERATURE.
IV. WOMEN IN THE AGE OF SAINT LOUIS.
V. BLANCHE DE CASTILLE AS REGENT OF FRANCE.
VI. THE MOTHER AND THE WIFE OF A SAINT.
VII. THE ROMANCES OF CHIVALRY AND LOVE.
VIII. MARIE DE BRABANT AND MAHAUT D'ARTOIS.
IX. JEANNE DE MONTFORT.
X. AT THE COURT OF THE MAD KING.
XI. CHRISTINE DE PISAN.
XII. THE SAVIOR OF FRANCE.
XIII. THE TRIUMPH AND MARTYRDOM OF JEANNE D'ARC.
XIV. THE RISE OF THE MONARCHY.
XV. ANNE DE BEAUJEU: THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE KINGDOM.

List of Illustrations

Odette de Champdivers and Charles, by Albrecht de Vriendt.
Le droit du seigneur, by Lucien Melingue.
Domestic interior in France, twelfth century, by S. Baron.
Ladies hunting, by Henri Genois.
Blanche of Castille, mother of Saint Louis, by Moreau de Tours.
Jeanne d'Arc, by Jean J. Scherrer.

End of Project Gutenberg's Women of Mediaeval France, by Pierce Butler

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