Jean Gerson (1363-1429) and Woman’s Authority of Virtue Within and Outside the Household

Abstract

The present study, which does not intend to paint a larger picture of Jean Gerson’s (1363-1429) attitude toward women, discusses only one aspect of it: his assessment of women’s authority and social importance determined by their perceived virtue(s). Based on a larger number of sources, and extending beyond the controversy of the Romance of the Rose, the argument is divided in two parts. The first part focuses on Gerson’s assessment of women’s situation within the household, and the second discusses his take on female authority and virtue outside family functions, as in cases of his sisters, Joan of Arc and Christine de Pizan.