Autore: Nederman, Cary J.
Titolo: Christine de Pizan and Jean Gerson on the Body Politic: Inclusion, Hierarchy, and the Limits of Intellectual Influence
Periodico: Storia del pensiero politico
Anno: 2013 - Fascicolo: 3 - Pagina iniziale: 465 - Pagina finale: 480

There is a large and established body of scholarly literature that demonstrates theexistence of an intellectual relationship between the influential churchman andtheologian Jean Gerson and the poet-courtier Christine de Pizan. A series of studieshave begun to marshal evidence in support of sustained intellectual ties between thetwo, culminating in Earl Jeffrey Richard's recent conclusion that their relationshipshould be classified as "a close intellectual friendship". The present paper examinesthe substance of the intellectual friendship between Christine and Jean by examiningone overlapping theme in their respective corpus: the organic metaphor between thehuman body and the political community. Both writers had considerable opportunityto deploy the body politic trope in their works, given the fluid and even chaotic natureof the French monarchy in their day and the consequent need to conceptualize politicalorder. In this regard, Christine perhaps deserves the greater credit and attention. Shewas the only political author of medieval or early modern Europe of whom I amaware who designed an entire book—the Livres de Corps de Policie (1406)—aroundthe theme of the body politic. Gerson's use of the organic metaphor was more diffuse:it shows up in some of his most famous political sermons before the French court,and also in a 1419 letter to the tutor of the Dauphin. The sources on which both reliedfor the body politic were essentially identical: John of Salisbury's Policraticus, whichhad been translated into French by Denis Foulechat in 1372; and Nicole Oresme'sFrench-language translation of and commentary on Aristotle's Politics. I propose toexamine whether there is any detectable cross-fertilization between Christine's andGerson's particular uses of the metaphor, or whether instead they were completelyseparate and independent in their deployment of the analogy.




SICI: 2279-9818(2013)3<465:CDPAJG>2.0.ZU;2-C
Testo completo: http://www.mulino.it/download/article/10.4479/75157
Testo completo alternativo: http://www.mulino.it/doi/10.4479/75157

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