"De mères en filles": Les manuels d'éducation sous l'Ancien Régime

Abstract

The responsibility of the mother in the education of her daughters, who in turn are destined to become educators, has not been overlooked across the centuries. There exists a long tradition of didactic works addressed to women in which one can find the portrait of the ideal woman/mother. Conduct books written by women, which are rare indeed, are of particular interest. What did women have to say about themselves? How did they conceive of their role and responsibilities regarding the education (worldly, moral, spiritual) of their daughters? What moral ideal prevails in these works? How does this ideal change with time? What is the pedagogical value of these works? What place did woman's pedagogy occupy in the patriarchal society of pre-revolutionary France? As examples I have chosen three works spanning the period from the beginning of the fifteenth century to the end of the seventeenth century: Christine de Pisan, Le Tresor de Ia Cite des Dames ( 1404-1405); Anne de France, Enseignemens ( 1504-1505); Jeanne de Schomberg, Reglement donne par une Dame de haute qua/ire a Mxxx (1698).