Helisenne de Crenne (1500?-1552?) is an important figure in French women's writing in that she is one of the very few women from the early half of the sixteenth century whose works were printed and survive to us. She was a pioneer of Renaissance feminism and was one of the first sixteenth-century female authors to put in print women's claim to intellectual equality with men and openly challenge received wisdom which disenfranchised women from education and the practice of writing. Equally innovatively, the female experience of love also emerges as a strong theme in her work, which contrasted strongly to the courtly love tradition where women were more frequently the objects of the male gaze rather than speaking subjects in their own right. Her success as a writer is shown by the fact that…
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Citation: Bromilow, Pollie. "Helisenne de Crenne". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12037, accessed 31 October 2024.]
