La femme tel un diamant marial : idéal féminin, spiritualité et médecine dans le Livre de la vertu du sacrement de mariage de Philippe de Mézières

The purpose of this article is to study the representation of the feminine ideal presented, through a medical and lapidary symbolism, in the Livre de la vertu du sacrement de mariage written by Philippe de Mézières between 1385 and 1389. The first part consists of an analysis of the links between medicine, sins and love passion in the European Christian culture of the fourteenth century. Based on this contextualization, the rest of the article deals more directly with the work of Mézières. In the second section are analyzed the behaviors that brides must avoid in order to maintain their health. This section is followed by an analysis of the feminine ideal and its associated role in the soteriological attainment of eternal life