By 1405, Christine completed The Book of the City of Ladies, a landmark defense of women constructing an allegorical city of their achievements.
By 1405, Christine de Pizan completed Le Livre de la cité des dames (The Book of the City of Ladies), widely regarded as her masterpiece and one of the most significant works of proto-feminist literature in European history.
Structured as an allegorical dream vision, the book depicts Christine being visited by three virtues — Reason, Rectitude, and Justice — who guide her in constructing a symbolic city populated exclusively by women of virtue, intelligence, and historical achievement. Drawing on classical, biblical, and contemporary sources, Christine assembled an extensive catalogue of women rulers, warriors, scholars, and saints to systematically refute the misogynistic claims prevalent in medieval literature, including those found in the Roman de la Rose and works by Boccaccio.
The work is considered groundbreaking because it was among the first sustained, book-length defenses of women's intellectual and moral capacities written by a woman herself, rather than a male sympathizer. It directly confronted centuries of clerical and literary misogyny, arguing that women's perceived inferiority was a product of limited education and social opportunity rather than any inherent deficiency.
The City of Ladies has had enduring influence, cited by modern feminist scholars as a foundational text in the history of women's intellectual self-defense, and it remains widely taught and translated today, cementing Christine's legacy as a pioneering voice for women's dignity and capability.