In 1405, Christine wrote a companion conduct book advising women of all social ranks on virtue and practical life.
In the same year as her completion of City of Ladies, 1405, Christine de Pizan composed Le Livre des trois vertus, also known as The Treasure of the City of Ladies or Book of the Three Virtues.
Conceived as a practical companion to her allegorical masterpiece, this work functioned as a conduct manual offering concrete guidance to women across the social spectrum — from queens and princesses to merchants' wives, servants, and peasants. Christine addressed matters of household management, moral conduct, education of children, and navigating relationships with husbands and social superiors, tailoring her advice to each woman's specific station in life.
Unlike many conduct books of the era written by male clerics, which often emphasized women's subordination and passivity, Christine's text encouraged practical wisdom, financial prudence, and the cultivation of good judgment. She urged women to be active, capable managers of their own affairs, particularly widows who might need to run households or estates independently, drawing partly on her own experience after her husband's death.
This work is historically significant for its comprehensive scope and its recognition that women's lived realities varied enormously by class, a nuance rarely afforded in period literature. Together with the City of Ladies, it forms a two-part project envisioning both the ideal moral community of women and the practical means of achieving virtuous, capable lives within existing social structures.