In July 1429, Christine wrote the only known contemporary literary work celebrating Joan of Arc, hailing her as a divinely inspired national heroine.
In July 1429, from her retreat at the convent of Poissy, Christine de Pizan composed Le Ditié de Jehanne d'Arc (The Tale of Joan of Arc), her final known work.
Written in the immediate aftermath of Joan of Arc's stunning victory at the Siege of Orléans and the coronation of Charles VII at Reims, this poem is the only known contemporary literary work celebrating Joan of Arc's achievements written during her lifetime and while her military campaign was still ongoing.
Christine, who had spent her career defending women's capability and dignity, saw in Joan a living vindication of her arguments: a woman achieving extraordinary feats of leadership and military success, upending conventional expectations about women's roles. The poem presents Joan as a divinely chosen instrument of French salvation, framing her as a national heroine sent by God to restore France's fortunes.
This poem is historically significant not only as Christine's final work but as a unique primary source reflecting immediate contemporary reactions to Joan of Arc, offering rare praise from a fellow woman writer at the height of Joan's early triumphs, before her capture and execution in 1431. It stands as a fitting capstone to Christine's lifelong literary project of celebrating women's capacities against the grain of her era's prevailing prejudices.