A fascinating insight into the debates and controversies about the position of women in medieval culture written by Frances first professional woman of letters The pioneering Book of the City of Ladies begins when feeling frustrated and miserable after reading a male writers tirade against women Christine de Pizan has a dreamlike vision where three virtuesReason Rectitude and Justiceappear to correct this view. They instruct her to build an allegorical city in which womankind can be defended against slander its walls and towers constructed from examples of female achievement both from her own day and the past ranging from warriors inventors and scholars to prophetesses artists and saints. Christine de Pizans spirited defence of her sex was unique for its direct confrontation of the misogyny of her day and offers a telling insight into the position of women in medieval culture.