La ciudad de las damas

The City of Ladies is Pizan's response to Guillaume de Lorris's popular Roman de la Rose. The assertions made in the latter about women are countered by Pizan through an allegorical city: Pizan defends women by citing a wide range of illustrious female figures, who will be "housed" in the City of Ladies. As Pizan constructs her city, she names illustrious women to defend herself against the misogynistic arguments put forth by numerous authors. Each woman named serves as an example of this counterargument.