Considered to be some of the earliest feminist writings, her work includes novels, poetry, and biography, and she also penned literary, historical, philosophical, political, and religious reviews and analyses.

Her father became known as Thomas de Pizan, named for the family's origins in the village of Pizzano (currently part of the municipality of Monterenzio), southeast of Bologna.

[6] On 4 June 1389, in a judgment concerning a lawsuit filed against her by the archbishop of Sens and François Chanteprime, councillors of the King, Christine was called "damoiselle" and "widow of Estienne du Castel".

Her involvement in the production of her books and her skillful use of patronage in turbulent political times has earned her the title of the first professional woman of letters in Europe.

Affectively and financially she became attached to the French royal family, donating or dedicating her early ballads to its members, including Isabeau of Bavaria, Louis I, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Berry.

[11] Throughout her career Christine undertook concurrent paid projects for individual patrons and subsequently published these works for dissemination among the nobility of France.

[23] Christine questioned the literary merits of Jean de Meun's popular Romance of the Rose, which satirizes the conventions of courtly love while critically depicting women as nothing more than seducers.

[24] In the midst of the Hundred Years' War between French and English kings,[6] Christine wrote the dream allegory Le Chemin de long estude in 1403.

Writing in the first-person, she and the Cumaean Sibyl travel together and witness a debate on the state of the world between the four allegories – Wealth, Nobility, Chivalry and Wisdom.

[15] In Le Livre de la cité des dames Christine presented intellectual and royal female leaders, such as Queen Zenobia.

[30] Christine dedicated Le Livre des trois vertus to the dauphine Margaret of Nevers, advising the young princess on what she had to learn.

[15] As Queen Isabeau's oldest son Louis of Guyenne came of age Christine addressed three works to him with the intention of promoting wise and effective government.

[14] The Duke of Burgundy fled Paris when his complicity in the assassination became known,[33] but was appointed regent of France on behalf of Charles VI in late 1408 after his military victory in the Battle of Othee.

Christine opposed trial by combat,[38] but articulated the medieval belief that God is the lord and governor of battle and that wars are the proper execution of justice.

[35] After civil war had broken out in France, Christine in 1413 offered guidance to the young dauphin on how to govern well, publishing Livre de la paix (The Book of Peace).

In arguing that peace and justice were possible on earth as well as in heaven, Christine was influenced by Dante,[43] whom she had referenced in Le Chemin de long estude.

[49] Historians assume that Christine spent the last ten years of her life in the Dominican convent of Poissy because of the civil war and the occupation of Paris by the English.

[6] After her death the political crisis in France was resolved when Queen Isabeau's only surviving son Charles VII and John the Fearless' successor as Duke of Burgundy, Philip the Good, signed the Peace of Arras in 1435.

Christine de Pizan's Medusa, in stark contrast to the typical portrayal in classical texts, is not a monstrous and deadly creature, but a woman deserving of safety from male harm.

Christine speaks through the allegorical figures of God's daughters – Reason, Rectitude and Justice – who represent the Three Virtues most important to women's success.

While de Pizan's mixture of classical philosophy and humanistic ideals was in line with the style of other popular authors at the time, her outspoken defence of women was an anomaly.

In her works she vindicated women against popular misogynist texts, such as Ovid's Art of Love, Jean de Meun's Romance of the Rose and Matheolus's Lamentations.

Christine's Le Livre des trois vertus (The Treasure of the City of Ladies) became an important reference point for royal women in the 15th and 16th centuries; French editions were still being printed in 1536.

Livre de la paix was referenced by the humanist Gabriel Naudé and Christine was given large entries in encyclopedias by Denis Diderot, Louis Moréri and Prosper Marchand.

[65] In 1470 Jean V de Bueil reproduced Christine's detailed accounts of the armies and material needed to defend a castle or town against a siege in Le Jouvence.

[66] Philippe Le Noir authored an abridged version of Christine's book in 1527 under the title L'Arbre des Batailles et fleur de chevalerie (The tree of battles and flower of chivalry).

[63] Livre des fais d'armes et de chevalerie was translated into English by William Caxton for Henry VII in 1489 and was published under the title The Book of Feats of Arms and of Chivalry as print one year later,[68] attributing Christine as author.

[70] Similarly, Mathilde Laigle and Marie-Josephe Pinet are credited with reviving the work of de Pizan in the early 20th century, as a writer who had been forgotten in France but noted elsewhere.

[70] In recent decades, Christine's work has continued to grow in reputation by the efforts of scholars such as Charity Cannon Willard and Earl Jeffrey Richards.

In the opening cermenony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Christine was one of the 10 pioneering female contributors to French history honoured by gold-coloured statues which rose from giant pedestals along the river Seine.