Although it is night, a beam of light “like the sun” shines onto Christine’s lap. She looks up to see three crowned, majestic ladies whose faces shine with bright light. Frightened, she makes the sign of the cross.

The first lady smiles and tells Christine not to be afraid, as they have come to comfort her. She tells Christine she is wrong to reject her own senses and knowledge in favor of others’ opinions. She reminds Christine that the finest things are subject to intense discussion and that even great philosophers and Doctors of the Church constantly correct one another. She advises Christine to read the poets’ criticisms of women using the rule of antiphrasis, interpreting the negative as positive. The lady tells Christine that her naivety has led her to believe these slanders and that those who speak ill of women do more harm to themselves.

Christine is struck by the ladies’ beauty and noble bearing, though the third lady has a stern face that threatens wrongdoers. Christine is too dumbfounded to ask questions about their identities and the symbols they hold. The first lady, reading Christine’s mind, explains they are celestial creatures sent by God to restore order and justice. She explains they have come to Christine because of her dedication to study and to prevent others from falling into the same error of self-hatred. This first lady hold a mirror that reveals people as they truly are. The female sex has been left defenseless, and it is time for them to be delivered. She prophesies that Christine, with their help, will construct a walled, impregnable city that will admit ladies of good reputation.

The first lady tells Christine the ladies will provide building materials stronger than marble, and the city will last for all eternity. She compares this to the founding of Troy and Thebes, noting those cities fell into ruin. She prophesies that Christine’s city will never fall or be defeated. She mentions the realm of Amazonia, founded by courageous ladies, which also eventually crumbled. The lady states she will provide the cement for the foundations and the great walls, which will have high towers and moats. The lady says her name is Lady Reason.

The second lady identifies herself as Lady Rectitude and explains her purpose: to encourage the just, protect the rights of the poor, and defend the wrongly accused. She holds a splendid rule, the yardstick of truth, which separates right from wrong and good from evil. She tells Christine this rule will help her plan the city’s interior. It is her role to help Christine lay out the buildings, covering the entire area within the walls with houses and palaces.

The third lady identifies herself as Lady Justice, the most beloved of God’s daughters, who judges all according to their deserts. She holds a golden measuring cup to share out to each person what they deserve. Her task is to help finish the city by constructing the high turrets of the towers and palaces. She promises to fill the city with worthy ladies and bring its noble queen. She will hand Christine the keys to the city after its gates have been brought down from heaven and fortified.

Christine throws herself face down before the ladies, adoring them as if goddesses. She praises them for visiting her humble study and expresses doubt in her ability to build the city, comparing herself unfavorably to Saint Thomas the Apostle and noting her “weak female body” (16). Despite her doubts, she recognizes that with their help, the task is possible. She thanks God and the ladies and declares herself ready to obey.

Lady Reason tells Christine to stand up and go with her to the Field of Letters, a fertile ground where they will build the city. Reason leads her there, points out the traced line for the trench, and Christine—feeling strengthened—begins “to dig with the spade of my intelligence”—i.e, thinking through the intellectual problem.

Christine asks Reason why so many different authors slander women. Reason explains the Nature creates a bond between man and woman and that slander comes from other sources. She explains some authors slander all women with good intentions, to warn men away from vice, but she condemns this as an unjust and ignorant method. Reason lists other types of men who criticize women: those who are sinful, those with “bodily impediments,” those motivated by envy, and those who are naturally slanderous. She specifies that the sinful men are often old and, frustrated that they can no longer pursue the vices of their youth, attack women to prevent others from enjoying the same pleasures. She adds a final category: those who simply repeat what they have read in other books to flaunt their erudition.

Continuing her allegorical digging, Christine asks about canonical misogynistic writers, Ovid, Cecco d’Ascoli, Aristotle, and Cicero. Lady Reason shows, one by one, why each of these men was motivated to write against women. To counter the common claim that Nature is ashamed of creating women, she argues that God Himself created woman from the noblest material—Adam’s rib—in the earthly paradise. On the idea that women are inferior, Reason replies that superiority is determined by virtue, not biology.

Christine brings up common proverbs and stereotypes used against women. In each case, Reason shows how these are wrong, using real-world experience and evidence to refute general assumptions or accusations about the behavior, abilities, and characteristics of women.

Christine asks why women are not allowed to argue cases in court or pass sentences. Reason explains that God assigned different roles to men and women. Men were given strong bodies and bold voices suitable for learning and enforcing the law, using physical strength when necessary. It would be improper for women to perform these public roles when enough men are available. She rejects the idea that women lack the required intelligence for law and promises to prove this with examples.

To demonstrate women’s capacity for wise governance, Reason presents her first example: the great Empress Nicaula of Arabia, Ethiopia, and Egypt. She is praised in scripture for being the first to establish laws and good customs in her realm, thereby civilizing her people. Nicaula was also wealthy, highly learned in the arts and sciences, and chose never to marry.

The discussion continues with examples of capable female rulers and regents from French history, including Queen Fredegunde (545-597), Queen Blanche (1188-1252), and other more recent French queens and duchesses who governed their lands well. Countless widowed ladies of all ranks have proven themselves to be intelligent rulers.

Christine raises the common argument that women’s weaker bodies make them morally inferior. Reason explains that Nature often compensates for physical weakness with greater inner qualities, citing the brilliant but ugly Aristotle and the courageous but sickly Alexander the Great. True courage, she argues, comes from the heart and mind, not from the limbs. Women are also less violent than men, which is a virtue. Reason says it is now time for Christine to take up the “trowel of her pen” and lay the heavy stones for the city’s walls.

The first “stone” for the city’s foundation is the story of the heroic Queen Semiramis who command of an empire after her husband’s death. She conquered Ethiopia and India, and re built the city of Babylon. Reason addresses the criticism that Semiramis married her own son, excusing the act by noting the lack of written law at the time and her desire to maintain sole power.

Reason tells how the mythic Amazons of Scythia resolved to rule themselves after their noblemen were killed in a war establishing a society without men. They were known as Amazons, supposed to mean “they who have had a breast removed,” as legend holds they would burn off one breast to better handle a shield or bow. These women became formidable warriors, conquering large parts of Europe and Asia and spreading their fame far and wide.

One Amazon ruler, Queen Thamiris, faced an invasion by King Cyrus of Persia. Realizing she could not win by force, she beat him through military strategy. Cyrus himself was taken prisoner. Thamiris avenged the death of her son by cutting off Cyrus’s head cut off and throwing into a barrel filled with his barons’ blood, telling him he could now “drink his fill” as he was so bloodthirsty (39).

The Amazons were so formidable that even the Greek heroes Hercules and Theseus would only attack them at night. When two Amazon maidens, Menalippe and Hippolyta were captured, Theseus fell in love with Hippolyta and, with the Amazon queen’s permission, married her.

The Amazon Queen Penthesilea fell in love with the Trojan hero Hector him from afar and led an army to Troy to fight alongside him, only to find he had already been killed. After weeping at his tomb, she swore to avenge his death. Penthesilea and her army attacked the Greeks. Though she fought valiantly, she was overwhelmed and fatally struck down.

The valiant Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, was another warrior queen. After her husband was murdered, Zenobia took control of the empire as regent for her young children. She ruled so capably that even the Roman emperors dared not challenge her. Zenobia also chaste, sober, and highly learned, having written a history of her time in both Latin and Greek.

The noble Queen Artemisia of Caria was a brilliant military strategist. After she was widowed and the people of rival Rhodes attacked her, she feigned surrender to lure the Rhodian army into her city. While they were inside, she sailed her own army out a hidden harbor, seized the enemy’s empty ships, and returned to slaughter the trapped soldiers, conquering Rhodes. In a separate instance, she honored an alliance with the Greeks to defeat King Xerxes of Persia.

The noble lady Lilia demonstrated moral courage not on the battlefield. When her son was losing a battle from fear and her words failed to rally him, she lifted her skirts and told him the only place left for him to hide was her womb. Overcome with shame, Theodoric rallied his troops, returned to the fight, and defeated the enemy, saving Italy. Reason concludes that the honor for the victory truly belongs to Lilia.

When Queen Fredegunde was fighting a large enemy army, she had her knights cover their horses in foliage overnight. While the enemy camp was confused by the camouflage, Fredegunde’s army launched a surprise attack, securing victory.

The story of the virgin warrior Camilla is recounted. When her father, King Metabus, was overthrown, he raised her in the woods, where she grew into a brave hunter. Learning of the injustice done to her father, Camilla took up arms and successfully won back his kingdom. She remained a virgin until her death.