The final foundation stone is the story of the Roman lady Cloelia. Sent with other virgins as a hostage to a foreign king, Cloelia engineered a daring escape. Reaching the River Tiber, she found a horse and, though she had never ridden before, she ferried all of her companions across the deep water one by one. The Romans erected a statue in her honor depicting a maiden on a horse. With this story, Reason announces that the foundations of the city are complete, and they will now begin to build the high enclosure walls.

Christine asks Reason if God ever blessed women with great intelligence and aptitude for learning, questioning why men claim women are slow-witted. Reason replies that if girls were sent to school and taught various subjects like boys, they would learn just as easily, as their minds are often sharper. She explains that women’s perceived lesser knowledge comes from a lack of experience, as they are confined to the household. She compares them to uneducated male peasants in remote areas, whose ignorance stems from a lack of opportunity. To prove her point, she gives examples of highly learned women.

The first stone in the city wall is the story of the noble maiden Cornificia, who was sent to school with her brother. She applied her intelligence to her studies and soon outshone her brother, becoming an excellent poet and philosopher and composing many works that were still esteemed centuries later. Reason quotes the author Boccaccio, who praised Cornificia and lamented that so many women wrongly believe they are fit only for domestic duties.

Proba, a Christian Roman lady, mastered the seven liberal arts and dedicated herself to poetry, learning the works of Virgil by heart. She conceived of a project to rework Virgil’s verses to tell the stories of the Old and New Testaments, creating a new poetic work called the Cento. Boccaccio praised her for this work. She also created another Cento based on the works of Homer, proving her mastery of both Latin and Greek.

Next is the story of Sappho, a beautiful and brilliant maiden from Mytilene who was an expert in many arts and sciences. She composed literary works and invented many new forms of poetry, which are now called Sapphic poems in her honor. The great philosopher Plato was known to have prized Sappho’s verse. Her home city honored her with a bronze statue. Reason also mentions Leontium, a Greek woman who famously dared to argue against the philosopher Theophrastus.

The maiden Manto she acquired a complete mastery of pyromancy (divining the future from fire) and interpreting the entrails of animals during the reign of Oedipus. After Thebes was destroyed, she settled in Italy: The city of Mantua was named in her honor.

Medea, daughter of King Aeëtes, knew the properties of every plant and could use her knowledge to perform marvels, such as brewing poisons and creating fire from nothing. It was through her powers that Jason was able to win the Golden Fleece. The powerful Queen Circe was so skilled in casting spells that she could turn men into animals, famously turning the men of Ulysses into swine and the men of Diomedes into birds.

Christine asks if any woman has ever been ingenious enough to invent new branches of knowledge. Reason presents the example of Nicostrata, daughter of King Pallas, who was so intelligent that poets claimed she was loved by the god Mercury. After settling in Italy, where she was called Carmentis, she established the first laws for the primitive local people. Gifted with prophecy, she foresaw the future Roman Empire and decided it needed its own form of writing. She therefore invented the Latin alphabet (the ABCs) and the foundations of grammar. The Italians were so grateful they worshipped her as a goddess, naming themselves after her.

The Greek maiden Minerva was so intelligent that her contemporaries believed she was a goddess. She was a prolific inventor, creating Greek characters, numbers, and the arts of making wool and cloth. She also discovered how to make oil from olives, invented carts and chariots, and invented the art of forging armor and weapons from iron and steel. After she taught the Athenians how to fight in organized military ranks, they worshipped her as the goddess of both wisdom and arms.

Queen Ceres of Sicily invented the science of agriculture, teaching people how to tame cattle, use the plough, and cultivate wheat to make bread. She gathered the nomadic people into towns and cities, teaching them to live in organized communities with laws. For all the good she brought to the world, her people venerated her as the goddess of corn.

Isis, queen and goddess of the Egyptians, invented the art of horticulture, teaching people how to create gardens and graft plants to improve them. She gave the Egyptians their own form of written characters and established a system of justice for them to live by. The Egyptians honored her greatly, and her fame spread so far that the Romans later built a temple to her.

Christine expresses her delight at hearing of all the good that has come into the world through women’s intelligence. Reason laments the ingratitude of men who enjoy these benefits without acknowledging their source. She emphasizes the immeasurable value of Carmentis’s invention of the Latin alphabet, which God willed to spread throughout Europe. This invention preserved all knowledge, allowed for communication across distances, and made possible the recording of God’s will and the workings of the world.

Reason directly compares the contributions of these women to those of male philosophers. She asks if any man did as much for humanity as Queen Ceres, who civilized primitive people, or Minerva, who gave them clothing, carts, and armor. Clerks owe a debt to Carmentis for the alphabet, and knights to Minerva for the art of warfare. Christine declares that the practical inventions of these women are worth more to humankind than all the teachings of Aristotle and every other philosopher combined.

A maiden from Asia named Arachne was the first to discover how to dye wool in different colors and to weave fine pictorial tapestries. She also invented the art of cultivating flax and hemp to make cloth and the nets used for fishing and trapping animals. Reason refutes authors who claim the primitive world was better, arguing that inventions are gifts from God. Their misuse is the fault of wicked people, not the inventions themselves. She cites Christ’s own use of bread, wine, and cloth as proof of their inherent goodness.

The noble Pamphile from Greece observed the worms that lived on trees and discovered the art of making silk. She gathered their cocoons, learned to dye the threads, and wove them into cloth. This invention has since spread throughout the world and is used to glorify God in church vestments and to adorn royalty.

Reason explains that women are quick to master arts invented by others, particularly painting. She tells of Thamaris, who became such a master painter that she created a famous picture of the goddess Diana for the Ephesians. Another Greek painter, Irene, surpassed her own master and was honored with a statue. A virtuous Roman virgin named Marcia became a better painter than the most famous men of her time; her most celebrated work was a lifelike self-portrait. Christine interjects with a contemporary example, speaking of a miniaturist in Paris named Anastasia, whose skill in creating decorative borders is unmatched.

A Roman woman named Sempronia could master any discipline she attempted and possessed a perfect memory. She was a beautiful writer of both Latin and Greek, and her elegant speech could persuade her listeners at will. In addition to her intellectual gifts, she had an exquisite singing voice and could play any stringed instrument perfectly. She was supremely skilled in every art the human mind has invented.

Christine asks if women are naturally endowed with good judgment. Reason confirms that good judgment is an innate gift from God found in both sexes, though learning can help perfect it. She affirms that women possess good sense, proven by the attentive way women generally run their households.

Reason cites the Biblical “Epistle of Solomon” to describe the ideal woman of good judgment: industrious, prudent in business, and managing her household so well that her husband trusts her completely. She is strong, charitable to the poor, and ensures her family is well-clothed. Her words are wise and her tongue is gentle, earning her the praise of her husband and children. This biblical portrait is a model of female virtue and sound judgment.

Queen Gaia Cirilla, wife of King Tarquin of the Romans, was prudent, virtuous, and highly esteemed for her excellent household management. Though a queen, she hated idleness and delighted in working with wool. Her reputation was so great that the Romans established a wedding custom in her honor: A new bride would be asked her name and reply “Gaia,” signifying her intention to emulate the queen’s virtues.

After Queen Dido of Carthage was exiled when her brother killed her husband, she sailed to Africa. There, she asked the local people to sell her as much land as could be covered by a single cow’s hide. Once they agreed, she had the hide cut into tiny strips, tied them together, and used the resulting cord to enclose a huge plot of land on which she founded the magnificent city of Carthage, ruling it with great wisdom.

When Saturn, King of Crete, was warned by a prophecy that one of his sons would kill him, he ordered all his male children to be killed. His wife Opis hid her three sons Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto to save them. Because of her prudence and the great prestige her sons later achieved, her contemporaries mistook her for a deity and worshipped her as the mother of all the gods.

The final story for the city’s walls is that of Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus and wife of the Trojan prince Aeneas. After Aeneas’s death, Lavinia feared that his elder son, Ascanius, would harm her unborn child to secure the throne. Instead she won her stepson’s affection and ruled until her own son, Julius Silvius, came of age. Her descendants included Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

With these examples, Reason declares that she has provided sufficient proof of women’s abilities. Her task of constructing the enclosure walls of the City of Ladies is now complete and she will give way to her sisters.