Literary feminist allegory. 15th-century artwork showing Italian-French medieval author Christine de Pizan (right, 1364-c.1430) and Reason (left) clearing the Field of Letters of misogynist opinion in preparation for building the City of Ladies. Artwork by the Master of Margaret of York, from the Flemish translation (Bruges, 1475) of Pizan's 'Le Livre de la Cite des Dames' (The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405). In this work, Pizan argued for women to be active participants in society.