ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses Christine de Pizan's most significant and yet paradoxical contribution to political theory. The problem of warfare for a Christian state and for Christianity in general stems from ambiguity about violence and governmental authority in some of the earliest Christian sources, which derived at least in part from the marginality and powerlessness of the community. The single most prominent recurring theme in Christine de Pizan's political thought is the importance of peace. In fact, as has been argued thus far in this work, many of Christine's political ideas, including her view of kingship, counsel, the political community and the virtue of chivalry, are the fruit of her concern over the issue of controlling the violence of the burgeoning civil war. In a stunning departure from other theorists, what makes a war just is the process of deliberation that the prince must follow in order to wage war.
