Marguerite de Navarre

Queen consort of Navarre (1492–1549)

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Lived 1492–1549, aged 57France

France WritersWriter / Author

Wikipedia
52 languages
Cross-language footprint
Era
1492–1549
Aged 57

Summary

Updated 2026-06-09

She ran the most brilliant salon in Renaissance France, sheltered reformers who'd have burned elsewhere, and wrote stories sharp enough that Samuel Putnam called her "The First Modern Woman" — all while being sister to one king and mother to the line that produced another.

Biography

About

Born 11 April 1492, Marguerite d'Angoulême grew up alongside her brother, who became Francis I of France. The two built the intellectual engine of the French Renaissance: the court and salons where humanists and reformers gathered under royal protection. She married twice — first becoming Duchess of Alençon and Berry, then Queen of Navarre through her second marriage to Henry II of Navarre. As a writer and patron, she carved out space for ideas that had no safe home elsewhere. Her daughter, Jeanne d'Albret, bore Henry of Navarre, who took the French throne as Henry IV — the first Bourbon king.…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Marguerite de Navarre

Marguerite de Navarre

saidundated

I have heard much of these languishing lovers, but I never yet saw one of them die for love.

— First Day, Novel VIII (trans. W. K. Kelly)

Marguerite de Navarre

saidundated

To me it seems much better to love a woman as a woman, than to make her one's idol, as many do. For my part, I am convinced that it is better to use than to abuse.

— Second Day, Novel XII (trans. W. K. Kelly)

Marguerite de Navarre

saidundated