Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was the sister and wife to kings and a pivotal influence in sixteenth-century France. An astute politician and diligent humanist, she was a champion of gender equality and the evangelical reform movement, which recognized that the clergy was more concerned with maintaining the church's power than ministering to the faithful. As the years passed and the glitter of life at court waned, however, Marguerite came to realize her true vocation: writing.
"Selected Writings" brings together a representative sampling of Marguerite's varied writings, most of it never before translated into English, enabling Anglophone readers to enjoy the full breadth of her work for the first time. From verse letters and fables to mythological-pastoral tales, from spiritual songs to a selection of novellas from the "Heptameron," the wide range of works included here will reveal Marguerite de Navarre to be one of the most important writers--male or female--of sixteenth-century France.

Inspired by a royal project to produce a French Decameron, these seventy stories mirroring Renaissance France's version of the battle of the sexes are attributed to Rabelais's patron, the sister of Francis I.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ L'Heptameron Des Nouvelles Marguerite de Navarre, Paul Lacroix Adolphe Delahays, 1858