Note 162 — Chapter IV

Marguerite was born at Angoulême on April 11th, 1492; married the feeble Duke of Alençon in 1509; was a widow in 1525; married Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre, in 1527; died in 1549. Her only child was Jeanne d’Albret, the heroic mother of Henry of Navarre, who became Henri IV. of France. When she was the Duchess of Alençon, her court at Bourges was a centre for the Humanists and Reformers of France; when she became the Queen of Navarre, her castle at Nérac was a haven for all persecuted Protestants. The literature about Marguerite is very extensive: it is perhaps sufficient to mention—Génin, Lettres de Marguerite d’Angoulême, reine de Navarre (published by the Société de l’Histoire de France, 1841-42); Les idées religieuses de Marguerite de Navarre, d’auprès son œuvre poétique; A. Lefranc, Les dernieres poésies de Marguerite de Navarre (Paris, 1896); Becker, “Marguerite de Navarre, duchesse d’Alençon et Guillaume Briçonnet, évêque de Meaux, d’aprés leur correspondance manuscrite, 1521-24” (in the Bulletin de la Société de l’Histoire du Protestantisme française, xlix. Paris, 1890); Darmesteter, Margaret of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre (London, 1886); Lavisse, Histoire de France, v. i.; Herminjard, Correspondance, etc., vol. i., which contains sixteen letters written by her, and twelve addressed to her.