Selected Writings by Marguerite de Navarre

After Anne’s death, her 11-year-old daughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, translated the poem into English for her stepmother, Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife. The Miroir is a personal, symbolic narrative of Marguerite’s faith journey, pursuing Christ as her father, brother and lover of her soul. It is believed Marguerite befriended Anne, helped expose her to humanist and Reformation ideas, and later sent her a copy of her religious poem, Miroir de l’âme pécheresse ( Mirror of the Sinful Soul). Before she married Henry, Anne spent time in France as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Claude, wife of Marguerite’s brother, the king.

The arrangement fell through, which was fortuitous for Marguerite, given Henry’s subsequent history with his six wives.Īs it turned out, Marguerite was to have a connection with one of Henry’s wives-to-be, Anne Boleyn. When she was about 10 years old, her parents attempted to arrange a marriage to the Prince of Wales, the future King Henry VIII of England. She learned Latin, Greek and Italian, and became well-versed in literature, history, philosophy and theology. Thanks to her mother, she received the same classical education as her brother François.

Marguerite was a poet, playwright, diplomat, cultural leader, royal adviser, and patroness of the arts and learning – a true renaissance woman in both the literal and figurative sense. American historian Samuel Putnam described her as “the first modern woman.” The older sister of the French king, François I, she lived at the crossroads of the Renaissance and the Reformation. Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was one of these women. Throughout the history of the Church, God has continued to raise up such women of faith, who have used their positions of influence and power to support the work of the Gospel and to promote the Kingdom of Christ. Later in the book of Acts, Luke records several occasions in which affluent, noble Greek women came to faith, most notably Lydia of Thyatira, who placed her considerable resources at the disposal of Paul’s ministry team and provided a bridgehead for the Gospel to spread into southern Greece and across Europe (Acts 16-17). The Gospel of Luke notes a large group of prominent, well-to-do women, including Mary Magdalene, Susanna, and Joanna the wife of a royal official in Herod’s court, who travelled with Jesus and supported his ministry out of their personal means (Luke 8:1-3).

Selected Writings by Marguerite de Navarre