biography
| name: |
Margaret of Angoulême
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also known as Margaret of Navarre
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pronunciation:
[ãgoolem]
| sex:
| female
|
| lived:
| (1492–1549)
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| biography:
| Queen of Navarre, born in Angoulême, W France. The sister of Francis I of France, she married first the Duke of Alençon (d.1525) and then, in 1527, Henry d'Albret (titular king of Navarre), but they were soon estranged. With a strong interest in Renaissance learning, she was much influenced by Erasmus and the religious reformers of the Meaux circle, who looked to her for patronage and protection. A woman of great intelligence, she encouraged agriculture, learning, and the arts, and her court was the most intellectual in Europe. The patron of men of letters, including the heretical poet Clément Marot, and François Rabelais, she was herself a prolific writer. Her works include tales and the Histoires des Amans fortunés whose first complete posthumous edition bore the name of L'Heptaméron (1558–9), a collection of stories on the theme of love in the manner of Boccaccio. Her best verse, including Le Navire, was not compiled until 1896 under the title Les Dernières poésies. |
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