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Tag Archives: La Reine Margot

About Marguerite de Navarre

01 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by michelinewalker in 16th-century France, 17th-century France, Huguenots, Love

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Alexandre Dumas père, L'Heptaméron, la carte de Tendre, La Reine Margot, Mademoiselle de Scudéry, Marguerite de Navarre, Marguerite de Valois-Vendôme

Madame de La Fayette (labibliothèquedesev.wordpress)

I taught La Princesse de Clèves (The Princess of Cleves) year after year for several decades and told my students who the characters were, including their ancestry. It was easy then, but eighteen years later, it is no longer so easy. I remember the main names, but a few names confused me. Some characters have several titles and some characters have the same title. These are hereditary, so it is a matter of lineage.

The Prince of Cleves’ father is the Duke of Nevers, but he remains a Clèves (See List of Counts of Dukes of Vendôme, Wikipedia.) Clèves/Kleve is a comté (county) in Germany. Le Chevalier de Guise, the Prince de Clèves’ rival, has a brother who is Cardinal of Lorraine, but Cardinal de Lorraine is a title. He remains a Guise. Individuals, mostly aristocrats, can have several titles. Moreover, a Marguerite de Navarre may follow a Marguerite de Navarre. Navarre is a title.

Were it not for the two Marguerites, finding a legitimate heir to the throne of France after the death of Henri III would be difficult. Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici had three sons who reigned, but no heir was born to these three sons. However, because Marguerite de Valois-Vendôme was a Queen consort of Navarre, Henri III of Navarre has Bourbon ancestry. He is the son of Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme and Jeanne d’Albret, the Queen of Navarre. He was baptised a Catholic and raised as a Huguenot. (See Henri IV of France, Wikipedia.) His ancestor was François de Bourbon-Vendôme. (See List of Counts of Dukes of Vendôme, Wikipedia.) Therefore, Henri III of Navarre can ascend the throne of France as Henri IV of France, when Henri III, King of France and Poland, is murdered without issue.

Portrait of Marguerite d’Angoulême by Jean Clouet, ca. 1527
Portrait of Princess Margaret of Valois by François Clouet, 16th century. Margaret was considered in her time beautiful, cultured, refined and flirtatious: for this, she was called the “pearl of the Valois.” (Wikipedia)

Marguerite de Navarre: l’Heptaméron & La Reine Margot

We have two Marguerites de Navarre, but there may be more. Our first Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549) is Marguerite de Valois-Angoulême, François 1er‘s sister. This Marguerite de Navarre is the author of an collection of 72 novellas (unfinished) entitled the Heptaméron. She found her inspiration in Giovanni Boccaccio‘s Decameron (1313–1375), a compendium of novellas told by young people who have fled the plague. The Decameron exerted influence on Madame de La Fayette. Both l’Heptaméron and La Princesse de Clèves describe intrigues at the Court of France.

Our second Marguerite de Navarre (1553-1615), also born a Valois or Marguerite de France, is Alexandre Dumas père‘s La Reine Margot, but it is unlikely that she was as depraved as Dumas depicted her. This Marguerite is the daughter of Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici. She married Henri III of Navarre, whom she did not love and who became Henri IV, King of Navarre and France. He converted to Catholicism. He is remembered for saying that Paris was well worth a Mass: Paris vaut bien une messe. Marguerite de France had a brother named Henri III de France. He was King of France and Poland and was assassinated by Jacques Clément, a “Catholic fanatic,” in 1589 (see Henri III of France, Wikipedia). Henri II and Catherine de’ Medici had three sons who reigned but there was a second François. He was their last child. He died in 1585, four years before Henri III, King of France, was murdered. Marguerite de Valois protected her husband during the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

So, there are two Marguerite de Navarre, both of whom were initially Marguerite de France, of the House of Valois. “France” is the name given to the children of the King of France. Marguerite de France, the second Marguerite, could not have children, so her marriage to Henri IV was annulled in 1599. She then lived in Paris and befriended Henri IV and his wife, Marie de’ Medici. She lived comfortably and had a castle built. Marguerite liked entertaining artists and writers.

As for La Princesse de Clèves‘ characters, despite the multitude named or mentioned in Madame de La Fayette’s novel, few are truly important, although all play a role. The Princesse de Clèves has “digressions” that mirror the main narrative, which, to a certain extent, is a frame story.

La Carte de Tendre, attributed to engraver François Chauveau
  • The princess of Clèves is the former Mademoiselle de Chartres,
  • The prince of Clèves is the Princess’ husband, whom she marries because he is “moins répugnant,” less repulsive, than other men.
  • The Duke of Nemours is the man the Princesse of Clèves truly loves: inclination. This kind of love is the central river in Mademoiselle de Scudéry‘s Carte de Tendre, Tendre-sur-Inclination. The map of love shows two other rivers: Tendre-sur-Estime and Tendre-sur-Reconnaissance. The Prince de Clèves dies of grief but the Princesse de Clèves will not marry le Duc de Nemours. She fears that if he has nothing to wish for, his love will die.
  • The Vidame de Chartres is the recipient of the letter that falls out of the Duke of Nemours’ pocket.
  • Mary Queen of Scots, Marie Stuart, is Queen Dauphine and Queen of France as wife of François II of France.

We will continue to discuss La Princesse de Clèves. but central to its intrigue are her confession (l’aveu) and a letter that falls out of the Duc de Nemours’ pocket after un jeu de paume, today’s tennis. The Princess of Cleves thinks the Duc de Nemours, whom she loves with a passion, is unfaithful. After reading the letter, she feels so betrayed and jealous that love and jealousy become inextricably linked in her mind.

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  • La Princesse de Clèves, 1 (15 December 2020)
  • labibliothèquedesev.wordpress
Arcangelo Corelli‘s Christmas Concerto
Henry II of France by François Clouet

© Micheline Walker
1 January 2021
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On Months, Dates & Planned Obsolescence

13 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Sharing, Uncategorized

≈ 60 Comments

Tags

Aldo Ciccolini, Alexandre Dumas, Kenneth Grahame, La Reine Margot, Marguerite, Mr Toad, planned obsolescence, Wind in the Willows

Pieter Casteels

Pieter Casteels (1684 – 1749)

Mozart: 9 Variations sur un menuet de Duport en Ré Majeur, K.273 (Aldo Ciccolini)

I started writing the post I published yesterday on March 10, 2012, and it is dated accordingly.  Technologies!  It deals with Alexandre Dumas, père’s novel about Marguerite de Valois.  He wrote a novel about her entitled Queen Margot or La Reine Margot.

 * * *

I hope that when I finally grow up and know which month and which day we are, I may also have a better understanding of new technologies.  At the moment, as soon as I am somewhat familiar with a gadget, a new one is put on the market and mine has become obsolete.  It’s called “planned obsolescence,” which is quite the trouvaille (find), for the manufacturer.

The same is true of kitchen appliances.  They are made to last approximately five years.  Where appliances are concerned, most of us are currently too poor not to purchase the very best with a lifetime warranty.  In the long-term, you will have paid the higher price because of your numerous calls to the technician.  Remember that he or she does not come to your home for less than a $100.00.

As for your furniture, chose the classics and chose something you know you can live with.  If it is the last fad, or dernier cri, stay away.  As well, buy bookcases that have clean lines just so they will match your cat’s Louis-Philippe day bed.  At any rate, what you need has probably been discarded and might be sitting in the basement or in the attic, if you have a basement or an attic.  Your parents bought it in the 1950s or 1960s.

In other words, do not do as Mr Toad does, i. e. fall into temptation, except a few.  Mr Toad is the main character in Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows (1908).  He goes crazy when he hears the siren of a car and puts himself behind the wheel of a vehicle that is not his.  He lands in jail.

You will not land in jail by purchasing the latest, but you may run up a debt because by now you have the essential credit card and using it does not feel the same as taking ‘real money’ out of one’s wallet.

My computer is fairly new, but there will soon be a ‘better’ product that I will require because my nearly new computer will be a dinosaur.  My computer has become essential equipment.

Pieter Casteels

March 13, 2012

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Dumas, père & Marguerite de Valois fictionalized

10 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by michelinewalker in Literature, Mulatto

≈ 33 Comments

Tags

Alexandre Dumas père, François Clouet, Henri IV, La Reine Margot, Marguerite, métissage, Nadar, Saint-Domingue

Alexandre Dumas, père, by Nadar

Alexandre Dumas, père, by Félix Nadar*(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Félix Nadar* was the pseudonym of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (1 April 1820, Paris – 23 March 1910), a very famous photographer.

From Alexandre Dumas père to Marguerite de Valois

As I mentioned in my post on John James Audubon (16 April 1785 – 27 January 1851), there is kinship between the artist-ornithologist and Alexandre Dumas père. John James Audubon was born in Saint-Domingue, the current Haiti, to a French father and a Creole woman. As for Alexandre Dumas père, he was born in Villers-Cotterêts on 24 July 1802 and died near Dieppe, on 5 December 1870.  But there is a Saint-Domingue connection.

Indeed, Dumas père’s father was the son of the “Marquis Alexandre-Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman and Général commissaire in the Artillery in the colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and Marie-Cesette Dumas, an Afro-Caribbean Creole of mixed French and African ancestry.” (Wikipedia)  Therefore, Alexandre was métissé.  Let me quote what he said to a person who found fault with his lineage:

My father was a mulatto, my grandfather was a Negro, and my great-grandfather a monkey. You see, Sir, my family starts where yours ends.

Moreover, both were extremely productive.  They were in fact passionate about what they did.

Imagine the hours Dumas spent at his desk writing The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo and several other historical novels one of which is La Reine Margot, whose story is linked with the growth of absolutism and the related persecution of the Huguenots or French Calvinist Protestants.  You may remember that Marguerite did not want to marry Henri IV, king of Navarre and a protestant who became Henri IV of France after he converted to Catholicism.

Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615)

Dumas’s La Reine Margot (1845)

  • In La Reine Margot (Queen Margot), Dumas focusses on Marguerite’s wedding to Henri IV, kin of Navarre, which took place on 18 August 1572, five days before the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.  Again you may remember that her marriage to Henri IV was an arranged marriage and that, because he was a Huguenot, Henri IV stood outside Notre-Dame de Paris while he was wedded.  It appears she had a liaison with Henri, duc de Guise, a leader among Catholics.
  • By extension, Dumas also focusses on the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre which took place in the early morning hours of 24 August 1572, six days after Marguerite was unwillingly wedded to Henri IV.  Huguenots had come to Paris for the wedding, which meant they were trapped.  So not only was the marriage an arranged marriage, but Catherine de’ Medici took advantage of favorable circumstances to manipulate her son Charles IX into ordering the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.  Although she had been compelled to marry Henri IV, king of Navarre, Marguerite protected him.
  • Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Dumas focusses on Marguerite’s subsequent affair with Count Joseph Boniface de La Môle (c. 1526 – 30 April 1574), a nobleman who had befriended François d’Alençon, a prince of the blood and brother to Charles IX, Henri III (duc d’Anjou).  La Môle was accused of having participated in the Malcontent’s conspiracy of 1574 and, specifically, of having tried to murder king Charles IX.  Despite Marguerite’s pleas, La Môle was tortured and beheaded, place de Grève, in Paris.

Such a story was of course perfect fodder for a novelist and fabulous material for filmmaker Patrice Chéreau whose treatment of the subject was tactful. Chéreau’s Reine Margot, 1994, starring Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Virna Lisi and Vincent Perez was both an artistic and a box office success.

Conclusion

However, I am reflecting that, although she lived a dissolute life, going from lover to lover and plotting, Marguerite de Valois was Marguerite de France and, the last of the Valois line.  She ended a dynasty.  Had it not been for the Salic law, commissioned by the first king of all the Franks, Clovis I (c. 466–511), she would have been queen of France after her brother Henri III died.  Instead, the man she married unwillingly and who would not have anything to do with her, became king of France and king of Navarre.  But she refused to have their marriage annulled while his mistress, Gabrielle d’Estrées, was alive.

Marguerite was forced into a marriage.  She was a helpless witness to the torture and decapitation of La Môle and, in 1586, her brother Henri III banished her for eighteen years to the inaccessible castle of Usson, in Auvergne.

Yes, Marguerite lived a rather dissolute life, but she was an exceptionally well-educated woman whose Mémoires, written in comfy detention, thanks to Guise, have literary merit.  Moreover, when she was free to return to Paris, in 1605, she had a castle built where she was a hostess to writers, artists, intellectuals and, perhaps, lovers.  I was taught that she was a “nymphomanic.”

However, she continued to write not only her Mémoires, published in 1658, but also poetry.  As the French would say, “elle avait des lettres” or she was well-educated.

After her release, she cultivated a friendly relationship with her former husband, Marie de’ Medici, his wife, and their children.

I am not about to attempt a rehabilitation of Marguerite de Valois, but let’s just say that, somehow, I understand.

The Young Marguerite de Valois, by François Clouet

_________________________ 

“Margaret Of Valois.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/364625/Margaret-of-Valois>.

Barenboim plays Mendelssohn Songs Without Words Op.53 no.1 in A flat Major

© Micheline Walker
12 March 2012
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