Had the work been supposititious, it is incredible that Gruget should have thus addressed the princess: 'Such a I have heard this account from my grandmother, who always went with her in her litter, as her lady of honor, and held her standish for her and she wrote them down as quickly and readily, or rather more so, than if they had been dictated to her.' Besides, as Bayle remarks, La Croix du Maine could never have entertained a doubt on the matter if he had read Claude Gruget's dedication of the second edition of the work to Joan d'Albret, only daughter of Queen Margaret.

The Queen of Navarre, he says, 'composed most of these novels in her litter as she traveled, for her hours of retirement were employed in affairs of importance. La Croix du Maine, for instance, says: 'I question whether the princess composed this book forasmuch as it is full of bold discourses and ticklish expressions.' But, against this surmise, we may set the positive testimony of Brantôme. MARGARET OF ANGOULÊME, Duchess of Alençon, Queen of Navarre, only sister of Francis I., is certainly the author of the collection of tales which bears her name, though the fact has been doubted by some French writers.

Nouvelle edition, publiée sur les manuscrits par la Société des Bibliophiles Français. The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre.ĭuchesse d'Alençon Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre.įrom L'Heptameron des Nouvelles de très haute et très illustre Princesse Marguerite D'Angoulême, Reine de Navarre

The heptameron by marguerite of navarre