A bit of 16th century France on the wireless ........ in our house

Marguerite de Navarre was just a name until today when I listened to the latest in the series of programmes from In Our Time.

Marguerite of Navarr, circa 1527

And it was well worth listening to.

"Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Marguerite, Queen of Navarre (1492 – 1549), author of the Heptaméron, a major literary landmark in the French Renaissance. 

Published after her death, The Heptaméron features 72 short stories, many of which explore relations between the sexes. 

However, Marguerite’s life was more eventful than that of many writers. 

Born into the French nobility, she found herself the sister of the French king when her brother Francis I came to the throne in 1515. 

At a time of growing religious change, Marguerite was a leading exponent of reform in the Catholic Church and translated an early work of Martin Luther into French. 

As the Reformation progressed, she was not afraid to take risks to protect other reformers.

With, Sara Barker, Associate Professor of Early Modern History and Director of the Centre for the Comparative History of Print at the University of Leeds, Emily Butterworth, Professor of Early Modern French at King’s College London, and, Emma Herdman, Lecturer in French at the University of St Andrews

Producer: Simon Tillotson"*

Pictures; Marguerite of Navarr, circa 1527, Walker Art Gallery  

*Marguerite de Navarre, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001smk