Overview

Most widely read today as the author of the ""Heptaméron,"" Marguerite de Navarre (1492-1549) was known in her lifetime as a deeply religious, mystical poet. Sister of the King of France and wife of the King of Navarre, her deeds and writings expressed and sought to promote a living faith in Christ, based on the gospels, and a vision for the renewal and reform of the Church in line with the teachings of French Evangelicals such as Lefèvre d’Étaples, Guillaume Briçonnet, and Gérard Roussel. In this volume, eleven eminent scholars offer new appreciations of Marguerite’s extraordinary life and rich and diverse literary œuvre, including, in addition to her short-story collection, dialogues, mirror poems, plays, songs, and an allegorical prison narrative. Contributors include, along with the editors, Philip Ford, Isabelle Garnier, Jean-Marie Le Gall, Reinier Leushuis, Jan Miernowski, Olivier Millet, Isabelle Pantin, Jonathan A. Reid, and Cynthia Skenazi.

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9789004221895

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Reviews

While the religious beliefs of the spiritually enigmatic Queen of Navarre have been the subject of lively debate for centuries, this volume offers an innovative and valuable collection of essays on the topic. [...] This volume is a rich and indispensable resource for scholars of Marguerite de Navarre and represents an important contribution to the existing scholarship. Its essays present original perspectives on her diverse literary works and offer compelling insights into her religious tendencies. This impressive work will also lead the reader to reflect more fully on the spiritual nuances of a complex and intriguing writer, leader, and thinker. Leanna Bridge Rezvani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In: H-France Review, Vol. 13 (December 2013), No. 193, pp. 1-3.

This collection [...] is so complete, so well grounded in the historical and critical materials crucial to understanding Marguerite's works and her beliefs, so beautifully written that it should be in the library of every serious academic institution. Kathleen Long, Cornell University. In: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 67, No. 2 (Summer 2014), pp. 689-690. This volume is a rich and indispensable resource for scholars of Marguerite de Navarre and represents an important contribution to the existing scholarship. Its essays present original perspectives on her diverse literary works and offer compelling insights into her religious tendencies. This impressive work will also lead the reader to reflect more fully on the spiritual nuances of a complex and intriguing writer, leader, and thinker. Leanna Bridge Rezvani, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In: H-France Review, Vol. 13 (December 2013), No. 193, pp. 1-3. The essays are both scholarly and accessible, and variously refresh existing approaches or offer new insights ... The whole is more than the sum of its illuminating parts; recurring emphases across the essays, together with the initial focus on Marguerite de Navarre's religious belief and significance, make for an enlivening review of her writing and of her exploration of the resources of her chosen genres as means to engage the reader's potential for contemplation and reflection. The whole volume enhances our sense of the potency of the author's spirituality in all of the writing and extends our understanding of this 'supple religious thinker'. Elizabeth Guild, Robinson College, Cambridge. In: The Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Vol. 66, No. 3 (July 2015), pp. 654-655. The essay collection should be welcomed by those who study a host of different subjects from French and early modern thought and history to mysticism, women and gender, the French Renaissance, theater, and poetry. [...] This companion is a thoroughly rewarding piece of scholarship, and is sure to contribute to the study of Marguerite, her influence on France, and her spirituality. Jon Balserak, University of Bristol. In: Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (2014), pp. 533-535. This volume, and not least because it explores texts less often taught than the stories, is invaluable. It is most likely to be read by academics and students, but inside those fleur-de-lilied towers it will long be a wise 'companion'. Anne Lake Prescott, Barnard College. In: Early Modern Women Journal, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Fall 2015), pp. 188-192. Essential to any critic interested in this woman of letters. Jeff Kendrick, Virginia Military Institute. In: The French Review, Vol. 89, No. 2 (2015), pp. 216-217. In der bewahrten Tradition der Brill-Handbucher sammelt dieser Band neun interdisziplinare Beitrage, die den aktuellen Wissenstand zu Margarete von Navarra (1492-1549) nicht nur hilfreich zusammenfassen, sondern auch die Forschung ein wichtiges Stuck voranbringen. Erfreulicherweise werden hierbei keine Kontroversen gescheut .. Als Ganzes betrachtet, vermittelt der Band einen anschaulichen Eindruck von der Unabgeschlossenheit der Forschung zu Margarete von Navarra, vor allem was ihre theologisch-konfessionelle Einordnung betrifft. Alle weiteren diesbezuglichen Studien werden nicht umhinkommen, dieses Buch als Ausgangspunkt zu nehmen. Stephen E. Buckwalter, Heidelberg. In: Archiv fur Reformationsgeschichte, Bd. 43 (2014), S. 144-145.

Author Information

Gary Ferguson is the Elias Ahuja Professor of French at the University of Delaware. He has published widely on 16th-century literature and culture, notably Marguerite de Navarre, devotional poetry, women's writing, and the history of religion and sexuality. Mary McKinley is the Douglas Huntly Gordon Professor of French, University of Virginia. She writes on Montaigne and Marguerite de Navarre and has edited and translated Marie Dentière’s Epistle to Marguerite de Navarre and Preface to a Sermon by John Calvin.

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