Margaret of Navarre [key], 1492–1549, queen consort of Navarre; sister of King Francis I of France. After the death of her first husband she married (1527) Henri d'Albret, king of Navarre; their daughter was Jeanne d'Albret. Margaret was an ardent supporter of religious liberty and mild church reform. Her brilliant court at Navarre was frequented by literary men, among them Étienne Dolet, Clément Marot, and François Rabelais. A writer herself, she is best known for the Heptaméron (1558), an original collection of 72 stories in the manner of Boccaccio. She also wrote plays and poems.
See studies of the Heptameron by J. Gelernt (1966) and M. Tetel (1973); biography by E. R. Chamberlin (1974).
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