Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549)

Marguerite de Navarre, also known as Marguerite d'Angoulême, was the daughter of Louise de Savoy, one of the most learned and politically powerful women of her time, and Charles, comte d'Angoulême. Marguerite's brother became King of France as François I. She received a fine classical education and grew up to become a true Renaissance woman. When her brother was held for ransom in Spain after his defeat at the Battle of Pavia in 1525, Marguerite took over the official duties of his deceased wife and acted as a surrogate mother to her young nieces and nephews. After marrying King Henri II of Navarre in 1527, she made his court into a center for the arts and humanities. A writer herself, she was the friend and generous patron of many artists and reformers, whom she protected from persecution. Her most famous work, The Heptameron, a collection of 72 short stories, was published posthumously in 1558. She passed on the family tradition of strong women to her daughter, Jeanne d'Albert, who later became Queen of Navarre in her own right.