On this day in history, 21st December 1549, Marguerite of Navarre (also known as Margaret of Navarre, Marguerite of Angoulême and Marguerite de France) died in Odos in France at the age of 57.
Marguerite was the daughter of Charles de Valois-Orléans, Comte d’Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy, and the sister of King Francis I of France. She was a writer and poet and her most famous works are the religious miroir de l’âme pécheresse (Mirror of the Sinful Soul), which Elizabeth I translated in her teenage years for her stepmother Catherine Parr, and the Heptameron, which is a collection of her short stories.
You can read more about her in the following articles:-
- Margaret of Navarre
- The Early Life of Anne Boleyn Part Four – The French Influence
- Anne Boleyn’s Faith
- Holbein’s The Ambassadors: A Renaissance Puzzle? – Part One: Context
- Holbein’s The Ambassadors: A Renaissance Puzzle? – Part Two: Symbols
It’s a fun day today on our Anne Boleyn Files Advent Calendar so do check it out!