Margaret of Valois
Margaret of Valois (French: Marguerite, 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as La Reine Margot, was a French princess of the Valois dynasty who became Queen of Navarre by marriage to Henry III of Navarre and then also Queen of France at her husband's 1589 accession to the latter throne as Henry IV.
Margaret of Valois
2 August 1589 – 17 December 1599
18 August 1572 – 17 December 1599
14 May 1553
Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
27 March 1615 (aged 61)
Hostel de la Reyne Margueritte, Paris, France
Margaret was the daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici and the sister of Kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. Her union with the King of Navarre, which had been intended to contribute to the reconciliation of Catholics and the Huguenots in France, was tarnished six days after the marriage ceremony by the St Bartholomew's Day massacre and the resumption of the French Wars of Religion. In the conflict between Henry III of France and the Malcontents, she took the side of Francis, Duke of Anjou, her younger brother, which caused Henry to have a deep aversion towards her.
As Queen of Navarre, Margaret also played a pacifying role in the stormy relations between her husband and the French monarchy. Shuttling back and forth between the two courts, she endeavoured to lead a happy conjugal life, but her infertility and the political tensions inherent in the civil conflict led to the end of her marriage. Mistreated by a brother, who was quick to take offence, and being rejected by a fickle and opportunistic husband, she chose the path of opposition in 1585. She took the side of the Catholic League and was forced to live in Auvergne in an exile that lasted 20 years. In 1599, she consented to a "royal divorce",[1] the annulment of the marriage, but only after the payment of a generous compensation.[2]
A well-known woman of letters, an enlightened mind as well as an extremely generous patron, she played a considerable part in the cultural life of the court, especially after her return from exile in 1605. She preached the supremacy of platonic love over physical love. During her imprisonment, she took advantage of the time to write her Memoirs, the first woman to have done so. She was one of the most fashionable women of her time and influenced many of Europe's royal courts with her clothing.
After her death, the anecdotes and slanders circulated about her created a legend, which was consolidated around the nickname La Reine Margot, invented by Alexandre Dumas père.[3] They were handed down through the centuries on the myth of a nymphomaniac and incestuous woman.[4][5] In the late 20th and the early 21st centuries, historians have reviewed the extensive chronicles of her life and concluded that many elements of her scandalous reputation stemmed from anti-Valois propaganda[6] and a factionalism that denigrated the participation of women in politics[7] and was created by Bourbon dynasty court historians in the 17th century.[8]
Legacy[edit]
Myth of Queen Margot[edit]
Queen Margaret's life is obscured by the legend of "Queen Margot", the myth of a nymphomaniac and incestuous woman in a damned family. Many slanders were spread throughout the life of the princess, but those in The Satiric Divorce (Le Divorce Satyrique), a pamphlet probably written by Théodore Agrippa d'Aubigné against Henry IV, were the ones that were most successful by being subsequently handed down as if they had been established.[115]
By 1630, after the Day of the Dupes, Cardinal Richelieu and his historians initiated a campaign against Marie de' Medici, and the systematic discrediting of all women and their political role revived Margaret's black legend.[116]
It is in the 19th century that the myth of Queen Margot was born. The nickname was invented by Alexandre Dumas père,[117] who titled his first novel in the Valois Trilogy La Reine Margot (1845). He described in the novel the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre and the intrigues of subsequent courtiers. The historian Jules Michelet in contrast exploited the figure of Princess Valois to denounce the "depravity" of the Ancien Régime.
Between the 19th and the 20th centuries, some historians such as Count Léo de Saint-Poincy sought to rehabilitate the figure of the Queen by trying to discern the scandals from reality and depicting her as a woman who challenged the turmoil of the civil war. To some 20th-century historians, it appeared that Margaret of Valois never felt inferior to her brothers and wanted to participate in the affairs of the kingdom. They have also addressed the political behavior of Margaret, in addition to her private life.[117] However, those studies remained marginal and did not affect official texts.
Only since the 1990s have some historians, such as Éliane Viennot,[118] Robert J. Sealy,[119] and Kathleen Wellman, contributed to rehabilitating the image of the last Valois and to distinguishing between the historical figure of Margaret of Valois and the legend of Queen Margot. However, literary works and cinematographic works, such as La Reine Margot by Patrice Chéreau, have continued to perpetuate the image of an obscene and lustful woman.
In literature and fiction[edit]
The 1845 novel of Alexandre Dumas, père, La Reine Margot, is a fictionalised account of the events surrounding Margaret's marriage to Henry of Navarre.[120] The novel was adapted into film three times, with the 1994 version nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design (Margaret was played by Isabelle Adjani).[121]
The main action of William Shakespeare's early comedy Love's Labour's Lost (1594–1595) is possibly based on an attempt at reconciliation made in 1578 between Margaret and Henry.[122]
Margaret appears in Jean Plaidy's novel, Myself, My Enemy,[123] a fictional memoir of Queen Henrietta Maria, consort of King Charles I of England. She also features in Plaidy's Catherine de Medici trilogy which focuses on her mother, Catherine de' Medici, mostly in the second book The Italian Woman,[124] and also in the third book, Queen Jezebel.[125][126] Sophie Perinot's 2015 novel Médicis Daughter (ISBN 9781250072092) covers Margaret's adolescence and the early days of her marriage.
Margaret of Valois has a major role in the Meyerbeer opera Les Huguenots.[127] That was one of the signature roles of the Australian soprano Joan Sutherland, who performed it for her farewell performance for the Australian Opera in 1990.[128] She also appears in the opera comique Le pré aux clercs, by Ferdinand Herold.
Margot was portrayed by Rebecca Liddiard in the series finale of the television series Reign.[129]
