Letters from the Queen of Navarre with an Ample Declaration

This edition presents in English, for the first time, Jeanne d’Albret’s Letters to the king, his mother, his brother, her own brother-in-law, and the queen of England, together with her Ample Declaration (1568) defending her decampment to the Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle. A historical-biographical introduction situates these writings in the larger context of Reformation politics and examines in detail the specific literary characteristics of her memoir. In her works, Jeanne d’Albret asserts her own position as legal sovereign of Béarn and Navarre and situates herself at the nexus of overlapping political, religious, and familial tensions.

“Jeanne d’Albret’s Ample Declaration, presented here in an elegant translation accompanied by an informative study, greatly enhances our understanding of the Queen of Navarre’s cultural and political role during the turbulent era of the French Wars of Religion. With concision and clarity, the editors explain the confusing times in which Jeanne lived, and explore the finer details of genre, imagery, and voice in the text itself, allowing scholars and students alike to make a closer acquaintance with this uniquely important historical figure.”

-Leah Chang, Associate Professor of French, The George Washington University

KATHLEEN M. LLEWELLYN is Professor of French at St. Louis University. Her area of research is the literature of cultural practices and perspectives in early modern France.

EMILY E. THOMPSON is Professor of French at Webster University in St. Louis. She writes on the evolution of the nouvelle and of editing practices in sixteenth-century France.

COLETTE H. WINN is Professor of French at Washington University in St. Louis. She specializes in editing early modern writings by women.

REVIEWS
Early Modern Women 11.2 (2017): 226–229. Reviewed by Jane Couchman.
Renaissance & Reformation 39.3 (2016): 172–174. Reviewed by Amanda Eurich.
Renaissance Quarterly 70.2 (2017): 738–739. Reviewed by Francesca Canadé Sautman.
The Sixteenth Century Journal 48.1 (2017): 159–160. Reviewed by Wendy Pfeffer.