The Life of Jeanne D'Albret

Fascinating biography of Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre who was one of the most significant political leaders of her time and a leading light of the Reformation.

"Jeanne d'Albret (Joan III of Navarre, l. 1528-1572) was Queen of Navarre, daughter of Marguerite de Navarre (l. 1492-1549) and niece of King Francois I (Francis I of France, r. 1515-1547). She is best known for leading the Huguenots (French Protestants) in the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) and as mother of King Henry IV of France.

Her mother, Marguerite, and father, Henry d'Albret (Henry II of Navarre, l. 1503-1555), both favored religious reform, though neither left the Church, and Jeanne was brought up in a religiously liberal, intellectual atmosphere, tutored from a young age by the Humanist poet Nicholas de Bourbon the Elder (d. c. 1550). She was strong-willed at an early age and consistently followed her own course, openly declaring for the Reformation in 1560 and defying the demands of her second husband, Antoine de Bourbon (l. 1518-1562), that she return to Catholicism.

By supporting the Reformation and establishing Navarre as a haven for Huguenots, Jeanne increased the tensions that erupted in the French Wars of Religion. She initially supported the Protestant side financially and politically but, in the third war, took an active role as propagandist, figurehead, leader, and negotiated the peace twice in 1563 and 1570. She also, reluctantly, agreed to the marriage of her Protestant son Henry, (later King Henry IV of France, l. 1553-1610) to the Catholic Margaret of Valois (l. 1553-1615), daughter of King Henry II of France (r. 1547-1559) and Catherine de 'Medici (1519-1589) in the interests of national unity."-Joshua J. Mark

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