Margaret of Valois
Margaret of Valois (French: Marguerite; 14 May 1553 – 27 March 1615), popularly known as Queen Margot (La Reine Margot), was Queen of Navarre from 1572 to 1599 and Queen of France from 1589 to 1599 as the consort of Henry IV of France and III of Navarre.
Quotes
[edit]- For my part, I remained a close prisoner, without a visit from a single person, none of my most intimate friends daring to come near me, through the apprehension that such a step might prove injurious to their interests. Thus it is ever in Courts. Adversity is solitary, while prosperity dwells in a crowd; the object of persecution being sure to be shunned by his nearest friends and dearest connections.
- Memoirs (1628) Letter XII (tr. Anon., 1899)
- Besides, I had found a secret pleasure, during my confinement, from the perusal of good books, to which I had given myself up with a delight I never before experienced. I consider this as an obligation I owe to fortune, or, rather, to Divine Providence, in order to prepare me, by such efficacious means, to bear up against the misfortunes and calamities that awaited me. By tracing nature in the universal book which is opened to all mankind, I was led to the knowledge of the Divine Author. Science conducts us, step by step, through the whole range of creation, until we arrive, at length, at God. Misfortune prompts us to summon our utmost strength to oppose grief and recover tranquillity, until at length we find a powerful aid in the knowledge and love of God, whilst prosperity hurries us away until we are overwhelmed by our passions. My captivity and its consequent solitude afforded me the double advantage of exciting a passion for study, and an inclination for devotion, advantages I had never experienced during the vanities and splendour of my prosperity.
- Memoirs (1628) Letter XII (tr. Anon., 1899)
See also
[edit]External links
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- Memoirs of Margerite de Valois, Queen of Navarre, Written by Herself (Boston, MA: L. C. Page and Co, 1899) — "These Memoirs first appeared in French in 1628. They were, thirty years later, printed in London in English, and were again there translated and published in 1818."