Representing the Life and Legacy of Renée de France: From Fille de France to Dowager Duchess (Queenship and Power)

This book considers the life and legacy of Renée de France (1510–75), the youngest daughter of King Louis XII and Anne de Bretagne, exploring her cultural, spiritual, and political influence and her evolving roles and actions as fille de France , Duchess of Ferrara, and Dowager Duchess at Montargis. Drawing on a variety of often overlooked sources – poetry, theater, fine arts, landscape architecture, letters, and ambassadorial reports – contributions highlight Renée’s wide-ranging influence in sixteenth-century Europe, from the Italian Wars to the French Wars of Religion. These essays consider her cultural patronage and politico-religious advocacy, demonstrating that she expanded upon intellectual and moral values shared with her sister, Claude de France; her cousins, Marguerite de Navarre and Jeanne d’Albret; and her godmother and mother, Anne de France and Anne de Bretagne, thereby solidifying her place in a long line of powerful French royal women. Acknowledgments 7 Contents 9 Notes on Contributors 11 List of Figures 15 List of Tables 20 Chapter 1: Introduction: Renée de France’s Life and Legacy 21 Bibliography 37 Primary Sources 37 Secondary Sources 38 Chapter 2: Anne de Bretagne, Claude de France, and the Roots of Renée’s Persona 40 The Power of a Proactive Household 45 Anne de Bretagne and Prelates Engaged in Religious Reform 50 Queen/Duchess Anne, Madame de Soubise, and Their Daughters 54 Claude, Renée, and Marguerite d’Alençon/Navarre: A Durable Spiritual Bond 57 Contextualizing Early Depictions of Renée de France 67 Evangelical Humanism, Spiritual, and Political Fortitude 70 Resisting Women 74 Bibliography 77 Primary Sources 77 Manuscripts 77 Imprints 78 Secondary sources 79 Chapter 3: The Primer of Renée de France 87 Appendix 108 Bibliography 110 Primary Sources 110 Manuscripts 110 Imprints and Reproductions 110 Secondary Sources 110 Chapter 4: Back to Basics: Rereading the “Ferrarese Imbroglio” of 1536 in Light of Primary Sources 114 Lent in Ferrara, 1536 116 Religion? It’s Politics 120 Calvin in Ferrara: The Birth of a Myth 121 The Facts 122 An Eye-Witness 122 The Timeframe 123 A Timid Intellectual? 124 The Life of Calvin (Via Bèze) 126 The Myths Revisited 130 Calvin in Ferrara 130 Renée and Calvin 133 Conclusion 137 Bibliography 139 Primary Sources 139 Secondary Sources 141 Chapter 5: The Duchess and the Poet: Rereading Variants of Two Poems Written in Exile by Clément Marot to Renée de France in Relation to Ongoing Diplomatic Negotiations (1535–1538) 144 Inventory and Description of the Manuscripts 148 L’Avant-naissance du troisième enfant de la duchesse de Ferrare (Prenatal Poem Awaiting the Birth of the Third Child of the Duchess of Ferrara) 150 The Epistle Written in Venice to the Duchess of Ferrara 152 Interpreting the Variants 155 Conclusion 163 Appendix 165 List of Texts Composed in Exile and Known by an Immediate Printed Publication (1535–1536) 165 Bibliography 180 Primary Sources 180 Secondary Sources 180 Chapter 6: “C’est mon stile qui change”: Clément Marot’s Lyrical Turn in Renée de France’s Pays Italique 183 Historiography Before the “Protestant Turn”: Relativizing Marot’s Italian Exile 185 “Marot, le Poëte Gallique (au) pays italique”: Renée’s Ferrara Belvedere as locus amœnus 191 An End of Petrarchism?: Marot and Lyricism After 1536 198 Conclusion 202 Bibliography 204 Primary Sources 204 Secondary Sources 204 Chapter 7: Between Literature and Religion: Renata di Francia’s Literary Network 207 Renée’s Arrival and Court in Ferrara 210 Renata’s Catholic and Reformed Network 212 “The Literary” at Renata’s Court 213 Diversity at Court 215 Conclusion 226 Appendix 227 Bibliography 230 Primary Sources 230 Secondary Sources 231 Chapter 8: Renata di Francia and the Theater: Some Hypotheses 235 The Theater Scene in Ferrara 238 Performance at the Ferrara Court 246 Gianbattista Giraldi Cinzio 250 Bibliography 259 Primary Sources 259 Secondary Sources 260 Chapter 9: A Challenging Wife: Renée de France and Simulated Celibacy 263 Simulated Celibacy 265 Early Modern Challenges and the French Pattern 270 Raising Children, Crossing Borders: The French Model 272 Marriage Italian Style: The Case of Renée de France 281 Religious Patronage and Simulated Celibacy 288 Bibliography 292 Primary Sources 292 Secondary Sources 292 Chapter 10: Under the Rubble: Renée de France and Fragments of Art from Her Italian Years 300 Bastardy and Art at the Ferrarese Court 305 A Trilogy of Independent Duchesses 312 Renée on the Courtly Stage 319 Belriguardo and the Sala della Vigna 323 Conclusion 337 Bibliography 338 Primary Sources 338 Secondary Sources 338 Chapter 11: Renée de France as Dowager Duchess and Epistolary Diplomat 348 Renée’s Return to France 351 Visual and Textual Representations of Renée at the Estates General of Orléans 354 Image-Making Through Correspondence 359 Epistolary Diplomacy: Exploiting Kinship to Shape Public Policy 364 Conclusion 368 Bibliography 371 Primary Sources 371 Secondary Sources 372 Chapter 12: The Gardens of the Château de Montargis as an Expression of Renée de France’s Identity (1560-1575) 374 An Architectural Program to Express Renée’s Royal Magnificence 376 The Construction Site: A Demonstration of Rank and Power 382 Were the Gardens Compatible with Renée de France’s Religious Stance? 387 Conclusion 391 Bibliography 392 Primary Sources 392 Manuscripts 392 Imprints 392 Secondary Sources 393 Chapter 13: Epilogue: Future Directions for Studying the Life and Legacy of Renée de France 395 Bibliography 398 Index 399