74-599: (Redirected from La Reine Margot ) Queen Margot or La Reine Margot may refer to: Margaret of Valois (1553–1615), queen consort of Navarre and later also of France La Reine Margot (novel) , 1845 French novel by Alexandre Dumas about Margaret of Valois La Reine Margot (1954 film) , French film based on Alexandre Dumas' novel La Reine Margot (1994 film) , French film also based on Alexandre Dumas' novel Queen Margot (comics) , Franco-Belgian graphic novel series about Margaret of Valois Queen Margot (TV series) ,
148-473: A Russian television series Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Queen Margot . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Queen_Margot&oldid=1181223803 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
222-538: A critique of the philosophy of platonic love which was popular at Charles I 's court. The play was derived from the concept in Plato's Symposium of a person's love for the idea of good, which he considered to lie at the root of all virtue and truth. For a brief period, platonic love was a fashionable subject at the English royal court, especially in the circle around Queen Henrietta Maria , the wife of King Charles I. Platonic love
296-438: A deeper and more profound emotional connection than friendship. Julie Sondra Decker writes that queerplatonic love often "looks indistinguishable from romance when outside the equation", but should not be "assigned a romantic status if participants say it is not romantic". She also notes that it can also be misread by observers as close friendship in circumstances where overtly romantic gestures are socially expected. For Decker,
370-514: A form of linguistic relativity . Some modern authors' perception of the terms "virtue" and "good" as they are translated into English from the Symposium are a good indicator of this misunderstanding. In the following quote, the author simplifies the idea of virtue as simply what is "good". "... what is good is beautiful, and what is beautiful is good ..." The Ladder of Love is a metaphor that relates each step toward Being as consecutive rungs of
444-564: A fusion of souls. After the departure of Anjou, the situation of Margaret deteriorated. One of her ladies-in-waiting, Françoise de Montmorency-Fosseux , a 14-year-old girl known as La Belle Fosseuse , was conducting a passionate affair with the King of Navarre and became pregnant. Margaret proposed banishing her rival from court, but La Belle Fosseuse screamed that she would refuse to cooperate. She never ceased to incite Henry against his wife, hoping perhaps to be married to him. "From that moment until
518-468: 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 rejected by her husband, she chose the path of opposition in 1585. She took the side of the Catholic League and was thus exiled to Auvergne , which lasted for 20 years. In 1599, she consented to a "royal divorce",
592-562: A ladder. Each step closer to the truth further distances love from beauty of the body toward love that is more focused on wisdom and the essence of beauty. The ladder starts with carnal attraction of body for body, progressing to a love for body and soul. Eventually, in time, with consequent steps up the ladder, the idea of beauty is eventually no longer connected with a body, but entirely united with Being itself. "[...] decent human beings must be gratified, as well as those that are not as yet decent, so that they might become more decent; and
666-477: A letter pleading for her husband, the Supporting Statement for Henry of Bourbon . She recorded in her Memoirs : My husband, having no counsellor to assist him, desired me to draw up his defence in such a manner that he might not implicate any person, and, at the same time, clear my brother and himself from any criminality of conduct. With God's help I accomplished this task to his great satisfaction, and to
740-602: A mortal achieving immortality. In the Middle Ages, new interest in the works of Plato, his philosophy and his view of love became more popular, spurred on by Georgios Gemistos Plethon during the Councils of Ferrara and Firenze in 1438–1439. Later in 1469, Marsilio Ficino put forward a theory of neo-platonic love, in which he defined love as a personal ability of an individual, which guides their soul towards cosmic processes, lofty spiritual goals and heavenly ideas. The first use of
814-594: A nymphomaniac. By 1570, Catherine de' Medici was seeking a marriage between Margaret and Henry de Bourbon of Navarre , the leading Huguenot (French Calvinist Protestant). It was hoped this union would strengthen family ties, as the Bourbons were part of the French royal family and the closest relatives to the reigning Valois branch, and end the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. On 11 April 1572, Margaret
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#1732873246253888-444: A quarrel between Alençon and Navarre, both her lovers, spoiling Margaret's attempt at forming an alliance between her husband and youngest brother. This episode may give the impression that despite frequent infidelity, the marriage was a solid political alliance. In reality, Henry only approached his wife when it served his interests, and did not hesitate to abandon her if it did not. For her part, Margaret might have availed herself of
962-547: A religious war, later called the "Lovers' War", broke out between the Huguenots and King Henry III of France . The conflict was provoked by the misapplication of the last edict of pacification and by a conflict between Navarre and the lieutenant-general of the king in Guyenne , a province in which Henry of Navarre was governor. During the conflict, Margaret took the side of her husband. It lasted briefly (1579–1580), thanks in part to
1036-415: 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. [...] 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. Alençon, who allied himself with
1110-401: Is an affectionate relationship into which the sexual element does not enter, especially in cases where one might easily assume otherwise." "Platonic lovers function to underscore a supportive role where the friend sees [their] duty as the provision of advice, encouragement, and comfort to the other person ... and do not entail exclusivity." One of the complications of platonic love lies within
1184-480: Is dedicated to Queen Margaret de Valois. The court of Nérac became especially famous for the amorous adventures that occurred there, to the point of having inspired Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost . Margaret had an affair with one of the most illustrious companions of her husband, the Vicomte de Turenne . Henry of Navarre , on his side, endeavored to conquer all the maids of honor who accompanied his wife. In 1579,
1258-479: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages 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
1332-399: Is perhaps at the root of a "lasting brotherly hatred" between Margaret and her brother Henry, as well as the equally lasting cooling of relations with her mother. Some historians have hinted that the duke was Margaret's lover, but nothing confirms this. In the sixteenth century, a king's daughter had to remain a virgin until her marriage for political reasons. Surely after their marriage she
1406-415: Is the speech of Socrates , who attributes to the prophet Diotima an idea of platonic love as a means of ascent to contemplation of the divine, an ascent known as the "Ladder of Love". For Diotima and Plato generally, the most correct use of love of human beings is to direct one's mind to love of divinity . Socrates defines love based on separate classifications of pregnancy (to bear offspring); pregnancy of
1480-483: The Princesse de Navarre , my husband's sister; there were besides a number of ladies belonging to myself. The King my husband was attended by a numerous body of lords and gentlemen, all as gallant persons as I have seen in any Court; and we had only to lament that they were Huguenots. [...] Sometimes we took a walk in the park on the banks of the river, bordered by an avenue of trees three thousand yards in length. The rest of
1554-518: The Huguenots, took up arms and refused to negotiate until his sister was set free. She was therefore released and assisted her mother in the peace talks. They led to a text extremely beneficial to the Protestants: the Edict of Beaulieu . Alençon also benefited from the edict, that made him Duke of Anjou , the title his elder brother held before becoming king. Henry of Navarre, who had once again converted to
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#17328732462531628-553: The King. Margaret maintained an active correspondence with her husband and tried to convince him to join her in Paris. But Henry of Navarre was not persuaded, and a rupturing of their relationship occurred when Margaret forced La Belle Fosseuse from her service on the order of the Queen-Mother. After this new break with her husband, from November 1582 to August 1583, the Queen of Navarre resumed
1702-471: The Ladder of Love, they would essentially transcend the body and rise to immortality—gaining direct access to Being. Such a form of love is impossible for a mortal to achieve. What Plato describes as "pregnancy of the body" is entirely carnal and seeks pleasure and beauty in bodily form only. This is the type of love, that, according to Socrates, is practiced by animals. "Now, if both these portraits of love,
1776-510: The Protestant faith, sought to have Margaret join him in his Kingdom of Navarre . During this conflict, they reconciled to the point that she reported pertinent information from the court in her letters. But Catherine de' Medici and Henry III refused to release her to her husband, fearing that Margaret would become a hostage in the hands of the Huguenots or that she would act to strengthen the alliance between Navarre and Anjou. However, Catherine
1850-464: The Queen of Navarre who suggested calling her brother, Francis, Duke of Anjou , to lead the negotiations. They were rapid and culminated in the peace of Fleix . It is then that Margaret fell in love with the grand equerry of her brother, Jacques de Harlay , lord of Champvallon. The letters she addressed to him illustrate her conception of love. She favoured platonic love - which does not mean that she didn't appreciate physical love – to bring about
1924-508: The absence of jealousy of her husband to take a lover in the person of the famous Bussy d'Amboise . Alençon and Navarre finally managed to escape, one in September 1575 and the other in 1576. Henry did not even warn his wife of his departure. Margaret found herself confined to her chambers in the Louvre, under suspicion as her husband's accomplice. She wrote in her Memoirs : Besides, I had found
1998-431: The annulment of the marriage, but only after the payment of a generous compensation. A well-known woman of letters, considered both enlightened and an 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 ,
2072-550: The author of the Essays . The Navarrese knight, poet, author and descendant of the first kings of Navarre, Julián Íñiguez de Medrano , had been at court in Nérac with Queen Margaret of Valois; Medrano flourished during her time. The Queen, who knew how to value people of wit, believed she gained much by having him at her Nérac Court, where he was for several years both an ornament and a delight. Julián Íñiguez de Medrano's book La Silva Curiosa
2146-468: The body, pregnancy of the soul, and direct connection to existence. Pregnancy of the body results in human children. Pregnancy of the soul, the next step in the process, produces " virtue "—which is the soul (truth) translating itself into material form. "... virtue for the Greeks means self-sameness ... in Plato's terms, Being or idea."(106) Pausanias, in Plato's Symposium (181b–182a), defines two types of
2220-443: The carnal limitation of human beings to the pregnancy of the body to be a form of tragedy, as it separates someone from the pursuit of truth. One would be forever limited to beauty of the body, never being able to access the true essence of beauty. Diotima considers the idea of a mortal having direct access to Being to be a comic situation simply because of the impossibility of it. The offspring of true virtue would essentially lead to
2294-478: The cathedral during the mass, where his place was taken by Margaret's brother, the Duke of Anjou. François Eudes de Mézeray , a 17th century historian, invented the anecdote that Margaret was forced to marry the King of Navarre by her brother Charles IX , who pushed down her head as though she were nodding her assent. This was Bourbon propaganda to justify the subsequent annulment of the marriage, 27 years later, part of
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2368-424: The centuries to the modern day. In the late 20th and the early 21st centuries, revisionist historian have reviewed the extensive chronicles of her life and concluded that some elements of her scandalous reputation stemmed from anti-Valois propaganda and a factionalism that denigrated the participation of women in politics and was created by Bourbon dynasty court historians in the 17th century. Margaret of Valois
2442-648: The dangerous and complex political situation in France, and learned from her mother the art of political mediation. In 1565, Catherine met with Philip II's chief minister Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba at Bayonne in hopes of arranging a marriage between Margaret and Carlos, Prince of Asturias . However, Alba refused any consideration of a dynastic marriage. Other marriage negotiations with Sebastian of Portugal and Archduke Rudolf also did not succeed. During her teenage years, she and her brother Henry were very close friends. In 1568, leaving court to command
2516-423: The day was passed in innocent amusements; and in the afternoon, or at night, we commonly had a ball. Queen Margaret worked to create a refined court. She was indeed forming a true literary academy. Besides Agrippa d'Aubigné , Navarre's companion in arms, and Guy Du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac , the poet Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas and Michel de Montaigne frequented the court. Margaret had many exchanges with
2590-473: The end, despite the contacts Margaret had found, the Duke of Anjou was incapable of defeating the Spanish Army of Flanders . After reporting her mission to her younger brother, Margaret returned to the court. The fighting multiplied between Henry III's mignons and Anjou's supporters, in the forefront of which Bussy d'Amboise , a lover of Margaret. In 1578 Anjou asked to be absent. But Henry III saw in it
2664-493: The engagement, and was succeeded on the throne by Henry, so that Margaret became queen of Navarre upon the day of her wedding. Margaret and Henry, both 19 years of age, were married on 18 August 1572 at Notre Dame de Paris . The marriage between a Catholic and a Huguenot was controversial. Pope Gregory XIII refused to grant a dispensation for the wedding, and the different faiths of the bridal couple made for an unusual wedding service. The King of Navarre had to remain outside
2738-428: The first woman to have done so. One of the most fashionable women of her time, her dress influenced many of Europe's royal courts . After her death, the anecdotes and slanders circulated about her created a legend which consolidated around the nickname La Reine Margot , invented by Alexandre Dumas père . These fictional elements of nymphomaniac and incest created a mythical image of a woman which persisted through
2812-552: The ground, which led from the Bishop's palace to the Church of Notre Dame. It was huge with cloth of gold; and below it stood the people in throngs to view the procession, stifling with heat. We were received at the church door by the Cardinal de Bourbon , who officiated for that day, and pronounced the nuptial benediction. After this we proceeded on the same platform to the tribune which separates
2886-519: The hour of [his mistress's] delivery, which was a few months after, [my husband] never spoke to me. [...] We slept in separate beds in the same chamber, and had done so for some time", remembered Margaret. Françoise finally gave birth to a daughter, but the child was stillborn. "It pleased God that she should bring forth a daughter since dead", the queen wrote in her Memoirs . In 1582, Margaret returned to Paris. She had failed to give her husband an heir, which would have strengthened her position. However,
2960-510: The latter throne as Henry IV. 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, 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
3034-490: The lives of several prominent Protestants during the massacre by keeping them in her rooms and refusing to admit the assassins. Her eye-witness account of the massacre in Memoirs is the only one from the royal family. These facts inspired Alexandre Dumas for his famous novel La Reine Margot (1845). After St. Bartholomew's Day, Catherine de' Medici proposed to Margaret that the marriage be annulled, but she replied that this
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3108-402: The love known as "Eros": vulgar Eros, or earthly love, and divine Eros, or divine love . Pausanias defines vulgar Eros as material attraction towards a person's beauty for the purposes of physical pleasure and reproduction, and divine Eros as starting from physical attraction but transcending gradually to love for supreme beauty, placed on a similar level to the divine. This concept of divine Eros
3182-409: The love of the decent must be preserved." (187d, 17) - Eryximachus' "completion" of Pausanias' speech on Eros Plato's Symposium defines two extremes in the process of platonic love; the entirely carnal and the entirely ethereal. These two extremes of love are seen by the Greeks in terms of tragedy and comedy. According to Diotima in her discussion with Socrates, for anyone to achieve the final rung in
3256-583: The modern sense of platonic love is considered to be by Ficino in one of his letters. Though Plato's discussions of love originally centered on relationships which were sexual between members of the same sex, scholar Todd Reeser studies how the meaning of platonic love in Plato's original sense underwent a transformation during the Renaissance , leading to the contemporary sense of nonsexual heterosexual love. The English term "platonic" dates back to William Davenant 's The Platonick Lovers , performed in 1635,
3330-410: The myth of the "Reine Margot" . Margaret did not mention this in her Memoirs , nor did any of her contemporaries. I was set out in the most royal manner. I wore a crown on my head with the coët , or regal close dress of ermine, and I blazed in diamonds. My blue-coloured robe had a train to it of four ells in length, which was supported by three princesses. A platform had been raised, some height from
3404-499: The nave from the choir, where was a double staircase, one leading into the choir, the other through the nave to the church door. The King of Navarre passed by the latter and went out of church. Just six days later, the Catholic faction assassinated many of the Huguenots gathered in Paris for the wedding (the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre ). In her Memoirs , Margaret remembered that she saved
3478-410: The nickname of "Margot". At the French court, she studied grammar, classics, history, and Holy Scripture. Margaret learned to speak Italian, Spanish, Latin and Greek in addition to her native French. She was competent also in prose, poetry, horsemanship, and dance. She traveled with her family and the court in the grand tour of France (1564–1566). During this period Margaret had direct experience of
3552-475: The organization of the coup d'état together with her powerful friends Henriette of Nevers and Claude Catherine of Clermont . In April 1574 the conspiracy was exposed, the leaders of the plot were arrested and decapitated, including Joseph Boniface de La Mole , pretended lover of Margaret. After the failure of the conspiracy, Francis and Henry were held as prisoners at the Château de Vincennes . Margaret wrote
3626-471: The other can never be possessed without being annihilated in its status as the other, at which point both desire and transcendence would cease ... (84) In the Symposium , Eros is discussed as a Greek god—more specifically, the king of the gods, with each guest of the party giving a eulogy in praise of Eros. Virtue, according to Greek philosophy , is the concept of how closely reality and material form equates good, positive, or benevolent. This can be seen as
3700-514: The persistence of the use of the title itself "platonic love" versus the use of "friend". It is the use of the word love that directs us towards a deeper relationship than the scope of a normal friendship . Some in the aromantic and asexual communities, within the broader LGBT community , have coined the term "queerplatonic" to refer to formal intimate relationships between significant others that do not involve romance. Queerplatonic feelings are often described, like romance, as involving
3774-653: The prohibition of Catholic worship. They then settled in Nérac , capital of the Albret , which was part of the Kingdom of France and where the religious regulations and intolerance in force in Béarn did not apply: Our residence, for the most part of the time I have mentioned, was Nérac, where our Court was so brilliant that we had no cause to regret our absence from the Court of France. We had with us
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#17328732462533848-473: The proof of his participation in a conspiracy: he had him arrested in the middle of the night, and kept him in his room, where Margaret joined him. As for Bussy, he was taken to the Bastille . A few days later, Anjou fled again, thanks to a rope thrown out of his sister's window. Shortly afterwards, Margaret, who denied any participation in this escape, finally got permission to join her husband. Catherine also saw
3922-584: The queen of Navarre was entertained with gentlemen hostile to Spain and, while praising his brother, she tried to persuade them to join him. She also met the governor of the Netherlands , Don Juan of Austria , with whom he had a friendly meeting in Namur . Almost one quarter of her Memoirs are devoted to this mission. For Margaret, returning to France was dangerous due to the risk that the Spanish would capture her. At
3996-461: The real reasons for her departure were obscure. No doubt she wanted to escape from an atmosphere that became hostile, perhaps also to approach her lover Champvallon, or to support her younger brother Anjou. Moreover, King Henry III and the Queen-Mother urged her to return, hoping thus to attract the King of Navarre to the court of France. Queen Margaret was initially well received by her brother,
4070-610: The relationship with Champvallon , who had returned to Paris. Platonic love Platonic love is a type of love in which sexual desire or romantic features are nonexistent or have been suppressed, sublimated , or purgated, but it means more than simple friendship . The term is derived from the name of Greek philosopher Plato , though the philosopher never used the term himself. Platonic love, as devised by Plato, concerns rising through levels of closeness to wisdom and true beauty, from carnal attraction to individual bodies to attraction to souls, and eventually, union with
4144-492: 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 both courts, she endeavoured to lead
4218-408: The royal armies, he entrusted his 15-year-old sister with the defense of his interests with their mother. His words inspired me with resolution and powers I did not think myself possessed of before. I had naturally a degree of courage, and, as soon as I recovered from my astonishment, I found I was quite an altered person. His address pleased me, and wrought in me a confidence in myself; and I found I
4292-650: The surprise of the commissioners, who did not expect to find them so well prepared to justify themselves. After Charles IX's death, at the accession of Henry III of France, Francis and Henry were left at liberty (albeit under surveillance) and even allowed at court, but the new king did not forgive or forget Margaret's betrayal. Relations between Henry and Margaret deteriorated. Margaret did not get pregnant even though Henry continued to pay his marital debt assiduously. But he had many mistresses and openly deceived Margaret with Charlotte de Sauve , member of Queen-Mother's notorious " Flying Squadron ." Charlotte also provoked
4366-654: The throne of France instead. Alençon appeared willing to compromise in religious affairs, making him an appealing option to those tired of violence. Allied with the Protestants, the Malcontents executed several plots to seize power. Due to her inclination for her two elder brothers, Margaret initially denounced the plot in which her husband was involved, but later turned her coat in the hope of becoming an indispensable link between moderate Catholic supporters and her King of Navarre's Huguenot supporters. She actively participated in
4440-422: The tragic and the comic, are exaggerations, then we could say that the genuine portrayal of Platonic love is the one that lies between them. The love described as the one practiced by those who are pregnant according to the soul, who partake of both the realm of beings and the realm of Being, who grasp Being indirectly, through the mediation of beings, would be a love that Socrates could practice." Diotima considers
4514-541: The truth. Platonic love is contrasted with romantic love . Platonic love is examined in Plato's dialogue, the Symposium , which has as its topic the subject of love, or more generally the subject of Eros . It explains the possibilities of how the feeling of love began and how it has evolved, both sexually and non-sexually, and defines genuine platonic love as inspiring a person's mind and soul and directing their attention towards spiritual matters. Of particular importance
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#17328732462534588-433: The years pass and still had no heir. She hoped for a new wedding and invited her son-in-law to act as a good husband. Perhaps Henry III and the Queen-Mother also hoped that Margaret could play a conciliation role in the troubled provinces of the southwest. For her return with her husband, Margaret was accompanied by her mother and her chancellor, a renowned humanist, magistrate and poet, Guy Du Faur de Pibrac . This journey
4662-550: Was an opportunity for entering the cities crossed, a way of forging closer ties with the reigning family. At the end of their journey, they finally found the King of Navarre . Catherine and her son-in-law agreed on the modalities of the execution of the last edict of pacification – the object of the Nérac conference in 1579. Then, the Queen-Mother returned to Paris. After her departure, the spouses stayed briefly in Pau where Margaret suffered from
4736-408: Was another part of the myth of the "Reine Margot" . In 1573, Charles IX 's fragile mental state and constitution deteriorated further, but the heir presumptive , his brother Henry , was elected king of Poland . Due to Henry's support of suppressing Protestant worship, moderate Catholic lords, called Malcontents , supported a plot to raise Charles' youngest brother, Francis, Duke of Alençon , to
4810-448: Was become of more consequence than I had ever conceived I had been. Delighted with this mission, she fulfilled it conscientiously, but Henry showed no gratitude upon his return, according to her Memoirs . He had suspicions of a secret romance between Margot and Henry of Guise and their presumptive plan of marriage. When the royal family found this out, Catherine and Charles beat her and sent Henry of Guise away from court. This episode
4884-545: Was betrothed to Henry. Henry was a few months younger than Margaret, and their initial impressions of each other were favorable. In one of her letters to Henry, his mother Jeanne d'Albret , queen of Navarre, wrote about Margaret: "She has frankly owned to me the favourable impression which she has formed of you. With her beauty and wit, she exercises a great influence over the Queen-Mother and the King, and Messieurs her younger brothers." Jeanne d'Albret died in June 1572, two months after
4958-419: Was born on 14 May 1553 at the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye , the seventh child and third daughter of Henry II and Catherine de' Medici . Three of her brothers would become kings of France: Francis II , Charles IX and Henry III . Her sister, Elisabeth of Valois , would become the third wife of King Philip II of Spain , and her brother Francis II, married Mary, Queen of Scots . Her childhood
5032-461: Was impossible because she had already had sexual relations with Henry and was "in every sense" his wife. Later she wrote in her Memoirs : "I suspected the design of separating me from my husband was in order to work some mischief against him." In the libelle Le Réveil-matin des Français , written by an anonymous Huguenot author in 1574 against the royal family, Margaret was accused for the first time of incest with her brother Henry . This libel
5106-405: Was later transformed into the term "platonic love". Vulgar Eros and divine Eros were both considered to be connected, and part of the same continuous process of pursuing perfection of one's being, with the purpose of mending one's human nature and eventually reaching a point of unity where there is no longer an aspiration or need to change. "Eros is ... a moment of transcendence ... in so far as
5180-407: Was not faithful to her husband, however, it is difficult to discern what is true or invented about her extramarital affairs. Many have no basis, others were simply platonic. Most of Margaret's alleged adventures are the result of pamphlets printed with the intent to politically discredit her and her family. The most successful defamation was Le Divorce Satyrique (1607), which described Margaret as
5254-403: Was persuaded that Henry of Navarre could potentially change religion yet again, and used her daughter as bait to attract him to Paris. In 1577, Margaret asked permission to go on a mission in the south of the Netherlands on behalf of her younger brother Francis, Duke of Anjou . The Flemings, who had rebelled against Spanish rule in 1576, seemed willing to offer a throne to a foreign prince who
5328-483: Was spent in the French royal nursery of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye with her sisters Elisabeth and Claude , under the care of Charlotte de Vienne , baronne de Courton, "a wise and virtuous lady greatly attached to the Catholic religion". After her sisters' weddings, Margaret grew up in the Château d'Amboise with her brothers Henry and Francis, Duke of Alençon . During her childhood, her brother Charles IX gave her
5402-603: Was the theme of some of the courtly masques performed in the Caroline era , though the fashion for this soon waned under pressures of social and political change. Throughout these eras, platonic love was slowly categorized into seven different classical definitions. These were: Despite the variety and number of definitions, the different distinctions between types of love were not considered concrete and mutually exclusive, and were often considered to blend into one another at certain points. "Platonic love in its modern popular sense
5476-465: Was tolerant and willing to provide them with the diplomatic and military forces necessary to protect their independence. Henry III accepted the proposal of his sister because he would finally release the inconvenient duke of Anjou. On the pretext of a bath in Spa thermal waters, Margaret left Paris with her court. She devoted two months to her mission: at every stage of the journey, during brilliant receptions,
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