Public-domain ebook
by Marguerite, Queen, consort of Henry II, King of Navarre
Language: en4,543 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Short Stories·Classics of Literature·French Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #17705.
The Heptameron, as compiled by Queen Margaret of Navarre, is a French anthology of love‑filled narratives rendered here in English translation. Volume 5 concludes the series, opening with a succession of brief, numbered tales that recount tragic passions, jealous intrigues and moral reckonings, beginning with a Duchess of Burgundy whose spurned lover provokes a fatal accusation, followed by a saddler’s wife saved by a sudden rage, and a compassionate Duchess of Alençon who aids a wronged nun on her way to Rome. The volume also includes a prologue in which Lady Oisille frames the day’s stories with a biblical lesson, then launches into a vivid episode about the Duke of Urbino who, fearing his son’s love, orders the hanging of a maiden who merely carries letters. The structure is that of a framed collection, each story introduced by a day‑by‑day heading and often accompanied by marginal notes and historical asides.
The narration is unmistakably Renaissance, blending courtly diction with moralizing commentary. Margaret’s voice is both didactic and witty, employing elaborate sentence constructions, occasional digressions into historical detail, and a tone that oscillates between empathy for the lovers and a sober warning about vice. Readers who relish intricate moral tales, enjoy the interplay of love and power in early‑modern France, or appreciate a richly textured, slightly archaic style will find this volume rewarding. It appeals especially to those interested in the cultural milieu of 16th‑century aristocratic salons and the origins of the novella form.
The opening · free to read
Tale LXX. Of the love of a Duchess of Burgundy for a gentleman who rejects her advances, for which reason she accuses him to the Duke her husband, and the latter does not believe his oaths till assured by him that he loves the Lady du Vergier. Then the Duchess, having drawn knowledge of this amour from her husband, addresses to the Lady du Vergier in public, an allusion that causes the death of both lovers; and the Duke, in despair at his own lack of discretion, stabs the Duchess himself.
EIGHTH DAY.
Tale LXXI. The wife of a saddler of Amboise is saved on her deathbed through a fit of anger at seeing her husband fondle a servant-maid.
Tale LXXII. Kindness of the Duchess of Alençon to a poor nun whom she meets at Lyons, on her way to Rome, there to confess to the Pope how a monk had wronged her, and to obtain his Holiness’s pardon.
Appendix (The Narrators of the Heptameron)
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