Margaret of Valois
A French queen whose life was a turbulent political drama, remembered for her memoirs and surviving the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre.
1553–1615 (age 62)·Queen of France and Navarre·Birthday: May 14
Biography
Born into the volatile Valois dynasty, Margaret of Valois was a pawn and a player in the brutal French Wars of Religion. Married to the Protestant Henry of Navarre in a political union meant to foster peace, she found herself trapped in Paris during the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, an event she later described with chilling clarity. Her marriage was famously strained and childless, and she spent years under house arrest after her brother, Henry III, banished her for her political maneuvers. Following the annulment of her marriage after Henry became King of France, she lived out her days in Paris, hosting a brilliant salon and writing candid, insightful memoirs that provide an unparalleled window into the intrigue and violence of the 16th-century French court.
#1 When Margaret Was Born
The biggest hits of 1553
Margaret's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1553Born
1558Started school
1566Became a teenager
1569Could drive
1571Could vote
1574Turned 21
1583Turned 30
1593Turned 40
1603Turned 50
1613Turned 60
1615Died at 62
Key Achievements
- Authored the 'Mémoires', a vivid and personal account of the French Wars of Religion and court life.
- Survived the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 1572, later providing a key eyewitness narrative of the event.
- Served as Queen Consort of Navarre (1572-1599) and later of France (1589-1599) during a period of profound national conflict.
- Established a influential literary salon in Paris during her later years, patronizing writers and thinkers.
Did You Know?
She is popularly known as 'Queen Margot', a name immortalized in Alexandre Dumas's novel and later film adaptations.
Her marriage to Henry IV was annulled by papal decree in 1599, after which he married Marie de' Medici.
She was the daughter of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II of France.
Her memoirs were published posthumously in 1628.
“Fortune is a woman; she needs to be beaten and ill-used.”
