Marguerite de Navarre

This BBC Radio 4 podcast episode of "In Our Time" features Melvyn Bragg and three guests—Emma Herdman, Sara Barker, and Emily Butterworth—discussing Marguerite de Navarre, a significant figure of the French Renaissance. The discussion covers Marguerite's early life and education, her complex relationship with the Catholic Church and the Reformation, her literary works such as the Heptameron, and her role as a political figure and diplomat. The panelists explore her nuanced position between Catholicism and Protestantism, her influence at court, and her legacy as a writer and intellectual. They also touch on the controversies and complexities surrounding her life and works, including the themes of violence against women in the Heptameron and her involvement in the religious and political tensions of her time.