Inside the Life of a Sixteenth-century French Noblewoman
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This is the story of a real-life sixteenth-century French noblewoman, Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval. Her mother died in childbirth and her father died serving the king. Her fate and fortune then fell to a male guardian, her cousin, whom she calls Roberval.
Unfortunately, he is an explorer who has run through all of his own money and is now planning to run through hers. He has no intention of finding a husband for her since this would require a dowry and he wants all the money for himself. Instead, his plan is to sell off her property and take her – and her nurse, Damienne – along with him on a journey to New France (Canada) to establish a colony there.
I don’t want to say too much about this book. That would ruin the way the story unspools. However, I will share a scene from early on that tells us the meaning of isola and hints at things to come. In it, Roberval’s secretary, Auguste, invites Marguerite to look at an Italian map with him that shows Roberval’s destination, La Nuovo Francia.
It is extremely improper for a woman in that era to stand close to a man even if doing something as benign as looking at a map on the wall, but she dares to do so. On the map there were jagged coasts and islands all around with waves. Each island was called isola. But then Marguerite points to an area beyond the coasts and rivers which is blank. She asks about it. “Is it the east? Is it the Indies?” The secretary tells her that no one knows what it is. But in Marguerite’s mind, she has the answer. It is the picture of oblivion.
Of interest in the novel are quotes from a book called Lessons for my Daughter by Anne of France (1461-1522), who was the daughter of Louis XI. The book teaches political and moral guidance on how to navigate court life as a powerful woman. It is considered a significant text for understanding a woman’s position in that era.
Here is an example: “Because of their weak feminine nature, it is especially important for all gentlewomen desiring a good reputation to be so modest and afraid of error that they do not take a single step unless they must, and that compassed by reason, they behave with perfect delicacy.”
There are several pages of notes at the end of the novel that tells us of the various places in which Marguerite enters the historical record starting in 1536. There are evidently two written accounts of the story as it pertains to the isola. One was written by Queen Marguerite of Navarre in 1558. The other was written by a priest, Andre Thevet in 1575.
Knowing that this harrowing journey is a matter of fact makes this book a very interesting read indeed.
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