The Heptameron

by Marguerite de Navarre

  The type of stylistic variation resulting primarily from subject matter, intention and personality is considerably more complex. Of these factors the most obvious is personality. If one looks carefully at the speech of the ten storytellers, it becomes clear that there is not only variation between male and female speech (in itself an important concretization of a central theme), but also variation between the speech of soldiers, courtiers, priests, youth and age. And there are other roles adopted by the storytellers as they discourse with one another: they may temporarily take on the language of preachers, philosophers, poets, lovers, wives, husbands… This accounts for the highly variable style of the dialogues, which ranges from personal bickering to earnest evangelical sermonizing.

  Since the stories themselves are presented as told by ten different individuals, the stories too display differences of tone and content. One would not expect the cynical Saffredent to talk like the devout Oisille, or the young and forthright Nomerfide to talk like the ageing soldier Geburon. Nor should one expect their stories to be uniform in manner. There is in fact a clear positive correlation between individual storytellers and the length, content and language of the stories they tell. To complicate matters further, the storytellers recount narratives which themselves contain different characters and therefore different styles. Many stories contain set-piece speeches which in their rhetorical formality, and in some cases in their pomposity, stand out starkly against the surrounding text. Yet even this is not the final complication. Irony and parody are extremely important features of the dialogue passages, though they may easily go unnoticed. It sometimes happens that a given story-telling character, with his or her own already distinctive style of speech, may seek to incorporate within that style the distinctive style of somebody else. Thus one of the defining features of Saffredent’s style of speech is the way he frequently takes over the biblical style of evangelical speech or the idealizing vocabulary of Platonic love. Oisille actually complains about this in the discussion following story 36, and Parlamente after story 44 makes remarks about the difficulty of distinguishing true from specious language. This is another major theme of the Heptaméron, and since stylistic variations contribute to expressing it, it is important to try to maintain such variations in the translation.

  In the last analysis it is of course vocabulary and the grammatical shape of sentences which expresses the oscillations between different styles. The present translation makes use of archaic wording and phrasing where it suits the character of the speaker and his or her purpose. The language of the Authorized Version of the Bible seems an effective (if strictly anachronistic) way of conveying the appropriate tone. And if plainer vocabulary appears alongside, this is not stylistic inconsistency, but an attempt to reflect the variety of the original. The Heptaméron’s syntax can be dauntingly contorted. There is one permanent stylistic tic which seems to be peculiar to the work, and that is the relatively high frequency of ‘consecutive’ (‘so… that’) clauses. So common are these that I have felt obliged to retain the construction; equally, however, the self-embedding of ‘so… that’ clauses can become so impossibly convoluted for modern English that I have felt obliged to reduce them in some passages. There are other kinds of syntactic complexity that remain because they seem to serve some stylistic end. The speech of Oisille, for instance, is marked by long but coherent sentences. Sometimes (though certainly not always) clumsy and difficult syntax may be parodistic in intent – as in the case of the English lord in story 57, who is the target of general ridicule.

  Probably the strongest stylistic contrast in the Heptaméron is between prose and verse. In spite of the obvious pitfalls it seems to me to be essential to attempt to retain this distinction in translation, quite apart from the fact that the verse has, as has already been suggested, its own peculiar means of expressing obscure meanings. The renderings of the verse will doubtless appear trite, clumsy and pompous. Fortunately most of Marguerite’s verse (and the Heptaméron’s verse closely resembles it) is generally described in those terms by literary critics and historians. It is probably not part of the translator’s job to try to improve on the original, at least where taste rather than intelligibility is concerned. One can also take comfort in the fact that some of the verse passages are apparently regarded by some of the storytellers themselves as slightly ridiculous or even in some way suspect. After all, in the Prologue we are told that the storytellers had agreed to exclude men of letters. Moreover, the idea that poetry cannot really be translated at all is present in the book itself. Parlamente is using a conventional modest disclaimer in story 64 when she says that the hero’s verse epistle is a translation, and a bad one at that, from the Spanish. It is intriguing to realize that translation is actually an intrinsic part, even a theme, of the original Heptaméron text. An association is established in the Prologue with the enterprise of translating. More importantly, the text itself incorporates translations, paraphrases and parodies of various sources – mainly Scripture, but also Plato, Old French, Latin, Italian and Spanish. Any translation of the work is thus, at least in part, a translation of translations. In a curious sense translating it may even implicitly add to its meaning, for one of its essential themes is precisely the communication (or non-communication) of meaning.

  BIOGRAPHICAL AND

  HISTORICAL SUMMARY

  Life of Marguerite de Navarre

  Politics and Culture

  1483 Birth of Luther

  1486 First printed edition of Cent Nouvelles Nouvelles

  1492 Birth of Marguerite, to Charles d’Angoulême and Louise de Savoie

  1492 Columbus discovers America

  1494 Birth of her brother, François

  1494 First French invasion of Italy

  1498 François becomes heir apparent

  1498 Death of King Charles VIII without heir; the Duke of Orleans becomes Louis XII, and re-starts Italian wars

  1509 Marguerite marries Charles, duc d’Alençon

  1514 Louis XII marries Henry VIII’s sister Mary

  1515 Louis XII dies; François I accedes

  1516 Erasmus’s edition of the New Testament

  1517 Marguerite concerned with reform of convents. Has contacts with humanist reformer Lefevre d’Étaples. Poet Marot enters her service

  1517 Luther’s theses against papal indulgences

  1519 Charles I of Spain, François I’s main enemy, elected Holy Roman Emperor

  1521 Marguerite starts correspondence with Briçonnet, Bishop of Meaux, moderate reformer and mystical theologian.

  1521 Luther condemned by Sorbonne and excommunicated. First war between François and Charles V

  1522 Lefevre d’Étaples’s Commentaries on the Gospels. Alliance of Charles V and Henry VIII against France

  1523 Lefevre’s French translation of the New Testament. Zwingli reforms Zurich

  1524 Composes Dialogue in the form of a Nocturnal Vision, not published till 1533. Has Luther’s treatise on monastic views translated

  1524 François conquers Milan

  1525 Marguerite’s husband dies. She goes to Madrid to negotiate her brother’s release

  1525 Battle of Pavia. François captured. Louise de Savoie regent

  1526 Treaty of Madrid. François freed

  1527 Marries Henri d’Albret, King of Navarre

  1528 Her daughter, Jeanne d’Albret, future mother of Henri IV, born

  1528 Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier translated into French. Bâle, Beme, Strasbourg join Reformation

  1529 Participates in peace negotiations led by her mother and Margaret of Austria

  1529 War in Italy, defeat of French. Peace of Cambrai

  1530 Lefevre residing at Marguerite’s court at Nérac

  1531 Her mother dies. Mirror of the Sinful Soul published

  1532 Marguerite and François encourage reformist preaching

  1532 Rabelais’s Pantagruel

  1533 Marguerite’s Mirror condemned by the 1533 Sorbonne after re-edition includi
ng Marot’s translation of psalm 6; François intervenes

  1533 Sorbonne accuses Marguerite’s chaplain, Gérard Roussel, of heresy

  1534 Marguerite bides her time in Navarre

  1534 Anti-Catholic poster campaign triggers persecution of Protestants (‘affaire des placards’). Rabelais’s Gargantua. Henry VIII established head of English Church

  1535 Marguerite returns to François’s court

  1536 Takes Bonaventure des Périers into her service

  1536 Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. War with Charles V

  1536 Active participation in brother’s policies and in peace talks

  1538 Geneva joins Reformation

  1541 Marguerite’s daughter, Jeanne, forced by François to marry William, Duke of Cleves. Marguerite’s prestige waning

  1541 French version of Calvin’s Institutes

  1524–4 Marguerite at Nérac, Mont-de-Marsan and Pau. Returns to Court

  1542–4 Further war against Charles V. Ends with Peace of Crépy

  1545 Jeanne’s unconsummated marriage annulled

  1545 Beginning of Council of Trent. Calvin criticizes ‘spirituallibertine sect’ patronized by Marguerite. French translation of Decameron, dedicated to Marguerite

  1546 Marguerite and husband return to Navarre

  1546 Luther dies. Rabelais’s Third Book

  1547 Marguerite mourns François. Retreat in convent at Tusson. Publication of her Marguerites de la Marguerite des Princesses and Suyte des Marguerites…

  1547 François I dies. Henri II accedes

  1548 Returns to Court. Strained relations with Henri II, who imposes marriage of Marguerite’s daughter to the duc de Vendôme

  1549 Retires to Navarre and dies at castle of Odos on 21 December

  1549 Rabelais’s Fourth Book.

  England declares war on France

  THE NAMES OF THE STORYTELLERS

  Oisille Variously identified with Marguerite de Navarre, with Marguerite’s mother, Louise de Savoie, and with Louise de Daillon (Brantôme’s grandmother and dame d’honneur to Marguerite). The latter identification seems most plausible. Loise (a common spelling of Louise) could become the anagram oisel (‘bird’), whence the feminine form oiselle, becoming Oisille in manuscripts. The name suggests spiritual flight.

  Parlamente Usually identified with Marguerite de Navarre. The name may derive from perle amante (‘loving pearl’). Marguerite and her contemporaries often punned on the word marguerite, which also means ‘pearl’. If the name is read parle amante, it suggests the expression of love in speech; the word parlementer means ‘to speak’ or ‘to discourse’. Married to Hircan, according to the text.

  Longarine Widely accepted to be based on an anagram of Longrai. She would thus be Aymée Motier de La Fayette, bail-live de Caen and dame de Longrai, who was one of Marguerite’s ladies-in-waiting, accompanied her to Spain to negotiate Francois’s release and was gouvernante to her daughter and grandchildren. The name suggests langue orine (‘golden tongue’). Longarine’s husband is killed during the Prologue. She has a serviteur, who may be either Dagoucin or Saffredent.

  Ennasuite Can be resolved into Anne and suite (‘retinue’), which has been taken to support Ennasuite’s identification with Anne de Vivonne, daughter of Louise de Daillon (who could be Oisille) and mother of Brantôme. The latter actually states that his mother was one of the storytellers. The name does not seem to have any obvious associated meanings.

  Nomerfide Has for a long time been linked with the name Fiedmarcon, an alternative spelling of Fimarcon. Nomerfide could thus be Françoise de Fimarcon, who was married to one Jean Carbon de Montpesat. This has been questioned on the grounds that the couple had only tenuous links with Marguerite. An alternative possibility is another prominent member of Marguerite’s entourage, Françoise de Silly, daughter of the baillive de Caen. Nomerfide could thus be the daughter of Longarine, though this is not mentioned in the text. Françoise de Silly was married to the vicomte de Lavedan, who has been proposed as the original of Saffredent (see below). There is nothing in the text to suggest that Nomerfide either is or is not Saffredent’s wife. Her name has evoked nom (‘name’) and the Latin fides (‘faith’) for some people, but can also be associated with non perfide (‘not perfidious’, hence ‘honest’, ‘frank’, ‘loyal’).

  Hircan Generally agreed to represent Marguerite’s second husband, Henri de Navarre. Hircan could be an anagram of Hanric, a possible spelling of Henri. The Prologue makes it clear that he is married to Parlamente. The name suggests Hircania and its proverbial wildness, and hircin (‘goatish’, ‘goat-like’ and associations with sexuality and Satan).

  Dagoucin Can be linked with Nicolas Dangu, natural son of a Cardinal; Abbot of Juilly, Abbot of Saint-Savin of Tarbes and Bishop of Séez and Mende. The text does not state that he is a priest. He is the serviteur of either Parlamente or Longarine. The name is a fairly obvious pun: de goûts saints (‘of saintly tastes’).

  Saffredent Has been identified with the Admiral Bonnivet, Jean de Montpesat and with Jean (or Gensanne) de Bourbon, vicomte de Lavedan. Anagrams do not seem to lead very far. The vicomte de Lavedan was close to Henri of Navarre and gouverneur to Marguerite’s daughter. The name Lavedan could give rise to a pun: lave (‘wash’) dent (‘tooth’). So can the name Saffredent: saffie (‘lecherous’, ‘gluttonous’), dent (‘tooth’). Lavedan’s second wife was Françoise de Silly, who could be Nomerfide (see above). But the text does not say that Saffredent and Nomerfide are married, though we are told that Saffredent is serviteur to either Longarine or Parlamente. Note that Longarine could be his mother-in-law.

  Geburon Most generally accepted to be Charles de Coucy, Seigneur de Burye, and a member of Marguerite’s circle in the later part of her life. There is some support for this if one accepts a near anagram between Gebur and Burye (Yebur could become Gebur). The name suggests a paradoxical mixture of liveliness and austerity. The first syllable (Ge in some versions, Gé in others, and Gue in others) evokes ‘jay’, ‘gay’, ‘lively’, ‘active’, ‘bright’, in sixteenth-century French. The second syllable associates with buron (‘hut’), bure (‘homespun’) and bur (‘dark’, ‘sombrely clad’).

  Simontaut The accepted identification is with François de Bourdeille, the father of Brantôme, and husband of Anne de Vivonne. Simontaut could be married therefore to Ennasuite. The text does not state this, although it does tell us that he is a long-standing serviteur to Parlamente. The name could be an anagram of Montauris, a fief owned by Bourdeille’s family. There were also connections with the family of Montaut. But there is a fairly direct pun in the name: monte (‘mounts’, ‘rises’), haut (‘high’), an allusion to the character’s sexual prowess.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  1. MAIN EDITIONS OF THE HEPTAMÉRON

  Histoires des Amans fortunez. Dédiées à très illustre princesse, Madame Marguerite de Bourbon, Duchesse de Nivemois, edited by Pierre Boaistuau, Paris, Gilles Robinot, 1558.

  Sixty-seven tales not divided into days, without linking discussions, and in an idiosyncratic order.

  L’Heptaméron des Nouvelles de très illustre et très excellente Princesse Marguerite de Valois, Royne de Navarre, remis en son vray ordre, confus auparavant en sa première impression, et dédié à très illustre et très vertueuse Princesse Jeanne de Foix, Royne de Navarre, edited by Pierre Gruget, Paris, J. Caveillier, 1559.

  Seventy-two tales in standard order. Tales 11, 44 and 46 are Gruget’s own substitutions.

  L’Heptamèron des nouvelles de… Marguerite d’Angoulême, reine de Navarre. Nouvelle édition, publiée sur les manuscrits pour la société des bibliophiles fiançais…, 3 vols., Paris, C. Lahure, 1853–4.

  First edition to use manuscript sources. The editor was A.-J.-V. Leroux de Lincy. A re-edition in 1880 with the collaboration of A. de Montaiglon includes valuable essays and notes.

  L’Heptamèron, texte établi sur les manuscrits avec une introduction, des notes et un index de noms propre
s par Michel François, Paris, Garnier Frères, 1943.

  Reproduces Bibliothèque Nationale manuscript Fr. 1512 with some revisions. Some variants given from Boaistuau, Gruget and de Thou. Seventy-two tales. Appendix includes the Gruget substitutions for tales 11, 44 and 46 as well as an alternative version of 52 found in de Thou, a tale found only in the Bibliothèque Nationale’s manuscripts Fr. 1513 and Dupuy 736 and the Pierpont Morgan Library’s Ms. 242, plus a fragment of dialogue in Fr. 1513 and Dupuy 736.