ABSTRACT
It has long been assumed that the relationship between Marguerite de Navarre and her brother, King François I of France, reflected her position as the third and weakest member of the ‘trinity’ composed of François, Marguerite, and their mother Louise de Savoie. The widowed Louise had adopted the model of the trinity to express the coherence of their common project: to prepare François’ way to the throne of France and to sustain him once he had become king. The traditional view portrays the siblings’ adult relationship as the carryover of the close threesome defined by their mother when they were children. According to this view, Marguerite was raised to adore and serve her brother, and, throughout her life, she remained subservient and devoted to the king. As one scholar put it,
[f]ar from being jealous of her younger brother, [Marguerite] patterned herself on her mother and offered him adulation and lifelong service. Although they referred to themselves as the trinity, co-equal, they were not. Marguerite, the most talented of the three, enjoyed an influence that was fitful, and stood always on the lower step that rank and age dictated, subservient to both her brother and her mother.2
