SYMHC Classics: 3 Reformation Women Classic

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: SYMHC Classics - Three Reformation Women Classic

Episode Overview

In the SYMHC Classics: 3 Reformation Women Classic episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class, hosts Tracy B. Wilson and Holly Frey delve into the pivotal roles played by three remarkable women during the Protestant Reformation. Released on November 16, 2024, this episode sheds light on the often-overlooked contributions of women who significantly influenced the course of religious and political upheaval in 16th-century Europe.

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1. Introduction to the Reformation and Its Origins

Tracy B. Wilson begins the episode by setting the historical context of the Protestant Reformation, marking its conventional start with Martin Luther's 95 Theses in 1517. However, she emphasizes that "people had been criticizing and trying to reform the Church for centuries" ([18:15]). This internal movement within the Roman Catholic Church aimed to address longstanding issues, ultimately leading to a significant schism and the rise of various Protestant denominations.

Notable Quote:

“So the Protestant Reformation similarly started as a reform effort within the Roman Catholic Church, not as an attempt to start a new church.”
— Tracy B. Wilson ([19:17])

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2. Catarina von Bora: Martin Luther’s Wife and Supportive Partner

The first woman featured is Catarina von Bora, a former nun who became Martin Luther's wife. Holly Frey recounts Catarina's escape from the convent:

“In 1523, von Bora and several other women in her monastery contacted Martin Luther to ask him for help in escaping.”
— Tracy B. Wilson ([06:04])

Catarina's escape was a daring act, involving a clever smuggling operation where she and other nuns hid in a fish barrel. This bold move not only freed them from their vows but also provided Luther with a steadfast companion.

Notable Quote:

“Martin Luther... ultimately agreed to [marry Catarina].”
— Holly Frey ([07:57])

Their marriage on June 13, 1525, was initially controversial among Luther’s peers, seen by some as a compromise of his moral authority. However, Catarina proved to be an indispensable partner, managing the Black Cloister, overseeing the family’s brewery and farm, and transforming their home into a hub for scholars. Her efforts allowed Luther to focus on his theological work, making her a cornerstone of his reformist endeavors.

Notable Quote:

“Katerina von Bora became the prime example of the idea of a Clergyman's wife in 2017.”
— Holly Frey ([11:40])

Catarina's legacy extends beyond her marriage; she exemplified the evolving role of women in the Reformation, balancing domestic responsibilities with active participation in supporting reformist activities.

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3. Marguerite d'Angoulême: Patron of Reform and Renaissance

The second featured woman is Marguerite d'Angoulême, born on April 11, 1492. Marguerite, alongside her mother Louise of Savoy, played a crucial role in fostering an environment conducive to religious reform in France.

Marguerite married Charles, Duke of Alençon, in 1509, where she actively improved the lives of the people by establishing hospitals, orphanages, and promoting education:

“She insisted that poor women be given shelter and food during the last days of their pregnancies and after the birth to try to combat ongoing problems of infanticide and child abandonment.”
— Tracy B. Wilson ([20:17])

With her brother becoming King Francis I of France, Marguerite leveraged her position to support reformers. She hosted scholars like Leonardo da Vinci and John Calvin at her court, translating and distributing Reformation texts. Her contributions were instrumental in sustaining the Reformation movement in France despite significant opposition.

Notable Quote:

“Her support for the Reformation really helped it to survive in France in the early to mid 16th century.”
— Tracy B. Wilson ([26:02])

Marguerite's efforts in mediating between Catholics and Protestants underscored her commitment to religious tolerance, even though it placed her at personal and political risk.

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4. Jeanne de Navarre: Defiance and Leadership Amidst Conflict

The third woman, Jeanne de Navarre, born on November 16, 1528, embodied resistance and leadership during the turbulent times of the Reformation. Jeanne's story is one of personal defiance against forced political marriages and active involvement in the Huguenot cause.

At the age of eleven, Jeanne was coerced into an unwanted marriage with William, Duke of Cleves. Her vehement opposition is evident when she declared:

“I... declare and protest again by these presents, that the marriage proposed between me and the Duke of Cleves is against my will.”
— Holly Frey ([32:13])

Despite being forcibly married, Jeanne's resistance continued for five years until the marriage was annulled in 1545. Her unwavering stance set a precedent for female agency during a period when women's autonomy was severely restricted.

Later, as Queen of Navarre, Jeanne openly supported the Protestant cause, aligning herself with the Huguenots. Her leadership during the French Wars of Religion was marked by strategic defenses, support for Calvinist communities, and the dissemination of Protestant literature. Jeanne's actions were pivotal in maintaining Navarre's Protestant identity amidst external Catholic pressures.

Notable Quote:

“Jeanne steadfastly supported the Huguenot cause throughout the French wars of religion.”
— Holly Frey ([38:42])

Tragically, Jeanne died of tuberculosis in 1572, just months before the infamous St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, a violent culmination of the religious conflicts she had long advocated against.

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5. Conclusion: The Indelible Impact of Reformation Women

Tracy B. Wilson and Holly Frey conclude the episode by highlighting the distinct yet interconnected roles these three women played in shaping the Reformation:

• Catarina von Bora provided essential support and stability for Luther, facilitating the spread of his theological ideas.
• Marguerite d'Angoulême utilized her influence and resources to create a sanctuary for reformers, ensuring the continuity of reformist thought in France.
• Jeanne de Navarre exemplified resilience and leadership, actively defending and propagating Protestantism during one of Europe's most tumultuous periods.

Notable Quote:

“All three of them were really influential people in the Protestant Reformation, but in three really distinct ways.”
— Tracy B. Wilson ([41:26])

Their collective contributions underscore the essential yet often underappreciated roles women played in religious and political transformations, leaving a lasting legacy on European history.

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Final Thoughts

This episode masterfully intertwines personal narratives with broader historical movements, offering listeners a comprehensive understanding of how these women not only navigated but also shaped the Reformation. By highlighting their courage, intelligence, and unwavering commitment, Tracy and Holly provide a nuanced perspective on the impact of women in historical religious reforms.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• “So the Protestant Reformation similarly started as a reform effort within the Roman Catholic Church, not as an attempt to start a new church.”
  — Tracy B. Wilson ([19:17])

• “In 1523, von Bora and several other women in her monastery contacted Martin Luther to ask him for help in escaping.”
  — Tracy B. Wilson ([06:04])

• “Katerina von Bora became the prime example of the idea of a Clergyman's wife in 2017.”
  — Holly Frey ([11:40])

• “I... declare and protest again by these presents, that the marriage proposed between me and the Duke of Cleves is against my will.”
  — Holly Frey ([32:13])

• “All three of them were really influential people in the Protestant Reformation, but in three really distinct ways.”
  — Tracy B. Wilson ([41:26])

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Resources and Further Listening

For those interested in exploring more about these influential women and the broader context of the Protestant Reformation, Stuff You Missed in History Class offers additional episodes and resources accessible through the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and other major podcast platforms.

Transcript

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[Tracy B. Wilson]

Do you like podcasts, music and audiobooks? Because when you subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited, you get all three in one app. Imagine listening to your favorite podcasts and music on the go to work, school, the gym, or better yet, vacation. Now imagine being on vacation with your favorite audiobook from Audible and then listening to a new one every month from a huge selection of popular titles. That sounds like a pretty Good vacation, right? Audible is now included on Amazon Music Unlimited. Download the Amazon Music app now to start listening Terms apply. Happy Saturday. Jeanne Delbray, Queen of Navarre, was born on November 16, 1528, so 496 years ago today. She is one of three Women We Talk about in today's Saturday classic, which is on three Women of the Protestant Reformation.

[Holly Frey]

This episode originally came out on November 1, 2017. Enjoy. Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. Wilson.

[Holly Frey]

And I'm Holly Frey.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

As you may know, this podcast is initially being published on November 1, 2017. So that's the day after the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther famously posting his 95 theses, which is more formally known as Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences, at the door of Wittenberg Castle Church. So there's some historical debate over the tales of this Martin Luther probably didn't defiantly nail them up there, as a lot of people imagine, and it might not have even happened at all. Although these theses were basically points he planned to discuss out of public disputation, so it would have been customary for him to post them there ahead of time. Regardless of all that detail, though, October 31, 1517, has come to be marked as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, which was the religious and social and political schism that ultimately led to centuries of war and upheaval and religious persecution, and the Catholic Counter Reformation and the rise of seemingly countless Protestant denominations of Christianity. So obviously that was a big moment in history. Consequently, we've gotten a lot of requests for a Reformation episode, including from Sarah, Manie, Boris, and Josh. And a recent note from Rachel was what finally sparked today's show. Rachel sent us a quick email suggesting that we focus on some of the women involved in the Reformation. I was originally planning to focus on just one, but I kept stumbling onto other tidbits from other women's stories. So I've decided to make this episode into one that focuses on three.

[Holly Frey]

Alrighty. We're gonna start with Catarina von Bora, also known as Catherine. She was the former nun who, in June of 1525, married former monk Martin Luther when she was 25 and he was 41.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Von Bora was born around 1499, although there aren't clear records of exactly when or where. In 1504, her family sent her to the Benedictine cloister at Breda to be educated. Then in 1508, she moved to a Cistercian monastery at Nemshen, where her aunt also lived. And that is where she eventually became a nun.

[Holly Frey]

Von Bora didn't really like her life as a nun, though. But being educated in a conventional meant that she knew how to read. And she and some of the other women living there managed to get access to the writings of Martin Luther as well as other reformers. This material was almost certainly banned behind monastic walls, so bringing it in and keeping it relatively secret would have taken some gumption.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In 1523, von Bora and several other women in her monastery contacted Martin Luther to ask him for help in escaping. This was both dangerous and illegal. It was against Roman Catholic law for a person to abandon their religious vows, and people who were caught could be imprisoned. Helping someone escape was also illegal, as was harboring or sheltering someone who had.

[Holly Frey]

But Luther agreed to help. On April 4, 1523, which was Easter Eve, a merchant smuggled Catarina and 11 other women out of the convent in a cartoon normally used to deliver herring. According to some sources, she got out while hiding in a fish barrel.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

It's actually more likely that they were under the coverings used to cover the fish barrels, but I like the.

[Holly Frey]

In the barrel was not a delightful smelling ride.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Probably not. Katarina and nine of the other women were taken to Wittenberg where they met Martin Luther and he started trying to reunite them with their families. When their families weren't willing to take them back, Luther started trying to find husbands for them. And he got some kind of situation in place for everybody except von Bora pretty quickly. She fell in love with one of Luther's students, but his family refused to allow their marriage for a year after that relationship fell through, von Bora refused every option that was presented to her. She steadfastly maintained that she would only marry someone worthy of her and of her choosing. She's not gonna cut it for some random single person to be her husband. She finally said she would either marry Lutheran reformer Nicholas von Amsdorff or Luther himself. Those were her only options that she was willing to agree to, and Luther ultimately agreed to do so.

[Holly Frey]

A lot of Luther's Reformation peers did not like this at all. His collaborator, Philip Melanchthon was particularly scathing, writing quote, in these unhappy times in good people are suffering so much. This man lacks compassion and rather, as it seems, revels and compromises his good reputation precisely at a time when Germany stands in particular need of his spirit and authority. The good people suffering so much that he's referring to here is largely the Peasants Revolt, which was an incredibly bloody uprising against oppression by landlords and members of the nobility that was going on in Germany at this time, aside from.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This whole it's not the time for this argument. Reformers were worried that Luther's decision to get married was going to add fuel to claims that the Catholic Church had made to try to undermine his work, namely, that he was only doing that work to try to get out of his vows of celibacy. This was compounded by the fact that only a year after renouncing his vows, he was marrying someone who had abandoned her vows as well. Now, eventually, it would become fairly common for former monks and former nuns to marry one another, especially when convents and monasteries closed down later in the Reformation. But at the time that Martin Luther himself did this, what they were doing was absolutely scandalous.

[Holly Frey]

So Luther's response to all of this criticism was that he had done it to please his father, who had never approved of his decision to become a monk, as well as to spite the devil and the pope. Getting married also meant that Luther could stop feeling like a hypocrite for encouraging Protestant clergy to marry while not doing so himself.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The two of them finally wed on June 13, 1525, more than two years after von Bora escaped from the monastery. Although they definitely did not get married for love, I mean, Luther's comments make that pretty clear. They ultimately wound up having what was by all accounts, a really supportive and loving and affectionate relationship. They had six children, and all but one of them survived infancy. Eventually, one of Vombora's relatives and six of Luther's sister's children came to live with them as well.

[Holly Frey]

That is a full house.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

It is.

[Holly Frey]

They had room for so many because their home was the Black Cloister, which was one of the Luther family holdings in a former Augustinian monastery. This von Bora converted into a home as well as a thriving business. She made the old monastic cells into student housing, and she attracted scholars to live there by playing up the association with Martin Luther. She managed the property's farm and its brewery, and when she needed to, she secured donations to improve the building and the grounds, making it into what was essentially a 16th century conference center. Unsurprisingly, she also got a lot of criticism, basically for being really bossy.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

That's criticism often leveled at women taking charge of matters in a way that needs to be done. So Martin Luther died in 1546, and Katarina was heartbroken. He had advised her to sell the Black Cloister if. If he died but she really didn't want to do it. Even so, without his income and influence, she and the rest of the family really fell on financial hard times. This was followed by wars and bad harvests and an outbreak of plague. Fleeing the plague, Catarina went to Torgau, where she died three months after having been seriously injured in a cart accident. She died on December 20, 1552, at the age of about 53.

[Holly Frey]

In her marriage to Martin Luther, Katerina von Bora became the prime example of the idea of a Clergyman's wife in 2017. It is highly annoying for a woman's own accomplishments to be framed in terms of her husband, but in the 16th century, a marriage like theirs was really new territory for Christian women, as emerging Protestant denominations encouraged members of the clergy to marry Martin Luther. And Katerina von Bora became the most notable example of what such a marriage could be like.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In their marriage, this was largely about her being his helpmate, while also successfully running a home and a business. And that left him free to really focus on his religious work. But these marriages played out in other ways as well. Some wives of the clergy essentially became partners in their husband's ministry, influencing how Scripture was interpreted and taught. Others became prominent members of their communities, educating children and seeing to the health and welfare and spiritual wellness of their congregations.

[Holly Frey]

This was also part of an overall change in the kinds of lives that were considered acceptable for Christian women to lead. Prior to the Reformation, there were basically two acceptable roles for a Christian, homemaker and nun. And one of those options effectively disappeared for a lot of women during the Reformation as families converted away from Catholicism and convents were closed down, displacing the women who had lived there. Of course, men were also displaced with the closure of monasteries, but they generally had far more options open to them for what to do with their lives afterward.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Yeah, a man who was displaced from a monastery generally had an education, a lot of times a really good education. He often had connections with his community like he could go on to do other things. And often a woman who was displaced from a convent could get married or go back home with her parents. And that was. That's pretty much all that was available. Now, being a clergyman's wife was not a one to one replacement for being a nun. Women joined convents both voluntarily and involuntarily for a whole range of reasons. And one of those was the very practical fact that for a lot of women, a convent offered more freedom and autonomy than a marriage could. So being married, not the same thing. At the same time, though, the role of the the clergy wife did allow some women into positions of prominence and influence that they didn't really have access to before. We should also note this wasn't the same as actually being in the clergy, and today there are still plenty of denominations that don't ordain women.

[Holly Frey]

Next we're going to move on to talking about a couple of women occupying one of the few other roles considered to be suitable for women in the 16th century, which was being royalty. We're going to talk about that after we first pause for a little sponsor break.

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[Tracy B. Wilson]

Before we get onto our next subject, we need to take just a second to lay a little bit more groundwork about The Reformation end general because her involvement began before October 31, 1517. So even though Martin Luther and his 95 Theses are generally considered to be the beginning of the Reformation, that didn't come out of thin air. People had been criticizing and trying to reform the Church for centuries, and in a lot of ways, Martin's theses recapped and outlined points that he and other people had already been making. This was sort of like the Twitter thread that encapsulates a lot of existing conversations and then goes viral.

[Holly Frey]

Often these criticisms played out within the Church itself. As one example, when St. Francis of Assisi established the Franciscan Order in 1209, it was with the approval of Pope Innocent III. But today he's seen in part as a reformer, and later followers did their own work to reform the Franciscan Order itself as well as the greater Church.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So the Protestant Reformation similarly started as a reform effort within the Roman Catholic Church, not as an attempt to start a new church. When Martin Luther wrote his 95 theses, he wasn't intending to break away from the Church, but to address what he saw as problems that the Church should address. But in 1521, the church excommunicated him. And so what had started out as an internal reform movement developed into a schism. This also wasn't the first schism in history. Another previous schism within the Church included the east west schism of 1504, which is what split the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches apart from one another.

[Holly Frey]

So when Marguerite d'angouleme was born on April 11, 1492, Martin Luther was still 25 years away from posting his 95 theses. But criticisms of the Roman Catholic Church, many of which were incorporated into those Theses, were well underway. Way.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Marguerite was the daughter of Charles de Valois Oron and Louise of Savoy, and she had a younger brother, Francois, who was born on September 12, 1494. Although it seemed pretty likely that the French monarchs, King Louis XII and Queen Anne, would have an heir of their own, Francois was in the line of succession for the throne, so he received the sort of education that would prepare him for the possibility of becoming the king. Then Louise made sure that Marguerite got the same education as well.

[Holly Frey]

In 1509, Marguerite married Charles, the Duke of Alencon, and took an active role in trying to improve the lives of the people of Alencon. She raised money for hospitals and almshouses and prompted her brother to establish an orphanage in Paris. She insisted that poor women be given shelter and food during the last days of their pregnancies and after the birth to try to combat ongoing problems of infanticide and child abandonment. She also remedied the Alenon castle's lack of a library, and she began inviting scholars and poets to stay with them to enrich the spiritual and emotional atmosphere at court.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Yeah, her husband did not have a reputation for being a particularly scholarly man. So when Louis XII died without an heir in 1515, Marguerite's brother did become Francis I, King of France. She took this same sensibility that she had put into place in Alenon to his court as one of his advisors. Their mother was influential in the court as well. And both of these women were really intelligent and educated and politically aware. They were well read, and they were informed about all the ongoing efforts to reform the Church, some of which were considered to be heretical. So with Marguerite and Louise, both among King Francis advisors. The French court became one that welcomed scholars and other figures who were advocating for religious religious reform.

[Holly Frey]

Marguerite herself never left the Roman Catholic Church, but she and those around her actively question and criticize church teachings and practices. Guests at the court included Francois Rabelais, a humanist and former priest whose satirical work lampooned religious hypocrisy. Marguerite read and translated the work of Martin Luther and stridently advocated for the Bible to be translated into French and available to the French population. She was a patron to such artists and scholars as Leonardo da Vinci, John Calvin and Desiderius Erasmus. She sometimes is known as the Mother of the French Renaissance.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

She became a student of Guillaume Brichonnet, the Bishop of Meaux, whose followers, who were known as the Circle of Meaux, were at the heart of Reformation thinking in France at the time. Through the Circle of Meaux, Marguerite funded the printing and distribution of a range of Reformation texts in France. She also sought out and obtained translations of these texts to be brought to her in France so that she could stay up to date about what was.

[Holly Frey]

Going on under Marguerite's influence. King Francois I's court also provided protection and shelter to a number of reformers whose work was considered heretical and blasphemous. Marguerite herself might have faced the same fate had she not been sister to the king. Even in spite of her advocacy, though, several of the reformers and scholars Marguerite associated with were eventually executed for heresy.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

As all of this was going on, on February 24, 1525, the forces of Francis or Francois I of France fought those of Habsburg Emperor Charles V at the Battle of Pavia, which was part of the Italian Wars. This is a whole series of conflicts in which a number of nations, primarily France and Spain, tried to take control of Italy. This battle was a decisive victory for Charles V, and Francis wound up being taken prisoner. Marguerite's husband, Charles, sort of took the fall for this whole thing. He died not long after.

[Holly Frey]

Marguerite was actively involved in the negotiations for the release of her brother, including personally meeting with Charles V. She returned to France only when her brother began to suspect that Charles was dragging out the negotiations on purpose in the hopes of taking her captive as well. Her brother was only able to return home after signing the Treaty of Madrid in 1526, which surrendered all French claims to Italian territory.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Later on that year, Marguerite got married again, this time to Henri II d'albret, the King of Navarre. On November 16, 1528, they had a daughter, Jeanne, who we'll talk more about in a bit after remarrying and having a daughter, Marguerite became a lot less involved in her brother's court politics, focusing more on her own writing and her own personal religious studies. She did continue to shelter Protestant refugees in Navarre, though.

[Holly Frey]

In addition to her translations of others work, Marguerite was also a writer herself. Her only work published during her lifetime was Marguerite de la Marguerite des Princesses, which was published in 1547. She died two years later on December 21. Her most notable work, Heptameron, was published posthumously by Claude Gruget in 1559 at the request of Marguerite's daughter. Written in the style of Boccaccio's Decameron, it satirizes, among other things, religious hypocrisy. She wrote volumes of work beyond these two works, though much of it existed really just as her own personal manuscripts until the 19th century, and a lot of it was explicitly religious and infused with Reformation ideas.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

There really also were not very many women who had published work during their lifetimes at this point in history in Europe. Aside from her writing, Marguerite's support for the Reformation really helped it to survive in France in the early to mid 16th century. As we noted, earlier punishments for spreading material that was deemed to be blasphemous or heretical were really severe, and they included execution. So without having such consistent and vocal support from the French court, as well as the active sheltering of Reformation leaders, the Reformation really might not have established much of a foothold in France. Marguerite also actively mediated between the Roman Catholic Church and French Protestants, really advocating for tolerance between the two of them.

[Holly Frey]

She never publicly converted or left the Roman Catholic Church, likely because to her, her religious beliefs were private, even as they were mirrored in her own writings. But she so publicly supported reformers and sheltered people accused of heresy that she's both credited for nurturing Protestantism in France and criticized for weakening the Catholic Church there.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Unfortunately, that atmosphere of tolerance that Marguerite had tried to nurture did not last long beyond her death in 1549, which something we're going to talk about after another quick sponsor break.

[Narrator]

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[Holly Frey]

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[Tracy B. Wilson]

Last up in our trio of of Reformation women is Marguerite Dangolam's daughter, Jeanne Del. She was born on November 16, 1528 in San Germain Alle, and as was the case with her mother, her upbringing wasn't exactly typical for the time, even for a princess. She was tutored by humanist scholars, with Nicholas de Bourbon overseeing her education. Her mother had the same sort of influence on Jean's education as she had had on her brother's court in France.

[Holly Frey]

In 1540, when she was 11, Jeanne's uncle, King Francis of France, or Francois, as you've heard us say, arranged for her to be married to William, Duke of Cleves. As we've mentioned before on the show, royal marriages to children were typically seen as political affairs, and they were not consummated until the couple reached childbearing age, often not living together until that time. Regardless, Jeanne's parents were not in favor of this match. Her father had been trying to negotiate her marriage to Philip of Spain.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Either way, regardless of which of these two men she was going to marry, she was being used as a pawn for someone else's political ends, and she was defiantly opposed to marrying William, like just really not okay with it. She wrote out a whole document detailing that the marriage was taking place against her will and had it witnessed, it began. I, Jean de Navarre, continuing my protests already made, in which I persist, say, declare and protest again by these presents, that the marriage proposed between me and the Duke of Cleves is against my will, that I have never consented to it, and I never will. Anything that I may say or do after this, because of which it could be said that I may have given my consent, will have been because of force, against my will, out of fear of the King, of my father the King, and of my mother, the Queen, who had me threatened and beaten by the Biev de Can, my governess. That also went on from there some more.

[Holly Frey]

She didn't really hold back. I Like it. She also told King Francis to his face that she would rather enter a convent than go forward with this marriage he had arraigned. And she yelled so loudly that she would rather throw herself down a well if people heard it in the next room.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Jeanne protested so vehemently on her wedding day that she had to be forcibly carried to the altar. Afterward, the King insisted that the couple observe some kind of symbolic formality in lieu of consummating the marriage, since she was a child. So Jeanne and the Duke were taken to a nuptial chamber where he put one foot on the bed while she was sitting on it.

[Holly Frey]

Jeanne's defiance did not stop once the wedding was over. She continued to object to the unwanted marriage for five full years. Her mother made a series of excuses why she couldn't leave for Cleves to join her husband until the Duke finally just agreed to end the marriage. In 1543, Pope Paul III honored a request for it to be annulled in 1545. And all of this, of course, led to a huge rift between Marguerite and her brother, who had ordered the marriage in the first place.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Yeah, one of the reasons that she was not so involved in his court after getting married and having a child was that she literally moved away. But also this happened. Jeanne's level of really stubborn defiance. And all this was startling to people, not just because it was not at all the behavior that was expected of a girl, especially a princess, who was raised to, like, have certain princess leap behaviors, but also because her health was really frail for pretty much her whole life. She sort of mustered up a level of strength that people did not think was in her in all of this.

[Holly Frey]

Three years later, Jeanne married again, this time to Antoine de Bourbon. And this was another match arranged for her for political reasons, this time by King Henry II of France, who had become king after the death of his father, Francois I, or Francis I. Antoine was next in line for the French throne after Henri II's own sons. While Jeanne agreed to this match, this time her parents refused, putting off their departure so long that they were eventually informed that the wedding would take place whether they were there or not. Jeanne and Antoine married on October 20, 1548.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The two of them had a son, Henri de Navarre, in 1553. And then in 1555, Jeanne's father father died. And so she and her husband became the queen and King of Navarre. They later had a daughter, Catherine. In 1559, the same stubborn defiance that.

[Holly Frey]

Had been such a hallmark of Jeanne's forced childhood marriage revealed itself once Again, in the matter of religion during her time as Queen of Navarre. In this, she actually butted heads with her mother. She didn't like the fact that her mother never really took a strong stance one way or the other.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Nevertheless, it was only after her mother's death that Jeanne officially announced her conversion to Calvinism in 1560, and the Kingdom of Navarre became increasingly explicitly Protestant under her and her husband's rule. This ranged from having the New Testament printed in the Basque language, which was spoken locally, to forcibly closing monasteries and outlawing Catholic religious rituals, to eventually establishing Calvinism as the official religion of Navarre.

[Holly Frey]

Apart from Navarre's Catholics, who found themselves persecuted, this presented a greater problem in the larger scope of Europe. Navarre was a tiny nation with much larger Catholic neighbors, and although Jeanne's parents had tried to keep its territory independent from France, it was really considered to just be a semi autonomous state.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

As France put increasing pressure on Navarre to conform to Catholicism, Jeanne and Antoine also found themselves caught between two other powerful families. Catherine de Medici of France was, at least at the time, relatively sympathetic to the French Huguenot cause, while the Roman Catholic House of Guise was not.

[Holly Frey]

Ultimately, Antoine relented to this pressure and took up the Catholic side. While Jeanne steadfastly supported the French Huguenots. This erupted in the French wars of religion beginning in 1562. That was a series of bloody conflicts and massacres that went on literally for decades, which was as much a civil war as it was a religious one.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

For Jeanne's part, in the earlier years of the French wars of religion, she reinforced Navarre's defenses. She confiscated Catholic property, she established a Calvinist community in Bern, and she stayed out of the actual fighting for the most part, even as she was branded as a heretic and threatened with excommunication and threatened with trial under the Inquisition. And even when her son Henri was taken captive at the age of four, she refused to convert.

[Holly Frey]

Fighting for the Catholic side, Antoine lay siege to Rouen in September of 1562. Although the Catholic side ultimately seized Rouen from the Huguenots, Antoine was fatally wounded in the process. He died on November 17, 1562, and Jeanne was denied entry into France to be with him before he died.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

After her husband's death, Jeanne was the sole monarch of Navarre and she refused other offers of marriage, especially since a number of them came along with the requirement that she convert back to Catholicism.

[Holly Frey]

Although Jeanne had been actively supporting the Huguenot cause throughout the French wars of religion, it wasn't until the third that Navarre really became involved. From a military perspective, before that, Point, XI had acted more as a diplomat, trying to negotiate between Catholic and Protestant forces and balancing a slew of international factors in the process. But with the third War of Religion, it was clear that Navarre was going to be at the mercy of France and Spain if it did not take a military stance.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So Jeanne rallied the troops. She left her council in charge of Navarre and moved to the Huguenot port of La Rochelle for about three years. There she took on the role of Minister of Propaganda and Foreign affairs, just as the name sounds. She wrote letters and pamphlets and other literature in support of the Huguenot cause and against religious oppression of Protestants. This included her 1568ample declaration, which was her defense of her move to La Rochelle.

[Holly Frey]

The French wars of religion came to an uneasy peace with the Peace of St. Germain en Laye in 1570, which made specific allowances for Protestant worship. Members of the high nobility were allowed to practice Calvinism in their own homes, and La Rochelle, Montauban, Cognac and La Charite were designated as Huguenot strongholds.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This treaty didn't really please anyone. Staunch Catholics didn't want Calvinism to be practiced at all. And most Calvinists still could not worship freely, since it was only the top of the nobility that had gotten that freedom. The peace also did not last for long. After about two years of things being pretty touch and go, the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre began on August 24, 1572, and thousands of French Protestants were killed at the hands of Catholics.

[Holly Frey]

Jeanne had died of tuberculosis just a couple of months before the massacre on June 9, 1572. She was 44 at the time. She was negotiating the marriage of her son to Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Catherine de Medici and Henri II of France. Jeanne hoped that a marriage between the royal families of Navarre and France would lead to a longer lasting peace and that it would give her Protestant son a greater influence. And in a way, it did exactly the opposite. It was actually that very wedding that attracted so many high ranking Huguenots to Paris, where the massacre began.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So there are a lot of podcasts about the Medici family, including this particular marriage, as well as a couple that get into the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in more detail in our archive and we will link to them both in the show notes. The reason that I wanted to talk about these particular women as, as the the episode expanded to be about three women instead of just one and one of them is that each of them had something just so particularly compelling to me and their stories. There was the fish barrel. And there was the hiding of people who were at risk of being executed for heresy. This vehement opposition to being married off to somebody as a child. Like each of them had a moment that made me go, I really want to talk about this in the show. And the other is that all three of them were really influential people in the Protestant Reformation, but in three really distinct ways. Like, you had a woman who was basically making room for Martin Luther to do all of this religious work that he was doing. And he is, I think probably the most he and John Calvin are like the most notable people in the Reformation. I think, at least, I think those are the names that people are most likely to recognize. And then Marguerite was really negotiating and trying to keep the peace and trying to also make room for there to be a Protestant movement in France. And then we have Jeanne, who was the person who took up arms in the very violent struggle that this blossomed into that went on for so long. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is historypodcastyheartradio.com and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Here's to Turkey Day, the favorite day of the year for many. From cozying up by the fire to watch the parade to gathering in the kitchen to whip up casseroles. It's a time of Jo and togetherness. And here's to the Chinette brand for making it all a little easier with the Chinette Classic collection. No need to worry about cleanup. Plus Chinat Classic plates and bowls are compostable, helping not just to keep the sink clean, but also leaving less of a mess for future generations. So here's to being together. Here's to us, all of us. Find a local [e-mail] See Gladiator 2.

[Narrator]

Only in theaters November 22nd. This film delivers action, an emotional and compelling story and performances in spectacle on a scale unlike anything else. Gladiator 2 stands out with its immersive visuals and a gripping character driven narrative. The film stars an extraordinary cast including Paul Mezcal, Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington and Connie Nielsen. Reprising her role as Lucilla, get ready for an epic experience made for the big screen. Gladiator 2 only in theaters on November 22nd.

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