We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 February 2024
Abstract: The ludic literary hospitality of Claude Catherine de Clermont, duchesse de Retz, was enjoyed by Marguerite de Valois, high-ranking court women, and many leading poets, several of whom were well known to Antoinette de Loynes and Madeleine de l’Aubespine. A member of the noblesse d’épée, Retz was the daughter-in-law of Marie de Pierrevive and cousin of Jean de Vivonne, father of the marquise de Rambouillet. Tributes to Retz by Marie de Romieu and Pasquier's remembrances of entertainment in her home, as well as traces of her circle's activities in a manuscript album, reveal fascinating elements of this group, whose style of sociability resonates with that popular in Lyon and Poitiers and illustrates Huizinga's and Fink's notions of idyllic play worlds.
Keywords: Claude-Catherine de Clermont (Retz), Estienne Pasquier, Marie-Catherine de Pierrevive (Gondi), Marie de Romieu, Jean de Vivonne, Ippolita Scaravelli (de Chastellier)
For all these troubles the King has used of late to call certain poets and philosophers into his chamber to hear them dispute three or four hours together de primis causis de sensu et sensibili and such like questions. The auditors are none but the King, the Queen of Navarre, the Duke of Nevers, the Countess of Retz, and another lady or two.
— Valentine DaleI also choose among the Court to put in this rank [of ladies of merit] the maréschale de Rez and Mme de Ligneroles.… These two have shown that they know about more things than words, in the Academy which King Henri III had erected, and I remember one day among others, that the debate was on the excellence of the moral and intellectual virtues: they were antagonists, and were admired.
— Agrippa d’AubignéAbout three weeks ago … Madame de Rets invited me to supper, where one found numerous lords of mark. The entire evening was spent on an infinity of good and beautiful topics concerning the calamity of our times and on the hopes and despairs that each of us held according to the diversity of his opinions.
— Estienne PasquierClaude-Catherine de Clermont, maréschale and then duchesse de Retz, was a member of the noblesse d’épée (the nobility of the sword), the oldest and highest-ranking echelon of French nobility, and she holds an intriguing position in the history of early modern French literary society.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
