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GYC Southeast

Great in God's Sight Season 3

Rhonda Grakov

Martin Luther: Captive Conscience

Ulrich Zwingli: Of Switzerland and Sola Scriptura

Marguerite of Navarre: Faith over France

William Tyndale: Singing the Same Note

Menno Simons: A Forbidden Book

Albrecht Dürer: Brushstrokes of the Reformation, Part 1

Albrecht Dürer: Brushstrokes of the Reformation, Part 2

Katherine Parr: The Survivor

Philipp Melanchthon: Nothing but Heaven

Ursula Von Münsterberg: Escape Artist for God

Hello and welcome to Grading God's Sight, the podcast that explores underrated heroes.

This is Season 3 and we're so glad you've joined us for this episode entitled, Marguerite of Navarre, Faith over France.

Please be sure to subscribe and check out the amazing artwork that goes along with today's story on our website, TheGreatPodcast.org.

When the Bible speaks of Christ coming with a sword to set father against son and sister against brother, to divide families for and against the truth, Marguerite of Navarre never dreamed those words would apply to her own household.

Yet here she stood at the window, as though frozen, watching her brother, sister-in-law, and husband solemnly lead a procession through the streets of Paris.

They were denouncing the reformist movement on behalf of all France and pledging her undivided loyalty to Romanism.

As the cortege snaked its way over the cobblestones, they left the burning bodies of Protestants in their wake.

Though Marguerite herself, as sister of King Francis I and wife of King Henry II of Navarre, faced little danger of being burned at the stake for her beliefs, her heart burned with her friends.

It also throbbed with pain from the rift that had come between her and her dearly beloved brother when she refused to join him in the procession.

She could never renounce reformist thinking and had gently told Francis so, but the Price was devastating.

Important threads of the bond that had been so intricately woven between them all their lives were suddenly severed.

The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing joint and marrow, dividing soul and spirit, and it had divided her and Francis.

Marguerite loved her brother more than anyone, except for Jesus.

She could not part with the truth, not for France, not even for Francis.

Watching the black smoke rising in the streets, Marguerite of Navarre determined that the reformist movement in France would not be snuffed out as long as she lived.

Marguerite was born in 1492 to noble parents with an impressive pedigree but no position to speak of.

Her ambitious mother had always prayed for a boy, a contender to the French throne, so when little Francis came along 2 years later, Marguerite's world became wrapped around him.

They were close from the beginning, and Marguerite knew real love was what she felt for her little brother.

For his part, Francis once said, My sister Marguerite is the only woman I ever knew who had every virtue and every grace without any admixture of vice.

She was educated alongside her brother and became fluent in multiple languages.

When their long cherished wish came true at last, and her brother acceded to the crown in 1515, Marguerite became the most influential woman in France, next to her formidable mother.

She played an important political role in France's court and performed her most daring exploits on his behalf when he was captured in battle by the Holy Roman Emperor.

She raced hundreds of miles through enemy territory to nurse Francis when he became dangerously ill, and when negotiations for his release fell through, crafted a bold plan for his escape.

That also fell through, and Francis was forced to settle with the emperor, but clearly it seemed there was nothing Marguerite would not do for her brother.

Her first husband was a duke who died in 1525, and 2 years later, she became Queen of Navarre by marrying Henry, King of Navarre, a tiny kingdom wedged between France and Spain.

As the quintessential Renaissance woman, Marguerite had an unquenchable thirst for learning and was receptive to new ideas, especially regarding religious reformation.

She protected many Protestants and welcomed them into her chateau.

Her friendship with Jacques Lefebvre, a leading French theologian and Bible translator, began as early as 1517.

He, along with many of Marguerite's other reformist friends, prepared the soil for the Protestant Huguenot movement in France.

In 1531, Lefebvre would be forced to leave France and flee to Marguerite for protection in Navarre until his death in 1536.

Although her brother and husband were loyal sons of the church, Marguerite would not be cowed.

She was the first woman to play an active role in the Circle of Mo, a group of leading French Reformers.

She also promoted the publication of the Bible in French as translated from the original Hebrew and Greek.

She believed in salvation through faith in Christ rather than works, as outlined in the Scriptures.

Marguerite regularly invited Reformers to give sermons and hold Bible studies in her chambers, not only for herself but for her ladies as well.

Some of her ladies-in-waiting went on to plant seeds of Reformation elsewhere.

Because her husband, Henry, was violently opposed to Reformist leanings, Marguerite would have to host her meetings privately.

Once, when she thought Henry was out hunting, she arranged to celebrate the Lord's Supper in an underground area of the chateau.

Partway through, Marguerite's irate husband exploded into the room, hoping to catch her off guard.

Fortunately, the preacher had just enough time to flee the scene, but Henry was still in a wicked temper.

The argument that her brother, the powerful King of France, allowed Marguerite to worship as she pleased did no good.

Henry struck her hard across the face, declaring, "'Madame, you know too much.'" Marguerite did not fail to relate this incident to her brother, and apparently, there was enough of a bruise left to show Francis when he arrived in a huff, threatening war on Henry and all of Navarre.

Spooked into submission, Henry promised not to interfere with Marguerite's worship anymore.

Although Marguerite was a prolific and talented writer, for years she refrained from publishing her own works.

At first, Francis had seemed to regard the Reformed religion with indifference, if not mild interest, but pressure to persecute the so-called enemies of the Church was mounting.

Soon he forbade many of the writings which Marguerite loved to read.

Because she was the king's sister, she was still able to get her hands on banned works, and as she read, she wrote.

Her poem, Mirror of the Sinful Soul, reached the English royal courts, influencing Catherine Parr and her stepdaughter, Elizabeth I.

However, as the reformers in France grew bolder, the Church and the good French Catholic people became uneasy.

Francis also felt threatened by the growing power of the Reformation, since his throne was directly backed by the Roman Catholic Church.

Although it was an unreasonable fear, concern for his crown led him to clutch at the Church more desperately while simultaneously tightening the noose around the reformists.

In the past, Marguerite had often successfully interceded with the king on behalf of arrested Protestants, and even as he grew more intolerant, Francis postponed martyrdoms whenever Marguerite was in Paris.

Nonetheless, his patience with the Reformed movement was fast wearing thin.

The straw that broke the camel's back was not long in falling.

In October of 1534, the city of Paris woke up 1 morning to find every flat surface plastered with placards denouncing the papal mass.

Paris was not the only witness to the scandal.

The placards mysteriously appeared in other French cities as well.

As a crowning act of insolence, 1 of the offending placards had even been tacked to the king's own bedroom door.

Francis was enraged, his throne was in jeopardy, and He thirsted for blood.

Marguerite's pleadings now fell on deaf ears, as Francis ordered every reformist in Paris to be rounded up and burned.

Marguerite could not sanction these actions, of course, although she deplored the foolish brazenness of whoever had taken such a rash step in posting the placards.

Although much blood had been spilled, the king was still not appeased.

In January of 1535, Francis summoned Marguerite back to his palace to demand her participation in a great show of allegiance to the Church.

He planned for the entire royal family to process through the streets, with more reformists burning on the sidewalks and on street corners.

With this symbolic act, Francis would publicly and irrevocably stand with the Church and set himself against the Reformation.

No matter how deeply she loved her brother, this was the 1 thing Marguerite would never do for him.

She refused to betray her conscience and join the procession, despite Francis' entreaties, and with that, an absolute line had been drawn.

And so, when her family and relatives marched out onto the streets of Paris, lined with the burning bodies of her friends, Marguerite could only gaze out of the window and pray.

Marguerite lived 15 more years after the affair of the placards and the subsequent procession, and while her relationship with Francis had not been completely obliterated, there was always an unspoken barrier between brother and sister after that.

She continued to cling to the Reformed faith and write voluminously, leaving the world with a rich and colorful written legacy.

The end came in 1549, in a quiet chateau in Navarre.

Although she could not speak for 3 days before, she cried out the name of Jesus 3 times and breathed her last.

However, the end for Marguerite of Navarre was only the beginning of great things for the French Reformation.

Her daughter, Jeanne, succeeded her as Queen of Navarre and publicly transformed her little kingdom into a Huguenot fortress, strengthening and expanding Marguerite's work to the next generation.

And pray it serves to deepen your relationship with God.

While we strive to bring you a unique perspective on each believer, we encourage you to use your God-given curiosity to explore these topics for yourself.

Please remember to hit the subscribe button and share this episode with your friends via text or social media.

Until next time, we wish you God's blessing as you seek to be great in His sight too.

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Great in God's Sight Season 3

Marguerite of Navarre: Faith over France

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