This edition presents in English, for the first time, Jeanne d’Albret’s Letters to the king, his mother, his brother, her own brother-in-law, and the queen of England, together with her Ample Declaration (1568) defending her decampment to the Protestant stronghold of La Rochelle. A historical-biographical introduction situates these writings in the larger context of Reformation politics and examines in detail the specific literary characteristics of her memoir. In her works, Jeanne d’Albret asserts her own position as legal sovereign of Béarn and Navarre and situates herself at the nexus of overlapping political, religious, and familial tensions.

Kathleen M. Llewellyn is Professor of French at St. Louis University. Her area of research is the literature of cultural practices and perspectives in early modern France. 

Emily E. Thompson is Professor of French at Webster University in St. Louis. She writes on the evolution of the nouvelle and of editing practices in sixteenth-century France.

Colette H. Winn is Professor of French at Washington University in St. Louis. She specializes in editing early modern writings by women.