Abstract: The circle of Marguerite de Valois is thought to have influenced elements of seventeenth-century salons, but it has also been dismissed as irrelevant, a relic of the sixteenth century. Elements of entertainment practices and tastes propagated in her gatherings, however, support the first view. Brantôme and Pasquier comment on debates at her dinners that foreshadow seventeenth-century salon interest in Neoplatonism. Literary activities of the d’Urfé brothers echo that interest, and especially Honoré's novel L’Astrée, inspired by Marguerite's milieu, would find lasting fame in the seventeenth century. L’Histoire de La Chiaramonte by Marie de Beaulieu also illustrates the literary tastes of Marguerite's circle that persist into the next century's salons, illustrating Caillois's theory that elements of play develop reciprocity with social practices.

Keywords: Marguerite de Valois; Pierre de Bordeille, sieur de Brantôme; Estienne Pasquier, Honoré d’Urfé, Marie de Beaulieu, L’Histoire de La Chiaramonte

In the center of the high-ranking courtly milieu of proto-précieuse figures depicted in the poetry by Romieu and in the Retz album stands Marguerite de Valois, whom Pasquier suggests privately in a letter to his friend Claude Mangot is a “great princess” who “of all the great ladies” will “be found the least imperfect.” Cognizant of the vicissitudes of Marguerite's life—her unhappy and terminated marriage to Henri de Navarre, her improvident choices of lovers, and her period of exile—Pasquier's back-handed compliment is significant. He clearly admired her learning, wit, and the way she presided over her exiled court, as well as her later Parisian salon.