Marie Dentière (c.1495-1561)
A Very Useful Letter written and composed by
a Christian woman from Tournai, sent to the Queen of Navarre,
sister of the King of France, Against the Turks, Jews, Infidels,
False Christians, Anabaptists, and Lutherans.
(Geneva, 1539)
Translation by Elisabeth Wengler
To the very Christian princess Marguerite of France, Queen of Navarre, Duchess of Alençon and of Berry, Marie Dentière of Tournai desires salvation and augmentation of grace through Jesus Christ.
Since, my very honored lady, the true lovers of truth desire to know and understand how they ought to live in these very dangerous times, so too we women ought to know, to flee, and to avoid all errors, heresies, and false doctrines, as much those of false Christians, Turks, and infidels as of others suspect in doctrine, as has been well demonstrated already in your writings. And granted that some good and faithful servants of God were inspired in times past to write, preach, and announce the law of God, the coming of his son Jesus Christ, the works, death and resurrection of him, nevertheless, they have been rejected and condemned, principally by the sages among the people. And not only them [the servants of God], but also the true son of God, Jesus Christ the just. Which is why you ought not be astonished, if in our times we see such things occur to those to whom God has given the grace to wish to write, speak, preach and announce the same things that Jesus and his Apostles said and preached.
We see that all the earth is full of malediction and the inhabitants of it are troubled, seeing the great riots, debates, dissentions, and divisions, one against the other, greater than has ever been seen on the earth: great jealousies, quarrels, malice, ill will, greed, adulteries, thefts, pillage, spilling of blood, murders, riots, rapes, fires, poisonings, wars, kingdoms against kingdoms, nation against nation. In short, all abomination reigns. The father against the son and the son against the father, the mother against the daughter and the daughter against the mother, truly to the point of selling one another, the mother to deliver her own daughter to all evil. So much that there are few, in relation to so many people who are on the earth, who truly know how they ought to live, seeing such things occur among those who call themselves Christians. And of this, no one dares say a word, because one wants this to be done, another that; one lives well(so he says), another badly; one is wise, the other a fool; one thinks to know something , the other knows nothing; one holds this as good, another that. In short, there is only division. And it is necessary that one or the other lives badly. Because there is only one God, one faith, one law, and one baptism. [1]
And, however, my very honored lady, I have wanted to write you very much, not to teach you but so that you may take the trouble, with the King [Francis I] your brother, to prevent all these divisions which are reigning in places and peoples over which God has appointed him [Francis] to oversee and govern, and also over yours which God has given you to oversee and put order there. Because what God has given you and revealed to us women, we ought not, any more than men, hide and bury it in the earth. And although we are not permitted to preach in public assemblies and churches [2], at least it is not prohibited to write and admonish one another in all charity.
I have not only wished, Madame, to write this letter for you but also to give courage to other women held in captivity so that they will not fear to be exiled from their countries, relatives, and friends, like me, for the word of God. And principally I write for the poor little women, desiring to know and understand the truth; those who do not know which path, which way they ought to take. And in order that in the future they are not so tormented and afflicted within themselves, but rather rejoice, be consoled and be moved to follow the truth which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And also to give courage to my little daughter, your god-daughter, to give the printers a small Hebrew grammar that she has written in French for the use and benefit of other little girls. And principally for Madame the Princess [Jeanne d'Albret] your daughter, to whom it is dedicated. Because as you well know, the female sex is more timid than the other, and not without reason. Because the Scriptures have been hidden until the present, that we ought not say a word [about it], and it seems that women ought neither read nor understand anything of Holy Letters. Which is the principal reason, my lady, that has moved me to write to you, hoping in God that in the future women will no longer be so scorned as in the past. Because from day to day God changes the heart of his people for the better. Which I pray will soon be so throughout the earth. Amen.
Defense of Women
Not only would some slanderers and adversaries of the truth want to accuse us of too great audacity and boldness, but also some of the faithful, saying that women are too bold to write to one another about Holy Scripture. To them one can allowably respond that all those who have written and who have been named in Holy Scripture are not judged to be too bold, since some [women] are named and praised in Holy Scripture as much for their good morals, actions, behavior, and examples as for their faith and doctrine. Like Sarah and Rebecca, and principally among all the others of the Old Testament, the mother of Moses who, in spite of the edict of the King, had dared to keep her son from death and have him raised in the house of the Pharaoh, as it is amply declared in Exodus 2. Regarding Deborah, who judged the people of Israel during the time of the Judges, she is not to be disregarded. (Judges 4.) I ask, would it be necessary to condemn Ruth even though she is of the feminine sex, on account of the history written about her in her book? I do not think so, seeing that she is numbered in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. [3] What wisdom had the Queen of Sheba, who is not only named in the Old Testament, but Jesus had dared to name her among the other sages. [4] If it is a question of speaking of the graces which have been given to women, what greater [grace] has been given to any creature on the earth than to the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, to have carried the son of God? [5] It was not less [than that given] to Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, to have given birth to a son so miraculously, being sterile. [6] What preacher has done more than the Samaritan woman [7] who was not ashamed to preach Jesus and his word, proclaiming him openly before all the world as soon as she understood from Jesus that it is necessary to adore God in spirit and in truth? Where is the one who can boast to have seen the first manifestation of the great mystery of the resurrection if not Mary Magdalene, from whom he had expelled seven demons? And the other women to whom it was declared by his Angel, rather than to men, and commanded to speak, preach and declare it to others?
And although there has been some imperfection in all women, nevertheless men have not been exempt from it. Why is it so necessary to criticize women, seeing that a woman never sold nor betrayed Jesus, but a man named Judas. Who are the ones, I ask you, who have so invented and fabricated ceremonies, heresies, and false doctrines on the earth, if not men, and the poor women have been seduced by them. Never was a woman found to be a false prophet, although they have been fooled by them; although by this I do not wish to excuse the great malice of some women, which can surpass all measure, but there is no reason to make of it a general rule without any exception, as they [the critics of women] make daily; and principally Faustus, that mocker, in his Bucoliques ; seeing that, I certainly cannot keep silent, since these are more recommended and utilized than the Gospel of Jesus which is prohibited to us [women] and this story-teller [Faustus] is held to be good in the schools. [8]
Therefore, if God has given grace to some good women, revealing something good and holy to them through his Holy Scriptures, will they dare not write, tell, or declare it to one another for the sake of the slanderers of the truth? Ah, to wish to hinder them would be too impudent, and it would be too foolish to hide the talent that God has given us, we ought to have the grace to persevere until the end. Amen.
[1]All references to scriptural passages, cited here as footnotes, were given in the margins of the original text by Marie Dentière.
Ephesians 4.
[2]1 Timothy 2.
[3]Matthew 1.
[4]Matthew 12; 1 Kings 10.
[5]Matthew 1.
[6]Luke 1.
[7]John 3.4.
[8]According to Thomas Head in his essay "A Propagandist for the Reform: Marie Dentière" Publius Faustus Andrelinus (1462-1518) published his Bucoliques in 1496. This was one of the most popular works of Renaissance pastoral poetry and was used as a text in Geneva's public schools on the eve of the Reformation. (K. Wilson ed. Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation (Athens, Georgia, 1987), 281 n.21).