Marguerite de Navarre, Mother of the Renaissance by Patricia F. Cholakian, Rouben C. Cholakian (review)

REVIEWS 207 prowess would not have translated into the degree of financial success he achieved absent his skill in bargaining, particularly in exploiting and manipulating cities’ uncertainties about his intentions. The fact that without a contract he was free to captain roving mercenary bands was a key element in bringing pressure to bear on cities when negotiating, and in fact Hawkwood sometimes made his dissatisfaction known by leading mercenary bands to extort bribes from cities which in the past had employed him. If in doing so Hawkwood comes off as an opportunist, it should be noted that cities were more than happy to use mercenaries to further foreign policy goals when it was desirable and possible to do so. They also frequently failed to meet pay despite contractual obligations, although Florence seems to be an exception, which is probably the main reason for Hawkwood’s consistent service to the city at the end of his career. Given the itinerant nature of Hawkwood’s life and the degree of territory he covered, the degree of detail provided regarding Hawkwood’s career is truly impressive. However, Caferro largely fails to make good on his claim that war must be treated as an intrinsic part of society and culture by organizing the book in a generally chronological fashion following Hawkwood’s career (the third chapter stands as an exception), neglecting analysis of the linkages until the concluding chapter. Thus, important issues that would make this book relevant to a wider audience, such as the relationship between war and national identity, are not given treatment commensurate with their importance as issues that both transcend a particular historical era but are also relevant to the patterns of Hawkwood’s career, such as his self-image as an Englishman despite long service to Italian cities, and his role as a conduit between English and Italian military and diplomatic circles. Another rich topic unexplored was the relationship between war and the domestic politics of cities. Given how cities financed mercenary armies, the role mercenary forces played in both securing domestic regimes and causing internal dissension and rebellion, and the relationships between mercenaries and expatriates, it seems unfortunate Caferro did not devote more analysis to this issue. Despite these shortcomings, the depth of Caferro’s archival research has established him as Hawkwood’s preeminent biographer. John Hawkwood will be of use to scholars interested in understanding the role of mercenaries in warfare and the political-military history of late fourteenth-century Italy. DANE SWANGO, History, UCLA Patricia F. Cholakian and Rouben C. Cholakian, Marguerite de Navarre, Mother of the Renaissance (New York: Columbia University Press 2006) xix + 412 pp., ill., map. Patricia F. Cholakian and Rouben C. Cholakian produce the first major English biography chronicling the life of Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549), sister of the king of France François I, queen of Navarre, and the proclaimed Mother of the French Renaissance. Patricia F. Cholakian is professor emerita at Hamilton College and is the author of Rape and Writing: the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre and Women and the Politics of Self-Representation in SeventeenthCentury France. Rouben C. Cholakian is professor emeritus at Hamilton College and the author of The Bayeux Tapestry and the Ethos of War and The REVIEWS 208 Troubadour Lyric: A Psychocritical Reading. The Cholakians explore Marguerite ’s role as a religious reformer and patron of the arts through her many writings . Marguerite was not only a royal but a prolific writer as well, the author of prose and poetry all of which was published in a two-volume anthology. The authors look at the full range of Marguerite’s works, and find previously overlooked autobiographical elements. Marguerite’s creative personality in part sparked the creation of the tradition of an intellectual, philosophical, humanist, and creative atmosphere for which the French court was known and admired. Marguerite, queen of Navarre, also played an important religious role, speaking out against church corruption, supporting vernacular translations of religious works, and promoting an atmosphere of tolerance for reformers. One of her theological poems, Miroir de l’ame pecheresse, was even adopted into the Protestant corpus. However, Marguerite herself remained a devout Catholic to her death. The connection...