Anne de Graville

Anne de Graville or Anne Malet de Graville was a French Renaissance poet, translator, and book collector, associated with the court of Queen Claude of France. She was born into one of the most prominent families in the country and overcame scandal to become a well-respected literary figure at the royal court. In addition to authoring two texts, she was an avid collector of books and manuscripts.

Early life Anne was born around 1490 into the Malet de Graville family, one of the most wealthy and prestigious families in France. She was the youngest of three surviving girls: Louise, Jeanne and Anne. Her father, the admiral Louis Malet de Graville who served three kings in his lifetime, and her mother Marie de Balsac, raised her at the family estate not far from Paris, the Chateau of Marcoussis. This was the estate where the future king Francis I enjoyed hunting. At her father’s death in 1516 she sued the estate and regained the right to her third of the inheritance after her father’s death. After 1518 Anne and Pierre were awarded their part of her father’s possessions, including domains in Normandy and central France, a grand house in Paris, and most importantly, a large portion of Louis Malet de Graville’s extensive library, which she further developed with her own acquisitions.

Life at Court Not long after her marriage, Anne de Graville served at the court of Queen Claude of France, eldest daughter of Louis XII and Anne of Brittany; Claude became the wife of the future Francis I in 1514, the year before he ascended the throne. Anne was likely her dame d'honneur. She created and dedicated several texts to the queen during her tenure there, from 1515 to 1524.

After the death of the Queen Claude in 1524, Anne moved to her husband's estates to raise her family. During this time she became a confidant of Francis I's sister, princess and poet Marguerite de Navarre. Like the princess, Anne became interested in religious reform and even sheltered several Reformation exiles. The collection of seventy-one rondeaux was revised from the poem originally written one hundred years earlier by Alain Chartier (in 1424), updating the narrative and neutral octosyllabic form of Alain’s poem to a lyrical and courtly form of rondeaux. The text of the poems are preserved in a single manuscript housed at the French National Library (Bibliothèque nationale de France) in Paris with the shelf mark of français 2253. The dialogue between Lover and Lady reflects a softening of the attitude of the Lady toward her pleading courtier, rendering it more acceptable to a Renaissance audience.

Le beau roman des deux amans Palamon & Arcita et de la belle et sage Emilia "translaté de vieil langaige et prose en nouveau et rime par madamoiselle Anne de Graville la Mallet, dame du Boys Maslesherbes, du commandement de la Royne" (1521). This "translated" tale was adapted from the Teseida délie Nozze d'Emilia of Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio. The Italian work also inspired Chaucer's "Knight's Tale". Anne's story tells of the amorous rivalry between Palamon and Arcite, best friends, who both wish to earn the hand of Emilia, the younger sister of Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons. Emilia has accompanied her sister and the victorious Theseus to Athens where they witness the dueling between the two rivals. Arcite wins the duel, but then dies tragically from his wounds before the couple can marry. Theseus advises Emilia to wed Palamon in order the make the best of the tragic situation.