Georgette de Montenay (1540–1581) was the French author of ''Emblemes ou devises chrestiennes'', published in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

between 1567 and 1571. Montenay has always been regarded as a lady-in-waiting to Jeanne d'Albret, the Protestant Queen of Navarre, partly because she dedicated her work to the Queen. An intriguing aspect of Montenay's Calvinist life is that she was married in 1562 to Guyon de Gout, a devout Catholic. Montenay was born in

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. She came from an affluent military family, but was orphaned when young and was taken into the court by the Queen of Navarre, whom she served first as '' fille d'honneur'' and later as ''

dame d'honneur Dame d'honneur (, ) was a common title for two categories of French ladies-in-waiting, who are often confused because of the similarity. Dame d'honneur can be: * Short for Première dame d'honneur, which were commonly shortened to Dame d'honne ...

''. Her position enabled her to acquire a thorough grounding in the classics and exposed her to

Evangelism Evangelism, or witnessing, is the act of sharing the Christian gospel, the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is typically done with the intention of converting others to Christianity. Evangelism can take several forms, such as persona ...

. She died at Sainte-Germier, near Toulouse.

''Emblemes ou Devises Chrestiennes''

Montenay's book is an important milestone in the history of

emblem book An emblem book is a book collecting emblems (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. Emblem books are collection ...

s, inasmuch as it was written by a female member of the Reformed (

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

) faith. Montenay claims in her foreword that the book represents the first collection of Christian

emblem An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint. Emblems vs. symbols Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...

s. However, there are earlier emblematic works such as Claude Paradin's ''"Devises heroiques"'' (Lyons:, 1551; 1557). Montenay's ''Emblemes'' signals the beginning of a systematic exploitation of these emblems in religious propaganda. It was illustrated using

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

engravings by Pierre Woeiriot rather than the more traditional

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

s. It is unusual in calling for participation by the reader in recognising biblical allusions, both verbal and visual, and serves to both educate and entertain. Montenay's work was thought to have first appeared in 1571, but a copy in the Royal Library in Copenhagen shows that it first appeared in 1567 and had been languishing in the hands of her publishers, Jean Marcorelle and Philippe de Castellas, since 1561. The delay may be explained by the religious turmoil of the time making early publication unwise. The Peace of Saint-Germain in 1570 raised hopes which were soon dashed by the 1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. In 1584 a Latin version was published, followed in 1619 by the

Frankfurt-am-Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

polyglot edition in Spanish, Italian, German, English and Dutch. The same illustrations are used in all three editions, so that the plates needed moving between

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. The motto or title included in each engraving is in Latin, and is invariably a quotation from the

Vulgate The Vulgate () is a late-4th-century Bible translations into Latin, Latin translation of the Bible. It is largely the work of Saint Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels used by the Diocese of ...

version of the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, a book with which the common people shared an easy familiarity. The reader was expected to be able to place the quotations in context. The Scottish calligrapher Esther Inglis revised an emblem by Montenay to honour her patron, Marie Stewart, Countess of Mar. The illustration of the "wise woman who builds her house" from

Proverbs A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial ...

14:1, originally identified the wise woman as Jeanne d'Albret.Michael Bath, ''Emblems in Scotland: Motifs and Meanings'' (Brill: Leiden, 2018), pp. 37-43.

Bibliography

*Alison Adams, Stephen Rawles, Alison Saunders, ''A Bibliography of French Emblem Books'', 2 vols (Geneva: Droz, 1999-2002) *Montenay, Georgette de, ''Emblemes ou devises chrestiennes'' (1571), ed. Christopher N. Smith (Menston: Scolar Press, 1973). Facsimile reprint. *Adams, Alison, ''‘Les emblemes ou devises chrestiennes de Georgette de Montenay: édition de 1567’'' (2000) *Adams, Alison, ''‘Georgette de Montenay’s Emblemes ou devises chrestiennes, 1567: New Dating, New Context’'' (2001) *Adams, Alison, ''Webs of Allusion: French Protestant Emblem Books of the Sixteenth Century'' (Geneva: Droz, 2003) *Reynolds-Cornell, Regine, ''Witnessing an Era: Georgette de Montenay and the Emblemes ou Devises Chrestiennes'' (Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications, 1987). *Paulette Choné, ''Emblèmes et pensées symboliques en Lorraine (1525-1633)'' (Paris: Klincksieck, 1991) * Labrousse, Elisabeth & Jean-Philippe, ''‘Georgette de Montenay et Guyon du Gout son époux’'', Bulletin de la Société archéologique, historique, littéraire et scientifique du Gers (1990)

References

External links

''Georgette de Montenay'' - Sara F. Matthews Grieco
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montenay, Georgette De 1540 births 1581 deaths Writers from Toulouse Calvinist and Reformed writers French ladies-in-waiting 16th-century French women writers