Marguerite de la Rock

The place and date of birth are unknown, but the records speak of her oath of allegiance and homage in 1536 on her lands in Perigord and Languedoc ^[1] . She was with the proprietor of Ponpuan together with a relative Jean-Francois de la Roque de Roberval , a noble privateer who was patronized by Francis I ^[1] (The exact degree of relationship between them remains unclear. Andre Teveux claimed that Roberval was her uncle ^[2] , and Francois de Belfort - that they were brother and sister ^[3] . Historian Elizabeth Boyer suggests that they were in fact cousins ^[3] ).

In 1541, Roberval was made lieutenant-general of New France , and the next year he went to the New World, accompanied by a young and unmarried Margarita. During swimming, she became the mistress of a young man. Unhappy with this, Roberval landed Marguerite on the " Island of Demons ", near the Saint-Paul River ^[1] . Perhaps his decision was motivated by his strict Calvinist morality, but also, most likely, it was due to financial greed, because he had many debts, and Marguerite's death was beneficial to him ^[4] . Together with Marguerite, her lover and servant Damien were landed ^[1] . Margarita of Navarre in " Heptameron " claims that she was first landed a lover, and Marguerite chose to join him; Teve says that this young man sailed to the island to be with Marguerite.

Her lover is intentionally left nameless; although he was presented in the text of Margarita of Navarre as a laborer, his identity was not partially identified to preserve the honor of his aristocratic family ^[5] .

It was unlikely that she was pregnant at that time, but later, on the island, Marguerite gave birth to a child ^[6] . The child died, as did the young man, and the maid ^[1] . Most likely, the child died due to a lack of milk, in connection with the poor diet of Marguerite ^[6] . Marguerite earned her food by hunting wild animals, and was saved several years later by Basque whalers. ^[7]

"Island of Demons" (or spirits) is part of a group later known as the Isles de la Demoiselle, possibly in honor of it ( French demoiselle means "young lady"); in particular, it is believed that this island is now known as the Hospital Island (or Harrington Island ), where the oral tradition even highlights the very cave in which Marguerite was hiding ^[8] .

After returning to France after her escape, Marguerite achieved some fame when her story was recorded by the Queen of Navarre in her book Heptameron (published posthumously in 1558), Francois de Belfore's Histoires tragiques (5th volume , 1570), and later in the Cosmographie by Andre Teve . She became a teacher and settled in Nontron ^[8] , in the Chateau de la Mothe. There is no information about any of her actions and the charges brought against Roberval ^[8] . The date and place of her death is unknown (Roberval died in 1560).

Queen of Navarre's tale of the adventures of Marguerite is nothing more than a romantic tale, and is based on information provided by Captain Roberval; Theve also claims that Marguerite herself told him her story, and gives more detailed information, describing the journey itself, the colonists on board the ships and the location of Demon Island ^[1] . A comparison of the texts shows that Teve was at least familiar with the earlier texts of Margarita of Navarre and de Belfort ^[2] .

In addition to the early authors, the story of Marguerite de la Rock inspired more modern writers, mainly Canadians. One of the first was a Canadian of Irish descent, George Martin , who published the poem Legend of Marguerite in 1887. (Martin is little known now, but he was apparently a friend of Charles Havageage , and was mentioned by David James O'Donoghue as “one of Canada’s leading poets” ^[9] ). In 1960, George Woodcock composed the drama for CBC Radio in the poems Demon Island ^[10] . The historian Elizabeth Boyer wrote in 1975 the novel Marguerite de La Rock: A Story of Survival ^[11] , and in 1983, One Man 's Colony: A Story of a Brave Woman . In 1995, Donald Wilson Stanley Ryan re-published George Martin's Legend of Marguerite more than a hundred years later, adding an explanatory introduction. Charles Goulet wrote the novel “ Demon Island ” in 2000 ^[12] ; Joan Elizabeth Goodman wrote in 2002 a novel for the youth " Paradise" ^[13] . In 2003, Douglas Glover published Elle: Roman ^[14] , who won Governor's General book prize that year ^[15] . Canadian playwright Robert Schaff wrote the bilingual play Island of the Demons , first played in 2004. ^{[16] The} Canadian poet bpNichol portrayed it in his poem Crying. British writer Sarah Maitland discusses this story in The Book of Silence (2008) and in The Story of a Valiant Demoiselle in The Far North and Other Dark Stories (2008). (Maitland, one of the few non-Canadians who have tackled this story, also mentions Isabelle Mackay's 1916 poem.) In 2008, Anna-Maria Beckel wrote the novel “ Silence of the Stone ”, in which attention switches between Margaret on the island and Margaret the teacher. Finally, in 2016, the Passe Muraille Theater in Toronto released the play “ Elle ” ( She ), an adaptation of Severn Thompson's Glover novel.

• Leslie, Edward E .; Seagrave, Sterling; (1998) Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls: True Stories of Castaways and Other Survivors , Houghton Mifflin Books, ISBN 978-0-395-91150-1 , excerpts available online
• Schlesinger, Roger; Stabler, Arthur Phillips; Thevet, Andre; (1986) André Thevet's North America: a sixteenth-century view , McGill-Queen's Press, ISBN 978-0-7735-0587-2 , excerpts available online

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Isabelle Ecclestone's poem Marguerite de Roberval

• Boyer, Elizabeth. A Colony of One: The History of a Brave Woman. - Novelty, Ohio: Veritie Press, 1983. - ISBN 0-915964-05-8 . A Colony of One: The History of a Brave Woman . Novelty, Ohio: Veritie Press. ISBN 0-915964-05-8.
• Stabler, Arthur P. The Legend of Marguerite de Roberval