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Pierre de Bourdeille (c.1540-1614), the Sieur de Brantôme’s Mémoires were circulated in manuscript form following his death. Considered one of the most precious sources of information on many aspects of sixteenth-century French life, the Mémoires were published about fifty years later in Leyden, in 1665 and in 1666 by Brantôme’s first editor, Jean Sambix, who re-titled the first two books Dames illustres and Dames galantes. Both books have sparked much interest ever since their publication, and have prompted many editions to follow.

Brantôme’s accounts as the semi-official chronicler of the Valois court undoubtedly were sparked by the vivid curiosity he developed while spending time with his grandmother, Louise de Daillon du Lude, who served as Marguerite de Navarre’s lady in waiting, and his mother, Anne de Vivonne, at the Court of Navarre. Later on, he became a habitual presence at the Valois court. In 1556, King Henri II granted Brantôme the Abbey of Brantôme, thus propelling his brilliant diplomatic career at court and deepening his social networks which would provide much of the material for his memoirs. At the French court, Brantôme favored the Catholic Guise clan, becoming François de Guise’s faithful companion. A riding accident in 1584, however, left Brantôme severely injured and confined to his estate in Périgord, where he would dictate his memoirs to his secretary for the next couple of years. It was then that his writing acquired a restorative function and became a sort of therapy, according to Robert Cottrell. Indeed, Brantôme spent the next thirty years working on his texts.

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