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dame Catherine Fredonnoit Des Roches
1542–1587
A sharp, learned voice from Renaissance France, this poet and salon host helped turn Poitiers into a lively center of literary conversation. Writing alongside her mother, she became known for wit, scholarship, and a rare public presence for a woman of her time.
1 Audiobook
La Puce de Mme Desroches
by dame Catherine Fredonnoit Des Roches, Etienne Pasquier
About the author
Born in Poitiers in 1542, Catherine Des Roches was a French writer of the Renaissance, remembered for her poems, prose, and the literary circle she shared with her mother, Madeleine Des Roches. Together they became well known in the second half of the 16th century for their learning and for welcoming writers and scholars into their salon.
Her work reflects the humanist culture of the period: lively, educated, and interested in language, ideas, and literary play. She wrote at a time when women had limited access to public intellectual life, which makes her published work and reputation especially striking.
Catherine Des Roches died in Poitiers in 1587. She is still admired as part of a remarkable mother-daughter partnership and as one of the notable women writers of French Renaissance literature.