Marguerite d'Alencon, Queen of Navarre and surrogate queen of France while egerie to her brother, Francis I, was a central motivator of both the Renaissance and Reformation movements. "Les Prisons, " a quest epic in three cantos, in recounting her struggle toward philosophical illumination, documents her compelling personality and original reflection. In addition to being Luther's translator, Calvin's and Rabelais' deliverer, she was a model feminist and the outstanding woman poet of the sixteenth century. Her masterpiece appears here for the first time in English."