Histoire secrete d'Isabelle de Baviere, reine de France

Histoire secrète d'Isabelle de Bavière, reine de France^[1] is an unpublished medieval-set 1813 historical novel by the Marquis de Sade. Its inception is recounted in a note at the end of the manuscript. In July 1764 Sade set out from Paris for Dijon, to see documents from the time of Charles VI of France at the Carthusian convent (including the Duke of Burgundy's will and the confession of Boisbourdon, Isabelle's favourite), which he alleges were destroyed later at the time of the French Revolution. Its central character is Isabelle herself – beautiful, evil and cruel, with similarities to Juliette and possibly acting as a prototype for Sade's later, most perverted characters.

Notes

1. Or, to give its full title, Histoire secrète d'Isabelle de Bavière, reine de France, dans laquelle se trouvent des faits rares, inconnus ou restés dans l'oubli jusqu'à ce jour, et soigneusement étayés de manuscrits authentiques allemands, anglais et latins (Secret history of Isabelle of Bavaria, queen of France, in which are to be found rare deeds, unknown or having remained forgotten until today, and carefully supported by authentic German, English and Latin manuscripts)

Sources

• Recent Developments in Research on the Marquis de Sade, by Hobart Ryland – The French Review 1951
• Novel Reader, Fiction Writer, by Georges May – Yale French Studies 1965