Life

Both her mother, Michelette de Salvaing, and father, Jacques de Bactoz, were from well-known families in the Dauphiné

Dauphiné

The Dauphiné or Dauphiné Viennois is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes....

. Denys Fauchier taught her to write Latin and verse. Claude would later write prose and verse in both French and Italian.

Claude became famous as a writer and intellectual and corresponded with many learned people, as well as with Queen Marguerite of Navarre

Marguerite de Navarre

Marguerite de Navarre , also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the queen consort of Henry II of Navarre...

 and King Francis I of France

Francis I of France

Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...

.
After she became abbess of the Monastery Saint Honorat in Tarascon

Tarascon

Tarascon , sometimes referred to as Tarascon-sur-Rhône, is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France.-Geography:...

in 1542, Marguerite and Francis visited her there. Francis carried her letters around with him and would show them to ladies of his court.