Françoise-Marguerite de Joncoux (1668–1715)

Women also had a part to play in the formation of networks of Catholic emigrants. Françoise-Marguerite de Joncoux was a French historian who, for 20 years before her death in 1715, acted as something of a secretary-general, coordinating the correspondence of Jansenist theologians, managed financial transactions between France and the Netherland and hosted a Jansenist salon in Paris. She also organized gatherings of Jansenist theologians and acted as a liaison to the monastery of Port-Royal-des-Champs. These diverse activities placed her at the centre of a network.

Nicolas Pitau II. (1670–1724), Portrait of Françoise-Marguerite de Joncoux (1668–1715), engraving, 1716; source: © The Trustees of the British Museum, https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1928-0313-381.