But Thevet was also known for creative elaboration, and his testimony cannot be taken at face value without corroboration.

Belleforest was explicitly writing dramatic narrative, and his elaborations — the clandestine marriage, the more detailed descriptions of the island — are best understood as literary expansions rather than historical reports.

The fictional novels and other creative works of later centuries are even further from the historical record — they are using the historical skeleton as the basis for imaginative reconstruction, which is a legitimate creative practice but should not be confused with history.

What this means for understanding Marguerite de la Rocque is that the historical person is partially obscured by the weight of representation that has accumulated around her.