A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Harcourt, Agnes d'
HARCOURT, AGNES D',
Abbess of the celebrated convent of Longchamp, near Paris, founded by the pious sister of St. Louis, Isabella de France, was the daughter of Juan d'Harcourt. She was appointed Abbess in 1263, two years after the establishment of the convent, by Isabella, and remained so till her death, in November, 1291. Agnes had received an education worthy of her illustrious birth, as was fully proved by the work she left: it was the "Life of Isabella," written with so much naiveté and such an exquisite simplicity, as to be considered one of the most valuable works of the early French writers. Before the revolution of 1789, the Abbey of Longchamp possessed the original manuscript of this work, written with the greatest care, perhaps by Agnes herself, on a roll of vellum.