Diane de Poitiers was a remarkable 16th century courtesan, the mistress of French King Henri II. She wielded considerable power and influence at the French court, garnering considerable wealth along the way. All this, despite a royal rivalry between Diane and Henry’s wife, Queen Catherine de Medici. The Queen and Diane loathed each other and competed for the attention of King Henri and his court. When the king died suddenly after a jousting match, Diane quickly lost power, banished instead by the late king’s wife. Who was Diane de Poitiers and how did she manage to maintain such unusual control?
Diane was born in 1499, the daughter of Jean de Poitiers, the Seigneur of St. Vallier. At the young age of only fifteen, she became the second wife of Louis de Brézé, Seneschal of Normandy, thirty-nine years her senior. At the time, he was also supposedly the ugliest man in all of France. Nevertheless, they had two children together.
Diane entered the French court in Paris as a lady-in-waiting to the mother of King Francis I – then later the king’s first and second wives. Young Diane exuded a shimmering, natural beauty rivaling that of Diana, Goddess of the Moon. Praised as “le belle des belles,” Diane was careful of preserving her valuable good looks. She never used make-up, like the other courtiers, applying only cold water on her face and body. Diane went to bed early and took regular exercise outdoors, avoiding excesses of food or wine. She was centuries before her time!
In 1529, the future Henry II and his elder brother Francis returned to France after four years of captivity in Spain. The king asked Diane de Poitiers to be his young son’s tutor. It would be an appointment that changed her life forever. She and the 11-year-old prince developed a strong bond. As Henry grew into a teenager, he fell in deeply love with his beautiful mentor. They fell into a romantic relationship, despite a 19 year gap in their ages.
Diane’s husband died in 1531 and she would wear combinations of black and white mourning colors the rest of her life. She succeeded in having his title passed onto her, rather than be traditionally returned to the king for reappoint. King Francis was impressed with Diane and allowed her to manage all her inherited estates without male supervision. This allowing Diane to be a rare, financially independent 16th century woman.
In 1533, Prince Henri was married to Catherine de Medici at the age of 15.
A year later, Diane formally became one of his mistresses and a permanent fixture in the French court. In 1536, Henri’s older brother and the heir apparent, Francis, died suddenly, making the young prince Henri dauphin of France! Diane de Poitiers found herself mistress of the future king.
Henri and Catherine had yet to conceive a child, and once Henri was heir, this became a serious concern. Talk at court began to center around the possibility that Catherine was barren – a very public humiliation. Catherine had sophisticated taste and knowledge in art from an early age and greatly impressed King Francis. She had grown up in the Medici household and knew fine art, sculpture and painting. That said, her first role was to produce an heir.
Wary of a new bride for Henri (and a new threat), Diane decided to help her rival. The two courtiers formed an unusual truce to ward off attempts to force Henri and Catherine to divorce. His feeling towards her were not as ‘passionate,’ as they were with Diane. So Diane offered the princess advice on how to arouse the prince’s passion from her own experience with him. One can only imagine those awkward conversations. Catherine soon realized that Henri did not have intercourse with her with the same enthusiasm as he did with his mistress.
Diane even eventually offered to “stimulate” the prince before he entered his wife’s bedchamber. It worked and Catherine eventually became pregnant. She gave birth to a baby boy in 1544, named Francis after his grandfather. A year later, a baby girl, Elisabeth, was born. Ten children would eventually fill the royal household, seven reaching adulthood.
Upon the death of Francis in 1547, he became King Henri II of France.
But while Catherine was now queen, she wielded little influence over the king. It was rather Diane’s star that rose higher, eclipsing that of the queen. Diane was made a permanent member of Henri’s privy council. She was given custody of the crown jewels, as well as the Château de Chenonceau (which the queen had coveted). Diane did not exercise her influence in matters of state, but rather matters of court, increasing her wealth and power along the way, as insurance for her own future, and that of her two children.
The deep relationship between King Henri II and Diane de Poitiers has testimonials embedded in the walls of Louvre, the Chateau de Chenonceau, and even military cannons. Henri II created a royal insignia to display his absolute reign over France. At first glance, the symbol appeared to be two interwoven C’s overlapping to form an H. However, on closer inspection, Henri had in fact encrypted two interlaced D’s. The King even went so far as to sign official documents and letters, “HenriDiane.”
Queen Catherine was no longer a naïve princess. She was shrewd enough to develop a deep jealously and resentment of Diane that would last their respective lifetimes. The Queen had a large portrait of herself placed over the fireplace of the mistress’ chamber at the Château de Chenonceau. Nevetheless, Catherine remained in the shadow of Henri and Diane throughout their marriage. The king continued to shower his mistress with gifts, estates and patronage.
Wherever the king and queen were seen, so too was Diane de Poitiers, walking closely behind them. Diane was named in the same rank as the princesses of France. Henri ignored Catherine’s protests that a mistress should hold the same level in court as their daughters. It was another public humiliation for the queen.
The king gave Diane the responsibility of entertaining foreign ambassadors. English ambassador, William Pickering, and Venetian ambassador Lorenzo Contarini, remarked on Diane’s amazing influence at court. ‘She knows everything; and every single day, after dinner, the king spends an hour with her to discuss everything that has happened,’ Contarini commented.
At tournaments, it was Diane’s colors that the king wore while participating, not those of his queen. Diane de Poitiers oversaw the expansion of Chenonceau, adding the famous arched bridge joining the château to opposite bank of the River Cher. She was, quite literally, the love of his life, although the king never had children with his favored maitresse en titre.
When Henri was out of the country on campaigns, he did entrust Catherine with the regency. However, Diane managed to persuade Henri to appoint Chancellor Bertrandi as co-regent, effectively forcing the Queen to answer to him. Catherine would however, eventually get the upper hand on her hated competitor.
The women’s rivalry came to an abrupt end in the summer of 1559.
Henri had just turned 40. He had spent 26 years married to Catherine de Medici; though in love with Diane de Poitiers. In June, Princess Elisabeth, was married to Philip II, King of Spain, at Notre Dame in Paris. The wedding was followed by a celebratory tournament. Catherine had been warned by an astrologer, that Henri would die in a duel in his 40th year! This knowledge made the superstitious Queen Catherine worried as the jousts started – with the king himself participating.
Henri was always eager to single out his mistress and wore her colors of black and white. The king performed well against his first opponent, hitting the Duke of Savoy in the chest and unhorsing him. Their second bout was a draw. Catherine intervened here and pleaded with him to retire. Henri turned to Diane of course, who smiled and encouraged the king to continue. In the next joust, against Gabriel de Montgomery, Henri fell off his horse unhurt. The king insisted on going again, but his luck had sadly run out.
Montgomery’s lance struck the king’s helmet and the crowd gasped in horror. Both women stood from their seats in shock. The king fell from his horse and his squires quickly removed his helmet. They found Henri’s’ face covered in blood. A piece of Gabriel’s splintered lance had pierced Henri’s eye and entered his skull. The mortally wounded king was carried to his chambers and placed in his bed. Diane and Catherine followed, one at either side, both in tears.
Catherine called for a surgeon to attend the king, but the physician told her he could not be saved. The queen then had Diane removed from the room. Henri lived for 10 more days, in excruciating pain, before dying of infection. Henri is said to have called out for Diane numerous times, but the queen would not allow it. Diane de Poitiers’ influence ended with her lover the king’s death. Power now rested in the hands of her rival Queen Catherine, mother and regent to her son Francis II.
Catherine refused to allow Diane to attend his funeral.
On hearing of Henri’s death, Diane knew she was in jeopardy. She quickly wrote to Catherine. She pleaded for ‘pardon for my past offences against your person,’ signing the letter ‘your most obedient and loyal subject.’ Diane returned the crown jewels in her possession in the hope that it would influence the queen. Diane’s downfall, however, was quick. Catherine banished her from court. She allowed Diane to keep some of what she had acquired over the years, except of course, for Château Chenonceau.
Diane retreated to Château Anet, her late husband’s property, where she lived in comfort, though a virtual exile. After seven years, she would die there in 1566, a year after falling from her horse and injuring herself. She was 66. In accordance with her wishes, her daughter Louise had a tomb and funeral chapel built near the castle for her remains.
For a quarter of a century, Diane de Poitiers had wielded more influence as the French king’s mistress than the queen herself. Henri II showered her with his affection, riches, and power – the only woman he truly loved. Doing so, he ignored the humiliations he was heaping upon his uLOST in HISTORYnfortunate queen. Not expecting to outlive the much younger king, Diane de Poitiers eventually suffered the consequences of Catherine de Medici’s scorn.
Ah, intrigue and lust in the French court. Diane de Poitiers had an interesting life. I am surprised that she wasn’t murdered. Catherine was of the famous Medici family of Florence I gather. Those dynastic alliances had to have tons of intrigue involved. I liked the part where Diane would motivate the King before he went into his wife. Quite a novel idea. Jousting apparently wasn’t a good idea for a regent. Women seemed to take particular advantage of their positions in court even through Egyptian to Roman to Medieval times.