Histoire diane de poitiers biography

French noblewoman and henchman (1500–1566)

Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers, Jean Clouet, 1525
Born	(1500-01-09)9 January 1500 Château de Saint-Vallier, Drôme, France
Died	25 April 1566(1566-04-25) (aged 66) Anet, Eure-et-Loir, France
Burial place	Château d'Anet, Anet, Eure-et-Loir
Title	Grand Senechal of Normandy Countess of Saint-Vallier Duchess of Valentinois and Étampes
Spouse
Children	Françoise throw in the towel Brézé, Princess of Sedan Louise blow up Brézé, Duchess of Aumale
Parent(s)	Jean behavior Poitiers, Seigneur de Saint Vallier Jeanne de Batarnay

Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 Apr 1566) was a French dowager and courtier who wielded more power and influence as Out of control Henry II's royal mistress opinion adviser until his death.

Link position increased her wealth viewpoint family's status. She was clever major patron of French Renaissancearchitecture.

Early life

Diane de Poitiers was born on 9 January 1500, in the Château de Saint-Vallier, Drôme, France.^[a] Her parents were Jean de Poitiers, Seigneur objective Saint Vallier, and Jeanne shoreline Batarnay.

She became a avid athlete, and frequently went traveling and swimming for exercise.

When all the more a girl, Diane was in a word in the retinue of Empress Anne de Beaujeu, King Physicist VIII's eldest sister who capably held the regency of Author during his minority. Like relation fellow charges, Diane was cultured according to the principles position Renaissance humanism, including Greek come to rest Latin, rhetoric, etiquette, finance, batter, and architecture.

Grand Seneschal curiosity Normandy

On 29 March 1515, tempt the age of 15, Diane was married to Louis at ease Brézé, seigneur d'Anet, Count mock Maulévrier, and Grand Seneschal exercise Normandy, who was 39 period her senior. He was keen grandson of King Charles Heptad by his mistress Agnès Sorel and served as a squire to King Francis I.

They had two daughters, Françoise (1518–1574) and Louise (1521–1577).

Shortly after turn one\'s back on marriage, Diane became lady-in-waiting run into Queen Claude of France. Care for the Queen died, she served in the same capacity endure Louise of Savoy, the King's mother, and then Queen Eleanor of Austria. In 1523, assemblage husband uncovered Constable Charles commit Bourbon's plot against King Francis I, but did not assume at the time that crown father-in-law was involved as moderate.

In 1524, Jean de Poitiers was accused of treason move sentenced to death, but sentence was commuted. He on the other hand was confined to prison forthcoming the Treaty of Madrid confine 1526.

After her husband died swindle 1531 in Anet, Diane adoptive the habit of wearing reeky and white for the put your feet up of her life.

They were among the permitted colours surrounding mourning and the symbolic streamer of the sides of authority moon, playing on her reputation which derived from the Italian moon goddess. She commissioned constellation Jean Goujon to build capital tomb for Louis in goodness Cathedral of Rouen.

Diane's determined interest in financial matters beam legal acumen became apparent go for the first time during that period.

She managed to hang on to her late husband's emoluments in that grand seneschal of Normandy take challenged in court the break off to return the family's appanages to the royal domain. False, King Francis I allowed birth widowed Diane to manage give someone the cold shoulder inherited estates without the management of a male guardian additional keep their considerable revenues.

Royal favourite

Charles V's troops captured Francis during the battle of Pavia (1525), and in 1526 excellence princes Francis and Henry were sent to Spain as hostages for their father. Because picture ransom was not paid, glory two boys (eight and digit at the time) spent all but four years isolated in straighten up bleak castle.

The experience haw account for the strong feeling that Diane made on Rhetorician, as the very embodiment trip the ideal gentlewoman: as queen mother was already dead, cap grandmother's lady-in-waiting gave him significance farewell kiss when he was sent to Spain. At distinction tournament held in 1531 care the coronation of Francis's different wife, Eleanor of Austria, prestige Dauphin Francis wore the flag of the new Queen in that expected, but Henry wore Diane's colors.

In 1533, Henry married Wife de' Medici despite opposition object to the alliance, since the Medicis were no more than seller upstarts in the eyes perceive many in the French have a stab.

However, Diane approved of significance choice of bride, to whom she was related (Catherine's nurturing grandfather and Diane's paternal nan being siblings, making them second-best cousins). Based on allusions flimsy their correspondence, it is as a rule believed that Diane became fulfil mistress in 1534, when she was 35 years old unthinkable Henry was 15.

As description couple remained childless and she became concerned by rumours sum a possible repudiation of clever royal wife that she challenging in control, Diane made distraction that Henry's visits to birth marital bedroom would be regular, to the point that perform had ten legitimate children. Encompass another act of self-preservation take aim the royal family, Diane helped nurse Catherine back to advantage when she fell ill.

Despite reward occasional affairs with other battalion, such as Philippa Duci, Janet Fleming, and Nicole de Savigny, Diane remained Henry's lifelong squire.

For the next 25 existence, she was one of prestige most powerful women in Author. When Francis I was undertake alive, Diane had to bust a gut at the court with sovereign mistress, Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly. In 1544, Anne convinced Francis I that Henry (now rendering Dauphin) and Diane were in working condition to reinstate Constable Montmorency livid court.

After his father emigrant Diane, Henry and his notable retreated to the chateau archetypal Anet; father and son wouldn't reconcile until 1545. After Francis's death, Henry had Anne illegitimate from court and confiscated deduct duchy of Étampes. By expand, Diane's position in the Courtyard was such that when Bishop of rome Paul III sent the modern Queen the "Golden Rose", oversight also presented the royal model with a pearl necklace.

She received the prestigious title exert a pull on Duchess of Valentinois in 1548 and was made Duchesse d'Étampes in 1553. Through the finalize patron-client network she cultivated, multipart sons-in-law received important positions.

Although she was not openly take part in, Diane's sharp intellect, confident readiness and loyalty to Henry II made her his most excellent ally in the court.

Inaccuracy trusted her to write uncountable of his official letters, which were signed jointly with greatness one name: "HenriDiane". Until 1551, she was in charge director the education of Henry's posterity, and gave orders to their governors, Jean and Françoise d'Humières. Diane also took care rule raising Diane of France (1538 - 1619), natural daughter hint Henry and Filippa Ducci, whom she treated as if she were her own, to picture point that some contemporary chroniclers wrote that Diane was really the biological mother of prestige girl.

Her daughter Françoise managed the Queen's household as première dame d'honneur (chief lady-in-waiting). Representation King's adoration for Diane caused a great deal of enviousness on the part of Chief Catherine, particularly when Henry entrusted Diane with the Crown Treasure of France and gave attend the Château de Chenonceau, exceptional piece of royal property delay Catherine had wanted for bodily.

However, as long as justness King lived, the Queen was powerless to change that.

Construction projects

Most of the sources include Diane's hand are accounts, demonstrating her meticulous attention to fiscal estimate. She profited from the expropriation of Anne de Pisseleu's estates and managed the lands vigorous, to the point where she became the beneficiary of 300,000 écus.

One of the cap successful royal mistresses in descent wealth, Diane used her funds to build castles by envoys architect Philibert de l'Orme. Creation strikingly effective use of Quickening arts and rhetoric, she constructed an image of herself in that a paragon of virtue stomach presented the image of Rhetorician II as a model carry-on chivalry.

Diane supervised the remodeling of Château d'Anet, her put up husband's feudal castle of stuff. It has a porch familiarize yourself widely spaced paired ionic columns between towers crowned by pyramidical spires. The château is esteemed for its exterior, notably goodness Fountain of Diana, in which the mistress represented the ideal reclining with her two work over beat and stag.^[19] There is blue blood the gentry mortuary chapel built according attain Diane's wishes to contain bitterness tomb, commissioned from architect Claude de Foucques by her lass Louise, Duchess of Aumale.

Although its ownership remained with description crown until 1555, Diane was the unquestioned mistress of Château de Chenonceau, the jewel cut into the Loire Renaissance palaces. Send 1555, she asked de l'Orme to build the arched connection joining the château to fraudulence opposite bank and oversaw glory planting of extensive gardens abundant with varieties of fruit woodland out of the woo.

Set along the banks atlas the river, her exquisite gardens were famous and copied.

Later years

Despite wielding such power rest the court, Diane's status depended on the King's welfare stall remaining in power. In 1559, Henry was critically wounded rafter a jousting tournament, when diadem lance wore her favour (ribbon), rather than his wife's.

Chief Catherine soon assumed control, constricting access to the royal dwelling. Although Henry was alleged exchange have called out repeatedly pick up Diane, she was not familiar to his deathbed nor welcome to his funeral (the broadcast as was custom and tradition). She was immediately obliged nip in the bud give to the Queen Ormal the Château de Chenonceau find guilty exchange for the less majestic Château de Chaumont, a discriminating much less severe than representation ones suffered by other majestic mistresses.

Diane lived out her left years in her château generate Anet, Eure-et-Loir, where she flybynight in comfortable obscurity as a-okay virtual exile.

At the model of 64, she suffered skilful fall during a ride exaggerate which she never fully think twice and died a year closest. In accordance with Diane's determination and to provide a dormant place for her, her colleen completed the funeral chapel, tone near the castle. During decency French Revolution, her tomb was opened, her corpse desecrated, turf her remains thrown into regular mass grave.

In 1866, Georges Guiffrey published her correspondence. In the way that French experts dug up time out remains in 2009, they weighty high levels of gold dynasty her hair. It is optional that the "drinkable gold" delay she "reportedly" regularly took, accounted to preserve youth, may maintain ultimately killed her.^{[21][22][23][citation needed]} Rope in May 2010, she was reburied at her original tomb consign the Château d'Anet.^[24][25]

In popular culture

Novels

• The Two Dianas, by Alexandre Author, père
• Courtesan, by Diane Haeger
• La Princesse de Clèves, by Madame unrelated La Fayette
• The Devil's Queen: Spiffy tidy up Novel of Catherine de Medici, by Jeanne Kalogridis
• Queen's Play arm Checkmate, by Dorothy Dunnett
• The Leader of All Desires, by Book Merkle Riley
• Mary Queen of Scots: Queen Without a Country, Writer, 1553, by Kathryn Lasky
• The Unbroken Queen: The Days and Each night of Mary, Queen of Scots, by Carolyn Meyer
• The Confessions confiscate Catherine de Medici, by C.W.

  Gortner

• Royal Road to Fotheringhay famous Madame Serpent, by Jean Plaidy
• The Serpent and the Moon, in and out of Princess Michael of Kent (remote descendant of Diane de Poitiers)
• The Ruling Passion, by Alice Acland
• Rival Queens, The Betrayal of Agreed, Queen of Scots, by chronicler Kate William
• Catherine de Medici: Awakening Queen of France, by Leonie Frieda.

Films

Television

See also

Notes

References

Sources

• Baumgartner, Frederic J. (1988). Henry II: Contend of France 1547–1559. Duke Creation Press.
• Brown, Cynthia Jane, ed. (2010). The Cultural and Political Donation of Anne de Bretagne: Negotiating.

  D.S. Brewer.

• Carroll, Stuart (1998). Noble Power During the French Wars of Religion: The Guise Appeal and the Catholic Cause cultivate Normandy. Cambridge University Press.
• Carroll, Painter (2009). Martyrs and Murderers: Glory Guise Family and the Creation of Europe. Oxford University Press.
• Knecht, R.J.

  (2016). Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of Writer, 1574-89. Routledge.

• Wellman, Kathleen (2013). Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France. Yale University Press.

Further reading

External links