Ask The History Doc: Diane de Poitiers

7 January 2003 by Jean England Freeland    648  
Dear History Doctor: What can you tell me about Diane de Poitiers? I know she was connected with Henri II, but what is this stuff about marrying a younger man? Signed, Not So Young Myself Dear Not So Young, Ah, well, sooner or later we are all in the not-as-young-as-we-used-to-be category, so Diane de Poitiers should serve as an inspiration to all of us. Born in 1499, Diane was the daughter of Jean de Poitiers, seigneur of St.-Vallier, and thus a member of a very ancient line. A beauty from a very young age, at 13 she married into another distinguished line when she became the spouse of Louis de Breze, a grandson of Charles VII, who was then the Grand Senechal of Normandy. He was 39 years older than Diane (stay tuned for the younger man part). When she came with her husband to the court of Francois I, she found herself immersed in the wonderful Renaissance atmosphere fostered by that monarch. This was a time when France was discovering the new wonders of art and architecture brought back to France by Francois I from his campaigns in Italy, where, of course, the Renaissance was in full swing. In 1531, her elderly husband died, but Diane remained at court. Sometime along in there she managed to attract the eye of young Henri, then the dauphin (later Henri II). Although she was in her 30s by then, and although surrounded at court by many women who were much younger, she was considered to be one of the outstanding court beauties. Shortly before Henri’s arranged marriage to Catherine de Medicis in 1533, Diane became his mistress. Henri was 14. Incidentally, at the time of the marriage, Catherine was herself something of a looker— and she was 18 years younger than Diane. In spite of this, Henri seemed to try to avoid Catherine as much as he could, continuing to pursue his interest in Diane. You might guess that Catherine de Medicis did not take kindly to her husband’s interest in Diane, especially when Diane was officially acknowledged as his mistress three years after the marriage. The age factor added insult to injury, and things just seemed to go from bad to worse for Catherine. As Henri’s wife, it was of course her duty to produce an heir (or better yet, several of them), preferably male, since, as faithful readers of the History Doctor already know, a daughter could not inherit the throne in France. Catherine appeared to be incapable of fulfilling her duty in this respect. Of course, this failure may have had something to do with the fact that Henri seemed determined to spend all his time, day AND night, with Diane. Now this is where the story gets really good. Diane realized there was no love lost between her and Catherine, of course, but she was also aware that if Henri’s marriage were annulled because there was no heir, he might have to marry someone even less accommodating. Being something of a pragmatist, she made an arrangement with Catherine, agreeing that on some evenings Henri would spend several hours in Diane’s bed, then go to Catherine’s for a while, then return to Diane’s bedchamber. We are told that Diane also gave Catherine some “practical hints,” which we assume were not directed toward how she could cook a better pot roast. This evidently did the trick, because the future Francois II was born in 1544, followed by the future Charles IX in 1550, and the future Henri III in 155l, plus several other children. We have no way to know if Henri himself managed to get any sleep at all during these years. So you see, dear Not So Young, that while Diane did not exactly marry a younger man, she did come close, managing to retain Henri’s love and interest until his death in 1559. Watch for future articles about the rest of the story. Dear History Doctor: I read your first article on Diane de Poitiers, and now I want to know the rest of the story. What happened to her and Henri II? Signed, Curiosity Whetted Dear Whetted: An historian always feels as if he has succeeded when someone from the crowd yells, “More!” So here is the rest of the story. Although Diane did present an enduring attraction, Henri II managed to squeeze in some other interests. One of them, unfortunately, was jousting. Periodically, Henri would throw a big fête, which would customarily involve drinking lots of wine, eating the French equivalent of bar-be-que, and enjoying, as entertainment, a sort of re-creation of a medieval tournament. Now this would have been fine, as long as the King just sat in the stands and cheered on his favorites. But that was not the sort of man Henri was. So, on one of these memorable occasions, Henri, always the life of the party, climbed on his horse and prepared to have a go at his opponent with what we believe were tipped lances. This did not turn out to be a good idea. Although the sport was aimed at simply knocking your opponent off his horse, something went wrong. Henri zigged when he should have zagged and the next thing he knew he had been nearly run through by a lance, which pierced deeply into his eye. Clearly this was not going to be his day. Henri should have known better than to deliberately expose himself to such danger, because there was really no able heir ready to succeed him. In spite of his heroic efforts to produce children by his wife Catherine de Medicis, none of his sons was yet of age to assume the throne. This meant, of course, that when he succumbed to his injuries shortly after the tournament in 1559, he left France in the hands of at least one (and as it turned out, more) minor children. As faithful readers of the History Doctor already know, that situation usually spells disaster. But that is another story. In any case, with a new king on the throne, Diane suddenly found herself persona non grata at court. Since Catherine de Medicis was now in a better position to exact her revenge, being the mother of the king instead of simply an out-of-favor wife, she began to…
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By Jean England Freeland