Husband of: Catherine de' Medici. mar 1533.
[Scroll down to page end for more information about Catherine]
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| Henry II & family @DeviantArt
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Henri II's physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Henri II has not, in general, been given a good press by historians. Michelet described him as a gloomy monarch, yet a Venetian ambassador described him as 'joyful, rubicund and with an excellent colour'. He was tall and muscular, and loved sport, particularly tennis, riding and jousting. Less intelligent than his father, he was less keen on the arts, yet musical. . . ." (Catherine de Medici: 37)
Henri II at 28.
"Henri II, who now ascended the throne of France, had just completed his twenty-eighth year. In person he was tall, robust, and somewhat corpulent; his complexion was dark, his hair and beard were black. He was a good horseman, and fond of all bodily exercises, in which he excelled; his manners were graceful and affable; but he was wholly incapable of mental application, and it was evident that the reins of government would be abandoned to favourites and mistresses. . . ." (1521-1598: 175)
Henri II at 33.
"That year, when Henri was thirty-three, Lorenzo Contarini, now the Venetian ambassador, furnished posterity with a detailed description of the French sovereign and his daily habits, including Henri's avid fitness regimen.
"Henri II has not, in general, been given a good press by historians. Michelet described him as a gloomy monarch, yet a Venetian ambassador described him as 'joyful, rubicund and with an excellent colour'. He was tall and muscular, and loved sport, particularly tennis, riding and jousting. Less intelligent than his father, he was less keen on the arts, yet musical. . . ." (Catherine de Medici: 37)
Henri II at 28.
"Henri II, who now ascended the throne of France, had just completed his twenty-eighth year. In person he was tall, robust, and somewhat corpulent; his complexion was dark, his hair and beard were black. He was a good horseman, and fond of all bodily exercises, in which he excelled; his manners were graceful and affable; but he was wholly incapable of mental application, and it was evident that the reins of government would be abandoned to favourites and mistresses. . . ." (1521-1598: 175)
Henri II at 33.
"That year, when Henri was thirty-three, Lorenzo Contarini, now the Venetian ambassador, furnished posterity with a detailed description of the French sovereign and his daily habits, including Henri's avid fitness regimen.
'[He is] tall, well-built, with black hair and lively eyes, an attractive head, large nose, normal mouth, and a beard as long as the width of two fingers, and altogether he has one of the mot gracious figures and a real air of majesty. He has a very robust complexion, which is helped a lot by his physical exercises, such that every day, from two hours after lunch until evening he spends his time playing tennis or ball or [in] archery . . . He also enjoys hunting all animals . . . especially the deer, which he does two or three times a week . . . He is extraordinarily good at swordsmanship . . . an excellent fighter . . . His body is very healthy, it is only his teeth which sometimes cause him pain and he suffers from nothing except occasional migraines, for which he takes pills. He is very fit and muscular, but if he does not take care and watch his food, he could easily gain weight. His appearance is a little melancholic by nature but also shows great majesty and kindness . . . He eats and drinks moderately . . . He is never angry when something goes wrong, except sometimes when hunting, and he never uses violent words . . . [H]e is very chaste in matters of the flesh ]meaning], one supposes, that he was devoted solely to one lover?], and he conducts his affairs in such a way that no one can discuss them very much, which was not the case with king Francois [Henri's father].'" (Royal Romances: Titillating Tales of Passion and Power in the Palaces of Europe)
"Despite Henry's chivalric gesture, Francis was concerned about his son's ability to assume a public position. As he came of age, Henry reveled in the life of a military camp more than that of the court. The Venetian ambassador Marino cavalli emphasized, as did many of Henry'c contemporaries, the brawn of the young prince (implying brawn at the expense of brains), describing him as 'so well built that one would think he was made of muscle, indefatigable in exercises of arms or hunting.' Henry was not considered particularly intelligent, and 'his father the king did not love him much,' the Venetian ambassador remarked. (Francis was devoted to his oldest son, Francis, and preferred his youngest son, Charles, known for his agreeable disposition.)." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Henri II's private life.
" . . . His private life was a shade more respectable than Francis I's. He shared it with his wife, Catherine, and his mistress, Diane, but he also had a number of love affairs. The most notorious was with Jane Stuart, Lady Fleming, a beautiful Scottish widow who accompanied Mary Stuart to France. . . It took place at Saint-Germain-en-Laye when Diane was at Anet recovering from an injury. When she was told about it (allegedly by the Guises), she summoned Henry to Anet and insisted on Lady Fleming's banishment. Early in 1551 Lady Fleming gave birth to a boy, whom the king acknowledged as his own, giving him the name of Henri d'Angouleme, but the lady was packed off to Scotland. In 1558 another of the king's bastards was born, this time to Nicole de Savigny. The boy was christened Henri, but not legitimized, perhaps because his mother was married and the king's paternity might have been challenged. The title of Saint-Remy was conferred on the child, and much later he was given 30,000 ecus by Henry III and allowed to incorporate three gold fleur-de-lis into his coat of arms. (Catherine de Medici: 37)
Henri II's private life.
" . . . His private life was a shade more respectable than Francis I's. He shared it with his wife, Catherine, and his mistress, Diane, but he also had a number of love affairs. The most notorious was with Jane Stuart, Lady Fleming, a beautiful Scottish widow who accompanied Mary Stuart to France. . . It took place at Saint-Germain-en-Laye when Diane was at Anet recovering from an injury. When she was told about it (allegedly by the Guises), she summoned Henry to Anet and insisted on Lady Fleming's banishment. Early in 1551 Lady Fleming gave birth to a boy, whom the king acknowledged as his own, giving him the name of Henri d'Angouleme, but the lady was packed off to Scotland. In 1558 another of the king's bastards was born, this time to Nicole de Savigny. The boy was christened Henri, but not legitimized, perhaps because his mother was married and the king's paternity might have been challenged. The title of Saint-Remy was conferred on the child, and much later he was given 30,000 ecus by Henry III and allowed to incorporate three gold fleur-de-lis into his coat of arms. (Catherine de Medici: 37)
"'A court without ladies is like a garden without beautiful flowers'.
Francis was once reputed to have said, and Brantome recorded that 'King Francis believed that the entire ornament of a court ladies. . .' It was undoubtedly the case that Francis had two great loves: hunting and women. In both fields he displayed remarkable courage, physical fortitude and stamina, as well as a dedication to his goal that left bystanders both astonished and envious." (Francis I: The Maker of Modern France)
"The stories about Francis's love affairs have conflated a healthy dose of salaciousness with undeniable accuracy. It is unlikely, for instance that he lost his virginity at the age of ten to his mother's lady-in-waiting, Jeanne de Polignac, and even less possible that he maintained a mistress at that tender age. A series of misinterpreted letters caused eighteenth-century scholars to believe that he had had an incestuous love affair with Marguerite, and, while there is no evidence to support this, it has added lustre to the image of the king as a libertine of strong, and sometimes, shocking, sexual appetites." (Francis I: The Maker of Modern France)
Duchesse de Valentinois 1548
Comtesse de Saint-Vallier 1548
Duchesse d'Etampes 1553
Baronne d'Ivry 1553
Lady-in-Waiting to Claude de France, Queen of France
Lady-in-Waiting to Louise de Savoie, Queen of France
Lady-in-Waiting to Eleonore of Austria, Queen of France
Daughter of Jean de Poitiers, Comte de Saint-Vallier & Jeanne de Batarnay.
Francis was once reputed to have said, and Brantome recorded that 'King Francis believed that the entire ornament of a court ladies. . .' It was undoubtedly the case that Francis had two great loves: hunting and women. In both fields he displayed remarkable courage, physical fortitude and stamina, as well as a dedication to his goal that left bystanders both astonished and envious." (Francis I: The Maker of Modern France)
"The stories about Francis's love affairs have conflated a healthy dose of salaciousness with undeniable accuracy. It is unlikely, for instance that he lost his virginity at the age of ten to his mother's lady-in-waiting, Jeanne de Polignac, and even less possible that he maintained a mistress at that tender age. A series of misinterpreted letters caused eighteenth-century scholars to believe that he had had an incestuous love affair with Marguerite, and, while there is no evidence to support this, it has added lustre to the image of the king as a libertine of strong, and sometimes, shocking, sexual appetites." (Francis I: The Maker of Modern France)
Henri II's lovers were:
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| Diane de Poitiers @Wikipedia |
Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566)
Lover in 1538.
French noblewoman & courtier.
Duchesse de Valentinois 1548
Comtesse de Saint-Vallier 1548
Duchesse d'Etampes 1553
Baronne d'Ivry 1553
Lady-in-Waiting to Claude de France, Queen of France
Lady-in-Waiting to Louise de Savoie, Queen of France
Lady-in-Waiting to Eleonore of Austria, Queen of France
Daughter of Jean de Poitiers, Comte de Saint-Vallier & Jeanne de Batarnay.
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| Château de Saint-Vallier @Wikipedia |
"The chateau of Saint-Vallier was situated on a promontory overlooking the town, at the junction of two rivers, the Galure and the Rhone. Originally a monastery dedicated to Saint Valery, it had been altered into a rough hewn feudal castle, flanked at the corners by four towers. This quiet corner of the Dauphine on the border of Provence had some of the best forests for the country sport of the time: la chasse, hundring deer and wild boar on horseback with hounds." (The Serpent and the Moon)
Wife of Louis de Brézé (1460-1531), Comte de Maulevrier, Seigneur d'Anet & Grand Seneschal de Normandie, mar 1514, son of Jacques de Brézé, Seneschal of Normandy, & Charlotte de Valois, the illegitimate daughter of Charles VII of France & Agnes Sorel.
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Louis de Breze Lord of Anet |
"Diane's husband, Louis, was Charlotte and Jacques's oldest son. As the greand steward of Normandy, he was entitled to almost royal prerogatives. His wealth and prestige also gave his bride great status; she took precedence over most ladies of the court and became a lady-in-waiting to the queen mother, Louise of Savoy. It might have been expected that such a misalliance in terms of age would soon make her a wealthy widow. But Louis lived another seventeen years, to the age of seventy-two, far beyond sixteenth-century life expectancy of about fifty. Insofar as the slight historical record can reflect the character of a marriage, it suggests that the couple lived in harmony." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Louis de Breze's parents' tragedy.
"Pierre's son Jacques married Charlotte, one of Charles Vii's daughters by Agnes. Jacques and Charlotte's marriage was significant for several reasons. It reflected the great rise instatus of the Breze family: Pierre married into the royal bloodline. The fact that the daughter of a royal mistress married the grand steward of Normandy attested to the high status of a king's illegitimate daughter. The marriage came to a violent end when Jacques caught Charlotte in flagrante with his master of hounds and murdered them both in their bed. Jacques was imprisoned and so heavily fined that he had to forfeit his estates, although his sons, as nephews of the king, were entitled to regain them." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Diane's personal and family background.
" . . . She was the daughter of the Seigneur de St. Vallier in Dauphiny, a brave and hardy captain of a hundred men-at-arms, whose castle stood high above the Rhone, amongst those steep mountains of the Vivarais, where its scarped rock-based foundations may still be seen. The Sire de St. Vallier was blessed with a young daughter of singularul beauty, to whom he had given the name of Diane. When scarcely six years old, she rode on horseback and followed the chase with her father, and knew how to fly her falcon and sparrowhawk with wonderful dexterity. At ten years of age she was promised in marriage to Louis de BReze, Count de Maulevrier. Louis de Breze, grand seneschal of Normandy, was descended illegitimately from Charles VII, his mother being that king's daughter by his high-minded favourite, Agnes Sorel. He had received from the gentle Agnes the name of Maulevrier, on account of his untameable love for the chase; for even as a child, he was already a formidable destroyer of game, and truly worshipped Diana reproduced under the attributes of the goddess of the woods. The Brezes were descended from an ancient Norman race; and the nuptials of Diana of Poitiers with Louis de Breze were celebrated almost in the midst of war. For the Count de Saint-Vallier would not quit the Constable de Bourbon, at the head as he was of his men-at-arms, and his most faithful counsellor. A comrade in the battles of Bayard, of Gaston de Foix, and de la Palisse, he had fought in the wars of Italy with La Tremouille and Lautrec---a brilliant chivalry which, after having followed Louis XII, went to rally about the newly Francis I, like the paladins grouped around Charlemagne. A generation full of marvels and great deeds of war, which Francis was fain to satisfy by victories and distant conquests." (Royal Favourites, Vol 1: 226)
"Diana, who was destined to play so prominent a part during two successive reigns, was, as we have said, the daughter of the Count de St. Vallier, representative of one of the most ancient families of Dauphiny, and of Jeanne de Batarnay, and was born on the 3rd of September, 1499; while her husband, Louis de Breze, was the grandson, on the mother's side, of Charles and Agnes Sorel---a circumstance which, at that period, was considered greatly to enhance his personal dignity, whatever prejudice might be attached to it in our own times.
"Dianne was born at the close of the fifteenth century, in Saint Vallier on the Rhone, into a family that enjoyed several connections with royalty. Imbert de Batarnay, her maternal grandfather was held in esteem by the Bourbons for his diplomatic talents and close friendship with Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI. Aymar de Poitiers, Dianne's paternal grandfather, had married the illegitimate daughter of the Dauphin Louis. Although his wife died without issue, Aymar had been showered with honors that were later inherited by Dianne's father. From as early as she could remember, Dianne fit quite naturally into the world of dukes, duchesses, and royal favor." (Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation: 158)
" . . . Her father Jehan de Poitiers' family was one of the oldest in . . . Dauphine in central-southern France, and through her mother, Jeanne de Batarnay, she was connected to the mighty Bourbons. The kings of France and dukes of Burgundy valued the Poitiers family and made the head of the family comte de Valentinois in 1125." (The Serpent and the Moon)
"Diane de Poitiers was born on the last day of 1499 into a world of privilege, with an ancestry allied to the noblest in France. Her father Jehan de Poitiers' family was one of the oldest in the area known as the Dauphine in central-southern France, and through her mother, Jeanne de Batarnay, se was connected to the mighty Bourbons. The kings of France and dukes of Burgundy valued the Poitiers family and had made the head of the family comte de Valentinois in 1215. Their device was an upended flaming torch with the Latin motto 'Qui me alit me extinguit'---'He who inflames me has the power to extinguish me.'" In 1275, Diane's grandfather, Aymar III de Poitiers, married Julie de Bourgogne, a direct descendant of King Robert the Pious, whose dowry included the town and chateau of Saint-Vallier in the Dauphine. As members of the family had always held high office, permission was granted for Aymar to marry the illegitimate daughter of Louis XI. Even though Aymar's bride died in childbirth and Diane's grandmother was his second wife, the connections with the royal house had remained strong." (The Serpent and the Moon: 22)
A soothsayer's prophecy for Diane de Poitiers.
"The South of France was well known for its soothsayers, and since the first born son of Jehan de Poitiers had died, the villagers brought with them an old woman famous for her prophecies. Gazing at the tiny baby swaddled tightly and wrapped well against the winter chill, the bent old woman announced to them all that this child's star would raise her higher than a queen. At the time when superstition was rife and witches were still burned at the stake, the villagers took note. They never forgot the words uttered on that first day of the new century. . . ." (The Serpent and the Moon: 23)
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| Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois |
Physical appearance & personal qualities.
"One cannot help but wonder about the reports of Diane's beauty, which contemporaries proclaimed as not just extraordinary but also incredibly enduring, so that she was considered a great beauty until her death in her late sixties. Brantome claimed that she would remain beautiful if she lived to be 110. The beauty of her skin was legengary and reputedly never touched by makeup. Such beauty , some insisted, could be due only to magic, which allowed her to bewitch men, especially to retain the interest of the king despite her advanced years. Others claimed no magic, was necessary to preserve her looks: They cited instead a special beauty regime; Diane was devoted to exercise or bathed in milk or cold water. That alone, English writers gleefully noted, distinguished her from her unhygienic French contemporaries. Her recent exhumation revealed that her bones were full of gold, which she likely ingested as a beauty treatment." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
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| Diane de Poitiers Duchess of Valentinois |
"Catherine compared herself to Madame de Poitiers and found herself lacking. Diane was tall, slim, and blond, while Catherine was short, dark, and dumpy. Diane was French, while Catherine was a foreigner. . . ." (Catherine de Medici: The Power Behind the French Throne: 34)
| Diane de Poitiers |
Diane's looks, at 37, when she met Prince Henri, at 17.
"At this period the widow of Louis de Breze had already attained her thirty-seventh year, while the Prince Henry was only in his seventeenth; and at the first glance it would appear as though so formidable a disparity of age must have rendered any attempt on her part to engage the affections of so mere a yout alike abortive and ridiculous; but so perfectly had she preserved even the youthful bloom which had added so much to her attractions on her first appearance at court, that she appeared ten years younger than she actually was. Her features were regular and classical; her complexion faultless; her hair of a rich purple black, which took a golden tint in the sunshine; while her teeth, her ankle, her hands and arms, and her bust were each in their turn the theme of the court poets. That the extraordinary and almost fabulous duration of her beauty was in a great degree due to the precautions which she adopted, there can be little doubt, for she spared no effort to secure it. She was jealously careful of health, and in the most severe weather bathed in cold water; she suffered no cosmetic to approach her, denouncing every compound of the kind as worthy only of those to whom Nature had been so niggard as to compel them to complete her imperfect work; she rose every morning at six o'clock, and had no sooner left her chamber than she sprang into the saddle, and after having galloped a league or two, returned to her couch, whereon she remained until mid-day engaged in reading. Her system appears a singular one, but in her case it undoubtedly proved successful, as, after having enslaved the Duke of Orleans in her thirty-seventh year, she still reigned in absolute sovereignty over the heart of that King of France when she had nearly reached the age of sixty. It is certain, however, that the magnificent Diana owed no small portion of this extraordinary and unprecedented constancy to the charms of her mind and the brilliancy of her intellect." (Royal Favourites, Vol 1: 234)
Diane de Poitiers at 48.
"In the interior of the palace a greater influence ruled, that of Diana, created in the following year Duchess of Valentinois, but now called 'la Grande Senechale,' being the widow of Louis de Breze, Grand Seneschal of Normandy, who had died in 1531. At the age of forty-eight, Diana had preserved her charms in a manner so remarkable as to be attributed by the vulgar to philtres and incantations. The ancient mistress of Francis pretended that her friendship for his son was merely Platonic, though it can hardly be doubted that she had had a daughter by Henry as early as 1537; and she still supplanted the youthful Queen, Catherine de' Medici, in his affections, who meekly followed the triumphant chariot of her rival. (1521-1598: 175)
Character or persona.
"Diane de Poitiers (1499—1566) was married at the age of 13 to Louis de Breeze, grand seneschal of Normandy. She lost her husband when she was about 30; became the mistress of Henri II., then only dauphin; and headed a court party in opposition to the duchesse d'Etampes. At the death of Francois I, the duchess was banished, and Diane reigned supreme. Even the haughty Catherine de Medicis, the lawful wife of Henri, was obliged to succumb to the court beauty; and proved a mere cipher in her presence. Diane was indeed beautiful. Her colours were blue and white; and she usually dressed in white muslin, with blue trimmings. She was created by Henri duchess of Valentinois; and her court was attended by all the rank and beauty of France. At the death of the king she retired from the court, and lived the rest of her life in great seclusion." (The Political, Social, and Literary History of France: 150)
First encounter.
"Legend has it that when Francis complained about Henry to Diane, she offered to transform Henry into a gallant and to initiate him into the ways of the court. She did so, it seems, by establishing between them a chivalic relationship, entirely chaste, in which she was his lady and he was her knight. Though this might seem a rather peculiar way to reeducate a young prince, Henry was a maladroit young man, deprived of his mother and neglected by his father. His relationship with Diane elevated him to fictional knighthood and gave him an intense personal relationship with the beautiful older woman. The invocation of chivalry also fit Francis's sophisticated court, which fostered both the Renaissance revival of the ancients and the new appreciation of women in court culture. The latter, which saw women as transforming feudal knights into Renaissance men, was so compelling in part, because it would readily be grafted on to the older, courtly love tradition. Diane's chivalric approach to tutelage proved heady, as the young prince took his position as her devoted knight very seriously." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Platonic or amorous affair?
"Diane offered a different model of a relationship between a king and his mistress than had Charles VII and Agnes Sorel. A young unmarried woman, Agnes was chosen by the king from a group of ladies-in-waiting, but Diane was a widow twenty years older than Henry; her age gave her authority over him for the rest of his life. Their relationship provoked other questions for their contemporaries and subsequent historians about the nature of their relationship. Some legitimated it as platonic, akin to that between mother and child or a chivalric asexual relationship between an idealized lady and her devoted knight. Others saw it as purely sexual, based on the crass manipulation of a young man by a grasping, older woman. Less critical studies present the relationship as a great romance; this version reigns in the popular imagination. Diane's life too has been the stuff of romantic fiction; novels and plays told her story. The relationship between Diane, Henry and Catherine de' Medici remains of perennial interest to both historians and novelists." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
"Catherine's relations with her husband were, of course, bedeviled by his love for Diane de Poitiers, the widow of Louis de Breze, grand senechal of Normandy, who became Henri's mistress about 1538, when she was thirty-eight and he only nineteen. It has been suggested that Henri's love for Diane was platonic. She has been compared to the parfaite amie of contemporary romances, the inspirer of noble thoughts and deeds. The view was advanced by the Venetian ambassador, Marino Cavalli, in 1546. In his opinion, Henri was not interested in the opposite sex and was content with his wife. But there is evidence that Henry's love for Diane was far from platonic; nor was he indifference to women: he had several love affairs in the course of his life and fathered at least two bastard sons. It seems that Cavalli was taken in by Diane's propaganda. Under Francis I, her morals were frequently impugned by friends of the duchesse d'Etampes. In 1551 Lorenzo Contarini reported popular gossip to the effect that Diane had been the mistress of Francis I and of many courtiers before becoming Henri's. Diane's real personality is not easily disentangled from the myth which she helped to promote. By encouraging her identification with Diana, the chaste goddess of hunting, she effectively raised herself above the level of an ordinary royal mistress and disguised the true nature of her relations with Henri." (Catherine de Medici: 30)
The dominant woman at court.
"The person who triumphed as a result of Madame d'Etampes's overthrow was her arch-enemy, Diane de Poitiers. As Henri's mistress, she now became the dominant woman at court and was soon receiving gifts and distributing favours to her favourites and kinsmen as unscrupulously as her predecessor had ever done. In addition to Madame d'Etampes's jewels and lands, Henri gave her the don de joyeux avenement (money derived from his confirmation of offices and privileges) which Saint-Mauris estimated at 100,000 ecus. On 14 April she received the revenues of Fougeres, Bazouges, Rimoux and Antrain in place of others given to her daughter and son-in-law. Diane was also confirmed in her ownership of Nogent-le-Roi, Anet, Breval and Montchauvet, lands which should have reverted to the royal demesne under an ordinance of 1532. In June 1547 Henri gave her the beautiful chateau of Chenonceaux." (Renaissance Warrior and Patron: The Reign of Francis I: 551)
Key role in the new monarch's decision making.
"Diane's importance at the French court was enhanced in 1536 when Henri's older brother and heir apparent Francois died unexpectedly. Henri assumed the throne after the death of his father in 1547, and according to more than one contemporary observer, Diane played a key role in the new monarch's decision making. Henri would share a regular noon meal with his advisor and sounding board, and she became adept at balancing the rival factions at court. The impact of her influence on the new king was immediate: Diane's son-in-law Robert de la Marck was made a marshal of France, while three of her nephews were elevated to bishoprics during the first few years of the new reign. In addition, the king's mistress was granted a number of valuable properties, some of them seized from his late father's mistress Anne de Pisseleu. Diane's avaricious nature was noted by contemporaries, and by the early 1550s she had become the major recipient of the king's patronage." (Renaissance and Reformation, 1500-1620: A Biographical Dictionary: 112)
Great political authority and more influence than any previous mistress.
"Regardless of how attractive Diane actually was, or how attractive we might consider her, her contemporaries were virtually unanimous in extolling her beauty. For them, her beauty set her apart and sanctioned her status, just as Henry's favor elevated her above other court women. During Francis's reign, Diane, the half-recognized mistress of the young heir apparent, competed for political influence with Anne, Francis's acknowledged favorite. Her sway over Henry provoked hostility, fueled in part by misogynist objections to women's meddling in politics. Her critics had cause. The king's devotion and the duration of their relationship gave Diane great political authority as his most trusted adviser, and more influence than any previous mistress. When Henry reigned, Diane, his long-standing, publicly acknowledged mistress, was much more prominent than his queen, Catherine de' Medici." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Diane's influence & power was so well appreciated in foreign.
Courts"That lady, the widow of Louis de Breze, Grand Seneschal of Normandy, had attained her forty-eighth year, and had borne three children in wedlock. Her influence was for the most part exerted for good purposes, unless, indeed, whenever religious prejudices intervened; her talents must have been commanding; and her beauty was so little impaired by the attacks of time, that vulgar belief attributed its preservation to philtres and enchantments. She was created Duchess of Valentinois, and her power was so well appreciated in foreign Courts that when Paul III sent the annually consecrated golden rose to Queen Catherine, he accompanied it with a rich necklace of pearls as an offering to Diana. . . ." (Encyclopaedia Metropolitana: History and biography: 477)
| Catherine, Henri II & Diane |
Affair's effects on lovers' family, other people and society.
"Henry II, the only surviving son of Francis, entered into his twenty-ninth year upon the day of his accession to the Crown. He possessed a handsome and agreeable person, easiness of temper, courtesy of demeanour, and remarkable skill in all bodily exercises. In spite of the warnings which his father repeated upon his death-bed against Montmorency, the Guises, and St. Andre, it was into their hands that he immediately resigned himself; and their influence throughout the reign was shared only with the favourite mistress, Diana of Poitiers.
"Henry II, the only surviving son of Francis, entered into his twenty-ninth year upon the day of his accession to the Crown. He possessed a handsome and agreeable person, easiness of temper, courtesy of demeanour, and remarkable skill in all bodily exercises. In spite of the warnings which his father repeated upon his death-bed against Montmorency, the Guises, and St. Andre, it was into their hands that he immediately resigned himself; and their influence throughout the reign was shared only with the favourite mistress, Diana of Poitiers.
Diane's reply to husband about her "unfaithfulness.
"You are mad, sir,' she said, indignantly; 'I am but what you yourself have made me. Young, and ignorant of the world, you summoned me to a court where I was beset by temptations, and where you abandoned me to my fate. Your own cruelty and injustice formed me to dishonour; and not you seek to visit upon me the consequences of your imprudence. In obedience to your commands I left my home, and in accordance with those of the king I remained at court. The result you must have foreseen.'" (The Court and Reign of Francis I, King of France, Vol 2: 51)
Diane as an independent widow.
"After sixteen years of marriage, Louis died in 1531, leaving a widow who was young, noble, beautiful, and prominent at court. Diane retained the financial assets of her husband, but without a male heir, her estates could have reverted to the crown. To preserve them she took her case to Parlement to maintain her rights of inheritance. She received from Francis the exceptional right not to have to account to a guardian during her widowhood. Louis left her well provided with the means and the authority to dower and marry her daughters well. He had greatly enriched his family increasing their landholdings and political connections. The further concentration of wealth and power in her family became one of Diane's chief concerns; she proved more than adept at the task." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
"Palace of the Kings of Navarre"
The Chateau Anet - the abode of the Breze family.
"Diana's marriage with Louis de Breze took place in 1514, when the bridegroom had already attained the age of fifty-five, and bore about him many honourable scars, which, however they might tend to enhance his glory as a soldier, were by no means calculated to increase his personal attractions in the eyes of a young and beautiful girl. Nor was the home to which he conveyed the new-made countess more consistent with her age and habits than its master. The gloomy castle of Anet (pompously designated the Palace of the Kings of Navarre, because the domain had originally formed a portion of the territories appertaining to the two sovereigns), admirably as it was situated in a fertile valley, watered by the rival rivers of the Eure and the Vesgre, and backed by the magnificent forest of Dreux, was in itself dark, melancholy, and isolated. It consisted of a heavy square mass of masonry, pierced on each of its sides by two rows of lancet windows deeply sunk in the stonework, and flanked at either corner by strong and lofty towers; the whole of the edifice was surrounded by a battlemented wall, and encircled by a moat, the only mode of access being by a drawbridge, which communicated with a single entrance-gate, opening, upon the court within. The interior of Anet was in keeping with its outward appearance---dark oaken panellings, grim-touched portraits of departed worthies, long and chill galleries, where the lightest footfall awoke mysterious echoes. These were the unattractive features of the bridal house of the mere girl whom the Grand Seneschal had won from her smiling birthplace in Dauphiny." (Royal Favourites, Vol 1: 227)
Anet: the monument to the spirit of the goddess Diana.
"It would seem that the favourite chateau of the royal children, the place they regarded as the source of supreme amusement, was in fact none of the royal dwellings, but Anet, the home of Diane de Poitiers, which she had build for herself as a sort of monument to the spirit of the goddess Diana with Philibert de l'Orme as architect. Du Bellay called it 'Dianet', playing on the name of the house and its beautiful creator, and the dauphin wrote with boyish enthusiasm of the pleasures of Anet -- what a beautiful house; beautiful gardens! beautiful galleries! so many other beauties! Indeed, he has never slept better than when at Anet, in a huge bed, in the king's own chamber. The position of Anet on the river meant that some endless journeyings of the court could be made conveniently there by barge. Today, even what still exists of sixteenth-century Anet dazzles the eye with the perfection of its detail, the exquisite gateway with its balustrade, the marble dome brought from Rome, the statues of Germaine Pilon, the chastely elegant memorial chapel to Diane's favourite colours of black and white. But under the sway of Diane de Poitiers, Anet was as remarkable for its reputation for douceur de vivre, as it was for the novelty and beauty of its buildings." (Mary Queen Of Scots)
Affair's benefits to Diane.
"Henry was equally generous to his lover: he gave her the Duchess of Etampes's jewels, including a diamond valued at 50,000 crowns and a cash gift of a further 100,000 crowns. The same year he bestowed on her Chenonceau, perhaps the most graceful of all French Renaissance chateaux, and a year later she was given a title, that of the Duchess of Valentinois, to match her new surroundings and status. . . ." (Martyrs and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe: 56)
" . . . One of the first acts of the King was to abandon to his mistress the fines due at the beginning of a new reign from corporations and the holders of purchased officers for a renewal of their privileges. Diana also obtained the power of appointing to ecclesiastical benefices, and by causing one of her confidants to be made treasurer of the Epargne, or royal treasury, she seized, as it were, the keys to the national coffers. . . ." (1521-1598: 178)
Titles, state funds & chateaux.
" . . . Diane was already the grand steward of Normandy when Henry made her the duchess of Valentinois. The more besotted the king, the worse the state of the kingdom's treasury; Henry's willingness to divert state funds to her was unprecedented. He gave her the gem of Renaissance chateaux, Chenonceau, which belonged by law to the crown and was thus unalienable. The conditions of the gift reflected Henry's concern for his mistress. He was not giving away crown property, he insisted, but simply transferring to Diane property rights of Thomas Bohier, the chateau's original owner, in recognition of her husband's service to the crown. (Despite Henry's care, the legal status of this gift was challenged after his death.) Diane's sons-in-law also received positions, and she cultivated an extensive patron-client network." (Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
| Chateau Chenonceau |
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| Filippa Duci |
Lover in 1537.
Piedmontese courtesan.
Dame de Couy; Dame de Blere-en-Touraine
Lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine de Medicis.
Daughter of: Gian Antonio Duci.
Wife of: Jean-Bernardin de Saint-Severin, an Italian gentleman and privy council
Natural offspring:
Diane de France (1538-1619)
". . . Henry's wandering eye was not limited to Diane, and he demonstrated his potency by fathering a child by Filippa Duci, the hitherto virgin sister of one of his Piedmontese squires. Their daughter was named Diane, after her godmother, Diane de Poitiers, who arranged her upbringing, while Filippa retired to a convent." (The Challenge to the Crown: Vol. I: 52)
"Gian Antonio Duci, one of the Piedmontese squires, from Moncalieri, invites the dolphin to share the joy of family reunion in his house and introduces him to his sister Filippa. Far from his wife, Catherine de Medici, who had remained at Fontainebleau, the prince could not imagine depriving himself of a gallant adventure: seduced by the young girl, he ended the night in his arms. All to his delight, the dolphin cares little for the beautiful Filippa, chance meeting and companion of a night. The next morning, he took the lead of his troops to join his father and the bulk of the army in Carignan. At the end of this equipment, François 1st has every reason to be satisfied: he took over Savoy and Piedmont, and plans to use it as a bargaining chip for Charles Quint to sell him the Milanese. The brief connection of the dolphin and Filippa Duci could have been quickly forgotten. But a few weeks later, Marshal René de Montmorency, who had been in Moncalieri, learned that Piedmontese was pregnant. As soon as he learns the news, the future Henry II exults. Here he is finally reassured on his manhood! After four years of marriage with Catherine de Medici, he still has no children, and the evil languages of the Court do not hesitate to evoke a "lack of conformation". This pregnancy proves that he is normal, quite capable of procreation, and that relieves him of a great weight. Perhaps that is why he cares about the future of the unborn child. Orders are immediately given to look after Filippa Duci and provide for its upkeep until the baby is born. In the summer of 1538, the young woman gave birth to a baby girl. After childbirth, she is generously endowed, but must retire to a convent, where she will remain until at the end of his life. Her child is taken from her and taken back to the Court of France, where she will be brought up. The little girl is legitimized and baptized Diane, in tribute to Diane de Poitiers, widow of Louis de Brézé, count of Maulévrier and grand seneschal of Normandy, who is recently the mistress of the dauphin, twenty years his junior. The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child! The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child! The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child!" (Spectacle Anne de Montmorency au Château d'Ecouen)
3) Janet Stewart (1502-1562)
Lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine de Medicis.
Daughter of: Gian Antonio Duci.
Wife of: Jean-Bernardin de Saint-Severin, an Italian gentleman and privy council
Natural offspring:
Diane de France (1538-1619)
". . . Henry's wandering eye was not limited to Diane, and he demonstrated his potency by fathering a child by Filippa Duci, the hitherto virgin sister of one of his Piedmontese squires. Their daughter was named Diane, after her godmother, Diane de Poitiers, who arranged her upbringing, while Filippa retired to a convent." (The Challenge to the Crown: Vol. I: 52)
"Gian Antonio Duci, one of the Piedmontese squires, from Moncalieri, invites the dolphin to share the joy of family reunion in his house and introduces him to his sister Filippa. Far from his wife, Catherine de Medici, who had remained at Fontainebleau, the prince could not imagine depriving himself of a gallant adventure: seduced by the young girl, he ended the night in his arms. All to his delight, the dolphin cares little for the beautiful Filippa, chance meeting and companion of a night. The next morning, he took the lead of his troops to join his father and the bulk of the army in Carignan. At the end of this equipment, François 1st has every reason to be satisfied: he took over Savoy and Piedmont, and plans to use it as a bargaining chip for Charles Quint to sell him the Milanese. The brief connection of the dolphin and Filippa Duci could have been quickly forgotten. But a few weeks later, Marshal René de Montmorency, who had been in Moncalieri, learned that Piedmontese was pregnant. As soon as he learns the news, the future Henry II exults. Here he is finally reassured on his manhood! After four years of marriage with Catherine de Medici, he still has no children, and the evil languages of the Court do not hesitate to evoke a "lack of conformation". This pregnancy proves that he is normal, quite capable of procreation, and that relieves him of a great weight. Perhaps that is why he cares about the future of the unborn child. Orders are immediately given to look after Filippa Duci and provide for its upkeep until the baby is born. In the summer of 1538, the young woman gave birth to a baby girl. After childbirth, she is generously endowed, but must retire to a convent, where she will remain until at the end of his life. Her child is taken from her and taken back to the Court of France, where she will be brought up. The little girl is legitimized and baptized Diane, in tribute to Diane de Poitiers, widow of Louis de Brézé, count of Maulévrier and grand seneschal of Normandy, who is recently the mistress of the dauphin, twenty years his junior. The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child! The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child! The choice of this name does not fail to talk. One goes so far as to claim that the Piedmontese adventure of the prince is a fable and that the great seneschal is the mother of the child!" (Spectacle Anne de Montmorency au Château d'Ecouen)
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| Janet Stewart Lady Fleming @MaryQueenofScots.net |
Lady Fleming
Lover in 1550.
Illegitimate daughter of: James IV of Scotland & Isabel Stewart, daughter of James Stewart, 1st Earl of Buchan.
Wife of: Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming (d.1547), mar 1525
"Henri II . . . had a penchant for older women. . . So it was not unexpected that while in his 20's he was attracted by a 40-year-old woman with a Beaufort libido! Janet neglected her nursery duties and ended up in the king's bed. At the age of 43 in 1551, she bore him a son, Henry of Valois. Henry, sometimes called the 'Bastard of Angouleme was later Governor of Provence and died in 1586. Janet was sent home to Scotland in 1555 and had to leave the baby behind." (Some Royal Bastards with Magna Carta Roots)
Wife of: Malcolm Fleming, 3rd Lord Fleming (d.1547), mar 1525
A "distraction" mistress.
"Diane [de Poitiers] had faced losing her personal influence over Henry only once when he was much taken by Jane Fleming. Catherine and Montmorency had encouraged the relationship to diminish Diane's ascendancy. While Montmorency sought greater political power, Catherine wanted a mistress who might both captivate her husband and threaten her status as queen less than Diane. If Henry spurned Diane, Catherine would no longer be behold to her and might carve out a political arena for herself. It is disconcerting enough when a mother promotes a mistress, as Louise did for Francis, but even more so when a queen promotes a new mistress for her husband in hopes of gaining some greater legitimacy for herself."(Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France)
Lady Janet went to France in 1548 as the governess of her infant half-niece, Mary, Queen of Scots. Her daughter, Mary Fleming, was one of Mary, Queen of Scot's "Four Marys".
Natural Offspring:
a. Henri d'Angouleme, Chevalier de Angouleme (1551-1586), who became the Grand Prior of France, Governor of Provence and Admiral of the Sea in the Levant. Henri II met her when Janet accompanied Mary, Queen of Scots, to France in 1548.
"The Lady Fleming was determined to return with her son to France, but this was forbidden by the Queen Dowager, Marie of Guise. It was only after her death in 1560 that Elizabeth in England permitted her to travel over land with Lord ‘Harry de Valois’ and an escort of twenty-four horsemen. Both Mary, now Queen of France, and her husband Francis II, were fond of her and appear to have received her graciously. Henry, Chevalier d’Angoulême, was thereafter brought up with the other royal children and his leaping agility on the dance floors at Court was testimony to his Scottish ancestry. He later became Abbé de la Chaise-Dieu and Grand Prior General of the Galleys. Although he was noted for his writing of lyrical verse, he grew to be a man of great cruelty, being associated with the St Bartholemew’s Day Massacre. He was finally killed in a duel in 1586. The Lady Fleming died in February 1562 at Richmond in London, perhaps as she was returning to Scotland." (The Affair of Janet Stewart, the Lady Fleming with Henry II of France)
4) Nicole de Savigny (1535-1590)
Baronne de Fontette
Lover in 1556-1557.
Lady Janet went to France in 1548 as the governess of her infant half-niece, Mary, Queen of Scots. Her daughter, Mary Fleming, was one of Mary, Queen of Scot's "Four Marys".
Natural Offspring:
a. Henri d'Angouleme, Chevalier de Angouleme (1551-1586), who became the Grand Prior of France, Governor of Provence and Admiral of the Sea in the Levant. Henri II met her when Janet accompanied Mary, Queen of Scots, to France in 1548.
"The Lady Fleming was determined to return with her son to France, but this was forbidden by the Queen Dowager, Marie of Guise. It was only after her death in 1560 that Elizabeth in England permitted her to travel over land with Lord ‘Harry de Valois’ and an escort of twenty-four horsemen. Both Mary, now Queen of France, and her husband Francis II, were fond of her and appear to have received her graciously. Henry, Chevalier d’Angoulême, was thereafter brought up with the other royal children and his leaping agility on the dance floors at Court was testimony to his Scottish ancestry. He later became Abbé de la Chaise-Dieu and Grand Prior General of the Galleys. Although he was noted for his writing of lyrical verse, he grew to be a man of great cruelty, being associated with the St Bartholemew’s Day Massacre. He was finally killed in a duel in 1586. The Lady Fleming died in February 1562 at Richmond in London, perhaps as she was returning to Scotland." (The Affair of Janet Stewart, the Lady Fleming with Henry II of France)
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Nicole de Savigny |
Baronne de Fontette
Lover in 1556-1557.
French aristocrat & royal mistress.
Dame de Saint-Remy.
Daughter of: Guillaume de Savigny, Seigneur de Sailly & Nicole de Maretz.
Wife of: Jeanne de Ville (d.1552), Baron de Saint-Remy, Seigneur de Fontette.
"Henri II loved, about 1550, a lady named, and by her had a s son, Henri de Saint-Remy, whom he legitimated. Saint-Remy was the great, great, great, grandfather of Jeanne de Valois, the flower of minxes. Her father, a ruined man, dwelt in a corner of the family chateau, a predacious, poaching, athletic, broken scion of royalty, who drank and brawled with the peasants, and married his mistress, a servant-girl. Jeanne was born at the chateau of Fontette, near Bar-sur-Aube, on April 22, 1756, and she and her brother and little sister starved in their mouldering tower, kept alive by the charity of the neighbours and of the cure, who begged clothes for these descendants of kings. But their escutcheon was---and Jeanne never forgot the fact---argent, three fleurs de lys or, on a fesse azure. The noblesse of the family was later scrutinised by the famous d'Hozier and pronounced authentic. Jeanne, with bare feet, and straws in her hair, is said to have herded the cows, a discontented, indolent child, often beaten by her peasant mother. When her father had eaten up his last acre, he and the family tramped to Paris in 1760. As Jeanne was then but four years old, I doubt if she ever 'drove the cattle home,' as M. Funck-Brentano finds recorded in the MSS. of the advocate Target, who defended Jeanne's victim, Cardinal Rohan. . . ." (The Selected Works of Andrew Land: 1643)
"Henri the Second, King of France, had by Nicole de Savigny, Henri de Saint-Remi-Valois, who follows. The said Nicole de Savigny, styled High and Puissant Lady, Lady of Saint-Remi, Fontette, du Chatellier and Noez, married Jean de Ville, Knight of the King's Order, and made her last will on the 12th of January, 1590, in which she declared, 'That the late King Henri the Second had made a donation to Henri Monsieur, his son, the sum of 30,000 crowns sol, which she had received in 1558.'" (The Story of the Diamond Necklace: 405)
Natural offspring:
Dame de Saint-Remy.
Daughter of: Guillaume de Savigny, Seigneur de Sailly & Nicole de Maretz.
Wife of: Jeanne de Ville (d.1552), Baron de Saint-Remy, Seigneur de Fontette.
"Henri II loved, about 1550, a lady named, and by her had a s son, Henri de Saint-Remy, whom he legitimated. Saint-Remy was the great, great, great, grandfather of Jeanne de Valois, the flower of minxes. Her father, a ruined man, dwelt in a corner of the family chateau, a predacious, poaching, athletic, broken scion of royalty, who drank and brawled with the peasants, and married his mistress, a servant-girl. Jeanne was born at the chateau of Fontette, near Bar-sur-Aube, on April 22, 1756, and she and her brother and little sister starved in their mouldering tower, kept alive by the charity of the neighbours and of the cure, who begged clothes for these descendants of kings. But their escutcheon was---and Jeanne never forgot the fact---argent, three fleurs de lys or, on a fesse azure. The noblesse of the family was later scrutinised by the famous d'Hozier and pronounced authentic. Jeanne, with bare feet, and straws in her hair, is said to have herded the cows, a discontented, indolent child, often beaten by her peasant mother. When her father had eaten up his last acre, he and the family tramped to Paris in 1760. As Jeanne was then but four years old, I doubt if she ever 'drove the cattle home,' as M. Funck-Brentano finds recorded in the MSS. of the advocate Target, who defended Jeanne's victim, Cardinal Rohan. . . ." (The Selected Works of Andrew Land: 1643)
"Henri the Second, King of France, had by Nicole de Savigny, Henri de Saint-Remi-Valois, who follows. The said Nicole de Savigny, styled High and Puissant Lady, Lady of Saint-Remi, Fontette, du Chatellier and Noez, married Jean de Ville, Knight of the King's Order, and made her last will on the 12th of January, 1590, in which she declared, 'That the late King Henri the Second had made a donation to Henri Monsieur, his son, the sum of 30,000 crowns sol, which she had received in 1558.'" (The Story of the Diamond Necklace: 405)
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| Henri de Saint-Remy |
Natural offspring:
Henri de Valois, Comte de Saint-Remy (1557-1621)
French aristocrat.
French aristocrat.
Baron de Fontette & Essoyes
Governor of Chateauvillain.
Son of: Henri II de France & Nicole de Savigny.
Husband of: Christine de Luze, Dame de Bazoilles (1570-1636), Daughter of Jacques de Luze. mar 1592.
Charles IX de France
"Henri de Saint-Remi, called Henri Monsieur, is styled High and Puissant, Lord, Knight, Lord of the Manors and Baron du Chatellier, Fontette, Noez and Beauvoir, Knight of the King's Order, Gentleman of the Bedchamber in Ordinary, Colonel of a regiment of horse, and of foot, and Governor of Chateau-Villain; married by contract October 31, 1592, articled at Essoyes, in Champagne, Dame Christiana de Luz, styled High and Puissant Lady, relic of Claude de Fresnay, Lord of Loupy, Knight of the King's Order, and daughter of the Hon. Jacques de Luz, also Knight of the King's Order, and of Lady Michelle du Fay, Lord and Lady of Bazoilles; died at Paris on the 14th of February, 1621, and had by his marriage the son. . . ." (The Story of the Diamond Necklace: 405)
Husband of: Christine de Luze, Dame de Bazoilles (1570-1636), Daughter of Jacques de Luze. mar 1592.
Charles IX de France
"Henri de Saint-Remi, called Henri Monsieur, is styled High and Puissant, Lord, Knight, Lord of the Manors and Baron du Chatellier, Fontette, Noez and Beauvoir, Knight of the King's Order, Gentleman of the Bedchamber in Ordinary, Colonel of a regiment of horse, and of foot, and Governor of Chateau-Villain; married by contract October 31, 1592, articled at Essoyes, in Champagne, Dame Christiana de Luz, styled High and Puissant Lady, relic of Claude de Fresnay, Lord of Loupy, Knight of the King's Order, and daughter of the Hon. Jacques de Luz, also Knight of the King's Order, and of Lady Michelle du Fay, Lord and Lady of Bazoilles; died at Paris on the 14th of February, 1621, and had by his marriage the son. . . ." (The Story of the Diamond Necklace: 405)
| Henry II & Catherine de' Medici @Wikipedia |
About Catherine de' Medici, Queen of Henri II France.
"The life of Catherine de' Medicis is the story of the ascent of la marchande florentine from the de' Medici family in Florence to the position of Queen of France. She was the only daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, a duchess from the high nobility of France. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, the orphaned Catherine was given in marriage to Henry d'Orleans (1519-1559), the second son of Francis I (1494-1547), king of France. Like all royal marriages of that time, this marriage served a political goal; the alliance between the de' Medici pope Clement VII and the French king. After the premature death of the Dauphin Francis in 1536, Henry unexpectedly found himself first in line for succession to the French Crown. In 1547, Catherine's husband succeeded to the French throne as Henry II, and she was crowned queen of France. The life of the king ended on 10 July 1559, when he succumbed to the wounds incurred at a jousting party which formed part of the festivities celebrating two royal marriages. Catherine was left behind with young children and a country on the verge of a civil war between Catholics and Huguenots." (Princes and Princely Culture: 1450-1650: 104)
Catherine's physical appearance & personal qualities.
"Catherine de Medicis was tall and stately, fat and extremely fair. Her eyebrows were large; eyes keen and fiery; carriage dignified, bearing cold and haughty. She was extremely vain of her hands, arms and feet; and was the first person in France to wear tight silk stockings. She introduced dancing into Paris, and set the fashion of wearing very short dresses, ostensibly to show the steps, but, in reality, to display her ankles and stockings. Besides dancing, she introduced side-saddles, being passionately fond of horse-exercise, especially hunting. Hitherto, ladies had been accustomed to ride on a pad, with a board suspended to it on which their feet rested." (The Political, Social, and Literary History of France: 171)
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| Henry II & Catherine de' Medici |
Candidate-husbands for Catherine.
"In October 1530 Clement VII arranged for his niece, Catherine, whom he had not seen for five years, to be brought to Rome. He welcomed her with open arms and tears in his eyes. x x x The pope regarded his niece, Catherine, as a useful pawn in the game of international diplomacy. Before the siege of Florence, a number of possible suitors for her had had been considered by the pope: Ercole d'Este, son of the duke of Ferrara; James V of Scotland; Henry, earl of Richmond, Henry VIII's bastard. During the siege, Clement thought of rewarding Philibert de Chalon, prince of Orange, who led the assault on the city, by marrying him to his niece; but the prince was killed before this plan could be given effect. After the siege, other names were suggested as possible husbands for Catherine, including Federico Gonzaga, duke of Mantua, and Guidobaldo delle Rovere, prince of Urbino. The most serious contender was Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, who had the Emperor;s backing, but the pope did not relish an arrangement which would increase his dependence on Charles V. . . ." (Catherine de'Medici: 12)
" . . .It was at this juncture that Francis I put forward the candidate of his own younger son, Henri,duc d'Orleans. Gabriel de Gramont, Bishop of Tarbes, was sent to Rome in 1531, with instructions to broach the matter. A draft contract, drawn up on 24 April, laid down that Catherine would live at the French court until she was old enough to consummate the marriage. The pope was to give her a dowry that included Pisa, Leghorn, Reggio, and Modena, along with Parma and Piacenza. He was to help Henri reconquer Milan and Genoa, and assist in the reconquest of Urbino. In June 1531 it was reported from Rome that Clement had accepted the contract, but would not send a high-powered embassy to Rome without delay. The king chose for this mission cardinal Francois de Tournon, an experienced diplomat and a distant cousin of Catherine. He left the French court on 6 August, hoping to reach Rome by mid-September, but fell ill on the way and decided to remain in France for the winter. . . ." (Catherine de'Medici: 12)
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