Diana of Poitiers
Diana of Poitiers ( French Diane de Poitiers ; * December 31, 1499 , September 3, 1499 or January 9, 1500 in Saint-Vallier , Étoile or Poitiers ; † April 22, 1566 in Anet Castle near Paris ) was Countess of Saint-Vallier , since 1548 Duchess of Valentinois and since 1553 Duchess of Étampes . She became known as the mistress and confidante of King Henry II of France.
Because of the age difference of around 19 years between young Heinrich and his older mistress, the relationship is still the target of speculation today. Although Diana could have led a quiet life as a wealthy widow in the province after the death of her husband Louis de Brézé , she returned to the French court for reasons that were not conclusively clarified. She looked after Heinrich, organized his love life and was the unassailable center of the court. Only when Heinrich died did she leave the farm and retire to her property.
To this day, due to the ambivalent historical and recent portrayal, she is one of the most controversial and interesting women at the French royal court of modern times.
Life
Youth and marriage to Louis de Brézé
Diana of Poitiers was the daughter of Jean de Poitiers , Sire de Saint-Vallier, of the House of Poitiers-Valentinois , and Jeanne de Batarnay. At the age of six she became a half-orphan through the death of her mother. Her further education was taken over by Anne de Beaujeu . Historians assume that Diana was introduced to the court early on and associated with the high nobility; More details about their youth and upbringing are not yet available. It seems certain that Diana did not - as some historians have conjectured - grew up with the royal children at the French court.
When Claude de France married her cousin Francis of Angoulême, who later became King Francis I , in 1514 , Diana became the young queen's lady-in-waiting . On March 29, 1515, she married the 56-year-old Louis de Brézé , Seneschal of Normandy from the House of Brézé , who was described by contemporaries as unattractive . Because of his mother Charlotte, a legitimate daughter of King Charles VII of France and his mistress Agnès Sorel , he was of royal descent. Diana gave birth to their first daughter Françoise in 1517, and daughter Louise followed two years later.
In 1524 her father was an accomplice in a conspiracy of the Connétable of France , Charles III. de Bourbon-Montpensier charged with treason, captured and sentenced to death, but pardoned. He is said to have already climbed the scaffold when a messenger arrived with the king's pardon.
Meeting with Heinrich
Diana and her husband Louis had an exceptionally harmonious marriage despite the great age difference. But Diana is said to have become a kind of role model for Heinrich, the second son of Francis I, at an early stage, as she accompanied him in 1526 when he and his brother were handed over to the Spaniards as hostages and took care of him after his release .
“Moved against their nature by the cruel fate of the children, Diane Heinrich hugs and kisses him tenderly goodbye. Nobody suspects that this maternal kiss will one day weigh on the fate of the kingdom ”.
Heinrich is said to have lowered his standard out of admiration for her , perhaps in memory of Diana's loving gesture during the hostage-taking, when he competed as a fighter as part of the tournament for the celebrations of his father's wedding with Eleanor of Austria.
“As part of the wedding celebration, a tournament was held in which the king's two sons took part. It was customary for every knight to lower his banner in front of a lady as a token of his admiration. Heinrich also stopped his horse in front of the stands and laid his standard at the feet of the Grand Seneschal's wife ... "
On April 24, 1530, the marriage contract between Francis I (for his second son Heinrich von Orléans, later King Henry II) and Catherine de Medici was signed at Anet Castle in the presence of the Grand Seneschal of Normandy and his wife Diana. Three years later, Catherine of Medici began her journey to France and was married to Heinrich on October 28, 1533 by her uncle Pope Clement VII .
Death of the husband
The death of her husband Louis de Brézé in the early summer of 1531 hit Diana so hard that her grief was often interpreted as hypocrisy by later reporters. When her husband died, she is said to have declared that she would never take off her widow's clothes again, and from that day and all of her subsequent life she only wore black. Her black dress, together with a jeweled belt, became her trademark and distinguishing feature. Since she was not planning a retreat into private life at the age of 32, she returned to the French court. According to Thoma, Franz I is said to have asked Diana to take care of his second oldest son, Heinrich, because he was closed and shy of contact, and because he had noticed the good relationship between Heinrich and Diana earlier.
"So he (Franz I.) told her about his worries, to which Diane is said to have replied:" Trust me, I will make him my knight. "From now on Madame de Brézé should take care of the prince's education."
With the king's consent, Diana became the young prince's mentor. Heinrich is described as "dark and bizarre". According to Jurewitz-Freischmidt, the prince “always wore black, drank no wine and laughed little. He avoided company and lively conversations. ” This educational mission also gave Diana a real meaning at the French court, which she had lost through the death of her husband. She and Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly were the most powerful women at court at the time. Both treated each other politely and respectfully, although both were rivals for royal attention at the time.
The situation at the French court, which Catherine de Medici found on her arrival, presented itself as a society ruled by Madame d'Étampes, since Eleanor of Austria did not live permanently at court and no suitable bride had yet been found for the crown prince. The interest in Katharina was therefore very low, as all attention was concentrated on the heir to the throne Franz. Katharina von Medici would have remained largely isolated at the French court had she not won a place in the closer society around her father-in-law. With her slightly protruding eyes and her bulky figure, she was not pretty, but socially agile, a trained and courageous rider, a shrewd and engaging conversationalist, and ready to take part in the sometimes rough jokes that the French king valued. On the other hand, she was unable to win over her husband Heinrich. His connection with Diana of Poitiers grew closer and closer, and he reacted with displeasure to the slightest sign of a close relationship between his wife and girlfriend.
Death of the Crown Prince
On the morning of August 10, 1536, the French heir to the throne died unexpectedly after a brief and severe illness. Katharina's husband Heinrich was now the new contender for the French throne. The situation for Katharina worsened with her new position as wife of the Crown Prince. She had been married to Heinrich for three years and so far there had not been the slightest sign of pregnancy. After Heinrich became the father of an illegitimate daughter with the Italian Filippa Duci in 1538 , the French royal court suspected her to be the cause of the childlessness of the marriage. There were increasing considerations to divorce Katharina because of her sterility. At the latest when she ascended the throne, she was even threatened with expulsion or a lifelong stay in the monastery.
Heinrich's first illegitimate daughter with the Italian Filippa Duci was baptized Diane de Valois and Diana von Poitiers, now officially released from the education of Heinrich, took over the education of the little girl. Even if Heinrich later officially recognized his daughter and named her after his mistress, she was not the daughter of Heinrich and Diana, as it can be read on various occasions. The pressure on Katharina, on the other hand, increased after the fertility of her husband had been proven. Up until now it was generally assumed that Heinrich suffered from hypospadias , which impaired fertility. After the birth of his daughter, calls for a repudiation from Katharina became louder.
Diana of Poitiers, of all people, advocated a continuation of the marriage, because a new, young bride might have endangered her position. Heinrich, who had a distant relationship with his father, convinced them by pointing out that it was mainly his father's supporters who were campaigning for a divorce. Diana von Poitiers is said to have sent Katharina medication to increase her willingness to conceive, and she is also said to have ensured that Heinrich had regular sexual intercourse with his young wife.
The ultimate decision about a divorce, however, lay with Franz I. Madame d'Étampes, who was very concerned about maintaining and securing her position after the death of Franz I, took up a position for Katharina. Should Diana gain power through the accession to the throne of Heinrich Diana von Poitiers, the friendship with Katharina would certainly also protect her from acts of revenge. The French court was officially headed by the king, but the power situation at court was basically determined by women: Diana of Poitiers, Anne d'Étampes and soon Catherine of Medici - Diana as mistress and advisor to the Crown Prince, Anne d'Étampes as Mistress of the king and Catherine de Medici, as future queen and mother of the future king.
Love for Heinrich
In the course of 1538 the relationship between Heinrich and Diana, officially portrayed as platonic, seemed to change. It turned into an open love affair. What caused Diana or Heinrich to abandon this facade is unknown.
After learning of the changed relationship between Diana and Heinrich, Anne Pisselieu is said to have commissioned mocking songs and rhymes from poets with the sole aim of ridiculing the reputation and appearance of Diana of Poitiers. The mistress Franz 'I, who herself gladly gave her own year of birth with the year of the wedding between Diana and Louis de Brézé, was just as secretive about her own age as she made Diana's age known. The exact year of birth of Anne Pisselieu is still unknown. One can assume that she was certainly not 15 years younger than Diana. The pamphlets that she had written about Diana referred to her as the “oldest of the ancients” and the “most worn out”.
Katharina von Medici underwent all kinds of medical procedures at the same time in order to finally get pregnant. Nevertheless, it was not until 1543 that a pregnancy was determined - after ten years of marriage to Heinrich. On January 19, 1544, in the presence of the French king, she finally gave birth to her first son, who was named after her father-in-law Franz. Over the next twelve years, nine more children followed, six of whom survived childhood.
With the birth of her first son, Katharina's position at the French court changed significantly. For the first time she had a central role at the royal court. However, the close bond between Heinrich and Diana von Poitiers remained, who was not only present during the birth of the first son, like the French king, but also interfered in the upbringing of the children.
Heinrich becomes king
Heinrich never got on really well with his father and, through Diana's advice, withdrew more and more from his father. So Heinrich, on the advice of Diana, stayed away from the meetings of the secret council from the beginning of 1545 in order not to be held responsible for the wrong policy of his father. In his last days, however, the king sent for his son. Franz will also welfare have placed Anne d'Etampes Pisselieu following words to heart I. his son: "She is a lady [...] Submit yourself never another will, as I have the subject me to her." At 31 March 1547 the French king died and his son ascended the French throne as Henry II.
After Heinrich became king, Anne Pisselieu in particular, as the powerless mistress of a dead king, awaited the revenge of the new maitresse en titre. Her husband Jean de Brosse, Duke of Étampes, had withdrawn completely from his wife's life while she was the king's mistress. At Diana’s insistence, Diana has now sued for his rights as a husband. This approach corresponded to the image of Diana, the Catholic, moral, highly conservative and virtuous lady and her scheming nature. Anne's husband reappeared, insisted on his rights - especially the usufruct of the current pensions and estates - and sent them to his property in Brittany , at La Hardoninaye Castle. So her fiercest opponent at court, within the framework of conjugal and religious morality, was elegantly put out of the way, without Diana burdening herself with guilt through intrigues.
Diana's influence on the new king now went even further than before, with no father and other advisors at court. On the night of April 2, 1547, all of the old confidants of the king were removed from their old offices, and some even taken prisoner. As a staunch Catholic, she encouraged Heinrich to pursue a policy directed against the Huguenots . With her influence on the king, she brought the affairs of government into the hands of Connétable Montmorency , Marshal Jacques d'Albon, seigneur de Saint-André and Cardinal Charles de Lorraine-Guise . She also married her younger daughter Louise to the latter's brother, Claude de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale .
Diana's influence grows
For the coronation on July 25, 1547, the new king wore a special mark on his blue doublet embroidered with golden lilies as a sign of his solidarity with his lover. Reading from left to right it results in two "D" back to back, which are written in an "H". During the coronation, Diane sits in one of the front seats, while the pregnant Katharina is seated in a back stand.
In the first year after Heinrich's accession to the throne, she was given the Duchy of Valentinois and the Chenonceau Castle . She was also given the crown jewels that she subsequently wore on official occasions, as Madame d'Étampes had already done. With the king's generous alimony, she was able to have her castles Chenonceau and Anet rebuilt by the most famous architect of the time , Philibert Delorme (1510–1570). Diana had a tax levied on every church bell in the empire, which flowed exclusively into her treasury. François Rabelais is said to have remarked: "The king liked to hang all the bells of his kingdom around his mare's neck." The king also left Diana the so-called "terres vagues", lands whose ownership was unclear, and all confiscated property condemned Jews and heretics. In addition to these enrichments, Diana also asserted her claim to the title and property of her father, although the title and property belonged to a prince of the blood and belonged to the Dauphiné.
Diana also interfered in the selection of Katharina's ladies-in-waiting. The Queen of France only received four ladies-in-waiting, hand-picked by the mistress. When the widowed Queen Eleanor asked to be allowed to leave France, she addressed the request to Diana, not to her stepson. Diana ignored her intervention to make the living conditions of Anne d'Étampes easier.
Exile and last days of Diana
Even before the tournament celebrations for the wedding of Elisabeth of Valois and Philip II of Spain , Katharina had tried several times to keep her husband from fighting. Her astrologer Simonei had prophesied that her husband would die in a duel at the age of forty. Nostradamus also published mysterious quatrains since 1556, which are still tinkered with today.
One of the prophecies that supposedly foretold Heinrich's death is:
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On June 30, 1559, Heinrich entered the tournament in the colors of his favorite Diana. Gabriel de Lorges , Count of Montgomery, was the opponent of the tournament, whose broken lance penetrated the king's golden visor, pierced his eye and entered the brain. Heinrich's painful death lasted ten days. After the tournament ended, Diana was no longer seen at court. As soon as Katharina recovered from her shock, she ordered Diana not to come near the king. The prohibition was very easy to obey, since the king never asked for his mistress.
Diana of Poitiers humbly asked for forgiveness in a letter she sent to Catherine along with the Crown Jewels. The Queen only requested the return of Chenonceau Castle and offered Chaumont in exchange. The French court, however, wept no tears after Diane. She devoted herself to the administration of her property and only observed the farm from a distance.
Diana of Poitiers, widow of Brézé, Duchess of Valentinois, died on April 25, 1566, six years after Henry. Her grave inscription read, at her own request, "Priez Dieu pour Diane de Poitiers" (German: "Pray for Diane de Poitiers")
Diana and Katharina
Diana of Poitiers and Catherine of Medici were sharp rivals, but appeared together in public. Allegedly it was Diana who urged Heinrich to father as many children as possible with Katharina, who she gave birth between 1544 and 1556. Diana supported her with the birth and looked after the children like a surrogate mother. When Katharina became seriously ill, Diana took care of her personally.
But like many of the nobles at the French court, Diana was blind to the signs of diplomacy and cleverness of Catherine. She too was blinded by the openly displayed humility and docility of the “merchant's daughter” from Florence. Although Katharina was distracted by the many pregnancies and births and did not dare to talk her husband and his mistress into the politics of the country, Katharina knew that her hour, thanks to her skill in making friends with some of Diana's important supporters, come soon and she would know how to use them.
progeny
Children with Louis de Brézé:
- Françoise (1517–1574), married Robert IV. De La Marck
- Louise (1519–1577), married Claude de Lorraine, duc d'Aumale , brother of Marie de Guise
Reception in the film
- Diane - courtesan of France ; USA 1956; Screenplay written by Christopher Isherwood with Lana Turner in the role of Diane
See also
literature
- Baptiste Capefigue: Diane de Poitiers . Paris 1860.
- Philippe Erlanger: Diane de Poitiers . Gallimard, Paris 1955.
- Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischütz: The mistresses of the Loire castles . Piper, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-492-23805-X , pp. 203-215, 217-216, 225-227, 232-253, 256-261.
- Sigrid Ruby : Connected with power. Images of the Favorite in Renaissance France . Support group for scientific publications by women, Freiburg im Breisgau 2010, ISBN 978-3-939348-18-4 , pp. 123-350.
- Helga Thoma: «Madame, my dear lover…». The mistresses of the French kings . Piper, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-492-22570-5 , pp. 9-44.
Web links
- Diana of Poitiers. In: FemBio. Women's biography research (with references and citations).
- Collection of material on Diane de Poitiers on medieval-genealogie.de ( Memento from April 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (former website via Wayback Machine . Accessed November 12, 2011)
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d comp. also Helga Thoma: Madame my dear beloved… , pp. 10–44.
- ↑ Your exact date of birth and place are unknown, there are several details.
- ↑ Ivan Cloulas, Diane de Poitiers, Fayard, Paris, 1997, p. 156-157 et Didier Lefur, Henri II, Tallandier, 2009, p. 184-185.
- ↑ a b cf. also Philippe Erlanger: Diane de Poitiers .
- ↑ Helga Thoma: Madame my dear lover… .
- ↑ In order to defend the Milanese area, which had been owned by France since 1500, against Charles V, Francis I went back to war. In 1525 he was defeated in the Battle of Pavia . He was captured and out of necessity signed the Madrid Treaty . In order to guarantee compliance, the king had to hand over his two young sons as hostages to the Spaniards in return for his release. The children were only released four years later on payment of a large ransom.
- ↑ Philippe Erlanger: Diane de Poitiers , pp. 79-80.
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 206.
- ↑ Quoted from Helga Thoma: Madame my dear beloved… , pp. 10–44
- ↑ Quoted from Helga Thoma: Madame my dear beloved… , pp. 10–44
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 208.
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , pp. 210–211.
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 215.
- ↑ Quoted from Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: Die Herrinnen der Loire-Schlösser , p. 227.
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 232.
- ^ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 237.
- ↑ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: The mistresses of the Loire castles , p. 238.
- ^ Barbier-Mueller, JP: Ma bibliothèque poétique: Éditions des 15e et 16e siècles des principaux poetes. Droz, Geneve 1973 p. 460
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Poitiers, Diana of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Henry II's mistress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1499 or December 31, 1499 or January 9, 1500 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | uncertain: Saint-Vallier |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 22, 1566 |
| Place of death | Anet Castle near Paris |