Diana de Poitiers (born September 3, 1499 (or January 9, 1500) - death April 26, 1566) - Duchess de Valentinois, favorite of King Henry II. She was able to maintain her influence on the monarch until his death in 1559, despite the resistance of his lawful wife, Catherine de Medici.
Origin, marriage
Diana de Poitiers was born into one of the noble families of the kingdom in 1499. Her grandmother was Jeanne de Latour de Boulogne, and along this line Diana was a relative of Henry II's wife, Catherine de Medici.
Diana was married at the age of thirteen, to the great Seneschal of Normandy, Louis de Brese, Comte de Molvrier. However, in 1531 she became a widow at the age of 31. The path to the courtyard was clear. However, she got along with King Francis when her husband was still alive. When her father was sentenced to death for taking part in the conspiracy against Francis, she turned to the monarch and was able to get the sentence reversed. There were servants that she bought this favor at the price of her marital fidelity.
Diana and Heinrich
Duke Henry of Orleans, second son of Francis I, was naturally weak and timid. His youth passed sadly. When his father was taken prisoner after the battle at Pavia, he and his brother were forced to spend 4 years in the monastery as a hostage. Returning to Paris, he was blinded by its brilliance. He wanted to join the joys of life, and soon they appeared in the person of Diane Poitier, who, according to Brantom, “dressed beautifully and majestically, but only in black and white”. It was mourning for her husband. It did not occur to the prince himself to get close to her, because he considered her a model of virtue and intelligence, but Diane de Poitiers immediately understood what influence she could have on him. She was much older than the prince - by 18 years, but her beauty made up for this flaw. A close relationship began between them,and soon the king's eldest son died, and Henry became a Dauphin. It is said that Diana was responsible for the death of the prince, who gave him the poison, but this has not been proven.
Promotional video:
Rivalry
From that time, as Henry became heir to the throne, a desperate struggle began at court between two women - Diana, who enjoyed the favor of the Dauphin, and the Duchess d'Etamp, the mistress of Francis I, who was not content with the influence she had on the monarch, and was determined to chain them to himself and his future successor. The entire courtyard was divided into two camps. Diana was 10 years older than the Duchess d'Etamp, and therefore the adherents of the latter began to talk about faded beauty. Even poets and artists began to take part in strife.
So, the artist Primaticchio painted the Duchess d'Etampe all the time, his paintings were the decoration of the royal gallery. Benvenuto Cellini chose the beautiful hunter Diana as his model. The poets of the Duchess's camp exalted her beauty, not sparing colors, and Diana was called toothless and hairless, who owes her appearance only to cosmetics. Everything, of course, was a lie, because Diana remained a beauty until the end of her life. And it terribly angered the Dauphin's favorite. Over time, when she reaches the pinnacle of power, her enemies will pay dearly for their caustic remarks. So, by order of Diana, the Minister of Finance Boyar, one of the most ardent minions of the Duchess d'Etampe, was removed from the court, and soon the same fate befell the Duchess.
Diana gradually took hold of the Dauphin. He did not part with her even after he married the young and lovely Catherine de 'Medici, daughter of the Duke of Urbino in Florence. This, however, was facilitated by the character of Catherine herself, who did not like to interfere in state affairs and lived exclusively for pleasure in the circle of devoted cheerful ladies, the so-called "little gang", which was engaged only in hunting, dressage, balls …
Henry II and Diane de Poitiers.
More than a queen
When Francis died, Henry came to the throne. The queen was not going to change her lifestyle, and Diana practically became the ruler. But she was more than a queen. Diane de Poitiers held the fate of the state in her hands, distributed posts, transformed ministries and parliament, dealt with issues of pardon, disposed of finances, and influenced the decisions of judges. The monarch unquestioningly fulfilled her will. In one of the letters, Henry II begged her to always look at him only as a faithful servant, he was proud of the name of the servant with whom she baptized him.
Historical portrait of Diana
Of course, the favorite was lovely. It seemed that her beauty could never fade away. She had regular facial features, beautiful skin color, hair as black as a crow's wing. She was not sick and even in the coldest weather she washed herself with water from a well. Diana got up in the morning at 6 o'clock, got on her horse and, accompanied by her hounds, drove 2-3 miles, after which she returned and spent time in bed with a book until noon. She was smart, with a keen interest in literature and art. It was said that the favorite was able to win the king's heart not so much with her beauty as with the advice she gave him, and her love for art, in which she was well versed.
Her relatives completely denied the existence of an intimate relationship between her and the monarch, believing that Diana's behavior in marriage was impeccable, that even being at the pinnacle of power, she never relieved herself of mourning. As an argument, they also cited the fact that there was a big age difference between Henry and Diana, which could only arouse respect from the king, and she was not wasteful, like other courtesans … But they did not mention that Diana was ambitious and vindictive …
The historian de Tou condemned her because of the persecution of Protestants and the breakdown of peaceful relations with Spain. Nevertheless, she could be considered the best of the favorites, and Brantom rightly remarked: "The French people must ask God that there should never be a favorite worse than this."
1548 - The monarch made her the Duchess of Valentinois and commissioned the famous architect Delorma to build for her the palace of Ane, which Diana beautifully furnished. She maintained good relations with the queen, even took care of her children, though not for free. According to Brantom, when Henry wanted to legitimize one of the daughters he had taken with his favorite, Diana said: “I was born in order to have legitimate children from you. I don't want the parliament to declare me your concubine."
Diane de Poitiers descends the stairs.
Death of Henry II
Diana's sun went down the moment Henry died. Long before his death, two prophecies circulated. The famous Italian astrologer Luca Gavrico announced that the king would die in the fortieth year, and the reason for this would be a duel. This prediction aroused mockery, because duels do not happen with monarchs. Soon another similar prediction appeared. The king's entourage became alarmed. Heinrich himself jokingly expressed that predictions very often come true and that he would accept such a death as willingly as any other, if only a brave man was his opponent. He, of course, did not assume that in reality he could die in a duel.
1559, June 30 - a tournament was held near the Tournell Palace. The king dressed in the colors of Diana and fought bravely, but the spear of the Earl of Montgomery hit him in the eye and penetrated to his brain. A few days later, Henry died.
Brantom said that the king was still breathing when Catherine de Medici ordered Diana to leave the court, having first given the jewels given to her favorite by the monarch. Diana asked if the king had died, and when she was told that he was still breathing, but would not live a day, she proudly exclaimed: “In that case, no one dares to order me! Let my enemies know that I am not afraid of them! When the king is gone, this loss will give me too much grief for me to be sensitive to the vexation they want to inflict on me."
Diana statue. (Jean Goujon).
Last years of life. Death
The young monarch Francis II ordered to bring to her attention that, due to the harmful influence of Diana Poitiers on the king, she deserves severe punishment, but in his royal favor he decided to leave her alone and only demanded that she return the jewelry received from Henry II. Thus, diamonds and other jewelry, passed from the Countess of Chateaubriand to the Duchess d'Etampe, and then to Diane Poitier, returned to the royal treasury to decorate the heads of other favorites in the future.
Diane de Poitiers obediently submitted to fate. She retired to her castle Ane, where she died on April 26, 1566 at the age of 67, abandoned by almost all her friends. According to Brantom's testimony, she was beautiful until the last minute. Before her death, Diana founded several hospitals, giving, in the words of Chateauneuf, to God what she took from the world.
In the church of the Ane castle, a monument was erected to her - a statue of white marble. This statue is now in the Louvre Museum. One of her daughters from her marriage to Count Brese married the Duke of Bouillon, the other - the Duke of Omal. Diana is immortalized in many portraits and sculptures. Jean Goujon portrayed her as a triumphant nude huntress hugging the neck of a mysterious deer.
Youth elixir
When the remains of Diane de Poitiers were discovered in 2008, experts conducted a study, as a result of which they found a gold content in them 250 times higher than the norm! Probably, the favorite regularly drank drinks with particles of gold.
This "elixir of youth" could have been prescribed to her by alchemists, who believed that the noble metal has a rejuvenating effect. Perhaps this is what could have caused Diana's premature death.
There is evidence that a few months before her death, the face of the former king's favorite turned very white, which could be a consequence of anemia caused by gold poisoning.
I. Muromov