Some French kings preferred their mistresses young, sometimes very young. The best example is Louis XV (r. 1715-1774), who built a small estate near Versailles called the Parc aux Cerfs (Deer Park), where young girls were brought night after night to share the royal bed.
But the king’s main reason for seeking out young girls was his fear of venereal disease, and in any case, a night or two with a 14-year-old girl did not turn her into a royal mistress. For the role of mistress, which demanded much more than sex, the kings of France actually preferred more mature women. Among all the kings of France, Henri II (r. 1547-1559) outdid them all, choosing a mistress who was twenty years his senior.
Diane de Poitiers Meets Henri II
The mistress’s name was Diane de Poitiers (1499-1565). As a child, she received an excellent education, which included Latin, Greek and music, as well as the arts of conversation, dancing and hunting, at all of which she excelled. Like many women of her time, Diane was forced to marry, at 14, a man thirty-nine years her senior, the Sieur de Brézé, himself a descendant of one of the most famous royal mistresses, Agnès Sorel. Her husband died in 1531, and Diane became one of the French queen’s ladies-in-waiting.
Their first kiss took place in 1526, and it was actually a kiss goodbye. Henri and his older brother François had to go to Spain, to serve as hostages guaranteeing that their father would pay his ransom, after he himself had been captured at the Battle of Pavia. Since Queen Claude was no longer alive, it was Diane who said goodbye to Henri as he set out on his journey to Spain.
Because the ransom was not paid in time, Henri was forced to remain in Spain for three years. When he returned, his father, Francis I (r. 1515-1547), decided to make Diane de Poitiers his tutor. It was around this time that their romance began, and they apparently became lovers in 1535, when Henri was 16 and Diane was 36.
In 1547 Francis I died and his son Henri rose to power. From that point on, Diane de Poitiers became the most powerful woman in the kingdom. Diane’s near-total hold over the king came not only from her stunning beauty, which never seemed to fade with age (her secret was apparently daily baths in icy lake water, plenty of exercise and drinking a potion of liquid gold), but also from her intelligence and vast experience, which made her a first-rate political advisor.
Diane helped the king not only in politics but also in his relationship with his wife, Catherine de’ Medici (1519-1589), who, despite several years of marriage, had not given him any children. Despite the rivalry between the two women for the king’s heart, Diane insisted that the king visit his wife’s bedroom regularly, and she even coached Catherine in the bedroom arts and gave her various potions, which eventually led to no fewer than ten children for the royal couple.
Life After Henri II
The royal love story ended tragically in 1559. As part of the celebrations marking the peace treaty between Spain and France, the king decided to hold a jousting tournament. Despite the queen’s pleas (she had heard of Nostradamus’s prophecy that the King of France would die in such a tournament), Henri II decided to take part in the tournament himself.
During one of the jousts, his opponent’s lance shattered, and a splinter pierced the king’s eye. He died after great suffering. During his final days, the king called for Diane many times, but the queen would not allow her to reach his bedside. After his death, Diane lost most of the jewelry the king had given her, as well as the Château de Chenonceau, and was forced to retreat to the Château d’Anet, where she lived quietly until 1565, when she died at age 66.
There are two châteaux in France that tell the story of her remarkable life. The first is Chenonceau, one of the most beautiful châteaux in France, and the second is the Château d’Anet, where she lived much of her life. The Château d’Anet is about an hour’s drive west of Paris. Both châteaux come highly recommended for your next trip to France.
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