Diane de Poitiers

French noblewoman

• Born: September 3, 1499
• Birthplace: Saint-Vallier, France
• Died: April 25, 1566
• Place of death: Anet, France

Although primarily known as the mistress of King Henry II and rival of Queen Catherine de Médicis, Diane de Poitiers wielded great influence at court in religion, politics, and arts patronage. She used her power to advance Catholicism and to patronize great artists and writers of the French Renaissance.

Early Life

Daughter of Jean de Poitiers and from one of the oldest noble families in the Dauphiné region of what is now southeast France, Diane de Poitiers (dee-ahn duh pwa-tyay) had the advantage of growing up in aristocratic surroundings on the road followed by travelers to and from Italy. Exposed at an early age to prominent visitors acquainted with the literary and artistic achievements of the Italian Renaissance, Diane’s father had her trained in some of the talents necessary for a Renaissance noblewoman.

As a child, Diane displayed the talents for horsemanship and hunting that would later earn her comparisons to the mythical goddess of the hunt, Diana. She continued her education in the court of Princess Anne de Beaujeu (Anne of France), where she studied the classics, church history, and the personal qualities needed for a lady at court. At the age of fifteen, Diane was married to Louis de Brezé, the fifty-six-year-old seneschal of Normandy.

In 1524, her father was sentenced to death after being implicated in a noble conspiracy. Acceding to Diane’s pleas, King Francis I freed her father at the scaffold. Diane’s court life continued as lady in waiting to the queen mother, Louise of Savoy, and Queen Eleanor of Austria. When her husband died in 1531, Diane chose to remain a widow. The revenues from his Norman estates, which she managed with great skill, gave her considerable freedom to live at court and raise her daughters.

Life’s Work

At the time of her husband’s death in 1531, Diane, now the marquise de Brezé and seneschal of Normandy, had spent many years at royal courts. Yet her influence, based on a finely honed sense of courtly politics and diplomacy, would grow in the three decades that followed.

Diane’s education included several protofeminist works, including the writings of Christine de Pizan (c. 1365-c. 1430), Martin le Franc (1410-1461), and Guillaume Postel (1510-1581), manuscripts and books that later were part of her library at the château of Anet. Diane also acquired works on philosophy and medicine, in which she was considered a court expert. A contemporary text on gynecology was dedicated to Diane, who was called on regularly to exercise such skills as a matron of honor and governess.

The future Henry II, son of Francis I, was married to Catherine de Médicis in 1533, when both were fourteen years old. Yet Diane, Catherine’s cousin and almost twenty years her senior, would become the love of Henry’s life and the power behind the throne beginning in 1535. When Henry became king in 1547, Pope Paul III sent the new queen a gift, but he also sent a pearl necklace to Diane in recognition of her power. In the royal entry to Lyon in 1548, of which Diane was a part, one of the allegorical plays depicted the hunter Diana holding a lion on a leash.

The following year, Henry bestowed the title of duchess of Valentinois on his mistress. Despite Catherine’s jealousy, Diane’s influence over Henry and events at court grew. The king entrusted her with the crown jewels, asked her to write official letters (signed “HenriDiane”), and asked her to meet with visiting ambassadors. The initials “H” and “D” were everywhere interlaced and her official colors of black and white appeared in all public festivities. Although Diane gave birth to a third daughter by the king, most believe Diane was responsible for ensuring that the king did his royal duty by begetting legitimate heirs to the throne by Catherine.

In addition to her role at court and as governess to the royal children, Diane’s influence extended into two other areas: religion and artistic patronage. Diane was a staunch Catholic during a time of tremendous turmoil, when Protestant reformers were trying to spread their message in France. During the reign of Francis I, she had opposed the reforming tendencies of the king’s mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse of Étampes. Diane’s opposition marked the beginning of a series of alliances based on religion.

While Anne de Pisseleu allied with the king’s reform-minded sister, Marguerite de Navarre, a Catholic party dominated by the Guise and Montmorency families formed around Diane. By Henry’s reign, the intimate circle of Catholic supporters had supplanted those with reforming tendencies. In years of tension with the Papacy, Diane met with papal envoys, had leading Catholics appointed to military positions, and pushed for the extirpation of heresy in France.

Diane’s patronage of the arts is reflected in the château of Anet that was commissioned for her in 1552 by the king, built on property she had inherited from her husband. Chosen for the project was the leading architect of the French Renaissance, Philibert Delorme, the royal architect to Henry. Sculptor Jean Goujon assisted with the decoration, creating the fountain of Diana and several of the tapestries. Anet was not simply a castle but also a symbolic celebration of the love between Henry and Diane. Delorme created a perfect blend of Renaissance style with a design intended for private pleasure.

During her stays at the château of Chenonceau given to her by Henry, Diane patronized some of the greatest artists and architects of the time. One of her projects involved extending the castle by building a bridge over the River Cher. In addition to nearly one hundred letters, Diane composed numerous lyrics and songs that were intended primarily for Henry but which were unfortunately destroyed by the king. She was honored in dedications and poems by the poets of La Pléiade, including Pierre de Ronsard and Joachim du Bellay . The courtier, soldier, and chronicler, Pierre de Bourdeille, who saw her just before her death, referred to her as “the most beautiful of beautiful women.”

For all her power, Diane’s life was bound with that of the king. After his freak death from a jousting accident in 1559, Catherine, by then a powerful regent, forced Diane to exchange the château of Chenonceau for the inferior one at Chaumont. Diane lived there a short time only before retiring to Anet and spending the rest of her life managing her estates, acting as a midwife, and founding a home for unwed mothers. She died on April 25, 1566, and was buried in the chapel at Anet. Diane’s will exhibits the strength of her character in her carefully worded bequests to her children and her insistence that they and their children keep to the Catholic faith.

Significance

An educated and powerful woman, Diane de Poitiers’s influence at court to control and determine political and religious events came at a critical juncture in French history. Her championship of the Catholic faith in the period immediately before the beginning of the French Wars of Religion (1562-1598) cemented alliances between the leading families in the realm.

Recognized for her artistic taste, Diane consulted with and patronized the leading figures of the French Renaissance in both arts and literature. Although sometimes dismissed in her own time and later as simply “the king’s mistress,” Diane skillfully exploited the role to become one of the most powerful figures in sixteenth century France.

Bibliography

Baumgartner, Frederic. Henri II, King of France 1547-1559. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1988. An excellent biography of Henry by one of the leading sixteenth century specialists in North America. Although the focus is on Henry, this is one of the only books in English in which one can gain an understanding of the court life and politics in which Henry, Diane, and Catherine lived.

Cloulas, Ivan. Diane de Poitiers. Paris: Éditions Fayard, 1997. This is one of the few biographies of Diane de Poitiers in either French or English. While Cloulas often embellishes the life and events to appeal to a popular audience, most of the available information in print on Diane can be found in this volume.

McHenry, Bannon. “Gift from a King: From Henry II to Diane de Poitiers, the Superb Chateau d’Anet.” Connoisseur 214 (1984): 81-89. An illustrated and detailed description of the chateau where Diane spent much of her life, with details about the work of Philibert Delorme and Jean Goujon.

Sider, Sandra. “The Woman Behind the Legend: Dianne de Poitiers.” In Women Writers of the Renaissance and Reformation, edited by Katharina M. Wilson. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987. A succinct account of Diane’s life, writing, and artistic patronage, with excerpts from some of her letters.