French chateau diane de poitiers biography
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A few years earlier, Henri had been married to the homely but redoubtable Florentine Catherine of Medici. You can also head to the Royal Domain of Dreux, where the last king of France, Louis-Philippe, is buried, as members of the Orleans family continue to be upon their death.
The Orleans, by the way, are one of two families (the other is the Bourbon family) who claim the rights to the French throne, should such a thing ever reappear.
And if you need a place to stay in Anet, I would love to recommend the delightful L'Atelier et Après, a stone's throw from the chateau.
At the tournament held for the coronation of Francis's new wife Eleanor in 1531, while the dauphin François saluted the new queen as expected, Henri addressed his salute to Diane.
In 1533 the future Henri II married Catherine de' Medici. It must have been a mighty kiss because he apparently never forgot it.
After much wheeling and dealing allowed the boys to go free, life at court resumed.
A crescent-shaped stairway led to the gardens. And she sent Diane packing back to Anet to wait out the rest of her days in relative obscurity.
Curiosity about Diane’s final days is how one day I found myself knocking on the huge wooden door leading into the Château d’Anet.
The Château d’Anet
Diane first set foot in Anet in 1515 when she married Louis de Brézé, but in those days the property consisted of a brick-faced 15th-century manor house, parts of which are still standing.
In 1559, when Henri was critically wounded in a joustingtournament, Queen Catherine de' Medici assumed control, restricting access to him. There had been strong opposition to this alliance, the Medicis being no more than upstarts in the eyes of many in the French court. I'd love if you shared it!
Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers (3 September 1499 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and a prominent courtier at the courts of kings Francis I and his son, Henry II of France.
When he was returned to France at the age of 12, she was ordered by Francis I to act as a mentor to him and teach him courtly manners. As his mother was already dead, Diane gave him the farewell kiss when he was sent to Spain. All his life, King Henry remained deeply in love with this woman he had known from a very young age. No one really knows.
This event thrust the shy and taciturn Henri into the limelight and onto the throne.
It is suggested that the "drinkable gold" she regularly took — believed to preserve youth — may have ultimately killed her.[5][6]
In Fiction and Film
Diane de Poitiers has appeared in many novels and films.
Novels:
Biography:
Films:
References
- ^ Catherine's maternal grandfather was Diane's paternal grandmother's brother.
- ^ Farquhar, Michael (2001).
Despite this being by Barbara Cartland, it is not a work of fiction.)
- Madame Serpent, by Jean Plaidy
- The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici by Jeanne Kalogridis
External Links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Poitiers, Diane De |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 3 September 1499 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | 25 April 1566 |
| Place of death | |
- Duchesses of Valentinois
- 1499 births
- 1566 deaths
- People from Drôme
- Mistresses of French royalty
- House of Valois
- French ladies-in-waiting
- House of Bourbon
- Duchesses of Étampes
Anet's castle
STORY
Built in 1548 for Diane de Poitiers, a favourite of King Henry II, the Château d'Anet is a true jewel of the French Renaissance.
They saw the demolition as a sign of bad luck stopped work, leaving the one wing we have today.
Renovations finally began in earnest in 1840 and five generations of a single family would revive the chateau to some of its former glory.
During World War I it served as a Red Cross hospital and during World War II, it was used by German forces.
Today, it is owned privately and inhabited by the Yturbe family, who live in another, private part of the castle.
How to visit Anet
Throughout the chateau, you’ll find signs of Diane, and since you can only visit on a guided tour (here are the schedules and rates, in French) these will all be pointed out.
But even better is the floor, designed to replicate the ceiling.
The other structure is Diane’s funeral chapel.
Diane had drawn up plans for her own funeral and included these in her will: she asked that her body be buried at Anet but her heart should join her husband at Rouen.
At the age of 15, she married a certain Louis de Brézé. She stayed there only a short time, and lived out her remaining years in her chateau in Anet, Eure-et-Loir, where she lived in comfortable obscurity.
She died at the age of sixty-six.
Above all, in order to keep the extraordinary whiteness of her skin, she is known to have consumed liquid gold.
Anet: the last resting place
On the site of a first building dating from the 12th century, Henri II entrusted his architect Philibert de l'Orme with the task of building a sumptuous castle for his mistress in 1548.