Queen Eleonore of France

Eleonore, the second wife of Françoise I, died on February 25, 1558.

Eleonore of Austria (1498-1558) was the daughter of Philip, Archduke of Austria and Duke of Burgundy and of Joanna of Castile. She was the sister of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, Queen Isabella of Denmark, Queen Mary of Hungary and Queen Catherine of Portugal. She was born in Louvain, Belgium.

Eleanor of Austria

 When she was young, her parents attempted to arrange a marriage with the King of England, Henry VIII. Instead, he married Eleonore’s aunt, Catherine of Aragon. They also tried to marry her to Louis XII and Sigismund I of Poland.

In 1517, Eleonore fell in love with Frederick of the Palatinate. Charles was enraged and expelled Frederick from court. Eleonore followed her brother to Spain later that year. Charles arranged a marriage between Eleonore and King Manuel of Portugal, who had previously been married to two of her aunts, to avoid the possibility of Portuguese assistance to any rebellion in Castile.

Eleonore married François I of France on July 8, 1530. Before her marriage to François I became part of the conditions of the Treaty of Cambrai, she had planned to marry his nemesis, Charles de Bourbon.

The King of France was more interested in his mistress, Anne de Pisseleu, than his new wife. On her arrival in France Eleonore made the acquaintance of Diane de Poitiers, who became her maid of honour. There was a little over a year’s difference in their ages. Eleonore’s coronation was held March 5, 1531. It was at the tournament to celebrate the coronation that Henri first asked to carry Diane’s colours.

Eleonore’s marriage to François was purely political. She spent her entire marriage attempting to establish peaceful relationship between her husband and her brother.

Diane remained grateful to Eleonore for her kindness toward Henri and his brother, when they were held hostage in Spain as children. When the King died in 1547, Eleonore was not present, nor was she informed of her husband’s death. Diane was not pleased, and she told Henri so.

The Day Jean de Poitiers was Spared

Diane’s father, Jean de Poitiers, had been sentenced to death by beheading for his role in Charles de Bourbon’s treason against the King. Thanks to Diane’s intervention, his life was spared.

February 17, 1524 was the day that had been set for the execution. Despite the King’s promise to Diane, her father was stripped of his Order of Saint Michel and all of his titles and honors. He made his will and prayed with his priest. At three o’clock in the afternoon, his hands were tied and he was placed on a horse for the short ride along Rue Grenier-sur-l’Eau to the Place de Grève. 

He was shaking from fever and he was so weak he needed to be supported by a man on either side. He was led to his place of execution, stripped of his over-clothes, and left shivering, with his head on the block, for over an hour. Finally, the King’s messenger, galloped into the square, delivered the reprieve and read it aloud. The full transcript of the reprieve can be found in “A Portrait in Black and White.”

Place de Greve from an old drawing

The reprieve was granted for Jean de Poitiers’ past service to his country and his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

The other parties to Charles’ plot were not so fortunate. They remained in prison, and could be executed whenever the King fancied. Charles de Bourbon remained at large.

The square as it appears today,  dominated by Hôtel de Ville

The Marriage of Diane de France and Orazio Farnese

Diane de France, the daughter of Diane de Poitiers and Henri II of France,  turned 15 on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 1553. A day earlier, she married Orazio Farnese, Duke di Castro.

The wedding of Orazio Farnese and Diane de France

He had been born in Valentano, Italy in 1532, the second son of  Pier Luigi Farnese, Duke of Parma  and Gerolama Orsini. 

Orazio's birthplace

Orazio’s father was the illegitimate son of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (who later became Pope Paul III). He was often referred to as the Pope’s nephew rather than his grandson.  Orazio’s father was murdered in September of 1547. 

Henri signed the marriage contract  in 1547, shortly after his coronation, when Petite Diane was only nine years old. In anticipation of the marriage, the Pope made Orazio the Duke of Castro.  He was so pleased that he sent Catherine the Golden Rose, and Diane de Poitiers a pearl necklace from the Orient.

Orazio Farnese

  

Diane de France

Diane and Orazio’s happiness was to be short-lived. He was killed at the Battle of Hesdin on18 July 1553. There were no children from the marriage.

He is buried in the Church of Santa Maria Assunta, Venice.

Funeral monument to Orazio Farnese

Chenonceaux with an X -- the Village and the River

The French village of Chenonceaux is situated on the right bank of the Cher River, a tributary of the Loire.  This tiny community with a population of fewer than 400 sees a steady flood of tourists who have come to see Diane's beloved Chenonceau. 

According to legend, Louise Dupin, who owned Chenonceau during the French Revolution, was responsible for dropping the "x" from the chateau's name.


Chenonceau did not always span the Cher. When Diane took possession of it in 1547, it was joined to the north shore by drawbridge. Diane dreamed of building a bridge to the south shore, which she did in 1557. The familiar three-storey structure was actually Catherine's addition. Here is a picture of Chenonceau which has been altered to suggest how Diane's bridge would have looked:

The river was a part of Diane's daily ritual when she was in residence at Chenonceau. She bathed in the cold river water daily, often joined by Henri. A trap door from Diane's bedroom allowed them to enter the water seen by the servants. They must have been brave, considering this is the view from that door!

Chateau de Saint-Vallier

Diane's birthplace, the Chateau de Saint-Vallier, still overlooks the Rhone River as it passes through this small French town south of Lyon. Originally a monastery, it had been in Diane's family since 1270 when Aymar IV de Poitiers, Comte de Valentinois married Hippolyte de Bourgogne, Dame de Saint-Vallier. Here is a view of the chateau in the 18th century:

Diane inherited the chateau upon the death of her brother, Guillaume de Poitiers. 


Directions to Saint-Vallier by car: From the north, A7, Chanas exit (#12); from the south, A7, exit Train l'Hermitage (#13). The chateau can be easily reached by Rue de Remparts, or, naturally, Rue Diane de Poitiers.

The chateau is easy to spot on Google Earth:

The Heart of the King

During the time of Diane de Poitiers and Henri II, it was the custom to treat the body of a monarch as a relic, in the same way as a saint. After Henri's death, his heart was removed and placed in the Church of the Celestines in Paris.  The church was demolished in 1798. It was bounded by rue du Petit-Musc to the West, rue de la Cerisaie to the North, rue de l’Arsenal to the East and rue de Sully to the South.

The monument, by Germain Pilon, can be seen in the Louvre in Paris. Three figures, standing back to back. They are holding hands, as if ready to begin a dance. The urn itself was inspired by an engraved incense burner by Raphael. 


It was commissioned by Catherine de Medici in 1561, and was intended to hold her heart as well. The inscription on the base told the reader not to wonder how so small a vessel could hold a heart as large as Henri, as his real heart beat in Catherine's breast. We can only imagine how Diane had to struggle to maintain her composure!


During the French Revolution,  Henri's heart disappeared and the urn was melted down (the one in the Louvre is a replica).

"Diane," starring Lana Turner and Roger Moore

On January 12, 1956, MGM released “Diane.”

The cast included:

Lana Turner – Diane de Poitiers

Roger Moore – Henri

Pedro Armendáriz  -- François I

Marisa Pavan – Catherine de Medici

Torin Thatcher – Louis de Brézé

The film was lavish in its costumes and set design. It did, however, take certain liberties with historical accuracy. For example:

• ·      Diane went to the king to plead for the life of her husband, when it was in fact her father
• ·      Diane and Louis had no children. They had two daughters
• ·      The marriage of Henri and Catherine was Diane’s idea, but in reality it was Louis who suggested it to the king
• ·      Catherine spied of Diane Henri through a hole in the wall, but it was actually holes drilled in the floor the floor
• ·      The king was victorious against Charles V, when in fact he was captured and taken hostage

Other aspects of the film were accurate, such as Henri’s jousting accident, although the writers contend that the missing tip of Montgomery’s lance was intentionally removed.

This was Lana Turner’s last film for MGM. VHS copies can still be found, but it is not available on DVD or Blu-ray.