The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King (5 page)

The old king was delighted with Mary and claimed to have “performed miracles” on his wedding night. Mary for her part confided in her new friend Diane de Poitiers how repelled she was by the advances of her old husband. Being queen of France, however, was not so irksome, and after her magnificent coronation at Saint-Denis, Queen Mary Tudor made her state entrance into Paris to celebrate the alliance of France and England. Young, pretty, full of life, Mary flirted outrageously and led the king a merry dance, partying until dawn. Not surprisingly, on New Year’s Day 1515, just six weeks after his wedding, Louis XII died; it was said, from “kissing her too much.” Mary grieved little and had so enjoyed playing queen that according to the account by Pierre de Bourdeille, seigneur de Brantôme, she prolonged her departure for England by feigning an elaborate pretense of being pregnant—wrapping towels around her waist and fainting in public. Louise de Savoie was not fooled and demanded a physical examination, which exposed the ploy.

D
IANE de Poitiers was born on the last day of 1499 into a world of privilege, with an ancestry allied to the noblest in France. Her father Jehan de Poitiers’ family was one of the oldest in the area known as the Dauphiné in central-southern France, and through her mother, Jeanne de Batarnay, she was connected to the mighty Bourbons. The kings of France and dukes of Burgundy valued the Poitiers family and had made the head of the family comte de Valentinois in 1125. Their device was an upended flaming torch with the Latin motto “
Qui me alit me extinguit
”—“He who inflames me has the power to extinguish me.”
¹¹

In 1275, Diane’s grandfather, Aymar III de Poitiers, married Julie de Bourgogne, a direct descendant of King Robert the Pious, whose
dowry included the town and château of Saint-Vallier in the Dauphiné. As members of the family had always held high office, permission was granted for Aymar to marry the illegitimate daughter of Louis XI. Even though Aymar’s bride died in childbirth and Diane’s grandmother was his second wife, the connections with the royal house had remained strong.

Historians argue about the exact date of Diane’s birth, but the epitaph on her tomb at Anet reads: “Died 26 April 1566, aged 66 years, 3 months and 27 days.” As Diane had ordered her own tomb and her daughters carried out all her wishes, it is likely that this information is correct. Historians also debate the place of Diane’s birth, but since Saint-Vallier was the family’s principal seat and her father, Jehan, and grandfather Aymar were hoping the child would be the heir, it is probable Diane was born at this château. Jeanne de Batarnay’s firstborn, a son, had died soon after birth.

The château of Saint-Vallier was situated on a promontory overlooking the town, at the junction of two rivers, the Galure and the Rhône. Originally a monastery dedicated to Saint Valéry, it had been altered into a roughhewn feudal castle, flanked at the corners by four towers. This quiet corner of the Dauphiné on the border of Provence had some of the best forests for the country sport of the time:
la chasse
, hunting deer and wild boar on horseback with hounds.

The baby who heralded the new century was named Diane after the goddess of the chase and the moon that shone at her birth. Although the snow lay deep that winter the villagers and peasants of the Dauphiné followed local custom and came to marvel at the New Year’s child born into the great house of Poitiers. Diane’s was one of the oldest families of the Dauphiné and much was expected of its scions.

The South of France was well known for its soothsayers, and since the firstborn son of Jehan de Poitiers had died, the villagers brought with them an old woman famous for her prophecies. Gazing at the tiny baby swaddled tightly and wrapped well against the winter chill, the bent old woman announced to them all that this child’s star would raise her higher than a queen. At a time when superstition was rife and witches were still burned at the stake, the villagers took note. They never forgot the words uttered on that first day of the new century:

Jehan de Poitiers, seigneur de Saint-Vallier, was a proud and ambitious man. At fifteen, he had married Jeanne de Batarnay, and at seventeen he was given a lucrative post in the king’s personal entourage. After the death of his father, Poitiers became Grand Sénéchal of Provence, a protégé of the house of Bourbon, and inherited sixteen titles including seigneur de Saint-Vallier, marquis de Crotone, vicomte de l’Etoile, baron de Clérieux, and baron de Sérignan. Jehan was a handsome man, with clear blue eyes, blond beard and mustache, and well-shaped lips, as his pencil portrait (see page 77) by Jean Clouet shows.
¹²
Since he was a good soldier, popular and charming, Louis XII appointed Saint-Vallier Captain of the King’s Guard. Despite such preferment, Saint-Vallier could not forget that when his grandfather had been heavily in debt, he had sold his lands of Valentinois to the king, who raised the estate to a duchy and neglected to pay for them. The new duchy was then bestowed on Cesare Borgia, the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, in gratitude for bringing a papal bull to France. This bull granted Louis XII the annulment from his sadly hideous wife Jeanne and permission to marry Anne de Bretagne. Jehan de Poitiers was helpless against such an act of
force majeure
, but he taught Diane to remember the injustice that had been done to their family.

We know remarkably little about Diane de Poitiers’ infancy because the baptismal registers and civil archives were destroyed during the Wars of Religion and the pillaging of the Church of Saint-Vallier from 1567 to 1568. We do know she lost her mother at a very early age.

Although she had a surviving brother, Guillaume, and two sisters, it was Diane who captured her father’s heart and whom he took riding and hunting with him in the early mornings. All her life she would follow his training to discipline her body. At the age of six she had her own falcon and within a few years she could control any horse in her father’s stable. When riding, she wore a black velvet mask to preserve her complexion and protect her face from low branches and dust, as did the other ladies of the time. Like everyone else, she dressed in dark colors and a large cloak to protect her clothes. Wearing the traditional red boots and plumed cap, young Diane was never far behind her father at the front of the mounted hunters. On her gloved fist, Diane—as did most ladies who hunted—held a sparrowhawk or a merlin. It was
customary to hunt at least twice a week, and all the grandees had their own packs of hounds.

As we can see from the wonderful tapestries from that time, in the sixteenth century the chase was the greatest excitement, short of war, that life had to offer. It became Diane de Poitiers’ passion. When not hunting to hounds, she made it a lifelong habit to take long, energetic rides each morning in all weathers.

After the death of Diane’s mother, her education was carefully supervised by her father’s family. She was sent to join the household of Anne de Beaujeu, who lived at the time at Chantelles—a great and splendid manor a short distance from Moulins, the capital of her vast
domains. Diane could read Latin at seven and Greek by the time she was nine, and she played the lute and the oboe. Anne de Beaujeu encouraged theatricals, dancing, and games of every kind, indoors and out. There were dogs large and small, birds of prey to train on one’s arm and those in the many aviaries to teach to talk. Most important, there were other children like Diane, potential friends for life, including Anne’s own disadvantaged daughter, Suzanne, and her father’s young cousin, Charles de Bourbon-Montpensier. None of the children living in the circle of Anne de Beaujeu had any doubt about the great role each would inherit, and they relished every moment of their privileged upbringing. It was also clear to anyone who saw Diane de Poitiers that this highly intelligent, beautiful child with the pale white skin and red-gold hair would make a dynastic marriage.

As regent, Anne de Beaujeu had served France well; but she believed unquestioningly that a woman’s role was to obey first her elders, then the husband chosen for her, and to produce his heirs. Despite this conventional attitude, she was convinced that an educated woman was of greater interest and service to her husband. This cool and austere lady allowed herself only one passion—politics. From her father, Louis XI, she had inherited the qualities of a great statesman: patience and genius. At her court, she taught her high ideals to the children of the noblest families; and, while recognizing the different roles of men and women in society, she insisted that their “virtues should be the same.”

Described by one of her pupils as “tall and severe as a cathedral,” Anne encouraged them to use her renowned library, which contained famous works from classical literature as well as beautifully bound, illuminated religious manuscripts. Diane never forgot this library; years later, she modeled her own on the one she had known and loved at Moulins.

Madame de Beaujeu’s extraordinary influence on her young pupils could be attributed to her example of chastity, her sense of humor, and her dedication to duty. Hers had been a varied education, and the children in her care were taught to study the philosophies and logic of Boethius and Plato as well as the writings of the fathers of the Church. Diane also learned from this wise, highborn lady the true meaning of
the dignity of her rank, nobility of behavior, taste, deportment, and, above all, to despise intrigues. Anne urged her charges to bear in mind that society was still rough and vulgar and had need of their refining influence, to add their gaiety, refinement, grace, and patience to any gathering. She taught them the art of conversation, how to communicate with strangers, and not to discriminate between classes.

The children were taught to avoid unattractive gestures and movements: not to touch their faces, especially not their noses, eyes, or mouths. Young ladies should not jump or run; and, most important of all, they should never encourage young men to make advances. They were to be cool and evasive in all their responses. Anne de Beaujeu prepared the young ladies for marriage by teaching them complete obedience to their husbands, and never to show temper or create jealous scenes.