The Serpent and the Moon: Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King (6 page)

Despite the seemingly endless receptions, long formal meals, lessons, and hours spent at the duchess’ school of manners, Diane still managed her wild gallops through the fields and forests. Only with great reluctance had Jehan de Poitiers allowed his precious daughter to leave his house, and solely on condition that she would be allowed to ride with the same abandon as at home.

When she was around twelve years old, Diane de Poitiers became one of Anne de Beaujeu’s
demoiselles d’honneur
, or maids of honor. Any stirrings of ambition in Diane’s young heart would not have been unnatural. The purpose of the cultured education and courtly manners taught at Moulins and Chantelles was to strengthen family alliances through a carefully arranged marriage; and the duchess was of the opinion that a girl should marry as young as thirteen or even earlier.

According to the contemporary chronicler Brantôme, there was no lady of a great house in France who was not at some time taught by this remarkable princess. Anne recognized Diane’s talents and that her potential was far superior to that of the other girls, even her own daughter, Suzanne, for whom she had written her famous guide to education,
Les Enseignements d’Anne de France à sa fille Suzanne de Bourbon
. This is an extraordinary document, expounding the highest ideals and moral principles—obedience, modesty, chastity, and piety—all
of which Anne de Beaujeu had learned from her pious father, Louis XI. It contained instructions such as: “Always dress well, be cool and poised, with modest eyes, softly-spoken, always constant and steadfast, and observe unyielding good sense.… God, who is justice itself, may tarry, but will leave nothing unpunished.… Nobles are the kinds of people who must see their reputation go from good to better, as much in virtue as in knowledge, so that they will be known …,” and “Another philosopher says that gentility of lineage without the nobility of courage should be compared with the dry tree which has no leaves, no fruit, and which does not burn well.” The simplest of all her advice was: “Avoid sin.”

The book’s final instruction, said to come directly from Louis XI, is: “
En toute chose on doit tenir le moyen
”—“Always keep a balanced view of everything”—a maxim Diane tried never to forget.

Another of Anne de Beaujeu’s young pupils at Moulins was Charles de Bourbon-Montpensier,
¹³
heir of the family’s junior branch. Anne de Beaujeu was very fond of this boy, and as she had no son, it was her great wish that the senior and junior branches of the family would unite through the marriage of Charles to her daughter, Suzanne. However, as her husband was adamantly opposed to the idea, she had to wait until his death in 1505
¹⁴
to arrange Charles’ betrothal to Suzanne. Anne de Beaujeu’s brother Louis XII was sufficiently intimidated by her to agree to the union—unwisely, in retrospect as the combined wealth of the young couple represented a formidable challenge to the crown. Further, Louis even allowed the bride and groom to bestow their worldly goods upon one another by law. As eighth duc de Bourbon (he would drop the Montpensier), Charles would become Constable of France, the highest office in the land. Among his titles was dauphin d’Auvergne, and sovereign prince of the Dombes area of eastern France, where he was a vassal of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

The wedding was as grand as that of royalty, with dukes and princes all wearing their crowns. For the first time, instead of ladies wiping
(se moucher)
their noses with their fingers, they used a square of fine fabric, which became known as a
mouchoir
(handkerchief).

T
ALL, dark, with flashing black eyes, a large nose, humorous mouth, and ready laugh, François I was as heartily impressive as his contemporary, Henry VIII of England. The French king was extravagant, spoiled, generous to a fault, ebullient, brave, and courteous, a scholar and a lover of women: in a word, a true
Renaissance
gentleman. Always the center of attention, François enjoyed jousting, dancing, and riding to hounds until he dropped with exhaustion. He wore a beard—all his companions did the same. His spurs were made of gold, as were the buttons on his clothes. His scented linen was the finest, and his brushes, goblets, and even his
rebec
, a type of mandolin, were made of silver.

Among François’ young companions was Robert III de La Marck, seigneur de Fleurange. Since childhood, Fleurange had called himself “
Le Jeune Aventureux
,” and at the age of ten he offered Louis XII his sword, pleading to serve in Italy. The king was charmed, but in view of the extreme youth of the “Adventurer,” he sent him to join the group at Amboise growing up with his heir, François. He became an amiable soldier, close friend, and confidant of the young king, who made him Captain of the Swiss Guard. Another of François’ youthful friends in his suite at Amboise was Anne de Montmorency, future Constable of France, who was totally devoted to his prince but quick to make enemies by his rough and overbearing ways.

The coronation, or
sacre
, took place on January 25, 1515 at Rheims. François entered the cathedral wearing a long tunic of white damask, edged in ermine, over a white silk shirt and shift. After swearing the oath of office, he replaced the white damask tunic with the coronation robe, a long hyacinth blue cloak covered with golden
fleur-de-lys
, and put on red boots and golden spurs. Then he was anointed with sacred oil from the Holy Ampulla said to have been brought by a dove to the baptism of the Frankish King Clovis in
A.D.
497. Anointment with this holy oil ensured that the French king was spiritually superior
to all other Christian monarchs and was the origin of his title “The Most Christian King.” The archbishop, Robert de Lenoncourt, presented François with the sword of Charlemagne, the ring, the royal scepter, and the “hand of justice”—a rod of gold, topped by a carved hand of ivory with the first two fingers and thumb pointing upward as if in benediction, the others curled under. He then placed on the king’s head the heavy golden crown of Charlemagne, made of four large golden
fleur-de-lys
covered in rubies, emeralds, and sapphires.

Thus bedecked, François I was led to his throne on a dais in the cathedral, where he turned and faced the congregation in his majesty. Standing, he made a solemn oath on the gospels to give his people peace, to guard them from greed and iniquity, to give them justice and mercy, and to extirpate heresy. At the sound of trumpets, the dignitaries within and the populace outside the cathedral all shouted: “
Vive le Roi!
” Queen Claude watched the ceremony with her imperious mother-in-law, Louise, and Marguerite, François’ beloved sister, from above on a stand in the church. It is recorded that both Louise and her
daughter shed tears of emotion. The choir sang a
Te Deum
, and wearing the heavy gold crown throughout the Pontifical Mass, François I received communion.

At the time of the coronation in the spring of 1515, Diane de Poitiers was just fifteen, the same age as the queen. The favor shown by Louis XII to Diane’s father continued under the new monarch, and the whole court noticed his beautiful daughter sitting during the ceremonies according to her rank with the queen’s ladies. Like Claude, Diane was modest, conscious of the great occasion and the honor of attending.

Antonio de’ Beatis, the contemporary traveler and secretary to Cardinal Luigi of Aragon, described the king’s mother, Louise, as “an unusually tall woman, still finely complexioned, very rubicund and lively and seems to me to be about forty years old but more than good, one could say, for at least another ten.”
¹⁵
Madame Louise,
¹⁶
rather than the queen, accompanied her son everywhere, and she played an important part in his government.

The king’s sister, Marguerite, was intelligent, animated, and attractive. The contemporary chronicler Brantôme wrote revealingly: “Marguerite’s masculine attire suits her well, and her Adonis face is so bewildering you cannot tell if she is male or female. She could as easily be a charming boy as the beautiful lady she is.” Other malicious gossips suggested that her close friendship with her brother was incestuous. Sadly, her marriage to the duc d’Alençon was childless and she sought comfort in religion. Marguerite studied religious texts and became a
friend of many of the reformers of the Church. Later, after she was widowed and had married Henri d’Albret, king of Navarre, her court became a refuge for Protestants.

Part of the traditional coronation ritual was a pilgrimage by the new monarch to the shrine of Saint Marcoul, a Norman saint credited with the gift of healing. It was commonly believed in France that a monarch who ruled by “divine right” had access to miraculous powers assisted by the saint. François had been transformed by the coronation ceremony and he believed he could indeed cure the sick. A number of people suffering from scrofula were presented to him for ritual “laying on of hands” as he “touched for the king’s evil.”
¹⁷

From the shrine, François I continued on to Compiègne, to attend a grand reception for all the ambassadors. Here the king granted the request for the hand of his sister-in-law Renée, from a young man of fifteen who would become his lifelong enemy, the future Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.