Women of Modern France | Page 6

licentiousness and brutality, such
wholesale murder, persecution, and burning at the stake have never
been equalled, except under Nero.
Michelet reveals the character of Diana in these words: "Affected by
nothing, loving nothing, sympathizing with nothing; of the passions
retaining only those which will give a little rapidity to the blood; of the
pleasures preferring those that are mild and without violence--the love
of gain and the pursuit of money; hence, there was absence of soul.
Another phase was the cultivation of the body, the body and its beauty
uniquely cared for by virile treatment and a rigid régime which is the
guardian of life--not weakly adored as by women who kill themselves
by excessive self-love." M. Saint-Amand continues, after quoting the
above: "At all seasons of the year, Diana plunges into a cold bath on

rising. As soon as day breaks, she mounts a horse, and, followed by
swift hounds, rides through dewy verdure to her royal lover to
whom--fascinated by her mythological pomp--she seems no more a
woman but a goddess. Thus he styles her in verses of burning
tenderness:
"'Hélas, mon Dieu! combien je regrette Le temps que j'ai perdu en ma
jeunesse! Combien de fois je me suis souhaité Avoir Diane pour ma
seule maîtresse. Mais je craignais qu'elle, qui est déesse, Ne se voulût
abaisser jusque là.'"
[Alas, my God! how much I regret the time lost in my youth! How
often have I longed to have Diana for my only mistress! But I feared
that she who is a goddess would not stoop so low as that.]
Catherine remained quietly in the palace, preferring her position,
unpleasant as it was, to the persecution and possible incarceration in a
convent which would result from any interference on her part between
the king and his mistress. Without power or privileges, she was a mere
figurehead--a good mother looking after her family. However, she was
not idle; without taking part in the intrigues, she was studying
them--planning her future tactics; in all relations she was diplomatic,
her conversation ever displaying exquisite tact.
While France groaned under the burdens of seemingly interminable
wars and exorbitant taxes, her king revelled in excessive luxury; the
aim of his favorite mistress seemed to be to acquire wealth and spend it
lavishly for her own pleasure. Voluptuousness, cruelty, and
extravagance were the keynotes of the time. All means were used to
procure revenues, the king easing any pangs of conscience by burning a
few heretics whose estates were then quickly confiscated.
Diana, even at the age of sixty, still held Henry in her toils; an easy
prey for the wiles of the flatterer, he was kept in ignorance of the hatred
and anger heaping up against him. In the midst of riotous festivity,
Henry II. died, a victim of the lance of Montgomery; and the twelve
years' reign of debauchery, cruelty, and shameless extravagance came
to an end.

Whatever else may be said of Diana, she proved to be a liberal
patroness of art and letters; this was possible for her, since, in addition
to inherited wealth and the gifts of lands and jewels from the king, she
procured the possessions of many heretics whose confiscated wealth
was assigned to her as a faithful servant and supporter of the church.
Her hotel at Anet was one of the most elaborate, tasteful, and elegant in
all France; there the finest specimens of Italian sculpture, painting, and
woodwork were to be seen. The king, upon making her a duchess,
presented her with the beautiful château of Chenonceaux, which was so
much coveted by Catherine. The latter attempted to make Diana pay for
the château, thus interrupting her plans for building; upon discovering
this, Henry sent his own artists and workmen to carry out Diana's
desires. Such was the power of his mistress over the weak king that he
respected her wishes far more than he did those of his queen. This was
one of those instances in which Catherine saw fit to remain silent and
plan revenge.
The death of Diana of Poitiers was that common to all women of her
position. She died in 1566, forgotten by the world--her world. In her
will she made "provision for religious houses, to be opened to women
of evil lives, as if, in the depth of her conscience, she had recognized
the likeness between their destiny and her own." Like the former
mistresses, she had been required to give up the jewels received from
Henry II.; but as this order was from Francis II. instead of from his
mistress, the gems were returned to the crown after having passed
successively through the hands of three mistresses.
Catherine's time had not yet come, for she dared not interfere when
Mary Stuart (a beautiful, inexperienced, and impetuous girl of
seventeen)