{"id":15180,"date":"2022-06-21T12:27:29","date_gmt":"2022-06-21T10:27:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=210216"},"modified":"2022-06-21T12:40:13","modified_gmt":"2022-06-21T10:40:13","slug":"the-french-royal-mistresses-who-made-it-about-more-than-sex","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/the-french-royal-mistresses-who-made-it-about-more-than-sex\/","title":{"rendered":"The French royal mistresses who made it about more than sex"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 21 June 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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When, in 1444, Agn\u00e8s Sorel was officially made royal mistress to the 40-year-old king Charles VII of France, the line between lover and political player became thinner. Never before had a monarch\u2019s sexual partner received such recognition. Known as the \u2018Dame de Beaut\u00e9\u2019 (Lady of Beauty), Sorel had been praised for her perfect characteristics: blonde hair, blue eyes and voluptuous figure. Surely, however, one needed more than attractive physical attributes to entice a man \u2013 let alone a king \u2013 and rise at court.<\/p>\n

The humanist scholar Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who would later become Pope Pius II, noted that Charles \u201cfell so much in love with her that he could not even spend an hour without her. Whether at table, in bed, at council, she was always by his side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorel\u2019s influence exceeded their passionate and enamoured relationship. More importantly, she set a precedent, a goal for any woman who would seduce a king. It was possible, after all, for women to climb the political ladder at court, but they were going to need much more than sex appeal to do so.<\/p>\n

Soon enough, other women would follow in Agn\u00e8s Sorel\u2019s footsteps and become political and diplomatic agents in their own right. Here are three other French mistresses who worked their way to the top\u2026<\/p>\n

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Diane de Poitiers: the shadow queen of Henry II<\/h3>\n

In many ways, Diane de Poitiers (1499\u20131566) is a more accomplished version of Agn\u00e8s Sorel. The widow of the Seigneur d\u2019Anet and Comte de Maulevrier, Louis de Br\u00e9z\u00e9, she moved on from her husband\u2019s death by taking a lover 20 years younger than her. And what a choice for a lover: the prince Henry.<\/p>\n

They had met when Diane was lady-in-waiting to Henry\u2019s grandmother, and from the time that she became his mistress in 1534, when he was 15 years old, her effect on the young prince was strong. He fell utterly in love with her. c.<\/p>\n

It is believed that she taught him all she knew about love, sexuality and pleasure. Henry had been married to Catherine de Medici<\/a> since 1533, but he continued to favour his mistress with patronage and, as king, made her the official royal favourite. Diane was also made a permanent member of the privy council \u2013 much to the chagrin of Catherine, who had no say in the matter.<\/p>\n

It is not surprising that Catherine, who wielded next to no political influence, suffered a great deal from Henry\u2019s relationship with Diane; it was clear to everyone that she was the \u2018third wheel\u2019. Devoted to her husband, she never complained \u2013 at least not in public \u2013 and even tolerated their exuberant declarations of love.<\/p>\n

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Diane de Poitiers became became mistress to the young Prince Henry in 1534. (Photo by Leemage\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Then when the king and queen failed to have a child and heir, she was left with no choice but to accept Diane\u2019s help to secure the dynastic line. Diane would encourage Henry to go to his wife\u2019s bedchamber, where she advised and assisted during the royal couple\u2019s intimate moments. This proved to be fruitful as they had 10 children together, but these moments were humiliating for Catherine.<\/p>\n

Henry had other mistresses and other children. Janet Stewart, the illegitimate daughter of James IV of Scotland, gave him Henri d\u2019Angoul\u00eame, who would be legitimised. Yet no one was able to achieve the closeness that Diane managed. While she and the king did not have children together, she was involved in all his children\u2019s education, royal and non-royal.<\/p>\n

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By the time the young Prince Henry became king of France in 1547, Diane had become his shadow, always to be found by his side. (Photo by Fine Art Images\/Heritage Images\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Many recognised Diane\u2019s incredible and indescribable influence over the French king, who always displayed her colours during tournaments and festivities. Their relationship went beyond lust; Diane was the love of Henry\u2019s life and was treated as such.<\/p>\n

His constant favouring of her meant that she developed a strong political network, and courtiers \u2013 domestic and foreign \u2013 often sought her patronage and support. Undeniably, while she never sought the title for herself, Diane was queen in all but name, and used all her agency to protect her own interests, as well as those of the ones she favoured.<\/p>\n

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Gabrielle d\u2019Estr\u00e9es: the \u2018almost queen\u2019<\/h3>\n

It was in the midst of the eighth religious civil war that the new king, Henry IV, met and fell in love with the sublime Gabrielle d\u2019Estr\u00e9es (1573\u201399). Little did he know that this love story would lead to a real partnership.<\/p>\n

From a family of notorious femmes fatales, Gabrielle and her sisters were praised for their beauty and charm all around France. However, Gabrielle showed no interest in power \u2013 at least at first.<\/p>\n

When Henry met Gabrielle in 1590, he was absolutely infatuated, but she was enamoured with another: Roger de Saint-Lary, Duke of Bellegarde, a well-built, elegant man who had proved his military prowess time after time. It took months for Henry\u2019s advances to seduce the young woman.<\/p>\n