Christy English

C.W. Gortner: A Notorious Threesome: Catherine de Medici, Diane de Poitiers and Henri III

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010 | C.W. Gortner, Guest Posts

Here at last is the fabulous guest post I have been waiting for…a few words from C.W. Gortner on Catherine de Medici and her long time rival for her husband’s affections, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers.

A Notorious Threesome: Catherine de Medici, Diane de Poitiers and Henri III

The ménage-a-trois between Catherine de Medici, her husband Henri II of France, and his mistress Diane de Poitiers is notorious. It played out in full view of the court and was used to blacken Catherine’s name.

It is important to remember that Catherine was only fifteen when she arrived in France to wed Henri, who shared her age yet had already given his heart to Diane, a woman twenty years his senior. While Catherine surely had illusions of her own concerning her marriage, she learned how futile these were, for she ended up sharing her entire married life with Diane, without a single instance of public protest.

Because it looked to the world as though Catherine put up with it, her outward compliance was later leveled against her when she became queen-regent. It was said she never did anything that did not advance her ‘passion for power’ and she suffered Diane because it suited her to have Henri occupied, while she prepared the path of her ascendancy. Exactly how her detractors believed she went about this path is unclear; given the circumstances, Catherine must have found the accusation amusing.

In a letter sent in 1583, long after Diane and Henri’s deaths, she made this mention of her rival: “If I made good cheer, it was the King whom I sought to please; for never did a woman who loved her husband succeed in loving his whore.”

Evidently, she was not as compliant as her enemies thought.

Thank you, Christopher, for that entertaining and educational post. I am glad to hear that Catherine de Medici spoke out in the end. And I am sure that I am not alone when I say that I am also glad that she has you to speak for her.

For more about this fascinating love triangle, pick up C.W. Gortner’s latest novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI wherever books are sold. Or, for speed and ease, just hit one of the following links to

Barnes and Noble:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Confessions-of-Catherine-de-Medici/C-W-Gortner/e/9780345501868/?itm=1&USRI=confession+of+catherine+de+medici

Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Catherine-Medici-Novel/dp/0345501861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1274469738&sr=1-1

Or Indie Bound:

http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780345501868

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