The castle at the Cher
Proudly stood over the river Cher, the castle of Chenonceau has seen many a master througout the centuries and lived through several wars before it became a historic monument in the safe keep of the current owners. Gorgeous as it is, Chenonceau ought to feature on anyone’s list for a holiday in France.
Although famous as the Ladies’ Castle,
after its many mistresses, the foundations of the Renaissance palace were laid
a lot earlier during the 13th century. At the time it didn’t yet sit in the
Cher’s river bed, but on its bank. Ransacked during the Hundred Years’ War,
Chenonceau fell into decline until it was saved by Thomas Bohier, chancelor to
king Louis XII, who borrowed from the royal treasure to buy the castle on the
bank of the Cher. Unfortunately Bohier died prematurely when only the main body of
Chenoneau had been finalised. His wife and heir soon followed which left
Chenonceau in the hands of their eldest son Antoine Bohier. Antoine quickly
discovered that his family had a 190 000 pound debt to the king. The price of a small house today, but an
enormous fortune at the time. Antoine saw no other way out than to hand over
Chenonceau to the royal family.
King
François I, although initially interested in the castle, soon didn’t really
know what to do with it anymore and left it to decline. So Chenonceau, partly
reconstructed but still empty and brand new, was abandonned and half forgotten.
Until it got its first mistress : Diane the Poitiers and mistress of King
Henri II.
Chenonceau in the hands of Diane de Poitiers
Diane de Poitiers was
a very beautiful and youthful woman. Especially the latter was quite rare
during the 16th century when people didn’t yet have all sorts of beauty
products and creams at their disposal to conserve their skin. She
was also a widow and known to be a calculating, rather cold woman. All this
didn’t seem to bother the young king. Young indeed, because Diane was no less
than twenty years Henri’s senior. The king had first met Diane de Poitiers as a
child when leaving for Spain as a hostage to the Spanish king. At his return in
1530 he saw Diane again with whom he remained in touch even after his marriage
to Catherine de Medici in 1533. Although this may seem a little strange, it is
important to bear in mind that especially royal weddings were hardly affairs of
the heart in the 16th century. Suitable
partners were selected based on their political or financial value rather than
love. The marriage of Henri II of France and Catherine the Medici was
arranged for them and they were married at fourteen.
Nevertheless,
the relationship between Henri II and Diane developed and became sexual even
before Henri’s accession to the throne. After king François I, Henri’s father’s
death, Diane’s heyday stared. As the
new king’s favourite she occupied an important position at court and acquired
the castle of Chenonceau as gift only months after the death of the old king. She
was also given the title of duchess of Valentois. Despite being mistress of
Chenonceau, Diane was not its owner until 1555 when she had pressured the king
long enough that he made the gift permanent.
When
Diane first occupied Chenonceau it was empty and had a relatively small unkept
garden. It was Diane who extended and planted the gardens. Part of the result
of her efforts are still to be seen today in the Jardin the Diane. The fountain
spraying water out of a rock and falling down onto a star-shaped stone, is
original. This part of the
Chenonceau gardens is planted anew twice a year so that visitors can admire
the blooming flowers the entire season.
Apart
from the gardens, Diane also extended the castle by having the bridge crossing the
Cher built. This bridge and the gallerie above were to serve as a cross-over
during World War II between occupied and free France. Today the bridge’s pillars house the extensive and
impressive kitchens of the chateau.
Diane de Poitiers fully furnished the château
as well, something its royal owner François I had never bothered to do. She
slept in what is now called the Queen’s Chamber and had the enormous
mantelpiece decoraed with her lover’s symbol: an H incorporating two C’s back to
back. Although they can also be seen as two D’s back to back. Some examples of
the ambigous symbol are still visible in Chenonceau however the one above the
mantlepiece in the Queen’s bedroom was removed by Catherine the Medici when she
became mistress of the fairytale castle.
Chenonceau as royal dwelling
Catherine
de Medici had lived her live until her husband’s unexpected death in the shadow
of Diane de Poitiers. As such she had hardly had any political power at all. Mother
of ten young children and of the new king, she saw herself forced to start
playing a political role as soon as she became a widow however. Soon after the
king’s sudden death during a jousting festival in 1559, Catherine was made part
of a plot but mostly had only one task ahead: secure the throne for her
children.
As Queen of France,
Catherine de Medici had lived in different palaces in and around Paris, but
she had always wanted the chateau of Chenonceau, her husband’s favorite’s home.
Once her husband king Henri had died, Catherine finally had the chance to
banish her rival with whom she had been forced to share her marriage from
court. Diane’s position had altered radically after her lover’s death: from
favourite and privileged to rather precarious. If the Queen had wanted it, she
could easily have had Diane executed. Catherine however had no desire to bring
her husband’s lover to trial. She did however reclaim jewellery being offered
to Diane as a gift but belonging to the treasure and the castle of Chenonceau.
In exchange, Catherine offered Diane the more valuable castle of Chaumont.
Diane was in no position to refuse and so Chenonceau became royal property once
more.
Understandably,
Catherine didn’t want anything in her new home to remind her of the former
occupant. From an early age, she had been interested in architecture and as
Queen of France she had been in charge of the reconstruction of the chateau of
Tournelles. In that context it won’t come as a surprise
that Catherine left her own mark to the unique palace. Overseeing the
construction of among other things the galery on top of the Pont de Diane, was
Maria-Catharina Gondi, an old friend of the Queen and one of the rare women at
the time to occupy the prestigious post of chancellor to the treasure and
administration. The new galery that was constructed on top of the bridge over
the Cher was two stories high. The work was finalised in 1577 and inaugurated
that same year with a huge banquet in king Henri III’s honour.
Apart
from the extensions to the palace, Catherine also had the gardens extended. Waterfalls
were created and cages for exotic animals and rare birds. Catherine also
planted mulberrytrees to accommodated silkworms. During her reign, Chenonceau
flourished and became the background to which lavish parties were thrown, such
as for the marriage of François II and Mary Queen of Scots in 1560. If
Catherine indeed sought to erase Diane’s memory from Chenonceau, she achieved
her goal. When visiting the magnificent palace, the hand of the Queen-Regent
can be recognised both in and outside.
Decline and restauration of Chenonceau
At
the moment of her death in 1589, Catherine de Medici left Chenonceau to her daughter-in-law
Louise of Lorraine, wife of king Henri III. The latter died only months after
his mother though, leaving behind a grieving. Queen Louise’s chamber at Chenonceau still bears witness
to its occupant’s dispair. The room is furbished with black
draperies embroidered with silver tears and crowns of thorns.
After decades of festivities and
extravagant parties, a shadow fell upon Chenonceau. Although Henri and Louise’s
heirs tried to maintain the enormous palace and extensive gardens, it all soon
fell into decay. The Valois dynasty had ended with Henry III who died without a
male heir. As a result pretenders to the throne from the Bourbon and the Guise
families fought it out between them. The conflict was settled in the favour of
the Bourbons, who were not very interested in the chateau of Chenonceau.
Spared
during the French Revolution of 1789, the palace remained empty until the 1950s
when it was finally bought by the Menier family who restored it to its former
glory.
