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Two Rivals for the Love of a Renaissance King
Touchstone
September 2005
Featuring: Catherine de Medici; Diane de Poitiers; Henri II
432 pages
ISBN: 0743251067
Trade Size (reprint)
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Non-Fiction
Set against the stunning backdrop of Renaissance France and
peopled by the titans of European history, The Serpent and
the Moon is a true story of love, war, intrigue, betrayal,
and persecution. At its heart is one of the world's great
love stories: the life-long devotion of King Henri II of
France to Diane de Poitiers, a beautiful aristocrat who was
nineteen years older than her lover. Diane was present at Henri's birth. It was Diane who
lovingly embraced six-year-old Henri when he was sent as a
hostage to a Spanish prison in exchange for his father. On
his release four years later, it was Diane who eased the
adolescent Henri out of his bitterness. As Henri matured,
he modeled his life on the chivalric code, wore Diane's
famous colors of black and white, and vowed to protect the
lady whose image had sustained him throughout his childhood
imprisonment. In the sixteenth century, scions of royal houses were
political pawns to be exchanged in marriage by rulers of
Europe seeking to meet their own ambitions. At age
fourteen, Henri was married to fourteen-year-old Catherine
de' Medici, an unattractive but extremely wealthy heiress
who was to bring half of Italy to France as her dowry. When
Catherine met Henri on their wedding day, she fell
instantly in love, but Henri could see no one but the
beautiful Diane de Poitiers. Henri became dauphin and then
king, all the while becoming more devoted to Diane,
granting her exalted titles, magnificent castles, and the
crown jewels and increasing the jealous fury of his wife.
Diane and Henri ruled France as one. While their love was
sincere and discreet, many at court were not sure of their
true relationship. Catherine, however, was in no doubt. She
took as her secret motto the words "Hate and Wait" and
lived for the day Diane would die and she could win Henri's
love and rule by his side. Fate had another plan. Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, herself a
descendant of both Catherine and Diane, imbues this seldom-
told story with an insider's grasp of royal life and
exquisite details gleaned from extensive research in the
libraries, palaces, and private collections in Europe. Set
in a time of unprecedented cultural and religious
revolution, constant war, and the building of France's most
famous chateaux and the creation of its Renaissance art,
The Serpent and the Moon is a fascinating love story as
well as a richly woven history of an extraordinary time.
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