Filippa Duci
Encyclopedia
Filippa Duci dame de Couy, was a Piedmontese courtesan.
the French dauphin Henry (later Henry II of France
) stayed with a squire, Filippa's brother. Henry was seduced by Filippa on first sight and she became his mistress, giving birth to their daughter Diane de France
in Paris in 1538 and thus proving Henry was not sterile (he had been married to Catherine de Médicis yet still not produced an heir). Francis I of France
granted her 400 'livres tournois' a year for life in an Ordinaire de Touraine in 1541. She married the Italian gentleman and privy councillor Jean Bernardin de Saint-Severin and after Diane was legitimised Filippa was known as dame de Bléré en Touraine. In 1582 she became a lady in waiting to Catherine de Médicis.
Life
Her father was Gian Antonio Duci and during the Italian WarsItalian Wars
The Italian Wars, often referred to as the Great Italian Wars or the Great Wars of Italy and sometimes as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts from 1494 to 1559 that involved, at various times, most of the city-states of Italy, the Papal States, most of the major states of Western...
the French dauphin Henry (later Henry II of France
Henry II of France
Henry II was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559.-Early years:Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, the son of Francis I and Claude, Duchess of Brittany .His father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by his sworn enemy,...
) stayed with a squire, Filippa's brother. Henry was seduced by Filippa on first sight and she became his mistress, giving birth to their daughter Diane de France
Diane de France
Diane de France was the natural daughter of Henry II, King of France, and his Piedmontese mistress Filippa Duci. Some sources claim that she was the daughter of Diane de Poitiers....
in Paris in 1538 and thus proving Henry was not sterile (he had been married to Catherine de Médicis yet still not produced an heir). Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
granted her 400 'livres tournois' a year for life in an Ordinaire de Touraine in 1541. She married the Italian gentleman and privy councillor Jean Bernardin de Saint-Severin and after Diane was legitimised Filippa was known as dame de Bléré en Touraine. In 1582 she became a lady in waiting to Catherine de Médicis.