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I'll try to be brief about this. King Francois Ier created a lot of wealth in this land. One of his ministers wives built this castle in the early 1500's. François liked it so much that he had the minister audited. Lo and behold, the fellow had embezzled the crown!!! The wife lost her castle. François soon died so it belonged to King Henry II. Now Henri had married Catherine de Médicis for all the good reasons -- and they were all political.... The woman he loved was named Diane de Poitiers -- said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Henri turned the castle over to Diane and tried to keep Catherine busy at the Louvre in Paris. You know now about the accident: Henry was killed by his best friend while jousting. He left three young boys who would each be king, in reality can you guess who ran things now? Catherine let Diane know that she was no longer welcome on royal property. This is the portrait of Catherine de Médicis.
