Filippa Duci, dame de Couy or Filippa Ducci, dame de Couy (; 1520,

Moncalieri Moncalieri (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 56,134 inhabitants (31 January 2022) about directly south of downtown Turin (to whose Metropolitan City of Turin, Metropolitan City it belongs), in Piedmont, Italy. It is the most populous suburb ...

, Piedmont – before October 1586, near

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

), was a French (originally

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

) courtesan. She was the mother of Diane de France.

Life

Her father was Gian Antonio Duci, member of a minor Italian noble family. During the

Italian Wars The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...

in 1537, the French dauphin Henry (later

Henry II of France Henry II (; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was List of French monarchs#House of Valois-Angoulême (1515–1589), King of France from 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I of France, Francis I and Claude of France, Claude, Du ...

) stayed with a

squire In the Middle Ages, a squire was the shield- or armour-bearer of a knight. Boys served a knight as an attendant, doing simple but important tasks such as saddling a horse or caring for the knight's weapons and armour. Terminology ''Squire'' ...

, Filippa's brother, also named Gian Antonio Duci. Henry was seduced by Filippa on first sight, and she became his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

. When Henri heard Duci was pregnant, he arranged for her to be maintained until she gave birth. Duci gave birth to their daughter, Diane de France, in Paris in 1538. This proved that Henry was not

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants * Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity *Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...

; he had been married to

Catherine de Médici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to King Henry II. She was the mother of French kings Fran ...

, yet had still not produced an

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

due to urological problems. The baby was named Diane after Henry's love, his mistress

Diane de Poitiers Diane de Poitiers (9 January 1500 – 25 April 1566) was a French noblewoman and courtier who wielded much power and influence as King Henry II of France, Henry II's Maîtresse-en-titre, royal mistress and adviser until his death. Her position inc ...

, who raised the child along with her own two children. In 1541,

Francis I of France Francis I (; ; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis&nbs ...

granted Duci 400 a year for life in an Ordinaire de Touraine and allowed her to retire to a convent. She married the Italian gentleman and privy councillor Jean Bernardin de Saint-Severin in 1546. After Diane was legitimized, Filippa was known as dame de Bléré en Touraine. In 1582, she became a

lady in waiting A lady-in-waiting (alternatively written lady in waiting) or court lady is a female personal assistant at a court, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman but ...

to queen dowager Catherine de Médici.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Duci, Filippa 1520 births 16th-century deaths 16th-century Italian women Mistresses of Henry II of France French ladies-in-waiting Household of Catherine de' Medici