Page "Diane de Poitiers" Paragraph 10

After the capture of Francis I by Charles V's troops during the battle of Pavia ( 1525 ), the two eldest princes, Francis and Henry, were retained as hostages in Spain in exchange for their father.

Because the ransom was not paid in time, the two boys ( eight and seven at the time ) had to spend nearly four years isolated in a bleak castle, facing an uncertain future.

Henry found solace by reading the knight-errantry tale Amadis de Gaula.

The experience may account for the strong impression that Diane made on him, as the very embodiment of the ideal gentlewomen he read about in Amadis.

As his mother was already dead, Diane gave him the farewell kiss when he was sent to Spain.

When he was returned to France at the age of 12, she was ordered by Francis I to act as a mentor to him and teach him courtly manners and more.

At the tournament held for the coronation of Francis's new wife Eleanor in 1531, while the Dauphin Francis saluted the new queen as expected, Henry addressed his salute to Diane.