Editing Château de Chenonceau (section)

===Diane de Poitiers===
[[File:ChenonceauduCerceau01.jpg|thumb|The château with de l'Orme's bridge, before the addition of the [[Long gallery|gallery]]: views from the west (top) and east (bottom), drawn by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau {{Circa|1570}}]]

In 1535 the château was seized from {{ill|Antoine II Bohier|fr|lt=Bohier's son}} by King [[Francis I of France]] for unpaid debts to the Crown. After Francis' death in 1547, [[Henry II of France|Henry II]] offered the château as a gift to his mistress, [[Diane de Poitiers]], who became fervently attached to the château along the river.{{sfn|Garrett|2010|p=108}} In 1555 she commissioned [[Philibert de l'Orme]] to build the arched bridge joining the château to its opposite bank.<ref name=MoC>{{Base Mérimée|PA00097654|PA00097654, "Domaine de Chenonceaux"}}</ref> Diane then oversaw the planting of extensive flower and vegetable gardens along with a variety of fruit trees. Set along the banks of the river, but buttressed from flooding by stone terraces, the exquisite gardens were laid out in four triangles.

Diane de Poitiers was the unquestioned mistress of the castle, but ownership remained with the crown until 1555 when years of delicate legal manoeuvres finally yielded possession to her.