Against this we have to set the express statement of Louise of Savoy, who writes in her journal, under date 1512, that her son (born in 1494) had already and at an early age had a complaint _en secrete nature_. Now this was long before the belle Féronnière was ever heard of, and further it was prior to the intrigue with Jane Disome, who, by Queen Margarets showing, did not meet with the young prince until she had been married some time and was in despair of having children by her husband. The latter had lost his first wife late in 1511, and it is unlikely that he married Jane Lecoq until after some months of widowhood. To our thinking Prince Francis would have appeared upon the scene in or about 1514, his intrigue culminating in the scandal of the following year, in which Mons. Cruche played so conspicuous a part. With reference to the complaint from which King Francis is alleged to have suffered, one must not overlook the statement of a contemporary, Cardinal dArmagnac, who, writing less than a year before the Kings death, declares that Francis enjoys as good health as any man in his kingdom (Genins _Lettres de Marguerite_, 1841, p. 473). Cardinal dArmagnacs intimacy with the King enabled him to speak authoritatively, and his statement refutes the assertions of Brantôme, Guyon de la Nauthe and Mézeray, besides tending to the conclusion that the youthful complaint mentioned by Louise of Savoy was merely a passing disorder.--Ed.
Brantome mentions this tale in both the First and the Fourth Discourse of his _Dames Galantes_. In the former, after contending that all women are naturally inclined to vice--a view which he borrows from the _Roman de la Rose_, and which Pope afterwards re-echoed in the familiar line, Every woman is at heart a rake--he proceeds to speak of those who overcome their inclinations and remain virtuous:--
Of this, says he, we have a very fine story in the Hundred Tales of the Queen of Navarre; the one in which that worthy Lady of Pampeluna, vicious at heart and by inclination, burning too with love for that handsome Prince, Monsieur dAvannes, preferred to die consumed by the fire that possessed her rather than seek a remedy for it, as she herself declared in her last words on her deathbed. This worshipful and beautiful lady dealt herself death most iniquitously and unjustly; and as I once heard a worthy man and worthy lady say of this very passage, she did really offend against God, since it was in her power to deliver herself from death; whereas in seeking it and advancing it as she did, she really killed herself. And thus have done many similar to her, who by excessive continence and abstinence have brought about the destruction both of their souls and bodies.--Lalannes _OEuvres de Brantôme_, vol. ix. pp. 209-n.