Italy has many captivating and enigmatic historical figures. They are personally responsible for hours of unmissable readings and research. One of those figures was born into the Medici family: Catherine de Medici.
Catherine was a woman with a taste for food, an expert in hunting, obsessed with astrology, and a mother of nine children; Without a doubt, these characteristics define a woman who was called Madame Serpent.
HIS EARLY YEARS
From the marriage of Lorenzo de Medici and Madeleine de La Tour Auvergne, already several centuries ago, Caterina María Rómula de Lorenzo de Medici was born on April 3, 1519; she was better known as Catherine de Medici. Her great-uncle, Clement VII, would be who would take care of her as a consequence of her premature orphanhood caused by the plague that affected her parents. Since then, the fate of the nickname The Florentine pointed to not being the most graceful.
Between the ages of 9 and 11, Catherine was hidden in convents within Italian territory during the dispute so-called Sack of Rome, a period in which the Pope lost power and the Medici family was in great danger. Fortunately, the revolt fell, and Clement VII arranged, for her convenience, with the King of France, Francis I, to marry her to the heir to the French crown.
At just 14 years old and in Marseille, Catherine married Duke de Orleans, who would be named Henry II of French years later. From this marriage would be born her seven children: Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III, Francis Duke de Anjou, Elisabeth, Claude, and Margaret. The first three would be kings of France without any descendants; and their daughters, queen consorts. Elisabeth would marry Philip II of Spain; Claude with the Duke of Lorraine; and Margaret to Henry IV of France.
HELL MARRIAGE
During almost all the years of the life of Henry II, the relationship with Catherine was cold; This is how Lorenzo de Medici makes it clear in the book The Medicis, our history:
“Not happy with despising her and showing her hatred in public, he fell in love with Diane de Poitiers, a woman twenty years older than him, with whom he maintained a relationship until her death.”
This situation meant that the Queen Mother was always viewed with bad intentions by the court and the French population. The adulterous relationship with her husband caused Catherine great emotional blows. However, despite the complicated marital relationship that she overwhelmed “The Italian”, as she was contemptuously nicknamed by the French; she knew how to handle the situation.
Upon the death of Henry II, caused by an accident during a tournament in which she participated, Catherine took command of France. Although her son, Francis II, was the one who should govern, his fragile character made him cede power to her mother. One of the first actions that Catherine would carry out would be to make Diane de Poitiers return the jewels given to her as a result of her adulterous relationship with Henry II. Ironically, Diane would turn out to be Catherine’s distant cousin.
QUEEN AT LAST
Her children, Francis II and Charles IX would then be the future heirs to the throne; unfortunately, none would live longer than the mother, and none would have the necessary character to govern. During the reign of both sons, it was Catherine took charge of France.
During her political career of Catherine, her higher conflict was to control the civil wars caused by the intolerance existing between Catholics and Protestants. One of the decisions she skilfully made was to marry her daughter Margaret to Enrique de Navarra to calm things down since Enrique was a Protestant, and the princess was a Catholic. Similar was her intention with her son Henry III and Queen Elizabeth I of England but unfortunately was never carried out.
Finally, Henry III did not have children; Francis de Anjou (the fourth male child) died without issue; the crown passed into the hands of Enrique, King of Navarra, and Margaret de Medici.
MADAME SERPENT
Catherine was nicknamed Madame Serpent by the French for the supposed poisoning that she would order against Francis I. She was an intelligent, cunning, and well-educated woman. She spoke Italian, French, and Latin just as she knew Greek. Her intellect ranged from politics, poetry, philosophy, and music.
It would be she who would finish building the Louvre palace, becoming the first to inhabit it. She ordered to buy works of art, such as a statue of Adonis and had the Tuileries Palace built. She was one of the first to want to impose a habit.
Sources: De Medici, Lorenzo. 2002. The Medicis Our History., 113–142. Pocket Zeta Autobiography