Catherine de' Medici

Catherine de' Medici (April 13, 1519, Florence – January 5, 1589, Blois), born in Italy as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de' Medici, and later lived in France under the name Catherine de Médicis, was Queen of France as the wife of King Henry II of France, of the Valois branch of the kings of France, and mother of three further kings of that branch. This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in the United States and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or more. ... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family during the Renaissance, whose wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Becoming first bankers, and later politicians, clergy and nobles, the Medici attained their greatest prominence during the 15th through 17th centuries... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... Events March 4 - Hernán Cortés lands in Mexico. ... Founded 59 BC as Florentia Region Tuscany Mayor Leonardo Domenici (Democratici di Sinistra) Area  - City Proper  102 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 356,000 almost 500,000 3,453/km² Time zone CET, UTC+1 Latitude Longitude 43°47 N 11°15 E www. ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Rebellion of the Catholic League against King Henry III of France, in revenge for his murder of Duke Henry of Guise. ... Blois is a city in France, the préfecture (capital) city of the Loir-et-Cher département, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. ... Marriage and Children On October 28, 1533, he married Catherine of Medici (April 13, 1519 - January 5, 1589) Issue: François II (January 19, 1544 - December 5, 1560) Elisabeth de France (April 2, 1545 - October 3, 1568) married Philip II of Spain Claude (November 12, 1547 - February 21, 1575) married... The Valois Dynasty succeeded the Capetian Dynasty as rulers of France from 1328-1589. ...

Born in Florence, Italy, she was a daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and a French princess, Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne. Having lost both her parents at an early age, Catherine was sent to a convent to be educated; she was only fourteen when she was married (on October 28, 1533), at Marseille, to the duke of Orléans, whose elder brother François was alive at the time, but who would become King Henry II of France. Florence (Italian, Firenze) is a city in the center of Tuscany, in central Italy, on the Arno River, with a population of around 400,000, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000. ... Lorenzo di Piero de Medici (September 9, 1492 - May 4, 1519), Duke of Urbino, grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent; he was ruler of Florence from 1513 to his untimely death in 1519. ... Madeleine de la Tour dAuvergne (birthdate unknown though apparently in 1501, died about 1519) was the wife of Lorenzo (II) de Medicis, Duke of Urbino, and the mother of Catherine of Medici (1519-1589) who became queen of France. ... October 28 is the 301st day of the year (302nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 64 days remaining. ... Events January 25 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne Boleyn, his second Queen consort. ... City motto: Actibus immensis urbs fulget Massiliensis. ... Francis I (French: François Ier) (September 12, 1494 – July 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (French: le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. ... Marriage and Children On October 28, 1533, he married Catherine of Medici (April 13, 1519 - January 5, 1589) Issue: François II (January 19, 1544 - December 5, 1560) Elisabeth de France (April 2, 1545 - October 3, 1568) married Philip II of Spain Claude (November 12, 1547 - February 21, 1575) married...

Her uncle was Pope Clement VII (the pope who refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon). Although Clement VIII always addressed Catherine as his niece, he was in fact a first cousin of her grandfather. It was the pope who arranged her marriage negotiating with Henry's father Francis I of France. Francis, still engaged in his lifelong struggle against Charles V, was only too glad of the opportunity to strengthen his influence in the Italian peninsula, while Clement, ever needful of help against his too powerful protector, was equally ready to hold out some bait. During the reign of Francis, Catherine exercised little influence in France. She was young, a foreigner, in a country that had great weight in the world of politics, of unproven ability, and over-shadowed by more important persons. For ten years after her marriage, she had no children. In consequence, whispers of a divorce began at court, and it seemed possible that Francis, alarmed at the possible extinction of his royal house, would listen to such a proposal. But Catherine did produce children, and Francis lived long enough to see his grandchildren before he died. For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII. Clement VII, né Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (May 26, 1478 – September 25, 1534) was pope from 1523 to 1534. ... Francis I (French: François Ier) (September 12, 1494 – July 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (French: le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. ... Charles V Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain Charles V (Spanish: Carlos I, Dutch: Karel V, German: Karl V.) (24 February 1500–21 September 1558) is considered (the first) King of Spain though in fact was his son the first who used that title. ...

When her maternal aunt the Duchess of Albany died, Catherine inherited the County of Auvergne.

During the reign of her husband (1547–1559), Catherine lived a quiet and passive life but observed what was going on. Henry being completely under the influence of his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, Catherine had little authority. In 1552, when the king left the kingdom for the campaign of Metz, she was nominated regent, but with very limited powers. This continued even after the accession of her sickly son Francis II of France at age 15. His wife, Mary, Queen of Scots, little disposed to meddle with politics on her own account, was managed by her uncles, the cardinal of Lorraine and the duke of Guise. The queen-mother, however, soon grew weary of the domination of the Guises, and entered upon a course of secret opposition. On April 1, 1560 she named as chancellor Michel de l'Hôpital, who advocated a policy of conciliation. Diane de Poitiers (September 3, 1499 - April 25, 1566) was a fixture at the courts of several French kings, and became notorious as the mistress of King Henri II. She was born the daughter of Jean de Poitiers, Seigneur de Saint Vallier in the château de Saint-Vallier, in... // High public office A regent, from the Latin regens who reigns is anyone who acts of head of state, especially if not the Monarch (who has higher titles). ... Francis II (French: François II) (January 19, 1544 – December 5, 1560) was a King of France (1559 – 1560). ... Mary I of Scotland (Mary Stuart or Stewart) (December 8, 1542 – February 8, 1587), better known as Mary, Queen of Scots, was the ruler of Scotland from December 14, 1542 – July 24, 1567. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ... Michel lHospital Michel de lHôpital (or lHospital) (c. ...

Catherine unwittingly had vast influence on fashions for the next 350 years when she enforced a ban on thick waists at court attendance during the 1550s. For nearly 350 years, women's primary means of support was the corset, with laces and stays made of whalebone or metal. They forcefully shrank women's waists from their natural dimensions to as little as 43, 38, or even fewer centimetres (17, 15, or fewer inches). She has also been said to have been one of the most "influential people in culinary history" [1]. Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Corset Hourglass corset from around 1880. ...

On the death of Francis (December 5, 1560), Catherine became regent during the minority of her second son, Charles IX of France, and found before her a career worthy of the most soaring ambition. She was then forty-one years old, but, although she was the mother of nine children, she was still vigorous and active. She retained her influence for more than twenty years in the troubled period of the French Wars of Religion. At first she listened to the moderate counsels of l'Hôpital to avoid siding definitely with either party, but her character and the habits of policy to which she had been accustomed tended to be at odds with this stance. She was zealous in the interests of her children, especially of her favourite third son, the duke of Anjou. December 5 is the 339th day (340th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berhick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ... Charles IX (June 27, 1550 – May 30, 1574) was born Charles-Maximilien, the son of King Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici. ... The French Wars of Religion were a series of conflicts fought between the Catholic League and the Huguenots from the middle of the sixteenth century to the Edict of Nantes in 1598. ...

Like many of that time, she looked upon statesmanship in particular as a career in which finesse, lying, and assassination by poisoning were also one of her most famous if not admirable, traits. Rumors of a hidden or trap door to dispose the bodies of her victims does bring to light a more sinister side of the renaissance queen. By habit a Catholic, but above all fond of power, she was determined to prevent the Protestants from getting the upper hand and almost equally resolved not to allow them to be utterly crushed, in order to use them as a counterpoise to the Guises. This trimming policy met with little success: rage and suspicion so possessed men's minds that she could not long control the opposing parties, and one civil war followed another toward the end of her life. In 1567, after the Enterprise of Meaux, she dismissed l'Hopital and joined the Catholic party. Having failed to crush the Protestant rebellion by arms, she resumed, in 1570, the policy of peace and negotiation. She conceived the project of marrying her favourite son, the duke of Alençon, to Queen Elizabeth I of England, but that did not come about. Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 ) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...

She was successful in marrying her eldest daughter, Elisabeth (b. April 1545), to Philip II of Spain and then her third daughter, Marguerite, to Henry of Navarre. To this end she temporarily reconciled with the Protestants and allowed Coligny to return to court and to re-enter the council. Of this step she quickly repented: Charles IX conceived a great affection for the admiral and showed signs of taking up an independent attitude. Catherine, thinking her influence menaced, sought to regain it, first by the murder of Coligny, and, after that failed, by the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. However, although Catherine is blamed for the start of that war, in fact she was not the initiator. After the death of Charles in 1574 and the succession of her son, Henri III, Catherine pursued her old policy of compromise and concessions, but as her influence was nothing compared to her son's, so it is unnecessary to dwell upon it. She died on January 5, 1589, a short time before the assassination of Henry and the end of the House of Valois. Philip II of Spain (Spanish: Felipe II) - (May 21, 1526 – September 13, 1598), the first King of Spain understood as the whole peninsula of Hispania (r. ... Marguerite de Valois Marguerite de Valois (May 14, 1553 – May 27, 1615), Queen Margot was Queen of France and Navarre. ... Henry IV (French: Henri IV) (December 13, 1553 – May 14, 1610), called the Great (French: le Grand), was the first of the Bourbon kings of France, reigning from 1589 until 1610. ... The St. ... Henry III (French: Henri III; Polish: Henryk III Walezy; September 19, 1551 - August 2, 1589) was King of Poland (1573-1574) and subsequently King of France (1574-1589). ... January 5 is the 5th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Rebellion of the Catholic League against King Henry III of France, in revenge for his murder of Duke Henry of Guise. ...

In her taste for art and her love of magnificence and luxury, Catherine was a true Medici; her banquets at the Royal Palace of Fontainebleau in 1564 were famous for their sumptuousness. In architecture, especially, she was well versed, and Philibert de l'Orme (Philibert of the Elm) relates that she discussed with him the plan and decoration of her palace of the Tuileries. Catherine's policy provoked a crowd of pamphlets, the most celebrated being the Discours merveilleux de la vie, actions et diportemens de la reine Catherine de Medecis, in which Henri Estienne undoubtedly collaborated. The central range of Fontainebleau The Royal Château of Fontainebleau (in the Seine-et-Marne département), the largest of the French royal châteaux, introduced to France the Italian Mannerist style in interior decoration and in gardens, and transformed them in the translation. ... Philibert de lOrme (c. ... Up to 1871 the Tuileries Palace was a palace in Paris, France, on the right bank of the River Seine. ...

Catherine died at the Royal Château de Blois, France, where today, visitors to the castle can see her poison cabinets. She was interred with her husband in a cadaver tomb in the Saint Denis Basilica. On her death, her possessions, including the County of Auvergne, were merged into the French royal domain by her last surviving son, Henry III. Backside of blois castle The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. ... Beneath Masaccios fresco of the Trinity painted in 1425-28 in Santa Maria Novella, Florence, is a painted representation of a cadaver tomb A cadaver tomb (or memento mori tomb, Latin for reminder of death) is a sarcophagus that resembles a carved stone bunk-bed with the deceased shown... The Basilica of Saint Denis (French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the famous burial site of the French monarchs, comparable to Westminster Abbey in England. ...

See also: Medici family The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family during the Renaissance, whose wealth and influence initially derived from the textile trade guided by the guild of the Becoming first bankers, and later politicians, clergy and nobles, the Medici attained their greatest prominence during the 15th through 17th centuries...

Books

• Leonie Frieda, (2004). Catherine de Medici - A biography. ISBN 1-84212-725-X - Website

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Leonie Frieda Leonie Frieda (born 1956) is a Swedish-born former model, translator, and writer, working and living in the United Kingdom. ... Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...