Born: 13 April 1519, Italy
Died: 5 January 1589
Country most active: France
Also known as: Catherine, Catharine or Katherine de Médicis, Medicis or de’ Médici, Caterina Maria Romola, Caterina de Medici or de Médicis
Leah Redmond Chang on Catherine de Medici, Elisabeth de Valois and Mary, Queen of Scots transcript
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women founder Allison Tyra’s book The View from the Hill: Women Who Made Their Mark After 40.
Catherine de Medici was born the daughter of a French princess and an Italian duke but was orphaned within days. Raised and educated by nuns, she was married off in 1533 at age 14 to a French prince by her uncle, who just happened to be the pope. She was never meant to be queen, being married to a second son, but when his brother died, Catherine’s husband became the heir to the French throne. But throughout her long marriage to Henry II, she was sidelined in favor of Henry’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Whether due to the couple’s youth or Diane’s diversion of the prince’s attentions, it was 10 years before Catherine was able to produce an heir, though she went on to have seven surviving children. After Henry became king in 1547, Catherine was named regent during Henry’s absence at the Siege of Metz in 1552. But she did not attain true power until after she was widowed due to a jousting accident in 1559, at age 40. Her eldest son, the teenaged Francis II, ruled for less than 18 months, dying in 1560. During his short tenure, Catherine worked extensively behind the scenes to control the religious turmoil roiling across Europe at the time.
Catherine was named regent for her son, the ten-year-old Charles IX. Despite her best efforts, civil war broke out in 1562, the start of what would become known as the French Wars of Religion. Although Charles was declared of age in 1563 when he was 13, he is remembered as a weak king, mentally unstable, in poor health, and dominated by his mother for his entire reign, which ended in 1574. It is the subject of much debate how much of this villainizing of Catherine (both at the time and by later historians) is justified and how much is rooted in the sexism around women in power. In any case, Catherine remained influential during the reign of her third son, Henry III, though he would be the last in the Valois line of French kings.
The following is excerpted from Woman: Her Position, Influence and Achievement Throughout the Civilized World. Designed and Arranged by William C. King. Published in 1900 by The King-Richardson Co. Copyright 1903 The King-Richardson Co.
CATHARINE DE’ MEDICI, A.D. 1519-1589
FAMOUS QUEEN MOTHER OF KINGS.
CATHARINE DE’MEDICI, the wife of one king of France and the mother of three, was the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, and was born at Florence in 1519. In her fourteenth year she was brought to France, and married to Henry, the second son of Francis I. The marriage was a part of the political schemes of her uncle, Pope Clement VII, but as he died soon after, she found herself friendless and neglected at the French court.
It was not till the accession of her eldest son, Francis II, in 1559, that she found some scope for her ambition. The Guises at this time were in power, and Catharine entered into a secret alliance with the Huguenots to oppose them. On the death of Francis II in 1560, and accession of her second son, Charles IX, the government fell entirely into her hands.
She entered into a secret treaty with Spain for the extirpation of heretics and subsequently into a plot with the Guises, which resulted in the fearful massacre of St. Bartholomew’s day. This event brought the whole power of the state into the hands of the queen mother, who boasted of the deed to Roman Catholic governments, and excused it to Protestant ones.
About this time she succeeded, by gold and intrigues, in getting her third son, afterwards Henry III, elected to the Polish throne. But her arbitrary and tyrannical administration roused the opposition of a Roman Catholic party, at the head of which was her own fourth son, the Duke of Alencon. It was very generally believed that she was privy to the machinations that led to his death. Many vexations preyed on the proud heart of the queen mother in her last days; and, amidst the confusion and strife of parties, she died at Blois on January 5, 15S9, unheeded and unlamented.