Catherine de' Medici
Queen consort of France
Catherine de' Medici, attributed to François Clouet, c. François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly 1555
Coronation	10 June 1549, Saint-Denis
Born	13 April 1519
Birthplace	Florence
Died	5 January 1589 (aged 69)
Place of death	Château de Blois
Buried	Saint-Sauveur, Blois. Events 1190 - Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River while leading an army to Jerusalem The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. Reburied at Saint-Denis in 1610.
Consort	1547–1559
Consort to	Henry II of France
Father	Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino
Mother	Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne
Children	Francis II, Elisabeth of Valois, Claude of Valois, Louis, Charles IX, Henry III, Marguerite of Valois, François, Duke of Anjou, Joan of Valois, Victoria of Valois

Catherine de' Medici (April 13, 1519 – January 5, 1589) was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici ( September 12 September 9 ---> 1492 &ndash May 4 April 5 ---> 1519 was the Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (c 1495? &ndash April 28, 1519) was a penultimate representative of the senior branch of the house de La Tour d'Auvergne Francis II (François II (19 January 1544 &ndash 5 December 1560 King-consort of Scotland (1558&ndash1560 and King of France (1559 &ndash 1560 was born Élisabeth of Valois ( April 2 1545 &ndash October 3 1568) was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) Marguerite de Valois ( May 14, 1553 &ndash May 27, 1615) " Queen Margot " ( La reine Margot) was Queen of Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 Joan of Valois and her twin sister Victoria of Valois were the last children born to King Henri II of France and his wife Catherine de' Medici. Victoria of Valois ( 24 June, 1556 &ndash August 1556 and her twin sister Joan of Valois) were the last children born to King Henri II of France Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Florence ( Italian: Firenze Florentia and Fiorenza) is the Capital City of the Italian region of Tuscany Her parents, Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne, both died within weeks of her birth. Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici ( September 12 September 9 ---> 1492 &ndash May 4 April 5 ---> 1519 was the Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (c 1495? &ndash April 28, 1519) was a penultimate representative of the senior branch of the house de La Tour d'Auvergne In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I of France and Queen Claude. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 Under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis,^[1] she was queen consort of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. Francization or Gallicization (and informally Frenchification) is a process of Cultural assimilation that gives a French character to a A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning king. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31

Throughout Henry II's reign, he excluded Catherine from influence and instead showered favours on his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Diane de Poitiers ( September 3, 1499 - April 25, 1566) was a noblewoman and a fixture at the courts of Francis I and Henri II Henry's death in 1559 thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. Francis II (François II (19 January 1544 &ndash 5 December 1560 King-consort of Scotland (1558&ndash1560 and King of France (1559 &ndash 1560 was born When he too died in 1560, she was appointed regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. A regent, from the Latin regens "who reigns" is a person selected to act as Head of state (ruling or not because the ruler is a minor Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life.

Catherine's three weak sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France. The problems facing the monarchy were complex and daunting. At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots, as they became known. The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth She failed, however, to grasp the theological issues that drove their movement. Later, she resorted in frustration and anger to hard-line policies against them. ^[2] As a result, she was blamed for all the faults of the régime, in particular for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris and throughout France. The St Bartholomew's Day massacre ( Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Roman Catholic Mob violence against the Huguenots

Some recent historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst excesses of the crown, though evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters. ^[3] In practice, her authority was always limited by the effects of the civil wars, and she fought a losing battle for control of a kingdom lapsing into chaos. Her policies, therefore, may be seen as desperate measures to keep the Valois monarchy on the throne at all costs, and her spectacular patronage of the arts as an attempt to glorify a monarchy whose prestige was in steep decline. ^[4]

Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power. ^[5] The years in which they reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici". ^[6]

Birth and upbringing

Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, Pope Clement VII, by Sebastiano del Piombo, c. For the Antipope (1378&ndash1394 see Antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII ( May 26, 1478 &ndash September Sebastiano del Piombo (c 1485 Venice &ndash June 21, 1547, Rome) byname of Sebastiano Luciani, was an Italian 1531. Clement called Catherine's betrothal to Henry of Orléans "the greatest match in the world". Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 ^[7]

According to a contemporary chronicler, when Catherine de' Medici was born in Florence on Wednesday 13 April 1519,at exactly 5:04 in the morning, her parents, were "as pleased as if it had been a boy". Events 1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor. 1204 - The Fourth Crusade sacks Constantinople ^[8] Their pleasure, however, was short-lived. Catherine's mother, Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne, died on 28 April at the age of seventeen. Events 1192 - Assassination of Conrad of Montferrat (Conrad I King of Jerusalem, in Tyre, two days after his title Catherine's father, Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, died on 4 May, probably from syphilis. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Syphilis is a Sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal Bacterium Treponema pallidum pallidum. ^[9] The young couple had been married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Lorenzo's uncle Pope Leo X against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. Amboise is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 Pope Leo X, born Giovanni de' Medici (December 11 1475 – December 1 1521 was Pope from 1513 to his death King Francis now asked for Catherine to be raised at the French court, but Pope Leo had other plans for her. ^[10] He intended to marry her to his brother's illegitimate son, Ippolito de' Medici, and set the pair up as rulers of Florence. Ippolito de' Medici (1511 &ndash August 10, 1535) was the

Catherine was first cared for by her grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini. After Alfonsina died in 1520, Catherine was brought up with her cousins by her aunt, Clarissa Strozzi. Clarice de' Medici ( 1493 - May 3, 1528) was the daughter of Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici and Alfonsina Orsini The death of Pope Leo in 1521 interrupted Medici power briefly, until Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523. For the Antipope (1378&ndash1394 see Antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII ( May 26, 1478 &ndash September Clement housed Catherine in the Palazzo Medici in Florence, where she lived in state. The Palazzo Medici, also called the Palazzo Medici Riccardi for the later family that acquired and expanded it is a Renaissance Palace located in The Florentine people called her "duchessina", the little duchess. ^[11]

In 1527, the Medici were overthrown in Florence by a faction opposed to the regime of Clement's representative, Cardinal Passerini, and Catherine was taken hostage and placed in a series of convents. Silvio Cardinal Passerini (1469 ‑ April 20, 1529) was an Italian Cardinal ^[12] Clement had no choice but to crown Charles as Holy Roman Emperor in return for his help in retaking the city. ^[13] In October 1529, Charles's troops laid siege to Florence. The Siege of Florence took place from October 24, 1529 to August 10, 1530, at the end of the War of the League of Cognac. As the siege dragged on, voices called for Catherine to be killed and exposed on the city walls. Soldiers made her ride through the streets on a donkey, jeered by an angry crowd. ^[14] The city finally surrendered on 12 August 1530. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Clement called Catherine to Rome and greeted her with open arms and tears in his eyes. Then he set about the business of finding her a husband. ^[15]

Marriage

Henry, Duke of Orléans, by Corneille de Lyon. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 Corneille de Lyon (early 1500s The Hague - buried Nov 8 1575, Lyon) was a Dutch painter who was active from 1533 until his death During his childhood, Henry spent almost four and a half years as a hostage in Spain, an ordeal that marked him for life, leaving him introverted and gloomy. ^[16]

Catherine was never destined to be a beauty. On her visit to Rome, the Venetian envoy described her as "small of stature, and thin, and without delicate features, but having the protruding eyes peculiar to the Medici family". ^[17] Suitors, however, lined up for her hand; and when in early 1531 Francis I of France proposed his second son, Henry, Duke of Orléans, Clement jumped at the offer. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 Henry was a prize catch for Catherine, who despite her wealth was a commoner. ^[7]

The wedding, a grand affair marked by extravagant display and gift-giving,^[18] took place in Marseille on 28 October 1533. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine ^[19] Prince Henry danced and jousted for Catherine. The fourteen-year-old couple left their wedding ball at midnight to perform their nuptial duties. Henry arrived in the bedroom with King Francis, who is said to have stayed until the marriage was consummated. He noted that "each had shown valour in the joust". ^[18] Clement visited the newlyweds in bed the next morning and added his blessings to the night's proceedings. ^[20]

Catherine saw little of her husband in their first year of marriage, but the ladies of the court treated her well, impressed with her intelligence and keenness to please. ^[21] The death of Pope Clement on 25 September 1534, however, undermined Catherine's standing in the French court. Events 303 - On a voyage preaching the Gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens, France The next pope, Paul III, broke the alliance with France and refused to pay her huge dowry. Pope Paul III ( February 29, 1468 &ndash November 10, 1549) born Alessandro Farnese, was Pope of the Roman King Francis lamented, "The girl has come to me stark naked. "^[22]

Prince Henry showed no interest in Catherine as a wife; instead, he openly took mistresses. For the first ten years of the marriage, Catherine failed to produce any children. In 1537, on the other hand, Philippa Duci, one of Henry's mistresses, gave birth to a daughter, whom he publicly acknowledged. ^[23] This proved that Henry was virile and added to the pressure on Catherine to produce a child.

Dauphine

In 1536, Henry's older brother, François, caught a chill after a game of tennis, contracted a fever, and died. As Dauphine, Catherine was now expected to provide a future heir to the throne. ^[24] According to the court chronicler Brantôme, "many people advised the king and the Dauphin to repudiate her, since it was necessary to continue the line of France". Pierre de Bourdeille seigneur (and abbé) de Brantôme (c 1540 &ndash 15 July 1614) was a French Historian and ^[25] Divorce was discussed. In desperation, Catherine tried every known trick for getting pregnant, such as placing cow dung and ground stags' antlers on her "source of life", and drinking mule's urine. ^[26] On 20 January 1544, she at last gave birth to a son, named after King Francis. Events 250 - Emperor Decius begins a widespread persecution of Christians in Rome. The old king greeted the news with tears of joy.

After becoming pregnant once, Catherine had no trouble doing so again. She may have owed her change of luck to a doctor called Jean Fernel, who had noticed slight abnormalities in the couple's sexual organs and advised them how to solve the problem. ^[27] Catherine went on to bear Henry a further nine children, six of whom survived infancy, including the future Charles IX (born 27 June 1550); the future Henry III (born 19 September 1551); and François (born 18 March 1555). Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor The long-term future of the Valois dynasty, which had ruled France since the fourteenth century, seemed assured. See also France in the Middle Ages, Early Modern France Unexpected inheritance The Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and

Catherine's new-found ability to bear children, however, failed to improve her marriage. In 1538, at the age of nineteen, Henry had taken as his mistress the thirty-eight-year-old Diane de Poitiers, whom he adored for the rest of his life. Diane de Poitiers ( September 3, 1499 - April 25, 1566) was a noblewoman and a fixture at the courts of Francis I and Henri II ^[28] Even so, he respected Catherine's status as his consort. ^[29] When King Francis I died in 1547, therefore, Catherine duly became queen consort of France. She was crowned in the basilica of Saint-Denis in June 1549. The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French

Queen of France

Catherine de' Medici, as Queen of France. "Her mouth is too large and her eyes too prominent and colourless for beauty," wrote a Venetian envoy as Catherine approached forty, "but a very distinguished-looking woman, with a shapely figure, a beautiful skin and exquisitely shaped hands". ^[30]

Henry allowed Catherine almost no political influence as queen. ^[31] Although she sometimes acted as regent during his absences from France, her powers were strictly nominal. ^[32] Henry gave the Château of Chenonceau, which Catherine had wanted for herself, to Diane de Poitiers, who took her place at the centre of power, dispensing patronage and accepting favours. The Château de Chenonceau, near the small village of Chenonceaux, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley ^[33]

The imperial ambassador reported that in the presence of guests, Henry would sit on Diane's lap and play the guitar, chat about politics, or fondle her breasts. ^[34] Diane never regarded Catherine as a threat. She even encouraged the king to sleep with her and father more children. In 1556, Catherine nearly died giving birth to twin daughters. Surgeons saved her life by breaking the legs of one of the two babies, who died in her womb. ^[35] The surviving daughter died seven weeks later. Catherine had no more children.

Henry's reign also saw the rise of the Guise brothers, Charles, who became a cardinal, and Henry's boyhood friend Francis, who became Duke of Guise. Charles of Guise Cardinal of Lorraine, ( 17 February 1524 &ndash 26 December 1574) Duke of Chevreuse, was a Cardinal A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official usually a bishop, of the Catholic Church. Francis II Prince of Joinville Duke of Guise Duke of Aumale ( February 17, 1519 &ndash February 24, 1563) called Balafré ("the Count of Guise and Duke of Guise were titles in the French nobility ^[36] Their sister Mary of Guise had married James V of Scotland in 1538 and was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary of Guise (Marie de Guise November 22, 1515 &ndash June 11 1560) was the Queen Consort of James V of Scotland James V (10 April 1512 &ndash 14 December 1542 was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death At the age of five and a half, Mary was brought to the French court, where she was promised to the Dauphin, Francis. ^[37] Catherine brought her up with her own children at the French court, while Mary of Guise governed Scotland as her daughter's regent. A regent, from the Latin regens "who reigns" is a person selected to act as Head of state (ruling or not because the ruler is a minor ^[38]

On 3–4 April 1559, Henry signed the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis with the Holy Roman Empire and England, ending a long period of Italian wars. The Italian War of 1551 ( 1551 – 1559) sometimes known as the Habsburg-Valois War, began when Henry II of France, who had succeeded The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in The treaty was sealed by the betrothal of Catherine's thirteen-year-old daughter Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain. Élisabeth of Valois ( April 2 1545 &ndash October 3 1568) was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598 ^[39] Their proxy wedding in Paris on 22 June 1559 was celebrated with festivities, balls, masques, and five days of jousting. A proxy wedding is a Wedding where the Bride or Groom is not actually present and is represented by another individual Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in sixteenth and early seventeenth century Europe though it was developed earlier in Italy

King Henry took part in the jousting, sporting Diane's black-and-white colours. He defeated the dukes of Nemours and Guise, but the young Gabriel, Comte de Montgomery, knocked him half out of the saddle. Gabriel Comte de Montgomery Seigneur de Lorges (c 1530 &ndash June 26 1574) was a lieutenant in King Henry II of France 's Henry insisted on riding against Montgomery again, and this time, Montgomery's lance shattered into the king's face. ^[40] Henry reeled out of the clash, his face pouring blood, with splinters "of a good bigness" sticking out of his eye and head. ^[41] Catherine, Diane, and Prince Francis all fainted. Henry was carried to the Château de Tournelles, where five splinters of wood were extracted from his head, one of which had pierced his eye and brain. Catherine stayed by his bedside, but Diane kept away, "for fear", in the words of a chronicler, "of being expelled by the Queen". ^[42] For the next ten days, Henry's state fluctuated. At times he even felt well enough to dictate letters and listen to music. Slowly, however, he lost his sight, speech, and reason, and on 10 July 1559 he died. Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. From that day, Catherine took a broken lance as her emblem, inscribed with the words "lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor" ("from this come my tears and my pain"), and wore black mourning in memory of Henry. Mourning is in the simplest sense synonymous with Grief over the Death of someone ^[43]

Queen mother

Reign of Francis II

Francis II of France, by François Clouet, 1560. Francis II (François II (19 January 1544 &ndash 5 December 1560 King-consort of Scotland (1558&ndash1560 and King of France (1559 &ndash 1560 was born François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly Francis found the crown so heavy at his coronation that four nobles had to hold it in place as he walked up the steps to his throne. ^[44]

Francis II became king at the age of fifteen. Francis II (François II (19 January 1544 &ndash 5 December 1560 King-consort of Scotland (1558&ndash1560 and King of France (1559 &ndash 1560 was born In what has been called a coup d'état, the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Duke of Guise—whose niece, Mary, Queen of Scots, had married Francis the year before—seized power the day after Henry II's death and quickly moved themselves into the Louvre with the young couple. Francis II Prince of Joinville Duke of Guise Duke of Aumale ( February 17, 1519 &ndash February 24, 1563) called Balafré ("the The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre located in Paris is the world's most visited art museum a historic monument and a national museum of France ^[45] The English ambassador reported a few days later that "the house of Guise ruleth and doth all about the French king". ^[46] For the moment, Catherine worked with the Guises out of necessity. She was not strictly entitled to a role in Francis's government, because he was deemed old enough to rule for himself. ^[47] Nevertheless, all his official acts began with the words: "This being the good pleasure of the Queen, my lady-mother, and I also approving of every opinion that she holdeth, am content and command that . . . . "^[48] Catherine did not hesitate to exploit her new authority. One of her first acts was to force Diane de Poitiers to hand over the crown jewels and return Chenonceau to the crown. ^[49] She later did her best to efface or outdo Diane's building work at Chenonceau. ^[50]

The Guise brothers set about persecuting the Protestants with zeal. Catherine adopted a moderate stance and spoke up against the Guise persecutions, though she had no particular sympathy for the Huguenots, whose cause she never fully understood. The Protestants looked for leadership first to Antoine de Bourbon, King-consort of Navarre, the First Prince of the Blood, and then, with more success, to his brother, Louis I de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, who backed a plot to overthrow the Guises by force. Antoine de Bourbon duc de Vendôme ( 22 April 1518 &ndash 17 November 1562) was head of the House of Bourbon from 1537 to 1562 Louis of Bourbon-Condé ( Louis I Prince of Condé) ( May 7, 1530 &ndash March 13, 1569) was a prominent Huguenot ^[51] When the Guises heard of the plot,^[52] they moved the court to the fortified Château of Amboise. The royal Château at Amboise is a Château located in Amboise, in the Indre-et-Loire département of the Loire Valley The Duke of Guise launched an attack into the woods around the château. His troops surprised the rebels and killed many of them on the spot, including the commander, La Renaudie. ^[53] Others they drowned in the river or strung up around the battlements while Catherine and the court watched. ^[54]

In June 1560, Michel de l'Hôpital was appointed Chancellor of France. Michel de l'Hôpital (or l'Hospital; 1507 &ndash March 13, 1573) was a French statesman This page is a list of French justice ministers. Under the Ancien régime, the French minister responsible for the judiciary was the Chancellor He sought the support of France's constitutional bodies and worked closely with Catherine to defend the law in the face of the growing anarchy. ^[55] Neither saw the need to punish Protestants who worshipped in private and did not take up arms. On 20 August 1560, Catherine and the chancellor advocated this policy to an assembly of notables at Fontainebleau. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine The Palace of Fontainebleau, located 345 miles from the centre of Paris, is one of the largest French royal Châteaux The palace as it is today is the work of many Historians regard the occasion as an early example of Catherine's statesmanship. Meanwhile, Condé raised an army and in autumn 1560 began attacking towns in the south. Catherine ordered him to court and had him imprisoned as soon as he arrived. He was tried in November, found guilty of offences against the crown, and sentenced to execution. His life was saved by the illness and death of the king, as a result of an infection or an abscess in his ear. An abscess (abscessus is a collection of Pus (dead Neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process ^[56]

When Catherine had realised Francis was going to die, she made a pact with Antoine de Bourbon by which he would renounce his right to the regency of the future king, Charles IX, in return for the release of his brother Condé. Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death ^[57] As a result, when Francis died on 5 December 1560, the Privy Council appointed Catherine as governor of France (gouvernante de France), with sweeping powers. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. She wrote to her daughter Elisabeth: "My principal aim is to have the honour of God before my eyes in all things and to preserve my authority, not for myself, but for the conservation of this kingdom and for the good of all your brothers". ^[58]

Reign of Charles IX

Charles IX of France, after François Clouet, c. Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly 1565. The Venetian ambassador Giovanni Michiel described Charles as "an admirable child, with fine eyes, gracious movements, though he is not robust. He favours physical exercise that is too violent for his health, for he suffers from shortness of breath". ^[59]

At first Catherine kept the nine-year-old king, who cried at his coronation, close to her, and slept in his chamber. She presided over his council, decided policy, and controlled state business and patronage. However, she was never in a position to control the country as a whole, which was on the brink of civil war. In many parts of France the rule of nobles held sway rather than that of the crown. The challenges Catherine faced were complex and in some ways difficult for her to understand. ^[60]

She summoned church leaders from both sides to attempt to solve their doctrinal differences. Despite her optimism, the resulting Colloquy of Poissy ended in failure on 13 October 1561, dissolving itself without her permission. Colloquy of Poissy was a conference held in 1561 with the object of effecting a reconciliation between the Catholics and Protestants of France Events 54 - Nero ascends to the Roman throne 409 - Vandals and Alans crossed the Pyrenees ^[61] Catherine failed because she saw the religious divide only in political terms. In the words of historian R. J. Knecht, "she underestimated the strength of religious conviction, imagining that all would be well if only she could get the party leaders to agree". ^[62] In January 1562, Catherine issued the tolerant Edict of Saint-Germain in a further attempt to build bridges with the Protestants. The Edict of Saint-Germain was an Edict of toleration promulgated by the Regent Catherine de' Medici, in January 1562 ^[63] On 1 March 1562, however, in an incident known as the Massacre at Vassy, the Duke of Guise and his men attacked worshipping Huguenots in a barn at Vassy, killing 74 and wounding 104. Events 86 BC - Lucius Cornelius Sulla, at the head of a Roman Republic army enters in Athens, removing the Tyrant The Massacre of Vassy was the trigger for the long brewing French Wars of Religion. Wassy or Wassy-sur-Blaise is a commune of the Haute-Marne département, in France. ^[64] Guise, who called the massacre "a regrettable accident", was cheered as a hero in the streets of Paris while the Huguenots called for revenge. ^[65] The massacre lit the fuse that sparked the French Wars of Religion. The French Wars of Religion (1562 to 1598 between French Catholics and Protestants ( Huguenots involved both civil infighting For the next thirty years, France found itself in a state of either civil war or armed truce. ^[66]

Within a month Prince Louis de Condé and Admiral Gaspard de Coligny had raised an army of 1,800. Gaspard de Coligny ( February 16, 1519 &ndash August 24, 1572) Seigneur (Lord de Châtillon held the office of They formed an alliance with England and seized town after town in France. ^[67] Catherine met Coligny, but he refused to back down. She therefore told him: "Since you rely on your forces, we will show you ours". ^[68] The royal army struck back quickly and laid siege to Huguenot-held Rouen. Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital Catherine visited the deathbed of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, after he was fatally wounded by an arquebus shot. Antoine de Bourbon duc de Vendôme ( 22 April 1518 &ndash 17 November 1562) was head of the House of Bourbon from 1537 to 1562 The Arquebus (sometimes spelled harquebus, harkbus or hackbut; from Dutch haakbus, meaning "hook gun" is ^[69] Catherine insisted on visiting the field herself and when warned of the dangers laughed, "My courage is as great as yours". ^[70] The Catholics took Rouen, but their triumph was short lived. On 18 February 1563, a spy called Poltrot de Méré fired an arquebus into the back of the Duke of Guise, at the siege of Orléans. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Jean de Poltrot (c 1537-1563 sieur de Méré or Mérey was a nobleman of Angoumois, who murdered Francis Duke of Guise. The murder triggered an aristocratic blood feud that complicated the French civil wars for years to come,^[71] Catherine was delighted with the death of her ally. A feud (ˈfjuːd (referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud or vendetta) is a long-running argument or fight between parties&mdashoften through Guilt "If Monsieur de Guise had perished sooner," she told the Venetian ambassador, "peace would have been achieved more quickly". ^[72] On 19 March 1563, the Edict of Amboise, also known as the Edict of Pacification, ended the war. Events 1279 - A Mongolian victory in the Battle of Yamen ends the Song Dynasty in China. The Edict of Amboise was signed at the Château of Amboise on March 19, 1563 by Catherine de' Medici, acting as regent for her son Charles Catherine now rallied both Huguenot and Catholic forces to retake Le Havre from the English.

Huguenots

On 17 August 1563, Charles IX was declared of age at the Parlement of Rouen, but he was never able to rule on his own and showed little interest in government. Events 986 - A Byzantine army was destroyed in the pass of Trajan's Gate by the Bulgarians under the Comitopuli This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament. ^[73] Catherine decided to launch a drive to enforce the Edict of Amboise and revive loyalty to the crown. To this end, she set out with Charles and the court on a progress around France that lasted from January 1564 until May 1565. The Royal Entry, also known by various other names including Triumphal Entry and Joyous Entry, embraced the ceremonial and festivities accompanying a ^[74] Catherine held talks with the Protestant Queen Jeanne d'Albret of Navarre at Mâcon and Nérac. Jeanne III or Joan III, known as Jeanne d'Albret (7 January 1528 – 9 June 1572 was Queen regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572 wife of Mâcon is a commune of France, préfecture (capital of the Saône-et-Loire département, in the Bourgogne Nérac is a commune of the Lot-et-Garonne département, in southwestern France. She also met her daughter Queen Elisabeth of Spain at Bayonne near the Spanish border, amidst lavish court festivals. Bayonne ( French: Bayonne bajɔn Gascon Occitan and Basque: Baiona) is a city and commune of southwest Catherine de' Medici's court festivals were a series of lavish and spectacular entertainments sometimes called "magnificences" laid on by Catherine de' Medici Philip II excused himself from the occasion. He sent the Duke of Alba to tell Catherine to scrap the Edict of Amboise and to use punitive solutions to solve the problem of heresy. Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel 3rd Duke of Alba (Don Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel tercer duque de Alba ( October 29, ^[75]

On 27 September 1567, in a swoop known as the Surprise of Meaux, Huguenot forces attempted to ambush the king, triggering renewed civil war. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again The surprise of Meaux ( La surprise de Meaux) was a conspiracy organised in 1567 by Louis I de Bourbon prince de Condé to capture Charles IX ^[76] Taken unawares, the court fled to Paris in disarray. ^[77] The war was ended by the Peace of Longjumeau of 22–23 March 1568, but civil unrest and bloodshed continued. The Peace of Longjumeau (also known as the Treaty of Longjumeau or the Edict of Longjumeau) was signed on March 23, 1568 by King Charles ^[78] The Surprise of Meaux marked a turning point in Catherine's policy towards the Huguenots. From that moment, she abandoned compromise for a policy of repression. ^[79] She told the Venetian ambassador in June 1568 that all one could expect from Huguenots was deceit, and she praised the Duke of Alba's reign of terror in the Netherlands, where Calvinists and rebels were put to death in the thousands. Calvinism (sometimes called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) is a theological system and an approach to the ^[80]

Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarre, by François Clouet, 1570. Jeanne III or Joan III, known as Jeanne d'Albret (7 January 1528 – 9 June 1572 was Queen regnant of Navarre from 1555 to 1572 wife of François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly She wrote to her son, Henry, in 1572: "All she [Catherine] does is mock me, and afterwards tells others exactly the opposite of what I have said . . . she denies everything, laughing in my face . . . she treats me so shamefully that the patience I manage to maintain surpasses that of Griselda". Griselda (anglicised to Grizzel and similar forms is a figure from certain Folklores whose name is eponymous for patience and obedience ^[81]

The Huguenots retreated to the fortified stronghold of La Rochelle on the west coast, where Jeanne d'Albret, and her fifteen-year-old son Henry of Bourbon, joined them. La Rochelle is a city in western France, and a Seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. Henry IV (Henri IV ( 13 December 1553 &ndash 14 May 1610) ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and as Henry III ^[82] "We have come to the determination to die, all of us," Jeanne d'Albret wrote to Catherine, "rather than abandon our God, and our religion". ^[83] Catherine called Jeanne, whose decision to rebel posed a dynastic threat to the Valois, "the most shameless woman in the world". ^[84] Nevertheless, the Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed on 8 August 1570 because the royal army ran out of cash, conceded wider toleration to the Huguenots than ever before. The Peace of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was a treaty signed August 5, 1570 at the royal Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, ending the third of the French Events 1220 - Sweden is defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula. ^[85]

Catherine looked to further Valois interests by grand dynastic marriages. In 1570, Charles IX married Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of the Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian II ( July 31, 1527 &ndash October 12, 1576) was king of Bohemia from 1562 king of Hungary and Croatia Catherine was also eager for a match between one of her two youngest sons and Elizabeth of England. ^[86] After Catherine's daughter Elisabeth died in childbirth in 1568, she had touted her youngest daughter Marguerite as a bride for Philip II of Spain. Now she sought a marriage between Marguerite and Henry of Navarre, with the aim of uniting Valois and Bourbon interests. Marguerite, however, was secretly involved with Henry of Guise, the son of the late Duke of Guise. Henry I Prince of Joinville Duke of Guise Count of Eu ( January 31, 1550 – December 23, 1588, Château de Blois) sometimes When Catherine found this out, she had her daughter brought from her bed. Catherine and the king then beat her, ripping her nightclothes and pulling out handfuls of her hair. ^[87]

Catherine pressed Jeanne d'Albret to attend court. Writing that she wanted to see Jeanne's children, she promised not to harm them. Jeanne replied: "Pardon me if, reading that, I want to laugh, because you want to relieve me of a fear that I've never had. I've never thought that, as they say, you eat little children". ^[88] When Jeanne did come to court, Catherine piled mental pressure on her,^[89] playing on Jeanne's hopes for her beloved son. Jeanne finally agreed to the marriage between her son and Marguerite, so long as Henry could remain a Huguenot. When Jeanne arrived in Paris to buy clothes for the wedding, she was taken ill and died, aged forty-four. Huguenot writers later accused Catherine of murdering her with poisoned gloves. ^[90] The wedding took place on 18 August 1572 at Notre-Dame, Paris. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. NotreDameFlyingButtressjpg|right|thumb|250px|Notre Dame de Paris Flying Buttress]] Notre Dame de Paris is a Gothic Cathedral on the eastern half of the

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre

Catherine de' Medici looking on corpses during the Massacre of St Bartholomew

Three days later, Admiral Coligny was walking back to his rooms from the Louvre when a shot rang out from a house and wounded him in the hand and arm. ^[91] A smoking arquebus was discovered in a window, but the culprit had made his escape from the rear of the building on a waiting horse. ^[92] Coligny was carried to his lodgings at the Hôtel de Béthisy, where the surgeon Ambroise Paré removed a bullet from his elbow and amputated a damaged finger with a pair of scissors. Ambroise Paré (born in Bourg-Hersent near Laval, France, c 1510 &ndash Paris, December 20, 1590) was a French surgeon Catherine, who was said to have received the news without emotion, made a tearful visit to Coligny and promised to punish his attacker. Many historians have blamed Catherine for the attack on Coligny. Others point to the Guise family or a Spanish-papal plot to end Coligny's influence on the king. ^[93] Whatever the truth, the bloodbath that followed was soon beyond the control of Catherine or any other leader. ^[94]

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, which began two days later, has stained Catherine's reputation ever since. The St Bartholomew's Day massacre ( Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy in French) was a wave of Roman Catholic Mob violence against the Huguenots ^[95] There is no reason to believe she was not party to the decision when on 23 August Charles IX ordered, "Then kill them all! Kill them all!". Events 79 - Mount Vesuvius begins stirring on the feast day of Vulcan the Roman god of fire ^[96] The thinking was clear. Catherine and her advisers expected a Huguenot uprising to revenge the attack on Coligny. They chose therefore to strike first and wipe out the Huguenot leaders while they were still in Paris after the wedding. ^[97]

The slaughter in Paris lasted for almost a week. It spread to many parts of France, where it persisted into the autumn. In the words of historian Jules Michelet, "St Bartholomew was not a day, but a season". ^[98] The massacre delighted Roman Catholic Europe, and Catherine happily took the credit. ^[99] On 29 September, when Navarre knelt before the altar as a Roman Catholic, having converted to avoid being killed, Catherine turned to the ambassadors and laughed. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. ^[100] From this time dates the "black legend" of the wicked Italian queen. Huguenot writers branded Catherine a scheming Italian, who had acted on Machiavelli's advice to kill all enemies in one blow. ^[101]

Henry, Duke of Anjou, by Jean Decourt, c. Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) 1573. As Henry III, he often showed more interest in pious devotions than in government. Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) </ref>

Reign of Henry III

Two years later, Catherine faced a new crisis with the death of Charles IX at the age of twenty-three. His dying words were "oh, my mother . . . ". ^[102] The day before he died, he named Catherine regent, since his brother and heir the Duke of Anjou was in Poland, where he had been elected king the year before. Poland, or at least its nucleus was ruled at various times either by książęta (Dukes(ca Catherine wrote to Henry: "I am grief-stricken to have witnessed such a scene and the love which he showed me at the end . . . My only consolation is to see you here soon, as your kingdom requires, and in good health, for if I were to lose you, I would have myself buried alive with you". ^[103]

Henry was Catherine's favourite son. Unlike his brothers, he came to the throne as a grown man. He was also healthier than them, though he suffered from weak lungs and constant fatigue. ^[104] His interest in the tasks of government, however, proved fitful. He depended on Catherine and her team of secretaries until the last few weeks of her life. He often hid from state affairs, immersing himself in acts of piety, such as pilgrimages and flagellation. In Religion and Spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or Search of great Moral significance Flagellation is the act of whipping (Latin flagellum, "whip" the human body ^[105]

Henry married Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont in February 1575, two days after his coronation. Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont ( 30 April 1553 &ndash 29 January 1601) was a member of the House of Lorraine who became Queen His choice thwarted Catherine's plans for a political marriage to a foreign princess. Rumours of Henry's inability to produce children were by that time in wide circulation. The papal nuncio Salviati observed, "it is only with difficulty that we can imagine there will be offspring . Nuncio is an ecclesiastical Diplomatic title, derived from the ancient Latin word Nuntius, meaning "envoy . . physicians and those who know him well say that he has an extremely weak constitution and will not live long". ^[106] As time passed and the likelihood of children from the marriage receded, Catherine's youngest son, François, Duke of Alençon, known as "Monsieur", played upon his role as heir to the throne, repeatedly exploiting the anarchy of the civil wars, which were by now as much about noble power struggles as religion. Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 ^[107] Catherine did all in her power to bring François back into the fold. On one occasion, in March 1578, she lectured him for six hours about his dangerously subversive behaviour. ^[108]

In 1576, in a move that endangered Henry's throne, François allied with the Protestant princes against the crown. ^[109] On 6 May 1576, Catherine gave in to almost all Huguenot demands in the Edict of Beaulieu. Events 1527 - Spanish and German troops sack Rome; some consider this the end of the Renaissance. The Edict of Beaulieu (also known at the time as the Peace of Monsieur) was promulgated from Beaulieu-lès-Loches on May 6, 1576 by Henry The treaty became known as the Peace of Monsieur because it was thought that François had forced it on the crown. ^[110] François died of consumption in June 1584, after a disastrous intervention in the Low Countries during which his army had been massacred. Tuberculosis (abbreviated as TB for tubercle bacillus or T u' b' erculosis Bacillus --> is a common ^[111] Catherine wrote, the next day: "I am so wretched to live long enough to see so many people die before me, although I realize that God's will must be obeyed, that He owns everything, and that he lends us only for as long as He likes the children whom He gives us". ^[112] The death of her youngest son was a calamity for Catherine's dynastic dreams. Under Salic law, by which only males could ascend the throne, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre now became heir presumptive to the French crown. Salic law ( Lat Lex Salica) was an important body of traditional Law codified for governing the Salian Franks in the Early Middle Ages ^[113]

Catherine's youngest son, François, Duke of Alençon, by Nicholas Hilliard, c. Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 Nicholas Hilliard (c 1547&ndash January 7, 1619) was an English Goldsmith and limner best known for his Portrait miniatures 1577. Elizabeth of England called him "her frog" but found him "not so deformed" as she had been led to expect. ^[114]

Catherine had at least taken the precaution of marrying Marguerite, her youngest daughter, to Navarre. Marguerite, however, became almost as much of a thorn in Catherine's side as François, and in 1582, she returned to the French court without her husband. Catherine was heard yelling at her for taking lovers. ^[115] Catherine sent Pomponne de Bellièvre to Navarre to arrange Marguerite's return. Pomponne de Bellièvre ( 1529 - 5 September 1607) was a French statesman Chancellor of France ( 1599 - 1605) In 1585, Marguerite fled Navarre again. ^[116] She retreated to her property at Agen and begged her mother for money. Agen (aʒɛ̃ is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in the Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Catherine sent her only enough "to put food on her table". ^[117] Moving on to the fortress of Carlat, Marguerite took a lover called d'Aubiac. Catherine asked Henry to act before Marguerite brought shame on them again. In October 1586, therefore, he had Marguerite locked up in the Château d'Usson. The Château d'Usson is one of the so-called Cathar castles in what is now southwestern France. D'Aubiac was executed, though not, despite Catherine's wish, in front of Marguerite. ^[118] Catherine cut Marguerite out of her will and never saw her again.

Catherine was unable to control Henry in the way she had Francis and Charles. ^[119] Her role in his government became that of chief executive and roving diplomat. She travelled widely across the kingdom, enforcing his authority and trying to head off war. In 1578, she took on the task of pacifying the south. At the age of fifty-nine, she embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the south of France to meet Huguenot leaders face to face. Her efforts won Catherine new respect from the French people. ^[120] On her return to Paris in 1579, she was greeted outside the city by the Parlement and crowds. The Venetian ambassador, Gerolamo Lipomanno, wrote: "She is an indefatigable princess, born to tame and govern a people as unruly as the French: they now recognize her merits, her concern for unity and are sorry not to have appreciated her sooner". ^[121] She was under no illusions, however. On 25 November 1579, she wrote to the king, "You are on the eve of a general revolt. Events 1034 - Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, King of Scots dies Donnchad, the Anyone who tells you differently is a liar". ^[122]

Catholic League

Henry, Duke of Guise, by Pierre Dumoûtier. Henry I Prince of Joinville Duke of Guise Count of Eu ( January 31, 1550 – December 23, 1588, Château de Blois) sometimes Disarmed by Catherine's sweetness on meeting her for negotiations at Épernay in 1585, Guise tearfully insisted that his motives had been misunderstood. Épernay is a town and commune of northern France. Administration Épernay is a Sous-préfecture of the Marne Catherine told him it would be better if he took off his boots and ate something, after which they could talk at length. ^[123]

Many leading Roman Catholics were appalled by Catherine's attempts to appease the Huguenots. After the Edict of Beaulieu, they had started forming local leagues to protect their religion. ^[124] The death of the heir to the throne in 1584 prompted the Duke of Guise to assume the leadership of the Catholic League. The Catholic League of France, sometimes referred to by contemporary (and modern Roman Catholics as the Holy League, was formed by Duke Henry of Guise in He planned to block Henry of Navarre's succession and place Henry's Catholic uncle Cardinal Charles de Bourbon on the throne instead. Charles de Bourbon was born on 22 September 1523. He died in the castle of Fontenay-le-Comte on 9 May 1590. In this cause, he recruited the great Catholic princes, nobles and prelates, signed the treaty of Joinville with Spain, and prepared to make war on the "heretics". The Treaty of Joinville was signed in secret in December 1584 by the French Catholic League, led by France's first family of Catholic nobles the Guises ^[125] By 1585, Henry III had no choice but to go to war against the League. ^[126] As Catherine put it, "peace is carried on a stick" (bâton porte paix). ^[127] "Take care," she wrote to the king, "especially about your person. There is so much treachery about that I die of fear". ^[128]

Henry was unable to fight the Catholics and the Protestants at once, both of whom had stronger armies than his own. In the Treaty of Nemours, signed on 7 July 1585, he was forced to give in to all the League's demands, even that he pay its troops. Articles of the Treaty of Nemours (or Treaty of Saint-Maur) were agreed upon in writing and signed in Nemours on July 7, 1585 between the Queen Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death ^[129] He went into hiding to fast and pray, surrounded by a bodyguard known as "the Forty-five", and left Catherine to sort out the mess. The Forty-five guards were forty-five guards recruited by the Duke of Épernon to provide Henri III of France with trusted protection in the midst of the War ^[130] The monarchy had lost control of the country, and was in no position to assist England in the face of the coming Spanish attack. The Spanish ambassador told Philip II that the abscess was about to burst. ^[131]

By 1587, the Roman Catholic backlash against the Protestants had become a campaign across Europe. Elizabeth of England's execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, on 18 February 1587 outraged the Catholic world. Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy ^[132] Philip II of Spain prepared for an invasion of England. The League took control of much of northern France to secure French ports for his armada. The Spanish Armada ( Spanish: Grande y Felicísima Armada, "Great and Most Fortunate Navy" or Armada Invencible, "Invincible

Last months and death

Catherine de' Medici, by François Clouet. François Clouet (c 1510 &ndash 22 December 1572) son of Jean Clouet, was a French Renaissance Miniaturist and painter particularly As a widow, Catherine wore a widow's cap or a French hood. A French hood is a type of woman's Headgear popular in Western Europe in the Sixteenth century. At the back of her ruff stood a high black collar; and she wore a wide black shirt, pointed bodice, and enormous winged sleeves. "Over all this flowed a long black mantle". ^[133]

Henry hired Swiss troops to help him defend himself in Paris. The Parisians, however, claimed the right to defend the city themselves. On 12 May 1588, they set up barricades in the streets and refused to take orders from anyone except the Duke of Guise. Events 1191 - Richard I of England marries Berengaria of Navarre. ^[134] When Catherine tried to go to mass, she found her way barred, though she was allowed through the barricades. The chronicler L'Estoile reported that she cried all through her lunch that day. She wrote to Bellièvre, "Never have I seen myself in such trouble or with so little light by which to escape". ^[135] As usual, Catherine advised the king, who had fled the city in the nick of time, to compromise and live to fight another day. ^[136] On 15 June 1588, Henry duly signed the Act of Union, which gave in to all the League's latest demands. Events 763 BC - Assyrians record a Solar eclipse that will be used to fix the Chronology of Mesopotamian history

On 8 September 1588 at Blois, where the court had assembled for a meeting of the Estates, Henry fired all his ministers without warning. Events 70 - Roman forces under Titus sack Jerusalem. 1264 - The Statute of Kalisz Catherine, in bed with a lung infection, had been kept in the dark. ^[137] The king's actions effectively ended her days of power. At the meeting of the Estates, Henry thanked Catherine for all she had done. He called her not only the mother of the king but the mother of the state. ^[138] Henry did not tell Catherine of his plan for a solution to his problems. On 23 December 1588, he asked the Duke of Guise to call on him at the Château of Blois. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city The Royal Château de Blois is located in the Loir-et-Cher département in the Loire Valley, in France. As Guise entered the king's chamber, the Forty-five plunged their blades into his body, and he died at the foot of the king's bed. At the same moment, eight members of the Guise family were rounded up, including the Duke of Guise's brother, Louis II, Cardinal of Guise, whom Henry's men hacked to death the next day in the palace dungeons. Louis II Cardinal of Guise ( July 6, 1555, Dampierre &ndash December 24, 1588, Château de Blois) was the third son of ^[139] Immediately after the murder of Guise, Henry entered Catherine's bedroom on the floor below and announced, "Please forgive me. Monsieur de Guise is dead. He will not be spoken of again. I have had him killed. I have done to him what he was going to do to me". ^[140] Catherine's immediate reaction is not known; but on Christmas day, she told a friar, "Oh, wretched man! What has he done?. . . Pray for him. . . I see him rushing towards his ruin". ^[141] She visited her old friend Cardinal de Bourbon on 1 January 1589 to tell him she was sure he would soon be freed. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC He shouted at her, "Your words, Madam, have led us all to this butchery". ^[141] She left in tears.

On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at the age of sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy. Events 1477 - Battle of Nancy: Charles the Bold is killed and Burgundy becomes part of France. Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is an Inflammation of the pleura the lining of the Pleural cavity surrounding the Lungs Pleurisy has a variety L'Estoile wrote: "those close to her believed that her life had been shortened by displeasure over her son's deed". ^[142] He added that she had no sooner died than she was treated with as much consideration as a dead goat. Because Paris was held by enemies of the crown, Catherine had to be buried at Blois. Diane, daughter of Henry II and Philippa Duci, later had her body moved to Saint-Denis basilica. Diane de France (1538 &ndash January 11, 1619) was the natural (illegitimate daughter of Henry II, King of France, and his Piedmontese The Basilica of Saint Denis ( French: Basilique de Saint-Denis, or simply Basilique Saint-Denis) is the burial site of almost all the French In 1793, a revolutionary mob tossed her bones into a mass grave with those of the other kings and queens. ^[142] Eight months after Catherine's burial, a friar called Jacques Clément stabbed Henry III to death. At the time, Henry was besieging Paris with the King of Navarre, who succeeded him as Henry IV of France, ending nearly three centuries of Valois rule and bringing in the Bourbon dynasty. Henry IV of France's succession to the throne in 1589 was followed by a four-year war to establish his legitimacy See also France in the Middle Ages, Early Modern France Unexpected inheritance The Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and The House of Bourbon is an important European Royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty.

Henry IV was later reported to have said of Catherine:

I ask you, what could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown—our own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Was she not compelled to play strange parts to deceive first one and then the other, in order to guard, as she did, her sons, who successively reigned through the wise conduct of that shrewd woman? I am surprised that she never did worse. ^[143]

Patron of the arts

Main articles: Catherine de' Medici's patronage of the arts, Catherine de' Medici's building projects, and Catherine de' Medici's court festivals

Catherine believed in the humanist ideal of the learned Renaissance prince whose authority depended on letters as well as arms. Catherine de' Medici's patronage of the arts made a significant contribution to the French Renaissance. Catherine de' Medici's building projects included the Valois chapel at Saint-Denis, the Tuileries Palace, and the Hôtel de la Reine in Paris and Catherine de' Medici's court festivals were a series of lavish and spectacular entertainments sometimes called "magnificences" laid on by Catherine de' Medici Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual movement beginning in Florence in the last decades of the 14th century ^[144] She was inspired by the example of her father-in-law, King Francis I of France, who had hosted the leading artists of Europe at his court, and by her Medici ancestors. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 In an age of civil war and declining respect for the monarchy, she sought to bolster royal prestige through lavish cultural display. Once in control of the royal purse, she launched a programme of artistic patronage that lasted for three decades. During this time, she presided over a distinctive late French-Renaissance culture in all branches of the arts. French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century ^[145]

An inventory drawn up at the Hôtel de la Reine after Catherine's death shows her to have been a keen collector. Inventory is a list for goods and Materials, or those goods and materials themselves held available in stock by a Business. Listed works of art included tapestries, hand-drawn maps, sculptures, rich fabrics, ebony furniture inlaid with ivory, sets of china, and Limoges pottery. Tapestry is a form of Textile art. It is woven by hand on a vertical Loom. Ebony ( Diospyros ebenum) also known as India Ebony or Ceylon Ebony depending on its origin is a Tree in the genus Diospyros Ivory is formed from Dentine and constitutes the bulk of the Teeth and Tusks of animals such as the Elephant, Hippopotamus, Limoges ( Lemòtges / Limòtges in the Limousin dialect of Occitan language) is a city and commune in France, the préfecture ^[146] There were also hundreds of portraits, for which a vogue had developed during Catherine's lifetime. Many portraits in her collection were by Jean Clouet (1480–1541) and his son François Clouet (c. Jean (or Janet Clouet (1480 - 1541 was a Miniaturist and painter who worked in France during the Renaissance. 1510–1572). François Clouet drew and painted portraits of all Catherine's family and of many members of the court. ^[147] After Catherine's death, a decline in the quality of French portraiture set in. By 1610, the school patronised by the late Valois court and brought to its pinnacle by François Clouet had all but died out. ^[148]

Triumph of Winter, by Antoine Caron, c. Antoine Caron (1521 in Beauvais - 1599 in Paris) was a French master Glassmaker illustrator Mannerist painter 1568

Beyond portraiture, little is known about the painting at Catherine de' Medici's court. ^[149] In the last two decades of her life, only two painters stand out as recognisable personalities: Jean Cousin the Younger (c. Jehan Cousin the younger ("le jeune" (ca 1522-1595 was born in Sens, France around 1522 the son of the famous painter and sculptor Jean Cousin 1522–c. 1594), few of whose works survive, and Antoine Caron (c. Antoine Caron (1521 in Beauvais - 1599 in Paris) was a French master Glassmaker illustrator Mannerist painter 1521–1599), who became Catherine's official painter after working at Fontainebleau under Primaticcio. Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. Francesco Primaticcio ( April 30, 1504 &ndash 1570 was an Italian Mannerist painter, Architect and sculptor Caron's vivid Mannerism, with its love of ceremonial and its preoccupation with massacres, reflects the neurotic atmosphere of the French court during the Wars of Religion. Mannerism is a period of European art which emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. The French Wars of Religion (1562 to 1598 between French Catholics and Protestants ( Huguenots involved both civil infighting ^[150]

Many of Caron's paintings, such as those of the Triumphs of the Seasons, are of allegorical subjects that echo the festivities for which Catherine's court was famous. An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Catherine de' Medici's court festivals were a series of lavish and spectacular entertainments sometimes called "magnificences" laid on by Catherine de' Medici His designs for the Valois Tapestries celebrate the fêtes, picnics, and mock battles of the "magnificent" entertainments hosted by Catherine. The Valois Tapestries are a series of eight tapestries depicting festivities or "magnificences" at the Court of France in the second half of the 16th They depict events held at Fontainebleau in 1564; at Bayonne in 1565 for the summit meeting with the Spanish court; and at the Tuileries in 1573 for the visit of the Polish ambassadors who presented the Polish crown to Catherine's son Henry of Anjou. Bayonne ( French: Bayonne bajɔn Gascon Occitan and Basque: Baiona) is a city and commune of southwest The Palais des Tuileries was a royal Palace in Paris. It stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) ^[151] Biographer Leonie Frieda suggests that "Catherine, more than anyone, inaugurated the fantastic entertainments for which later French monarchs also became renowned". ^[152]

The musical shows in particular allowed Catherine to express her creative gifts. They were usually dedicated to the ideal of peace in the realm and based on mythological themes. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" To create the necessary dramas, music, and scenic effects for these events, Catherine employed the leading artists and architects of the day. Historian Frances Yates has called her "a great creative artist in festivals". ^[153] Catherine gradually introduced changes to the traditional entertainments: for example, she increased the prominence of dance in the shows that climaxed each series of entertainments. A distinctive new art form, the ballet de cour, emerged from these creative advances. Ballets de cour ( Court ballet) is the name given to Ballets performed in the 16th and 17th centuries at court ^[154] Owing to its synthesis of dance, music, verse, and setting, the production of the Ballet Comique de la Reine in 1581 is regarded by scholars as the first authentic ballet. The Ballet Comique de la Reine was a court entertainment now considered to be the first Ballet. ^[155]

The Ballet Comique de la Reine, from an engraving of 1582 by Jacques Patin

Catherine de' Medici's great love among the arts was architecture. The Ballet Comique de la Reine was a court entertainment now considered to be the first Ballet. "As the daughter of the Medici," suggests French art historian Jean-Pierre Babelon, "she was driven by a passion to build and a desire to leave great achievements behind her when she died. "^[156] After Henry II's death, Catherine set out to immortalise her husband's memory and to enhance the grandeur of the Valois monarchy through a series of costly building projects. ^[157] These included work on châteaux at Montceaux-en-Brie, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, and Chenonceau. Saint-Maur-des-Fossés is a Francilienne commune of the Val-de-Marne, located 11 Catherine bult two new palaces in Paris: the Tuileries and the Hôtel de la Reine. She was closely involved in the planning and supervising of all her architectural schemes. ^[158]

Catherine had emblems of her love and grief carved into the stonework of her buildings. ^[159] Poets lauded her as the new Artemisia, after Artemisia II of Caria, who built the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus as a tomb for her dead husband. Artemisia II of Caria (in Greek, Ἀρτεμισία; d 350 BC was a sister the wife and the successor of the king Mausolus. The Tomb of Mausolus, Mausoleum of Mausolus or Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (in Greek,) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC at Halicarnassus Halicarnassus (Άλικαρνᾱσσός &mdash Halikarnassós or Ἁλικαρνασσός &mdash Alikarnassós Halikarnas modern ^[160] As the centrepiece of an ambitious new chapel, she commissioned a magnificent tomb for Henry at the basilica of Saint Denis. It was designed by Francesco Primaticcio (1504–1570), with sculpture by Germain Pilon (1528–1590). Francesco Primaticcio ( April 30, 1504 &ndash 1570 was an Italian Mannerist painter, Architect and sculptor Art historian Henri Zerner has called this monument "the last and most brilliant of the royal tombs of the Renaissance". ^[161] Catherine also commissioned Germain Pilon to carve the marble sculpture that contains Henry II's heart. Germain Pilon (c 1537 Paris - 1590 Paris) was one of the most important sculptors of the French Renaissance. A poem by Ronsard, engraved on its base, tells the reader not to wonder that so small a vase can hold so large a heart, since Henry's real heart resides in Catherine's breast. ^[162]

Although Catherine spent ruinous sums on the arts,^[163] most of her patronage left no permanent legacy. ^[164] The end of the Valois dynasty so soon after her death brought a change in priorities. Her art collections were dispersed, her palaces sold, and her buildings were left unfinished or later destroyed. Catherine de' Medici's building projects included the Valois chapel at Saint-Denis, the Tuileries Palace, and the Hôtel de la Reine in Paris and

Children

Catherine de' Medici married Henry, Duke of Orléans, the future Henry II of France, in Marseille on 28 October 1533. Henry II (Henri II (31 March 1519 &ndash 10 July 1559 of the House of Valois and the son and successor of Francis I, was King of France from 31 Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Events 306 - Maxentius is proclaimed Roman Emperor. 312 - Battle of Milvian Bridge: Constantine She gave birth to ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Her three oldest sons became king of France; two of her daughters married kings; and one married a duke. Catherine outlived all her children except Henry III, who died seven months after her, and Marguerite, who inherited her robust health.

• Francis II, King of France (January 19, 1544 – December 5, 1560). Francis II (François II (19 January 1544 &ndash 5 December 1560 King-consort of Scotland (1558&ndash1560 and King of France (1559 &ndash 1560 was born Events 1419 - Hundred Years' War: Rouen surrenders to Henry V of England completing his reconquest of Normandy. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. Married Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1558.

• Elizabeth, Queen consort of Spain (April 2, 1545 – October 3, 1568). Élisabeth of Valois ( April 2 1545 &ndash October 3 1568) was the eldest daughter of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Events 68 - Galba, Governor of Hispania, names himself legatus senatus populique Romani, breaking the line of Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Married Philip II, King of Spain, in 1559. Philip II (Felipe II de España Filipe I ( May 21, 1527 &ndash September 13 1598) was King of Spain from 1556 until 1598

• Claude, Duchess consort of Lorraine (November 12, 1547 – February 21, 1575). Events 764 - Tibetan troops occupy Chang'an, the capital of the Chinese Tang Dynasty, for fifteen days Events 362 - Athanasius returns to Alexandria. 1245 - Thomas, the first known Bishop of Finland Married Charles III, Duke of Lorraine. Charles III ( February 18 1543 – May 14 1608) known as the Great, was Duke of Lorraine from 1545 until his death

• Louis, Duke of Orleans (3 February 1549 – 24 October 1549). Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Events 69 - Second Battle of Bedriacum, forces under Antonius Primus the commander of the Danube armies loyal to Vespasian, defeat Died in infancy.

• Charles IX, King of France (June 27, 1550 – May 30, 1574). Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden Events 1416 - The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund a supporter of Antipope John XXIII burns Jerome of Prague following Married Elizabeth of Austria in 1570.

• Henry III, King of France (September 19, 1551 – August 2, 1589). Henry III of France (Henri III Henryk ( September 19 1551 – August 2, 1589) Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Events 338 BC - A Macedonian army led by Philip II defeated the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Married Louise of Lorraine in 1575. Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont ( 30 April 1553 &ndash 29 January 1601) was a member of the House of Lorraine who became Queen

• Marguerite, Queen consort of France and Navarre (May 14, 1553 – March 27, 1615). Marguerite de Valois ( May 14, 1553 &ndash May 27, 1615) " Queen Margot " ( La reine Margot) was Queen of Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Married Henry, King of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France, in 1572. Henry IV (Henri IV ( 13 December 1553 &ndash 14 May 1610) ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and as Henry III

• François, Duke of Anjou (March 18, 1555 – June 19, 1584). Hercule François Duke of Anjou and Alençon, often simply referred to as "the Duke of Alençon" ( March 18, 1555 &ndash June 19 Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros.

• Victoria (June 24, 1556 – June 24, 1556). Victoria of Valois ( 24 June, 1556 &ndash August 1556 and her twin sister Joan of Valois) were the last children born to King Henri II of France Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Twin of Joan. Died at birth.

• Joan (June 24, 1556 – August 1556). Joan of Valois and her twin sister Victoria of Valois were the last children born to King Henri II of France and his wife Catherine de' Medici. Events 972 - Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces takes place Twin of Victoria. Died in infancy. ^[165]

Genealogical table

Notes

References

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• Pettegree, Andrew. Europe in the Sixteenth Century. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 063120704X.
• Sutherland, N. M. Catherine de Medici and the Ancien Régime. London: Historical Association, 1966. OCLC 1018933.
• Sutherland, N. M. The French Secretaries of State in the Age of Catherine de Medici. London: Athlone Press, 1962. OCLC 1367811.
• Sutherland, N. M. The Massacre of St Bartholomew and the European Conflict, 1559–1572. London: Macmillan, 1973. ISBN 333136292.
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• Strong, Roy. Art and Power: Renaissance Festivals, 1450–1650. Sir Roy Colin Strong (born 23 August 1935) is an English Art historian, museum curator writer broadcaster and landscape designer Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press, 1984. ISBN 0851152473.
• Thomson, David. Renaissance Paris: Architecture and Growth, 1475-1600. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. ISBN 0520053478. Retrieved 21 March 2008. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common
• Tomas, Natalie R. The Medici Women: Gender and Power in Renaissance Florence. Aldershot, UK : Ashgate, 2003. ISBN 0754607771.
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External links

• Portraits of Catherine de' Medici (in French).
• Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Full text at Gutenberg. Retrieved 27 March 2007. Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.