Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Catherine also made many visit in returns and Charles was said to be genuinely fond of his mother-in-law. "[100], Henry was unable to fight the Catholics and the Protestants at once, both of whom had stronger armies than his own. [128], Catherine had emblems of her love and grief carved into the stonework of her buildings. In Banished, it is revealed that Diane was responsible for the deaths of Emone and Henrietta . Henry wrote a note to Villeroy, which began: "Villeroy, I remain very well contented with your service; do not fail however to go away to your house where you will stay until I send for you; do not seek the reason for this my letter, but obey me." Their sister Mary of Guise had married James V of Scotland in 1538 and was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots. Elizabeth I of England's execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, on 8 February 1587 outraged the Catholic world. Some historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst decisions of the crown, but evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters. Catherine was also eager for a match between one of her two youngest sons and Elizabeth I of England. Hoogvliet, Margriet. Claude was born on 12 November 1547, and she too suffered from childhood ailments, like her elder sister. WebCatherine eventually gave birth to ten children, beginning in 1543. Three of her sons were kings of France: Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. WebPrincess Claude of Valois was born on November 12, 1547 in Fontainebleau, France, as the 2nd daughter & 3rd child born to King Henry II & his wife Queen Catherine de Medici. In October 1586, therefore, he had Margaret locked up in the Chteau d'Usson. Because Paris was held by enemies of the crown, Catherine had to be buried provisionally at Blois. [82], Two years later, Catherine faced a new crisis with the death of Charles IX at the age of twenty-three. [44], In June 1560, Michel de l'Hpital was appointed Chancellor of France. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. For the next two years Catherines policy was one of peace and general reconciliation. Piero II de Medici+ b. [148] Nevertheless, Catherine was never formally accused or prosecuted despite the fact that her reign experienced the greatest number of prosecutions for witchcraft in Italy. Some sources claim that Victoire was the one who was stillborn. * * *. They chose therefore to strike first and wipe out the Huguenot leaders while they were still in Paris after the wedding. She was closely involved in the planning and supervising of all her architectural schemes. He was tried in November, found guilty of offences against the crown, and sentenced to death. The start of Season One, in 1557, Diane de Poitiers was actually 58 years old. Through the intervention of Doctor Jean Fernel, the royal couple went on to have 10 children. She died on 27 March 1615.2. In 1585, Margaret fled Navarre again. The legend that de' Medici introduced a long list of foods, techniques and utensils from Italy to France is discredited by food historians. Catherine de' Medici's patronage of the arts, "Eglise Saint-Ferrol les Augustins | Marseille 13", "The long barren years of Catherine de Medicis: A gynaecologist's view of history", "The "infertility" of Catherine de Medici and its influence on 16th century France", "History's Black Widow: The Legend of Catherine de Medici", Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate, Louise Marie Adlade de Bourbon-Penthivre, Princess Maria Amalia of Naples and Sicily, Genealogical tables of the House of Medici, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catherine_de%27_Medici&oldid=1152284564, French people of the French Wars of Religion, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Italian-language text, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. 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". 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. Catherines daughters Elisabeth and Claude bore children who lived into adulthood, including King Charles IX of France, Prince Louis, and Prince Henri of France. Most of the Orsini men were soldiers, a profession which allowed them to amass huge territories around Rome and Naples. She herself supervised their education. What was Catherine de Medici best known for? Thus occupied, Catherine lived privately though she was appointed regent in 1552 during Henrys absence at the siege of Metz. She shared the same birthmark as her father, so Catherine had Nostradamus father, a physician, attempt to remove the birthmark from Clarissa. Catherine adopted a moderate stance and spoke against the Guise persecutions, though she had no particular sympathy for the Huguenots, whose beliefs she never shared. [122], 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. Catherine now rallied both Huguenot and Catholic forces to retake Le Havre from the English. It is also necessary to understand this political struggle of the Catholic crown with its own ultramontane extremists and to perceive its fluctuations in changing circumstances, in order to realize the fundamental consistency of Catherines career. After Franciss death, Catherine wrote to her daughter, Ma fille (my daughter) mamie (my friend), commend yourself to God, for you have seen me as happy as you are now, never knowing any sorrow but that I was not loved as much as I wished to be by the King your father, who honoured me more than I deserved, but I loved him so much that I was always in fear, as you know; and God has taken him from me and, not content with that, has deprived me of your brother.. Art historian Henri Zerner has called this monument "the last and most brilliant of the royal tombs of the Renaissance. Victoire (24 June 1556 17 August 1556). His designs for the Valois Tapestries celebrate the ftes, picnics, and mock battles of the "magnificent" entertainments hosted by Catherine. Both of her parents died within weeks of her birth, leaving her an orphan. He was also a Huguenot while Margaret was a Catholic. [105] When Catherine tried to go to Mass, she found her way barred, though she was allowed through the barricades. [97] By 1585, Henry III had no choice but to go to war against the League. She was educated by nuns in Florence and in Rome. Kill them all! 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. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-de-Medici, World History Encyclopedia - Catherine de' Medici, History Learning Site - Biography of Catherine de Medici, Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, duca di Urbino. The death of Pope Leo in 1521 briefly interrupted Medici power until Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523. She also met her daughter Elisabeth at Bayonne near the Spanish border, amidst lavish court festivities. Claude was described with the words, In her beauty she resembled her mother, in her knowledge and kindness she resembled her aunt; and the people of Lorraine found her ever kind as long as she lived, as I myself have seen when I went to that country; and after her death they found much to say of her. Within a month of Catherine's birth, both her parents were dead: Madeleine died on 28 April of puerperal fever, and Lorenzo died on 4 May. Three of her sons became kings of France, while two of her daughters married kings and one married a duke. [93] On her return to Paris in 1579, she was greeted outside the city by the Parlement and crowds. [20] Prince Henry danced and jousted for Catherine. Heritier, 48, has the twins' deaths the other way round. [46], When Catherine realized 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 Cond. After becoming pregnant once, Catherine had no trouble doing so again. From this time dates the legend of the wicked Italian queen. The Queen of France had faced many challenges all her life to have revolutionized what France is today. Catherine delayed her daughters departure as much as she could, but they finally set out of for Spain on 18 November 1559. On 24 June 1556, Catherine gave birth to twin daughters Joan and Victoire. 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. She was crowned in the Basilica of Saint-Denis on 10 June 1549. She later did her best to efface or outdo Diane's building work there. [50] Catherine failed because she saw the religious divide only in political terms. During this time, she presided over a distinctive late French Renaissance culture in all branches of the arts. Joan became even sicker, and she died, shortly before her son arrived, on 9 June. [60], In 1566, through the ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Guillaume de Grandchamp de Grantrie, and because of a long-standing Franco-Ottoman alliance, Charles and Catherine proposed to the Ottoman Court a plan to resettle French Huguenots and French and German Lutherans in Ottoman-controlled Moldavia, in order to create a military colony and a buffer against the Habsburg. Writing that she wanted to see Jeanne's children, she promised not to harm them. My name is Moniek and I am from the Netherlands. Prince Henry showed no interest in Catherine as a wife; instead, he openly took mistresses. Elizabeth I was treated with similar suspicionshe too entertained questionable characters (such as her advisor, John Dee), and produced no official heir. In 1578, she took on the task of pacifying the south. Catherine, Diane, and Prince Francis all fainted. [130] As the centrepiece of an ambitious new chapel, she commissioned a magnificent tomb for Henry at the basilica of Saint Denis. Author of. Catherine's three sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France. By 1587, the Catholic backlash against the Protestants had become a campaign across Europe. "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. In early 1572, Joan Henrys mother and Queen regnant of Navarre arrived in France feeling ill and tired but determined to see the marriage negotiations through. Yes, Catherine De Medici has an illegitimate child named Clarissa Delacroix, after her affair with Richard Delacroix. Huguenot writers later accused Catherine of murdering her with poisoned gloves. The treaty was sealed by the betrothal of Catherine's thirteen-year-old daughter Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain. To this end, she set out with Charles and the court on a progress around France that lasted from January 1564 until May 1565. She was later captured after villagers accused her of stealing, and she was about to be hanged when King Henry's son Sebastian de Poitiers interceded and decided to bring her to court to face trial. She had known Mary since the age of five and a half, when the little Scottish queen was brought to Paris and raised alongside Catherines own children. Her ability and eloquence were acclaimed after the Spanish victory of Saint-Quentin in Picardy in 1557, possibly the origin of her perpetual fear of Spain, which remained, through changing circumstances, the touchstone of her judgments. The investigators traced the house and horse to the Guises and claimed to have found evidence that the would-be killer was. [49], She summoned church leaders from both sides to attempt to solve their doctrinal differences. Sutherland, Yet on 22 December 1588, Guise spent the night with his current mistress. Catherine was overjoyed at the match, but her joy was overshadowed by the death of her husband. Catherine was heard yelling at her for taking lovers. She died on January 5th, 1589 in Blois France. Catherine would later be referred to contemptuously in France as the shopkeepers daughter. His interest in the tasks of government, however, proved fitful. [30] Diane never regarded Catherine as a threat. Henry of Navarre, son of Jeanne dAlbret, and Margaret of Valois, Catherines daughter. Catherines dowry was considered too small and alliances between royalty and merchant families like the Medicis, however rich, were still unusual. [5] Catherine has been called "the most important woman in Europe in the 16th century.[6]. Catherine de Medici was the daughter of Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, duca di Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour dAuvergne, a Bourbon princess related to many of the French nobility. He depended on Catherine and her team of secretaries until the last few weeks of her life. [55] The royal army struck back quickly and laid siege to Huguenot-held Rouen. She is portrayed by Rebecca Liddiard. Meanwhile, Cond raised an army and in autumn 1560 began attacking towns in the south. Catherine had at least taken the precaution of marrying Margaret, her youngest daughter, to Navarre. Margaret later recalled that she saved the lives of several prominent Huguenots during the massacre by keeping them in her rooms and refusing to admit the assassins. [13] Clement had no choice but to crown Charles of Habsburg as Holy Roman Emperor in return for his help in retaking the city. 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. Both of her parents died within weeks of her birth, leaving her an orphan. Ronsard may be referring to Artemisia, who drank the ashes of her dead husband, which became part of her own body. Greg Bryk, an actor, played him. [127] These included work on the Chteau de Montceaux, Chteau de Saint-Maur, and Chenonceau. Henry was a prize catch for Catherine, who, despite her wealth, was of common origin. Clarissa Delacroix was born in 1539, the illegitimate daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici of France and King Henry II of Frances boyhood friend Richard Delacroix. She was born in Florence, Italy, on April 13, 1519. Claude and Charles would go on to have nine children, of which seven would survive to adulthood. "[68] Catherine called Jeanne, whose decision to rebel posed a dynastic threat to the Valois, "the most shameless woman in the world". Slowly, however, he lost his sight, speech, and reason, and on 10 July 1559 he died, aged 40. He was also healthier, though he suffered from weak lungs and constant fatigue. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life but outlived her by just seven months. Rumours immediately spread that Catherine had ordered Joans death, but she had nothing to gain the wedding contract had already been signed. She begged him to ensure that Elisabeth eats but two meals each day and only bread in between meals. Tragically, Elisabeth had died two weeks earlier after giving birth prematurely. As a Farnese he felt no obligation to keep Clement's promises, broke the alliance with Francis and refused to continue paying her huge dowry. Catherine's daughter, Marguerite, was understandably not thrilled with a scheme that involved her mother seducing her husband by proxy. He called her not only the mother of the king but the mother of the state. Hoogvliet, 111. [35] There is reason to believe she was party to the decision when on 23 August Charles IX is said to have ordered, "Then kill them all! Born in Florence, she was the granddaughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, niece of Pope Leo X and sister to Lorenzo II de' Medici. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Blunt calls Caron's style "perhaps the purest known type of Mannerism in its elegant form, appropriate to an exquisite but neurotic society." [85] Catherine did all in her power to bring Francis back into the fold. [125], Catherine de' Medici's great love among the arts was architecture. D'Aubiac was executed, though not, despite Catherine's wish, in front of Margaret. In 1536, Henry's older brother, Francis, caught a chill after a game of tennis, contracted a fever and died shortly after, leaving Henry the heir. [101] 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. It spread to many parts of France, where it persisted into the autumn. Catherine sent Pomponne de Bellivre to Navarre to arrange Margaret's return. WebHenry II was the philandering king of France who carried out an affair with Kenna, lady-in-waiting to the queen of Scotland, despite already being married to Catherine de' Medici.He was an ambitious man, especially when it came to taking England, which he spent years trying to do.Following his son's marriage to Mary Stuart, Henry descended into madness In fact, by her death, that land was filled with regrets, and M. de Lorraine mourned her so much that, though he was young when widowed of her, he would not marry again, saying he could never find her like, though could he do so he would remarry, not being disinclined. "Princely Culture and Catherine de Mdicis". Princess Margaret of Valois, also known as Margot,is the daughter of Catherine de Medici and Henry II. [8] King Francis wanted Catherine to be raised at the French court, but Pope Leo refused, claiming he wanted her to marry Ippolito de' Medici. By 1610, the school patronised by the late Valois court and brought to its pinnacle by Franois Clouet had all but died out. Clarissa Delacroix(1539-1557) was the illegitimate daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici and the French noble Richard Delacroix. WebCatherine and Clarissa have a very complicated relationship. Catherine did not hesitate to exploit her new authority. He noted that "each had shown valour in the joust". [78], The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, which began two days later, has stained Catherine's reputation ever since. She wrote to Bellivre, "Never have I seen myself in such trouble or with so little light by which to escape. Not interested? [64] The Surprise of Meaux marked a turning point in Catherine's policy towards the Huguenots. Therefore, her policies may be seen as desperate measures to keep the House of Valois on the throne at all costs and her patronage of the arts as an attempt to glorify a monarchy whose prestige was in steep decline. Catherine sent her only enough "to put food on her table". In 1593, Henry proposed an annulment of their marriage because he desperately needed an heir. They finally married on 18 August, but Margaret persisted until the end, she offered no resistance, she gave no assent. Her head was pushed down by her brother as if she were nodding yes and so she became the Queen of Navarre. 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. Victoire died just under two months later on 17 August. At the time, Henry was besieging Paris with the King of Navarre, who would succeed him as Henry IV of France. Died in infancy. Catherine built two new palaces in Paris: the Tuileries and the Htel de la Reine. Biography Early Life [129] 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. Clarissa Delacroix was born in 1539, the illegitimate daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici of France and King Henry II of France's boyhood friend Richard Delacroix. It has been suggested that Catherine educated her son, Henry III, in the dark arts,[145] and that "the two devoted themselves to sorceries that were scandals of the age". However, Catherine's ability to bear children failed to improve her marriage. Sebastian instead had Clarissa poisoned to fulfill Nostradamus' prophecy that Mary's arrival at the French court would cause Catherine's firstborn's death; Clarissa was technically Catherine's first child, and her death supposedly saved the sickly Prince Francis, the oldest legitimate child, from his own death. They witnessed the first three civil wars and her desperate struggle against the Catholic extremists for the independence of the crown, the maintenance of peace, and the enforcement of limited toleration. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. [91] Catherine cut Margaret out of her will and never saw her again. Catherine visited the deathbed of Antoine de Bourbon, King of Navarre, after he was fatally wounded by an arquebus shot. Clarissa educated Catherine, along with her own children, and Catherine was happy in her new atmosphere living with her aunt. His dying words were "oh, my mother" The day before he died, he named Catherine regent, since his brother and heir, Henry the Duke of Anjou, was in the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, where he had been elected king the year before. At times he even felt well enough to dictate letters and listen to music. Just six days after the wedding the St. Bartholomews Day massacre a group of assassinations followed by a wave of violence after the Huguenots who were there for the wedding took place. Frieda 2003, p. 48 (NY edition): "J'ai reu la fille toute nue." Please select which sections you would like to print: Also known as: Caterina de Medici, Catherine de Mdicis, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London. She gave birth to ten children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived to marriageable age. To save Catherines life, baby Joan dead or dying had her legs broken to remove her from her mothers womb. [51] In January 1562, Catherine issued the tolerant Edict of Saint-Germain in a further attempt to build bridges with the Protestants. From that moment, she abandoned compromise for a policy of repression. Catherine herself had been educated by Cosimo Ruggeri in astrology and astronomy, which were closely linked in her day[143] and were an academic rather than a Satanic activity,[144] although his general background and favourite status suggests there was more to it than that. On 20 August 1560, Catherine and the chancellor advocated this policy to an assembly of notables at Fontainebleau. At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Calvinist Protestants, or Huguenots, as they became known. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [4] Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power. Catherines first great political crisis came in July 1559 upon the accidental death of Henry II, a traumatic bereavement from which it is doubtful that she ever recovered. [59] Catherine held talks with Jeanne d'Albret, the Protestant queen regnant of Navarre (and the wife of Antoine de Bourbon) at Mcon and Nrac. Anyone who tells you differently is a liar. In, This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 08:48. [149] In any event, the rumours have made a mark on Catherine's reputation over time, and there are now many dramaticised works about her involvement in the occult. Seeing as they didn't know the other existed for the first 18 - to 20 years of their lives. Her merciful Edict of Amboise (March 1560) was followed in May by that of Romorantin, which distinguished heresy from sedition, thereby detaching faith from allegiance. Babelon, Jean-Pierre. 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 crownour own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Knecht 1998, p. 28, gives the English translation ""The girl has been given to me stark naked." [21] King Francis lamented, "The girl has come to me stark naked."[22]. The next pope, Alessandro Farnese, was elected on 13 October and took the title Paul III. The members of the Flying Squadron were supposedly so beautiful and so good at their jobs that they were known to make men see God, or at least worship Him in a different way. Her essentially moderate influence was first perceptible during the Conspiracy of Amboise (March 1560), an instance of tumultuous petitioning by the Huguenot gentry, primarily against Guisard persecution in the name of the King. Spouse: King Henry II. WebDuring this time, Catherine had an affair with Richard, and had a baby girl with him, who became the castle 'ghost', Clarissa. Young Elisabeth constantly suffered from childhood ailments and had not inherited her mothers robust health. On 15 June 1588, Henry duly signed the Act of Union, which gave in to all the League's latest demands.
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