Catherine De Medici - The Black Legend

Catherine de' Medici was born in Florence on April 13, 1519 to Lorenzo de' Medici and Maddalena de la Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne. Lorenzo was placed at the head of the Republic of Florence by his uncle, Pope Leo X. François I of France proposed a marriage between Lorenzo and Maddalena, hoping the Union would provide him with an ally to support his plans for a French expansion in Italy. Shortly after Catherine's birth, however, both her parents died. From that moment on, Catherine's childhood became heavily influenced by the troubled Italian politics of the 16th century. François I demanded that she be raised in France in order to use her as leverage to control Pope Leo X. The Pope, however, objected and Catherine was raised by her grandmother Alfonsina Orsini and, upon Orsini's death, she was placed under the guardianship of the family's old aunts, Clarice de' Medici and Maria Salviati. As Catherine was the sole heir to the Medici fortune, she was given the title of Duchess of Urbino, which earned her the name Duchessina in Florence. The death of Pope Leo X was followed by the brief pontificate of Adrian VI, who deprived Catherine of her rights to the Duchy of Urbino. In 1523, Julio de' Medici, who was a cousin of Catherine's grandfather, was elected Pope Clement VII. Clement VII had Catherine moved to the Palazzo Medici Riccardi and allied himself with France against the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In 1527, the Medici were overthrown in Florence. In order to save the Medici domains and his niece, the Pope proposed an armistice with Charles V, who accepted and besieged Florence. During this turbulent period, Catherine was held hostage in various Florentine monasteries until she arrived at the Benedictine Monastery of the Murate, where she was lovingly cared for. Florence finally surrendered on August 12, 1530, and young Catherine was free to join Pope Clement VII in Rome. With Catherine at the papal court again, Clement VII tried to arrange an advantageous marriage for her. Many candidates from all over Europe were considered. As Catherine was extremely wealthy and thus a very desirable wedding candidate, François I of France nominated his second son, Henri, Duc d'Orléans, as a candidate. Honoured by the proposal, Clement VII accepted. The 13-year-old Catherine thus began to learn the French language, which she quickly managed to make her own, speaking it fluently by the time of her marriage, albeit with a distinct Italian accent. On October 23, 1533, Catherine de Medici arrived in Marseille, where she met her father-in-law and the young Henri, her future husband. On October 28, Catherine and Henri married, and the marriage was immediately consummated to the extreme delight of the Pope and Francis I, who personally witnessed the wedding night, spying on the young people through the curtains of the bed. The unexpected death of Clement VII on September 25, 1534, just under a year after the wedding, ended the alliance between the papacy and the Kingdom of France. Many French courtiers considered the marriage between the royal Henri and the banker's daughter Catherine to be a misalliance. Nonetheless, Catherine was warmly received by the entire royal family. She formed strong friendships with both François I's sister, Marguerite of Angoulême, and her husband's sisters, Margaret and Magdalene, as well as François' wife, Eleanor of Austria. Catherine's father-in-law was impressed by her intelligence, modesty and obedience, but above all by the sincere affection she showed him, so much so that he admitted her into his petite bande, the circle of favorites, that followed him wherever he went. The court, however, was less impressed with Catherine due to her lowly origin being a banker's daughter. On August 10, 1536, the king's eldest son, François, died suddenly, making Catherine's husband Henri the new heir to the throne of France. The Dauphin's death was the occasion for court gossip. It was said that Catherine had poisoned the Dauphin in order for Henri to take his place, but the king gave no weight to these accusations. Catherine's new position as Dauphin of France, in addition to the scandal aroused by her modest origins, highlighted the fact that she had not yet given birth to an heir for the kingdom. Catherine also suffered from the indifference that her husband felt towards her, showing instead a blind passion towards his mistress Diane de Poitiers. Catherine finally became pregnant in the summer of 1543 and in January 1544 she gave birth to a son, the future François II of France. The couple had several other children, among whom the future Charles IX in 1550 and the future Henri III in 1552. Catherine and her husband were very present parents in the lives of their children, but Catherine also had to suffer Diane's interference concerning their upbringing. Henri's mistress was in fact responsible for finding suitable governesses for them. It seems that Catherine tolerated the situation only because it was rumored that it was Diane who persuaded Henri to sleep with his wife. The threesome would last until Henri's death in 1559. When in 1547 François I of France died, Henri ascended the throne as Henri II of France. Despite her title of Queen of France, Catherine did not actually have any real political power, but Catherine's presence at court allowed her to attract a large number of Italians to France, especially Florentines who soon entered the royal administrative apparatus. On June 30, 1559, Henri II was seriously wounded by Gabrielle de Montgomery during a jousting tournament held for the occasion of the wedding of his daughter Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain. The king passed away after ten days of agony. As a manifestation of her perpetual grief, Catherine began to wear exclusively black as a sign of mourning. Henri II was succeeded by his eldest son François II, who was only 15 years old at the time of his accession to the throne. Catherine's first concern was her son's health, as François II was extremely weak. Despite the inexperience of François' wife, the young Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine did not put herself in the limelight and always left Mary the place of honor. It was during this time that Catherine started to find herself placed between the French Catholics led by the House of Guise and the Huguenots. Her favorable position towards the Protestants caused her to be mistrusted by the House of Guise and by Mary Stuart. In December 1560, her son François II died. Although his death saddened Catherine deeply, it also allowed her to take up power herself, as her son Charles, who now ascended the throne under the name Charles IX of France, was only ten years old. Catherine became the Regent of France and took several measures to grant more freedom to the French Protestants. However, the antagonism between the Protestants and the Catholics led to the First French War of Religion in 1562. Catherine mediated the truce, resulting in the Edict of Amboise, which was signed on March 19, 1563. In August of that same year, Charles IX became of age. Catherine handed over France to her son, but Charles IX immediately returned all the power she already possessed to Catherine. In 1567, the religious conflict resumed and Catherine and her son Charles IX took refuge in Paris. Catherine's popularity increasingly declined in the public opinion. As the situation got worse and the policy of tolerance apparently no longer worked, Catherine sided with the Catholics again. The ensuing war almost brought the country to ruin and eventually Catherine pushed the Protestants to accept the Edict of Saint-Germain. However, Catherine soon became concerned about the growing importance of the Huguenot party. She attempted a last conciliation between the two parties by arranging a marriage between her daughter Margaret and the Bourbon prince Henri of Navarre, heir to the Bourbon and Navarre estates. When the Protestant nobility travelled to Catholic Paris for the wedding, an attempt was made to murder the Protestant leader Gaspard de Colligny. The attempt failed, but led to disturbances which would eventually lead to the The slaughter of several thousands of victims in Paris and the provinces would weigh tremendously on Catherine's popularity in the eyes of the Protestants and in the eyes of history. Two years later, on May 30, 1574, Charles IX died of tuberculosis. Once again, Catherine became Regent of France, this time on behalf of her son Henri III of France, who was residing in Poland at the time. In 1578, Catherine embarked on another journey around France in order to meet with the Huguenot leaders before returning to Paris in 1579. Upon her return, she was greeted and praised by the Parisian people. Finally, at the outbreak of the Day of the Barricades, which was a spontaneous public uprising of Catholic Paris under the of Henri I de Guise, Catherine was not afraid to face the Parisian rebellion and walk the streets of Paris breaking through the barricades. By doing so, Catherine's contemporaries viewed her as a woman who commanded respect. In December 1588, a few days after the assassination of Henri I de Guise at the Château de Blois, Catherine fell ill, never to recover. Catherine de' Medici died on January 5, 1589. As the Basilica de Saint-Denis was in the hands of the conspirators, she could not be buried there. Her remains remained in Blois and were only buried in Saint-Denis 22 years later. The personality of Catherine de' Medici is difficult to grasp precisely because a black legend has always been attached to her person. History has often described her as the embodiment of ruthlessness, Machiavellianism and despotism. A process of actual misinformation turned Catherine de' Medici into a bloodthirsty ruler. It was not until the second half of the 20th century that the traditional historiographic interpretation was questioned. The figure of Catherine de' Medici has been rehabilitated by modern historians, but her most widespread image continues to be negative, particularly in France. In some French châteaux for example, guides continue to tell that a few wardrobes that belonged to the queen were used to store her poisons and other macabre legends that visitors enjoy. All of this has contributed to the gloomy image of Catherine de' Medici in France to this day. Thank you for watching.