Carl king of france mother catherine de medici. Lady of the old days

Since childhood, Catherine de Medici was haunted by unpleasant nicknames. Her name was Death Child, because her mother died of childbirth fever after childbirth, and her father died a few days later. At court her name was Merchant's wife, hinting at the absence of noble origin. The subjects called Catherine de Medici the Queen of Death, since the period of her reign was marked by bloodshed and strife.

Childhood and youth

Catherine Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici, Duchess of Mantua, future Queen of France, was born on April 13, 1519. From a young age, she was accompanied by the wealth, fame and benefits that the father's family of Medici bankers, who ruled Florence, had, as well as the connections and status of the mother de la Tour's family.

But Catherine felt lonely and deprived of love. She lost her parents and was brought up by her grandmother Alfonsina Orsini. After the death of the woman, Aunt Clarice Strozzi took care of the child. Catherine grew up with her cousins: Alessandro, Giuliano and.

Members of the Medici family have repeatedly become popes, so the superiority of the family is difficult to underestimate. Power was not unconditional. The position of the family was often risky, and little Catherine was in danger. So, in 1529, during the siege of Florence by the troops of Charles V, a raging crowd almost hanged a 10-year-old girl at the city gates. The young duchess was saved by the weighty word of the French king Francis I. Catherine was taken to the Siena monastery, where she received her education for 3 years.

In the monastery she was attacked by invaders sent by the rulers of Florence, but Catherine managed to escape. Realizing that they had arrived for her, the girl cut her hair and put on a monk's dress. She appeared before the enemies and offered to take her to Florence in such a form so that people would know how the nuns were treated.

Catherine was lucky: the girl was transferred to a monastery with strict maintenance and did not insult her dignity. The cruelty that Catherine de Medici faced as a child influenced the formation of character. The unrest soon subsided, the Medici regained power, and Catherine received the title of Duchess of Urbino. She became an enviable bride with a rich dowry.

Giulio Medici (Pope Clement VII) took care of the girl's future. She was married to the son of the French king Henry. The wedding of young people took place in Marseille in 1533. The marriage, beneficial for both families, made it possible to strengthen the relationship between Italy and France. The first received a representative at the French court, and the second - lands for which they fought for more than one decade.

Queen of france

Catherine de Medici ruled France during bloody battles and constant battles between Catholics and Huguenots. The country was plagued by religious wars that led to a civil war. Catherine was unable to stop what was happening. She lacked the wisdom and cunning to manage the conflict. The queen approached the problem from the side of politics, and attention should be paid to the spiritual aspects of the confrontation.

Catherine was the regent of France with three sons who ascended the throne: Francis, Charles and Henry. The first to face the struggle between the Huguenots and Catholics was young Francis, who ascended the throne as a 15-year-old teenager. Two years later, he fell ill with ear gangrene and, after two weeks of illness, died at the age of 17. The place of his brother on the throne was taken by Charles IX. The war was gaining momentum, and the Medici could not calm her down, leading the country on behalf of her son.

Ekaterina decided to fix the problem by connecting families. She planned to marry her daughter Margarita to the Huguenot, the son of Jeanne d "Albre. Before the wedding, Catherine and Jeanne met. The future relative did not like the ruler. Therefore, when Jeanne suddenly died before the wedding of her son, Catherine's bad reputation strengthened. The version of the poisoning did not go away with the mouth of the courtiers and the common people.

The wedding of Marguerite Valois and Henry of Navarre did take place. It was attended by Huguenots and Protestants. At the festival, the leader of the Huguenots, Gaspard de Coligny, met the future king. They quickly found a common language. Catherine de Medici was afraid of the influence of the admiral on her son and ordered to kill the unwanted nobleman. The assassination attempt failed.

Heinrich began an investigation, as a result of which everyone would know about the act of the "black queen". The inquiry was terminated by the Night of St. Bartholomew, which took place from August 24 to 25, 1572. Researchers are still debating whether the Medici provoked her.

On that night, 2 thousand people died in Paris, and 30 thousand Huguenots died in the whole of France. The killers did not stop at children, women and old people. So Catherine de Medici won the hatred of the whole country.

The main goal of Catherine was to preserve the throne for the Valois dynasty. Fortune did not favor her. Sons, ascending to the throne, perished. Charles IX at 23 died of tuberculosis, from which all the Queen's sons suffered. The throne went to Henry III, recently crowned in Poland. In fact, Henry fled to rule France. He removed his mother from the throne, allowing only to travel and sometimes take part in royal affairs.

Personal life

Catherine de Medici did not receive enough love in childhood and did not find the desired warmth in marriage. When she got married, she hoped to see support and support in her husband. But the young lady did not shine with beauty and no matter how she tried to conquer her husband with fashionable toilets, his heart belonged to another.

From the age of 11, Henry II was in love with Diane de Poitiers. The lady of the court was 20 years older than her lover, but this did not prevent her from accompanying the heir to the throne through life. The judicious beauty was superior to the Medici. Catherine understood that it was not easy to compete with a rival, because she was a stranger at court. The only right decision was to maintain friendly relations with her.

A year after the wedding of Catherine and Henry, Pope Clement VII died, and his successor refused to pay a significant part of the dowry offered for Catherine. The Medici's position was shaken even more. Nobody wanted to communicate with her.

The Queen's sterility was becoming a big problem. After becoming Dauphin of France in 1547, Henry had a child on the side and began planning a divorce. But the legal wife managed to get pregnant. This was facilitated by doctors and an astrologer.

After the appearance of the first child, Catherine gave birth to 9 more children. The twin girls who came last nearly killed their mother. The first turned out to be stillborn, and the second lived for just over a month.

The long-awaited release from her rival Diane de Poitiers, who broke Catherine's personal life, came in 1559. During the knightly tournament, the king was injured incompatible with life. A spear slipped into the slit of the helmet and through the eye damaged the brain. After 10 days, Henry II died, and his favorite was expelled.

Death

Catherine died in January 1589, 6 months earlier than Henry III. The cause of death was purulent pleurisy, which the queen fell ill with while traveling in France. The body of the ruler was not taken to the royal tomb in Saint-Denis, as the people threatened to throw it into the Seine.

Later, the urn with the queen's ashes was taken to the tomb, but there was no place for burial next to Henry II. Catherine de Medici found her last refuge not far from him.

Memory

The Medici dynasty was famous for its patronage and patronage of art and science. Catherine was no exception among relatives. By her order, the Tuileries castle, the Soissons hotel, a wing of the Louvre and other magnificent buildings were built. The Queen's library consisted of hundreds of ancient manuscripts and books. Ballet was also a novelty introduced by Catherine de Medici.

The biography of the French queen is full of interesting facts. The story of her ascension to the throne and reign has become a plot for several films. In 2013, the TV series "Kingdom", which tells about life, was released on television. Catherine de 'Medici plays an important role in the story as the mother of Francis, the groom of the Queen of Scots.

• Catherine de Medici was the first in the French court to put on heels. The girl tried to compensate for her small stature. Her dresses were to the taste of French ladies, who repeated the outfits of the crowned person. Corsets and lingerie have also come from the Italian fashionista.
• The Medici was called the "Black Queen" for the color of her robes, which she did not change after the death of her husband. She was the first lady to wear black instead of white as a sign of sorrow. This is how a new tradition was born. In most of the portraits, the queen is depicted in mourning attire.
• Of Catherine's 10 children, only her daughter Margarita survived to old age, having died at 62. dedicated the novel "Queen Margot" to the monarch. Henry III died at the age of 40, and his brothers and sisters did not live up to 30. The daughter of Catherine de Medici, the Spanish queen Elizabeth of Valois, lived for 23 years.

• The Medici was superstitious. At the birth of children, she demanded the calculation of the location of the stars, under which the babies were born. The queen had a special astrological book, on the pages of which there were moving constellations. Moving them, she made combinations for horoscopes.
• In the center of Paris, in the Les Halles district, there is a monument reminiscent of the Catherine's estate, the Medici Column, located here. It is an architectural part of the Queen's Astronomical Observatory.
• In 1560, when tobacco was brought to Europe. Catherine did not smoke it, but ordered it to be ground into powder to sniff it. For its medicinal properties, the courtiers called snuff "the queen's potion". This name echoed the reputation of the poisoner, entrenched in Catherine de Medici.

Catherine de Medici can be called the most "hated" woman in history. "Black Queen", poisoner, child killer, instigator of St. Bartholomew's Night - contemporaries did not spare epithets for her, although some of them were unfair.

Child of death

The ominous image of Catherine de 'Medici was not Dumas' invention. She was born under an eerie star. No joke, the child was christened "the child of death" right after birth in 1519. This nickname, like a train, will accompany her entire future life. Her mother, 19-year-old Duchess Madeleine de la Tour, died six days after giving birth, and her father, Lorenzo Medici II, two weeks later.

Catherine de Medici is credited with poisoning her husband's elder brother, Francis, Queen of Navarre, Jeanne Dalbre, and even her son, Charles IX. The most terrible of her escapades was the St. Bartholomew's Night.

However, she did not become the "Black Queen" because of her reputation. Catherine wore black mourning for the first time. Prior to that, in France, white was considered a symbol of grief. In what, in what, and in fashion, she was the first at court. Catherine was in mourning for her deceased husband Henry II for 30 years, she made broken spears as an emblem, and as a motto - "From this my tears and my pain", but more on that later.

According to the marriage lottery, Catherine was identified as the wife of the second son of the French king, Henry of Valois. But the marriage became virtually fictitious. The king already had the love of his life - his child educator Diana de Poitiers. He has been in love with her since the age of 11. She already had an illegitimate son from the king, and Catherine, on the contrary, could not get pregnant. The situation was complicated by the fact that the Medici loved her husband. Subsequently, in one of her letters to her daughter, she wrote: "I loved him and will be faithful to him all my life."

The French court rejected her, as did Henry. Behind their backs they constantly threw: “Merchant's wife! Where is she to the noble Valois! " Little educated, ugly, barren. When, after the death of the first contender for the throne, Francis, she became the wife of the Dauphin, the situation did not improve.

It was rumored that Francis I, Henry's father, practically agreed to dissolve his son's marriage to Catherine.

And in the meantime, the cult of Diana flourished at the court. Henry II adored his favorite until his death, when she was already 60. Even at tournaments, he performed under her flowers. The queen next to her is just a shadow. In order to somehow achieve the favor of her husband after the birth of such long-awaited children, she gave them to Diana to be raised. At court, Catherine completely dissolved in the politics that the king and his Diana were engaged in. Perhaps, if it happened in Russia, she would have ended her days in a monastery.

Trendsetter

But during the life of Henry II, Catherine had her own path, in which she had no equal: she was the main trendsetter in all of Europe. The whole aristocracy of France listened to her taste.

It is to her that the fair sex of Europe owes the subsequent fainting - she set a limit for the waist - 33 cm, which was achieved with the help of a corset.

She brought with her from Italy and heels, which concealed the shortcomings of her small stature.

Ice cream arrived with her in France. It first appeared at her 34-day wedding. Every day Italian chefs served a new dish, a new kind of these "pieces of ice". And after that, their French colleagues mastered this dish. Thus, the first thing that Catherine de Medici brought to France was the only thing that was fixed there. The dowry was quickly squandered, all her political contributions led only to the fall of Valois, and the ice cream remained.

Nostradamus in favorites

The position of the shadow with the king's favorite did not suit Catherine. She did not give vent to emotions and patiently endured all the insults of the court, but universal contempt only fueled her vanity. She wanted her husband's love and power. To do this, Catherine had to solve the most important problem - to give birth to an heir to the king. And she resorted to a non-standard path.

As a child, when she studied at a monastery in Siena, Catherine became interested in astrology and magic.

The fortuneteller Nostradamus became one of the main confidants of the French queen.

Contemporaries said that it was he who cured her of infertility. I must say that the traditional folk methods that she used were very extravagant - she had to drink tincture from mule urine, wear cow pus and deer antlers on her stomach. Some of this worked.

From 1544 to 1556, she continuously gave birth to children. For 12 years she gave birth to ten. A fantastic result.

Francis, Elizabeth, Claude, Louis, Karl Maximilian, Edward-Alexander, who would then be Henry III, Margaret, Hercule, the last adored son, and in 1556 - the twins Victoria and Jeanne, but the latter died right in the womb.

The most important prediction in the life of Catherine is also associated with the name of Nostradamus. Historian Natalya Basovskaya says that once the queen came to him with the question "How long will her sons rule?" He sat her down in front of the mirror and began to turn some kind of wheel. According to Francis the young, the wheel turned once, he really ruled for less than a year, according to Charles the Ninth - the wheel turned 14 times, he ruled for 14 years, according to Henry III - 15, and he ruled 15.

In the family

On July 10, 1559, Henry II died due to wounds received in the tournament. An enemy spear slid across his helmet and pierced his eye, leaving a shard in his brain. Catherine de Medici donned her famous black mourning, made herself the symbolic emblem of a broken spear and prepared to fight her way through her children to power. She succeeded - she achieved the status of "governess of France" with her sons. Her second heir, Charles IX, solemnly announced right at the coronation that he would rule with his mother. By the way, his last words were also: "Oh, mom."

The courtiers were not mistaken in calling Catherine "uneducated." Her contemporary Jean Boden subtly remarked: "the most terrible danger is the intellectual unsuitability of the sovereign."

Catherine de Medici could be anyone - a cunning intriguer, an insidious poisoner, but she was far from understanding all the intricacies of domestic and international relations.

For example, her famous confederation in Poissy, when she organized a meeting of Catholics and Calvinists in order to reconcile the two denominations. She sincerely believed that all the problems of the world could be settled by heart-to-heart negotiations, so to speak, "in the bosom of the family." According to historians, she could not even understand the true meaning of the speech of the close friend of Calvin, who stated that eating bread and wine during the sacrament is only a remembrance of the sacrifice of Christ. A terrible blow to Catholic worship. And Catherine, who was never distinguished by special fanaticism, only watched with amazement the flaring up conflict. All that was clear to her was that, for some reason, her plan had failed.

Her whole policy, despite the terrible reputation of Catherine, was painfully naive. As historians say, she was not a ruler, but a woman on the throne. Her main weapons were dynastic marriages, none of which were successful. She married Charles IX to the daughter of the Emperor Maximilian of Habsburg, and sent her daughter Elizabeth to Philip II, a Catholic fanatic who broke his last life, but did not bring any benefit to France and Valois. She wooes her youngest son to Elizabeth I of England - the main enemy of the same Philip. Catherine de Medici believed that dynastic marriages were the solution to all problems. She wrote to Philip: "Start arranging children's marriages, and this will make it easier to resolve the religious issue." Catherine intended to reconcile two conflicting denominations by one wedding of her Catholic daughter Margaret with the Huguenot Henry of Navarre. And then, immediately after the wedding, she staged a massacre of the Huguenots invited to the celebration, declaring them in a conspiracy against the king. It is not surprising that after such steps the Valois dynasty sank into oblivion along with its only surviving son, Henry III, and France fell into the nightmare of the Civil War.

Crown of thorns?

So, how should you treat Catherine de Medici. Was she unhappy? Indisputably. An orphan, an abandoned wife, a humiliated "merchant" at court, a mother who outlived almost all of her children. An energetic, busy queen mother whose political activities were, for the most part, pointless. At the combat post, she kept driving and driving around France, until ill health overtook her in Blois, where she died during her next visit.

Her “loyal subjects” did not leave her alone even after her death. When her remains were taken to Paris to be buried in Saint-Denis, the citizens of the city promised to dump her body in the Seine if the coffin appeared at the city gates.

Already after a long time, the urn with the ashes was moved to Saint-Denis, but there was no place next to the spouse, as in life. The urn was buried on the sidelines.

Recently, the historian Gulchuk Nelia published a book entitled "Catherine de Medici's Crown of Thorns." She had a crown, of course, but is it possible to compare it with a crown of thorns? An unhappy life does not justify her methods - "all for the sake of power." Not fate, but her terrible, but naive policy destroyed in one generation the prosperous Valois dynasty, as it was under her father-in-law Francis I.

"Child of Death" - this is how Catherine was nicknamed almost immediately after her birth. But why is it so cruel? Unfortunately, the little girl was born with an unhappy subsequent story: her mother died at the age of 19 on the sixth day after giving birth from childbirth fever, and her father, according to various sources, either a few days after the death of his wife, or a few months later. Of course, the child has nothing to do with it: the doctors of that time did not understand that, in order not to kill the woman in childbirth later with some kind of virus, you just need to wash your hands when giving birth. By the time Catherine was born, her father was already hopelessly ill and weak. But nevertheless: immediately after the birth of the girl, both of her parents die, and from now on the seal of death will haunt Catherine in one way or another until the end of her life.

Much later, at the French court, she would be nicknamed "merchant's wife". Indeed, Catherine could boast of a little bit of nobility only on the part of her mother. Father, Lorenzo the Second Medici, actually has roots in the common people, albeit in the wealthy class - merchants. But, one way or another, traders. Mother, this is what Ekaterina could catch on to! Madeleine de la Tour, Duchess of Bouillon and Countess of Auverne, indirectly belonged to the French royal family.

Lonely childhood

Catherine was raised by her aunt, Clarice Medici, together with her children. Representatives of the Medici family became popes several times and, accordingly, dominated over everyone. Several times the Medici lost their power in Florence, and several times little Catherine was in serious danger. When in 1529 the troops of Charles V laid siege to Florence, an angry crowd was ready to hang the direct heiress of the Medici house - 10-year-old Catherine - at the city gates or send her to a brothel. After all, they were all convinced that it was the Medici who were to blame for the current situation, that they should be punished. The intervention of the French monarch Francis I saved the little duchess, and she was transferred to a monastery in Siena for 3 years, where she could receive a good education. And here again the danger: the rulers of Florence decided to take the heiress hostage. But Catherine was able to save herself: after learning that armed people came for her and that their intentions were clearly not good, she quickly cut off her hair, changed into a monk's dress, went out to the invaders and said that only in this form she would be taken to Florence, let the Lyuli see how the nuns are treated. Of course, the girl was not a nun, she put on a play, but perhaps this display of courage saved her life. She did not suffer, only she was transferred to another, more strict monastery.

Throughout the above, we see that the girl, even before reaching adolescence, loses her parents, sees the madness of the crowd intending to kill her, and from the very birth she cannot feel safe, she is shaken back and forth through the monasteries like a leaf in the wind. Most likely, it is from childhood that that abnormal cruelty grows, which Catherine will show at a much more mature age.

Soon the unrest subsided, the Medici came to power again. Catherine receives the title of Duchess of Urbino and becomes an excellent option for dynastic bargaining: after all, a decent monetary dowry and several Italian lands follow the girl. Pope Clement VII, Giulio Medici, negotiates with the French king about the marriage of Catherine and the king's second son, Henry. For both sides, the party was magnificent: France gets the lands for which it fought for decades, and the Medici make their representative a French princess and get a place at the royal court. The wedding was scheduled for October 1533 in Marseille.

The path from duchess to queen

The wedding was gorgeous and the celebrations lasted 34 days! According to contemporaries, Catherine could not boast of a stunning appearance: very small in stature and with red hair, she struck the French court with a completely different style. For the first time in public, she appeared in heels! For French women, this was a novelty, and they really liked this idea; later, the whole yard sported high-heeled shoes. And Catherine just wanted to increase her height at least a little! Further, her dress: Italian fashion also really liked the female half of the royal court. Oddly enough, but for many years Catherine will henceforth be a trendsetter at the French court.

But no matter how magnificently Catherine was dressed before and after the wedding, she never won her husband's heart. From the age of 11, Heinrich was absolutely and endlessly in love with his mentor, Diane de Poitiers. However, his true feelings were revealed only at the age of 19. This love went down in history as a real phenomenon: Diana was 20 years older than the king. But he loved her until his death. A stately beauty with an extraordinary mind, where was the little Italian to compete with her.

The Medici took a "quiet" position: she understood that the cult of "Diana" was going on at the court and that it was better to be with her in the most adequate relationship. Therefore, Catherine endured. Pope Clement VII dies a year after the wedding. His successor terminates the contract with France and does not pay a good part of Catherine's dowry. In this regard, Heinrich said: "The girl came to me completely naked." This incident further undermined Catherine's position at court: she could not make friends with anyone, the court ladies deliberately pretended that they did not understand her the first time (Catherine never got rid of the Italian accent), her husband saw only Diana in front of him, and did not put her in anything.

Suddenly, the heir to the throne dies, it was even rumored that he was poisoned. Heinrich is now the Dauphin of France. A year later, he has an illegitimate child, while there are still no legitimate children from Catherine. The sterility of Catherine is almost beyond doubt, and coupled with the lack of dowry prompts Henry to think about divorce. But then Catherine becomes pregnant and then gives birth to a son. They say that her personal doctor and astrologer Michelle Nostradamus helped her in this. It is not clear for what reasons, but after the first son, Catherine, already being a queen, begins to give birth to children almost every year. However, when the time came for the 9th and 10th children - two twin girls, the queen was barely saved. One girl was already dead at the time of childbirth, the other lived only six weeks. From that moment on, doctors strongly discouraged the queen from having children in the future.

In March 1547, Francis I dies, Henry and Catherine de Medici ascend to the throne. The king ruled for 12 years, he died quite by accident: during a knightly tournament, a chip from a damaged spear hit Henry right in the slit of his helmet, in the eye, damaging the brain. Heinrich held out for 10 days. After his death, Catherine chose a broken spear as her emblem and put on black mourning forever (before that, white was considered a mourning color in France). As soon as the king died, Diane de Poitiers was exiled.

Black queen

Catherine de 'Medici ruled under two sons: Kings Francis II and Charles IX. Or she thought she was ruling, because in fact, chaos was going on in the country: Catholics and Gugents slaughtered each other at every opportunity. Her 15-year-old eldest son, who was still a child, came to power. Mother felt a taste of power, without which she could not do until her death.

Slowly but systematically, religious wars were brewing, which subsequently turned into a civil war. The country was torn apart by two religious parties: Catholics and Huguenots. Catherine obviously lacks the ingenuity to resolve this conflict in the right direction. The Medici's mistake was that she saw this split in a political perspective, and therefore tried to solve it, as a politician would decide it. Perhaps if she realized that the roots of this war lie much deeper, in spiritual convictions rather than political gain, then further terrible events could have been avoided.

Against the background of one of the bloody clashes between Catholics and Huguenots, a young king falls ill. Due to gangrene in the ear, Francis fell ill for two weeks, after which he died at the age of 17. His place is taken by his 10-year-old brother Charles IX.

The conflict grew stronger and stronger. Catherine tried to solve something, ruled on behalf of her little son, literally rushed around the country. But Catherine de Medici has her own method: she decided to marry her daughter Margarita to the Huguenot of Henry of Navarre. Making marriages for Catherine was much easier than running a country than trying to calm the war in the right ways. Before the wedding, the groom's mother, Jeanne d'Albret, an ardent Protestant, arrived. She is disagreeable to Catherine, although she tried not to show it. Suddenly Jeanne died suddenly right before the wedding. And now for Catherine de Medici a new rumor was entrenched, which still lives on - she poisoned her.

The wedding took place between Marguerite Valois and Henry of Navarre. To celebrate the celebration, the most notable Huguenots of the country and just ordinary people of the Protestant faith came to Paris. Among the guests was Admiral Gaspard de Coligny, the leader of the Huguenots. An intelligent and discerning man, he quickly found his way to the heart of the 22-year-old king, who spent his whole life at his mother's skirt. Catherine sees the danger of this alliance: no, her son, the king, cannot keep the most important Gugent in her chief advisers and friends, and she "orders" Coligny. But the shooter missed.

After the failed murder, they wanted to collect a commission, and the king himself wanted it. Catherine was frightened and very much: after all, the killer is alive, which means that her name may also surface. Perhaps this woman saw the solution to a colossal problem that lasted decades, only in the fact that she herself soon sanctioned: the "black queen" orders the beginning of St. Bartholomew's night from August 24 to 25, 1572.

In Paris, about 2,000 people were stabbed to death, in all of France on the wave of this night, about 30,000 Gugents were killed. No one was spared, everyone was killed: babies, old people, women. After that night, Catherine de Medici was hated by all of France.

Henry of Navarre was saved. While his people were being slaughtered all over Paris, he had to convert to Catholicism under the point of a dagger (which he, in principle, soon abandoned).

Charles IX dies two years after St. Bartholomew's Night. So the circumstances of his death were not fully clarified. The last words, or rather the opening phrase, was "Oh, my mother ...". What did the monarch want to say? However, it is most likely that the king died of tuberculosis, since all of Catherine's sons were susceptible to this disease.

Catherine de Medici is hastily writing to her third son, the most beloved, Heinrich. She asks him to come to France and become king. By the way, Henry was recently crowned in Poland, but no, under cover of night he escapes from the people who really chose him as their ruler. Arriving in France, the first thing Henry III does is remove his mother from power. Catherine wonders how this can happen, but she cannot do anything about it. The only thing she was allowed was to travel around the country and participate in some royal affairs, including trying to arrange the marriage of her granddaughter. A woman with blood on her elbows was no longer allowed to participate in important state affairs.

Catherine de Medici died six months earlier than Henry III. Death overtook the "black queen" during her stormy trip across the country. The body was not taken to Saint-Denis, where the royal tomb was located: the people of Paris threatened that they would throw it into the Seine, just as the people of Florence once threatened to hang very little Catherine at the gates of the city. Much later, the urn with the ashes was moved to Saint-Denis, but they say that there was no place for burial next to the spouse, as it was not even during his lifetime, so the urn was buried on the sidelines.

Catherine Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici (born April 13, 1519 - d. January 5, 1589) Queen of France from 1547 to 1559.
For four centuries, her name has excited the imagination of historians, who endow her with various vices and at the same time mourn her tragic fate. For three decades, she single-handedly kept the ship of the French state, sinking in the ocean of turmoil, afloat and died without knowing that the ship had run aground: the dynasty ended, her children died childless, endless conflicts shook the power ...
She always believed in fate, and at the same time, she believed that it was possible to turn her course. Her whole life was a continuous series of accidents, where the gifts of fortune alternated with the poisoned apples of failure. And yet she remains in history as one of the most famous rulers, as an unusually strong queen - and as a remarkably unhappy woman. Catherine de 'Medici was born in Florence: her parents were the Duke of Urbino Lorenzo II and the young Madeleine de la Tour, Countess of Auvergne.
Catherine's childhood
In the newborn, the wealth, connections and luck of the Medici banking family were intertwined with the blue blood and influence of the de la Tour d'Auvergne family, the sovereign rulers of Auvergne. It seemed that fate incredibly favored young Catherine - but her mother died when the child was only two weeks old, and her father, who was seriously ill even before her birth, died a few days later. Catherine, who inherited the Duchy of Urbino, immediately became an important figure in political games: the king of France, the Pope and many other influential men fought for influence on her, the last branch of the noble family: the duchy was too rich, Florence was too rebellious, was too famous the Medici family.
At first, Alfonsina Orsini's grandmother took care of the girl, and when she died, her aunt Clarissa Strozzi, who raised her niece along with her children and two more Medici - Alessandro, the illegitimate son of Lorenzo, and Ippolit, the son of Giuliano Medici.
It was assumed that Hippolytus would marry Catherine and rule the Duchy of Urbino, but Florence rebelled and expelled all Medicis from the city - except for the 8-year-old Catherine, who was most likely simply forgotten at first. She turned out to be a hostage: she was locked in the monastery of St. Lucia, and then she spent 2 years in various monasteries in the position of an honorary captive - however, the nun sisters pampered Catherine as best they could, "a pretty girl with very graceful manners, who aroused universal love," as it is written in the monastery chronicle.
When Catherine was 10, Florence was besieged by the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Plague and famine broke out in the city, in which they rushed to blame the Medici - the historical "scapegoats" for Florence. They even wanted to hang young Catherine on the walls of the city - so that the besiegers, her relatives, would have the pleasure of killing her themselves or giving her to the soldiers to be torn apart. Only the speedy surrender of the city saved Catherine - she was taken under his wing by her uncle Giulio Medici, who is also Pope Clement VII.
The girl began to live in Rome, in the luxurious Medici palace, famous for its rich decoration of multi-colored marble, an excellent library and a magnificent collection of paintings and statues. This time was the happiest in the girl's life: in the end she was safe, surrounded by love and luxury.
While she was studying ancient tomes in the Medici library or admiring the amazing architecture of Rome, her uncle was concerned about how to arrange the future of her niece more profitably: although the Medici could not boast of the noble blue blood of true aristocrats, they were very rich and influential in order for the young Catherine became one of the most desirable brides in Europe. And although the Duchy of Urbino went to Alessandro, Catherine's dowry was huge: it consisted of 130,000 ducats and vast estates, including Pisa, Livorno and Parma.
And Catherine herself, although she was not considered a beauty, was still quite attractive: thick auburn hair, a chiseled face with large expressive eyes, in which an extraordinary mind shone, a beautiful slender body - however, for those times she was considered too thin and short ... Her hand was sought, for example, by the Prince of Orange and the Scottish King James V. But of all the applicants, Clement VII gave preference to Henry de Valois, Duke of Orleans, the second son of King Francis I of France. Catherine was only 14 when she was betrothed to a French prince.
The marriage of Catherine de Medici
The marriage took place in Marseille on October 28, 1533: after a magnificent celebration, which was attended by all the highest clergy of Europe and half of the most noble aristocrats, the 14-year-old newlyweds went to their chambers in order to perform the ceremony of the first wedding night. They say that in the morning Catherine was already head over heels in love with her husband: this love, though darkened by many grievances, she will carry through her whole life.
After 34 days of constant festivities, the young eventually went to Paris. In Catherine's retinue, a professional chef arrived in France for the first time, who amazed the spoiled courtyard with his exquisite and unusual dishes, a perfumer (and at the same time, as they said, a poison-maker), as well as an astrologer, a tailor and many servants. Catherine was able to amaze the Parisians: her beautiful legs were shod in the amazing work of high-heeled shoes, and luxurious jewelry could outshine the sun's radiance. Francis I, fascinated by an intelligent and well-read daughter-in-law, from the very first days took her under his protection.
But a year later, Pope Clement died, and his successor Paul III refused to pay Catherine's dowry, and also broke off all relations with France. Catherine instantly lost all her value: King Francis complained in a letter that "the girl came to me completely naked." The court, which had recently favored the young princess, turned its back on her: they began to call her “Italian” and “merchant's wife” and ridicule her for her secular inexperience and bad French.
In those days, the French court was a place where sophistication of taste, nobility of manners, poetic games and refined conversations were valued, and Catherine could not boast of either a brilliant education or secular education and felt like a stranger at court. In addition, her adored husband fell in love with another: as if in a mockery of the young duchess, Henry's chosen one was the beautiful widow Diane de Poitiers, almost 20 years older than him. Diana immediately gained such a strong influence on Henry that he practically forgot about his lawful wife.
Meanwhile, in 1536, the heir to the throne, Dauphin Francis, suddenly died: flushed after playing with a ball, he drank ice water and a few days later died of a cold. Even then, there were rumors that the Dauphin was poisoned, and Catherine was called the culprit, for whom his death, of course, was very beneficial - but these assumptions were rejected even by King Francis himself, who still favored his daughter-in-law.
Birth of children
And now she faced the main problem: it was necessary to give France an heir. For more than 10 years, Catherine tried to get pregnant: she used all possible means - from cow dung on her stomach to the help of astrologers. To this day, it is unclear what exactly helped her - most often they write that Heinrich had some kind of physical disability and was forced to either have an operation or make love to his wife in a strictly defined position. The famous Michel Nostradamus, a doctor and soothsayer, is also often mentioned: as if it was his art that finally helped Catherine get pregnant.

Be that as it may, on January 20, 1544, Catherine gave birth to a son, baptized in honor of her grandfather Francis - they say that he even shed a tear when he found out about this. Over time, she gave birth to nine more children, of which 7 survived: 4 sons and 3 daughters. After the last birth - two girls were born, one of whom died in the womb, and the second did not live a week - Catherine was advised not to have any more children. It would seem that Catherine reliably provided the dynasty with heirs; but time has shown that this was not at all the case.
Savor. Intrigue
Abandoned by her husband, Catherine consoled herself that she had gathered the brightest talents at her court: she patronized artists and poets, collected books and art objects, not only honing her education, but also increasing the prestige of the French court in the face of Europe, and also taking care of her reputation. Soon it became known to everyone that Catherine was one of the smartest, most understanding and sophisticated women in the world. Everyone except her own husband, who still loved only Diana.
It is believed that it was to Catherine that the French owe the haute cuisine that developed at court under the influence of her Italian chefs. She also invented the ladies' saddle - before her, women rode horseback, sitting on a kind of bench, which was rather uncomfortable. Catherine, on the other hand, introduced pantaloons into fashion, which made it possible not only to ride, but also to hide from colds and dirt. In addition, France owes her ballet, narrow corsets and acquaintance with the book of the Italian Machiavelli, whose faithful student Catherine was throughout her life.
Intrigues, which at first were only a means to escape from boredom, eventually became a way of life for Catherine. They say that she organized a whole spy network, it included beautiful ladies-in-waiting, whom Catherine put on the right men, nosy scouts and skilled poison makers. Cold, calculating, hypocritical and power-hungry Catherine for the time being hid herself - but she believed that someday her hour would come.
Queen without a kingdom
During the celebration of the 28th birthday of the Dauphin Henry, his father King Francis died suddenly, and Henry inherited the crown. However, Diana de Poitiers rather than Catherine de Medici became queen: the favorite of the new king received not only all the lands and jewels of her predecessor, the mistress of Francis duchess d'Etampes, but also the right to receive some taxes, as well as the Chenonceau castle and the title of Duchess de Valentinois ... Diana seized all power in the kingdom: Henry did not make a single decision without her knowledge and approval.
Catherine could only come to terms. Having stepped on the throat of her own pride, she not only did not interfere in the heart affairs of her husband - she even made friends with Diana, who sometimes deigned to "lend" the queen to her lawful husband. Only once did Catherine dare to express to Diana her true attitude towards her. She was reading a book, and the favorite asked what exactly Her Majesty was reading. “I read the history of France and find incontrovertible evidence that in this country harlots have always ruled the affairs of kings,” the queen replied.
This behavior, unexpectedly for everyone, earned her considerable respect from her husband: having ceased to see an unwanted burden in his wife, he, in the end, was able to see in Catherine a considerable mind and state talent. And even entrusted her with the country during his absence - while her husband was at war with the German emperor, Catherine de Medici ruled France with unexpected force and tact for everyone.
Death of the king
Henry's constant wars bore fruit: in April 1558, peace was concluded in Cato Cambresi between France and England and France and Spain: the long Italian wars were finally over. As a pledge of the future peace, the Duke of Savoy, Emmanuel Philibert, was married to Margaret, Henry's sister, and the Spanish king Philip II was to marry his eldest daughter Elizabeth. In honor of the conclusion of peace, at the suggestion of Diana de Poitiers, a knightly tournament was organized, at which, by an absurd accident, King Henry received a serious wound: during a duel with Gabriel Montgomery, a fragment of the enemy's spear entered the king's eye and pierced the brain. After 10 days, he died in the arms of Catherine, never saying goodbye to his beloved Diana.
Heinrich was still alive when Catherine told Diana to leave the courtyard, having given all the jewelry that Heinrich had given her before. Diana retired to her castle, Ane, where she died quietly 7 years later. They say she kept her beauty until the last days ...
The widowed Catherine was heartbroken. As a sign of sorrow, she chose as her emblem the image of a broken spear with the inscription Lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor ("From this my tears and my pain"). Until the end of her days, she did not take off her black mourning clothes: it is believed that Catherine was the first who made the color of mourning black - before, mourning clothes were white. Until her death, Catherine mourned her husband, who was her only man and only love.
Board history
15-year-old Francis became the king of France: a sickly and sluggish young man took little interest in state affairs, Catherine was engaged in them. But she had a chance to share power with the dukes of Giza: Francis was married to Mary Stuart, daughter of their sister Mary de Guise, and those who owned Lorraine of Giza were one of the most influential families in the state. They were opposed by the Bourbons who ruled Navarre: the rivalry was aggravated by the fact that the Giza remained faithful to Catholicism, while the Bourbons were Protestants: the teachings of Martin Luther spread like fire across Europe, threatening schism and wars.
Supporters of both parties spread many ominous rumors about Catherine: perhaps, with their light hand, she is still haunted to this day by accusations of all the unexpected deaths, of which there were many among her loved ones. However, it may be that these rumors were true - Catherine, who had tasted power with no one else, never wanted to share it.
1560 - Francis died suddenly: an abscess in the brain was officially named as the cause of his death, which happened due to an abscess in the ear, but Catherine did not fail to blame his young wife, the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart, for the death of her son: as if she was so hungry for bed pleasures that completely deprived the king of his strength. Mary had a chance to immediately leave France, and 10-year-old Charles IX ascended the throne.
Karl, very similar to his father both in appearance and character, adored his mother: he listened to her in everything, he already at the coronation publicly declared to Catherine that “she would always be by his side and retain the right to rule, as it was until now.” And Catherine ruled almost completely. She found the soft and obedient Elizabeth of Austria as a wife to her son - the daughter-in-law was good to everyone, except for one thing: she never had a son.
Catholics and Huguenots
But Catherine de Medici was not very upset: she gave birth to enough children to ensure continuity. She was much more worried about the growing religious strife between Catholics and Huguenots: for the time being, she skillfully maneuvered between the two camps, giving no preference to anyone and maintaining a balance of power. Although she grew up under the papal throne, she did not really care about the issues of faith: she sincerely saw religious controversy as only an echo of political differences that could be reconciled with intelligence and tact.
Finally, Catherine took a decisive step: she promised her daughter Margarita to wife Henry, the king of Navarre and the leader of the Huguenots. She hoped by this to weaken the Gizov party, which had too much power, but over time, her plans changed.
The Huguenots raised one revolt after another, and the Catholics immediately responded to each with massacres and pogroms. At the same time, King Charles more and more fell under the influence of Admiral Coligny - the actual head of the Huguenot party. Tom even managed to persuade Charles to unite with England and declare war on Spain - which Catherine could not allow. She convinced her son that Coligny had conspired against him: the only salvation is to kill Coligny and his Huguenot supporters. They say that King Charles, crushed by her arguments, exclaimed: "In the name of the Lord, kill them all!"
St. Bartholomew's night
On the night of August 24, 1572, the massacre began, which went down in history under the name of St. Bartholomew's Night: Admiral Coligny and many other Huguenots who came to the wedding of Henry and Margaret were brutally killed. Then they began to kill ordinary townspeople, guilty or suspected of the Huguenot heresy. Henry of Navarre survived - Margaret hid him in her chambers, and when the murderers came for him, he vowed to convert to Catholicism. The massacre in Paris lasted for a week, and its echoes were heard in France for a month. According to various estimates, from 3 to 10 thousand people died, and not all of them were Huguenots.

According to historians, at first, Catherine de Medici and her supporters did not plan a mass massacre, they intended to eliminate only Coligny and two dozen of his closest supporters, but the crowd thirsty for blood got out of control. Since that time, the name of Catherine de Medici has forever stained with blood - and despite all her state talents, in human memory she remained the one who staged the Bartholomew Massacre.
Meanwhile, the Catholic rulers of Europe welcomed Catherine's initiative: she received congratulations from the Pope, the King of Spain and many others, who rejoiced at the blow that was dealt to the hated heretics. Only her own son Karl, shocked by the sight of the bloody massacre, accused his mother of murder. His health, already weak, began to deteriorate every day. Finally, Karl, exhausted by fever, died at the Vincennes castle on May 30, 1574, not having lived a month before his 24th birthday. The cause of his death was pleurisy, which developed due to advanced tuberculosis. His last words were: "Oh, my mother ..."
There is a version that Karl was accidentally killed by his mother: she prepared a poisoned book for Henry of Navarre, but Karl was the first to open the poisonous pages.
Henry III became the king of France - the third son of Catherine de Medici, her adored boy, "Everything is mine", as she called him in letters. For the sake of the French throne, Henry abandoned the Polish crown, which he put on in May 1573. However, the Poles did not favor the new king so much: he was a spoiled, selfish child, hung with jewelry and - according to rumors - preferred men in bed. Once Catherine planned to marry him to Elizabeth of England, but she broke off the engagement. During his Polish reign, he fell in love with Louise of Lorraine, whom he married in February 1575, two days after his coronation.
Unlike his brothers, Henry ascended the throne when he was already quite an adult. He was able to run the state himself and did not intend to yield power to his mother. She, who adored Henry beyond measure, was ready to reconcile: she took on the role of his messenger and tirelessly traveled around the country, trying to reconcile Catholics and Huguenots.
The greatest grief was brought to her by her youngest son François, Duke of Alencon: he constantly intrigued against his brother, started conspiracies and waged unsuccessful wars. The military campaign in the Netherlands, led by François, failed - and six months later, François died. The next day, Catherine wrote: “I am so unhappy, having lived long enough, seeing how many people die before me, although I understand that God's will must be obeyed, that He owns everything and that He lends us, only until then. as long as He loves the children He gives us. "
Death of Catherine
The death of the youngest son crippled Catherine: of all her children, only two survived - Margarita, who had long quarreled with her husband and led a dissolute lifestyle, and Henry - and both had no children. The future of the dynasty was suddenly in jeopardy - and Catherine de 'Medici, always so active, could do nothing.
She realized that she had outlived her time. The all-powerful queen mother once just went to bed and never got up from her again, calmly awaiting inevitable death. One of the memoirists wrote: "Those who were close to her believed that her life was cut short by frustration at the actions of her son." Catherine de 'Medici died in Blois on January 5, 1589. According to the testimony of her servant, before her death, she whispered: "I was crushed by the rubble of the house ..."
One of the astrologers once prophesied to her that "Saint Germain will be the first to know about her death." Since that time, she has always avoided places bearing this name, but a blind chance justified the prediction: Catherine de 'Medici died in the arms of a royal preacher named Saint Germain. Henry III was indifferent to the death of his mother who adored him and did not even take care of her burial.
She was buried there, in Blois - only a few years later her ashes were reburied in the Abbey of Saint-Denis, the ancestral tomb of the French kings.
After only 8 months, Henry III was killed by a religious fanatic, and Henry of Navarre, so hated by Catherine, ascended the throne. All that she devoted her life to has sunk into oblivion ...
W. Wolfe

At the age of 14, Catherine was married to Henry de Valois, the second son of Francis I, King of France, for whom this union was beneficial primarily due to the support that the Pope could provide to his military campaigns in Italy.
The bride's dowry was 130,000 ducats, and vast estates including Pisa, Livorno and Parma.

Contemporaries described Elizabeth as a slender red-haired girl, short and with a rather ugly face, but very expressive eyes - a family trait of the Medici.

Young Catherine so wanted to impress the exquisite French court that she resorted to the help of one of the most famous Florentine craftsmen, who made high-heeled shoes especially for her miniature customer. I must admit, Catherine achieved what she wanted, her presentation to the French court made a real splash.

The wedding took place on October 28, 1533 in Marseille.
Europe has not seen such a gathering of representatives of the higher clergy, perhaps, since the time of medieval cathedrals: Pope Clement VII himself was present at the ceremony, accompanied by his many cardinals. The celebration was followed by 34 days of continuous feasts and balls.

However, soon the holidays died down, and Catherine was left alone with her new role.

The French court has always been famous for its sophistication, noble manners and brilliantly educated and sophisticated ladies. Influenced by the revived interest in antiquity, the courtiers of Francis I spoke among themselves in Latin and Greek, read Ronsard's poems and admired the sculptural statues of Italian masters. In the merchant Florence, in contrast to France, the fathers of families were not concerned with giving their wives and daughters such a versatile education, as a result of which in the first years of her life at the French court, Catherine felt like an ignoramus who did not know how to construct phrases gracefully and made many mistakes. in letters. She felt her isolation from society and suffered severely from loneliness and hostility, which was shown to her by the French, who contemptuously called the daughter-in-law of Francis I "Italian" and "merchant". The only friend that young Catherine found in France was her father-in-law.

In 1536, the heir to the French throne died unexpectedly.
According to the official version, death came from a cold, which the dauphin caught after swimming in ice water after playing a ball. According to another, the crown prince was poisoned by Catherine, who desired her husband's accession to the throne. Fortunately, these rumors did not in any way affect the warm relationship between Francis I and his daughter-in-law, but be that as it may, since then the glory of the poisoner has firmly been entrenched in the Florentine.

Under pressure from her husband, who wanted to consolidate her position by the birth of an heir, Catherine, who until then had not brought him offspring, was treated for a long time and in vain by all kinds of magicians and healers with the sole purpose of getting pregnant.
In 1537, Henry's illegitimate child was born from a certain young lady named Philip Duci. This event finally confirmed that it was Catherine who was sterile. At court they started talking about the possibility of divorce.

As you know, trouble does not come alone, and another test awaited Catherine: a woman appeared in the life of Heinrich de Valois, whom many for the next few years considered the true ruler of France. We are talking about Diane de Poitiers, Henry's favorite, who was 20 years older than her crowned lover. Probably due to the age difference, the relationship between Heinrich and Diana was based more on reason than on sensual passion. Heinrich highly valued Diana's wisdom and foresight, and listened carefully to her advice before making important political decisions. Both were united by a passion for hunting. Many canvases have come down to us, in which lovers are depicted in the image of the Roman goddess-hunter Diana and the young god Apollo.

The deceived wife, forgotten by all, had no other choice but to come to terms with her humiliation. Overcoming herself, Catherine, as a true Medici, still managed to step on the throat of her pride and win over her husband's mistress, whom such a friendship was quite happy with, because the appearance of another, more prolific and less friendly wife could put her position at court in jeopardy.
For a long time, all three formed a rather strange love triangle: Diana occasionally pushed Henry to the bed of his wife, and Catherine, accepting him, was tormented by jealousy and her own powerlessness to change anything.

Comparison with the lovely Diana was clearly not in favor of Catherine. She was never a beauty, but with age she got quite fat, and, in the words of her contemporaries, she looked more and more like her uncle. The latter, of course, could not be a compliment in any way. A particularly repulsive feature was her overly high forehead. Evil tongues argued that a second face could well fit between her eyebrows and hair roots. In all likelihood, this was a consequence of hair loss, which Catherine carefully concealed using wigs.

The fact that Catherine stoically experienced her husband's betrayal does not mean that she did not try to do anything in order to get rid of her rival.
We have heard the echoes of a palace scandal, in which, in addition to Catherine, a certain Duke of Nemours was involved. From the letters of the participants in this story, it is known that, apparently, Catherine asked the Duke, seizing the moment, in the midst of the fun, under the guise of a cute prank, to throw a glass of water in Diana's face. The "joker" was not supposed to know that in a glass instead of water there should have been burnt lime.
The conspiracy was discovered, and Nemur was exiled, but later pardoned and returned to the court.

The news that Catherine was pregnant came as a complete surprise to everyone. The miraculous healing of the barren Dauphine was attributed to Nostradamus, a physician and astrologer, who entered the close circle of Catherine's confidants.
Her firstborn, named after her grandfather Francis, was born in 1543.

In 1549, Francis I died. Henry II ascended the throne, and Catherine was proclaimed queen of France.
She strengthened her position with the birth of several more heirs.

10 years later, in 1559, Henry died as a result of an injury sustained in a tournament.
In all of France, perhaps, there was no person who mourned the death of the king as inconsolably as the beautiful Diana.
Catherine finally had the opportunity to give free rein to the accumulated anger and get even with her rival. She demanded that de Poitiers return the jewelry belonging to the crown, and also left her home - the castle of Chanonceau.

With the accession to the throne of the sickly and weak 15-year-old Francis II, Catherine became regent and de facto ruler of the state.

The courtiers, who disliked Catherine the heiress, did not accept her as their empress. Enemies called her "the black queen", meaning the invariable mourning clothes in which Catherine put on after the death of her husband and did not take off until the end of her days. For many centuries, the glory of a poisoner and an insidious, vindictive intriguer who mercilessly dealt with her enemies was entrenched behind her.

One of the bloodiest events in French history is associated with the name of Catherine - St. Bartholomew's Night.

According to the generally accepted version, Catherine set a trap for the leaders of the Huguenots by inviting them to Paris for her daughter's wedding to Henry of Navarsky.
On the night of August 23-24, 1572, with the ringing of bells, thousands of townspeople flooded the streets of Paris. A horrific carnage ensued.
It is estimated that about 3,000 Huguenots were killed in Paris that night. One of the victims was their leader, Admiral Coligny.
The wave of violence that originated in the capital swept through the outskirts. In a bloody orgy that lasted a week, 8,000 more Huguenots were killed throughout France.

Perhaps the brutal reprisal against the opponents was actually carried out on the orders of Catherine, but there is, however, the likelihood that she was not aware of the impending attack, and in the chaos that followed, she had no choice but to accept take responsibility for what happened, so as not to admit the loss of control over the situation in the state.

Was Catherine really exactly what the spiteful critics described her? Or is it just a distorted image of this personality that has come down to us?

Few, perhaps, know that Catherine was a great lover of art and a patron of the arts. It was she who came up with the idea of ​​building a new wing of the Louvre and the Tuileries castle. Catherine's library contained hundreds of curious books and rare ancient manuscripts. It was thanks to her that the French court discovered the delights of Italian cuisine, including artichokes, broccoli and several varieties of spaghetti.
With her light hand, the French fell in love with ballet (baletto), and the ladies began to wear corsets and underwear - Catherine was a passionate lover of horseback riding and became the first woman, despite protests from the churchmen, to wear pantaloons.

It is also impossible not to admire Catherine the mother. Regardless of the methods she used in the fight against opponents, she was, first of all, a friend, support and support to her three sons who ascended the French throne: Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III.

The "black queen" died at the age of 70 in the Château de Blois, and was buried next to her husband, Henry II, in the Abbey of Saint Denis. Catherine was lucky to die in ignorance, she never learned that the last of her ten offspring, Henry III, was killed shortly after her death, and everything that she fought for for many years has sunk into oblivion. The de Valois dynasty ceased to exist.