Sunday 25 March 2018

D is for... de Medici, Catherine


The Catholic Queen Mother, whose son was King Charles IX of France. In order to ease tensions in the country between the Catholic majority and the Protestants, she arranged for her daughter to marry King Henry of Navarre, a leading Protestant. Alarmed that her son was falling increasingly under the influence of one of his advisers - the Protestant Admiral de Coligny - she agreed to an assassination plot against him. When this failed, she then agreed to the massacre of the Protestant population of the city when it was feared that they would attack the Catholics in revenge for the assassination attempt.

Played by: Joan Young. Appearances: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966).

  • Catherine de Medici (1519 - 1589) was the daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici. Her uncle, Pope Clement VII, arranged for her to marry the second son of King Francis I of France - Henry. He became King Henry II after the death of his older brother. Catherine was mother to three French kings - Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. Francis II she married to Mary Queen of Scots. He died young, and Catherine acted as Regent until Charles came of age.

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