How many sons did Catherine de Medici have?
She was one of the most influential personalities of the Catholic–Huguenot wars ( Wars of Religion; 1562–98). Three of her sons were kings of France: Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. Where was Catherine de’ Medici born and raised? Catherine de’ Medici was born in Florence, Italy, on April 13, 1519.
What is the full name of Catherine de Medici?
Catherine de' Medici. Catherine de’ Medici, also called Catherine de Médicis, Italian Caterina de’ Medici, (born April 13, 1519, Florence [Italy]—died January 5, 1589, Blois, France), queen consort of Henry II of France (reigned 1547–59) and subsequently regent of France (1560–74), who was one of the most influential personalities...
What did Catherine de Medici bring to France?
When Catherine de Médicis married King Henry II of France in 1533, she brought from Italy a taste for entertainments in which dancing was prominent. …Caterina de’ Medici (in France, Catherine de Médicis) to the future French king Henry II in 1533, the principal dance cynosure moved from Italy to France.
What race was Catherine de Medici’s brother?
Catherine’s half-brother was Alessandro de Medici, who was believed to be the product of their father and a Moorish slave woman. Alessandro’s nickname “the Moor” references such origins, and his portraits also strongly suggest that he was of mixed race.
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Did Catherine de Medici really have twins?
As a gynaecologist I find this intriguing, especially as the birth of Francis II, Catherine's first child, in 1544, was followed by the arrival of nine siblings. One son died in infancy and Catherine's final delivery, in 1556, was of twins (one a neonatal death, the other a stillborn breech extraction).
How many babies did Queen Catherine of France have?
In spite of Henry's abiding attachment to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, Catherine's marriage was not unsuccessful and, after 10 anxious years, she bore him 10 children, of whom 4 boys and 3 girls survived. She herself supervised their education.
Did Catherine de Medici have an illegitimate child?
Clarissa Delacroix (1539-1557) was the illegitimate daughter of Queen Catherine de Medici and the French noble Richard Delacroix.
Who are the twins in Reign?
Henrietta and Emone were the twins born to Catherine and Henry. Catherine described them as being very tiny when they were born while also having features unique to each one. Catherine has said that she wonders what her twins would have been like had they grown.
Why did Catherine of Aragon miscarry so much?
Late in December it was reported that Katherine had “brought forth an abortion due to worry about the excessive discord between the two kings, her husband and father; because of her excessive grief, she is said to have ejected an immature foetus”.
How many miscarriages did Queen Catherine have?
sixHenry's first two wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, had ten pregnancies between them from 1509 to 1519 and from 1533 to 1536, respectively, but six resulted in miscarriage. Henry's first son, Prince Henry, who was born in 1511, lived less than two months (see Table 1).
Who killed Catherine's twins reign?
When the twins are found dead in their cribs it is believed by Catherine that Claude killed her younger twin sisters by suffocating them because Catherine didn't pay as much attention to her anymore. Later it is learned that it was not Claude who killed them but it was Bash's mother, Diane de Poitiers.
Did Queen Catherine of France have syphilis?
It is thought that she had contracted syphilis from her womanising husband Lorenzo. Within a couple of weeks, he too succumbed and Catherine was left an orphan. The young girl was raised initially in Florence with relatives and later in Rome, under the care of her uncle the Pope.
How did Catherine de Medici died in real life?
On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy. Because Paris was held by enemies of the crown, Catherine was buried provisionally at Blois.
What happened to Catherine's twins in Reign?
Finally, after Bash's talk with Catherine, he confronts his mother about something he remembered: The day she broke the window at the chapel Henry had bought them. Two days after she broke the window out of anger toward Henry, the twins were dead.
Who was poisoning Queen Catherine in Reign?
Henriette and Emone were originally thought to be ghosts that live within the French Court but were really hallucinations of Queen Catherine who was being poisoned....Henriette and EmoneParents:King Henry † (Father) Queen Catherine (Mother)20 more rows
What happened to Diane on reign?
Diane was murdered by a furious Catherine after the Queen learned that she was responsible for the deaths of her infant twins.
How many babies did Anne Boleyn have?
Anne Boleyn successfully gave birth to and raised just one child.
How many miscarriages did Anne Boleyn have?
Anne subsequently had three miscarriages and by March 1536, Henry was courting Jane Seymour. In order to marry Seymour, Henry had to find reasons to end the marriage to Anne. Henry VIII had Anne investigated for high treason in April 1536.
What happened to Katherine of Aragon's daughter?
She died at St. James Palace in London, on November 17, 1558, and was interred at Westminster Abbey.
Did Queen Catherine have a son?
Henry, Duke of CornwallCatherine of Aragon / SonHenry, Duke of Cornwall was the first living child of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and though his birth was celebrated as that of the heir apparent, he died within weeks. Wikipedia
Who was Catherine de’ Medici?
Catherine de’ Medici was the queen consort of Henry II of France (1547–59) and regent of France. She was one of the most influential personalities...
Where was Catherine de’ Medici born and raised?
Catherine de’ Medici was born in Florence, Italy, on April 13, 1519. She was educated by nuns in Florence and in Rome.
Who were Catherine de’ Medici’s parents?
Catherine de’ Medici was the daughter of Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici, duca di Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, a Bourbon princess relat...
What was Catherine de’ Medici best known for?
Catherine de’ Medici was best known for being the queen consort of Henry II of France (1547–59) and regent of France. She is also known for her inv...
What was Catherine de Medici known for?
Catherine de’ Medici was best known for being the queen consort of Henry II of France (1547–59) and regent of France. She is also known for her involvement in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day (1572)—part of the Catholic–Huguenot wars ( Wars of Religion; 1562–98)—and for being mother to three kings of France.
How many children did Catherine de Poitiers have?
In spite of Henry’s abiding attachment to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, Catherine’s marriage was not unsuccessful and, after 10 anxious years, she bore him 10 children, of whom 4 boys and 3 girls survived.
What was Catherine's second crisis?
Catherine’s second great political crisis came with the premature death on December 5, 1560, of Francis II, whose royal authority the Guises had monopolized. Catherine succeeded in obtaining the regency for Charles IX, with Antoine de Bourbon, king of Navarre and first prince of the blood, as lieutenant general, to whom the Protestants vainly looked for leadership.
What was Catherine's most important achievement?
Possibly Catherine’s most concrete achievement was the Edict of January 1562, which followed the failure of reconciliation. This afforded the Calvinists licensed coexistence with specific safeguards. Unlike the proposals of Poissy, the edict was law, which the Protestants accepted and the Catholics rejected.
Who was Catherine de la Tour?
Catherine was the daughter of Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici, duca di Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, a Bourbon princess related to many of the French nobility. Orphaned within days, Catherine was highly educated, trained, and disciplined by nuns in Florence and Rome and married in 1533 by her uncle, Pope Clement VII, to Henry, duc d’Orléans, who inherited the French crown from his father, Francis I, in April 1547. Artistic, energetic, and extraverted, as well as discreet, courageous, and gay, Catherine was greatly esteemed at the dazzling court of Francis I, from which she derived both her political attitudes and her passion for building. Of the chateaus she designed herself—including the Tuileries—Chenonceaux was her unfinished masterpiece.
Who was Queen Elizabeth's daughter married to?
This she envisaged in terms of the marriage of her daughter Marguerite to the young Protestant leader, Henry of Navarre (later Henry IV of France), and alliance with England through the marriage of her son Henry, duc d’Anjou, or, failing him, his younger brother François, duc d’Alençon, to Queen Elizabeth.
What was Catherine's first political crisis?
Catherine’s 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. Under her son, Francis II, power was retained by the Guise brothers.
When did Catherine give birth to her twins?
Joan and Victoire. (public domain) On 24 June 1556, Catherine gave birth to twin daughters Joan and Victoire. The birth nearly cost Catherine her life. Victoire was born safely but Joan did not want to come and Catherine began to weaken quickly.
Who was Catherine's daughter?
Margaret. The most famous of Catherine’s daughters was born on 14 May 1553. She was the only one of Catherine’s children to inherit her good health. At an early age, she was offered as a bride for her sister’s widower King Philip II of Spain, but nothing came of that.
How old was Claude when she married Charles?
Claude was born on 12 November 1547, and she too suffered from childhood ailments, like her elder sister. She was just 11 years old when she married Charles, Duke of Lorraine in January 1559 in a splendid ceremony at the Notre-Dame. Charles had been largely brought up at the French Court and Claude probably knew him well. Charles and Claude had a happy marriage, and their close proximity to the French court meant that they were able to visit Catherine often.
What did Catherine write to Elisabeth's husband?
On 16 October 1568, Catherine wrote to Elisabeth’s husband to offer advice during Elisabeth’s pregnancy. 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.
How many children did Charles and Claude have?
Claude and Charles would go on to have nine children, of which seven would survive to adulthood. Claude died in childbirth in 1575 and Catherine was truly devastated. She took to her bed with a fever. She had always enjoyed her visits to Claude, and now that would never be the same.
What happened to Margaret that was beaten?
In 1568, she was beaten, punched and had her hair pulled out by Catherine and her brother Charles after a secret affair with Henry of Guise. Catherine then spent an hour trying to make Margaret presentable again. This probably cooled the relationship between Margaret and her mother considerably.
What did Claude mean by "in her beauty she resembled her mother, in her knowledge and kindness she?
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.
How many children did Catherine have?
Despite giving birth to ten children, Catherine outlived every single one, save for Henri III (who was stabbed to death just seven months after his mother’s passing) and Marguerite (who inherited her mother’s robust health and aversion to being stabbed).
Who was Catherine's half brother?
Catherine’s half-brother was Alessandro de Medici, who was believed to be the product of their father and a Moorish slave woman. Alessandro’s nickname “the Moor” references such origins, and his portraits also strongly suggest that he was of mixed race. After their father’s death, Catherine’s brother stepped into power and would be the last Medici of the “senior” branch to rule Florence, before his assassination at the age of 26.
How many kids did Catherine and Henri have?
He advised them with “positions” to take… and it appeared to work, as the couple went on to have ten kids. Someone shoulda bought them the Kama Sutra a long time ago!
How did Catherine and Henri get pregnant?
She looked into every trick to get pregnant, including drinking mule’s urine and even putting cow dung and ground up stag antlers on the ground as “sources of life.” What ever happened to rose petals?
Why did Catherine bore peep holes into the roof of Diane de Poitiers's bedchamber?
It’s said that Catherine bored peep holes into the roof of Diane de Poitiers’s bedchamber so that she could see her husband “in action” with his mistress. She apparently noted the contrast between the disinterested performance she got from Henri versus the “spectacle” he gave Diane…
What is Catherine's personal emblem?
After her husband’s death-by-joust, Catherine took the image of a broken lance as her personal emblem, inscribed with the words, “lacrymae hinc, hinc dolor” (from this come my tears and my pain).
Why did Henri III thank his mother?
To resolve the family’s conflict with the Catholic League, Henri first publicly thanked his mother for her lifetime of service to both him and the state… before he had the Duke of Guise stabbed to death (against her wishes!) in the room right above her. Contemporaries believed Catherine’s shock at her son’s disobedience hastened her death by lung infection at the age of 69.
Where did Catherine de Medici live?
Orphaned as an infant when her parents died tragically, Catherine lived for several months in Florence with Pope Clement VII , her distant relative and benefactor. Then rival factions overthrew the Medicis and Catherine was taken hostage and put in a convent. During her turbulent childhood, she would go from nunnery to nunnery, miserable at some, happy at others, and, according to Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France , always in flux.
Why did Catherine de Medici alienate the French court?
Catherine de Medici often alienated the regulars of the French court in her pursuit of power. It got so bad that she was blamed for the often convenient deaths of her enemies. Case in point, Jeanne d'Albret, prospective mother-in-law to Catherine's daughter, Marguerite. D'Albret had left court years before, turned off by Catherine's clique of pretty and promiscuous young women, the Flying Squadron. Catherine then talked d'Albret back into her good graces by promising that, should her son, Henry, King of Navarre, marry Marguerite, he could remain a Protestant. Then, just two months before the marriage was to take place, d'Albret died in Paris, shopping for wedding clothes. According to this Atlas Obscura article, courtiers claimed Catherine poisoned d'Albret with a pair of tainted gloves.
What was Catherine's relationship with her daughter?
One of the main sticking points between mother and daughter was Catherine's decision to arrange a marriage for Marguerite to the protestant Henry, King of Navarre, in an attempt to broker peace between French Catholics and their Huguenot rivals. (The French Wars of Religion had been raging for decades and Catherine was anxious to end the bloodshed.)
What was Catherine's dowry?
The Florentine claims that when Catherine married Henry Valois in 1533, she brought with her a dowry that included 100,000 gold coins and lots and lots of jewels.
Why did Catherine take over as regent?
A court rumor suggested that one reason she was permitted to take over as regent after her husband's death was because she deployed a member of her squad to sleep with the decision makers. Catherine was also said to have directed one of the so-called flying girls, Charlotte de Sauve, to seduce her own daughter's husband, Henry of Navarre, as well as the Duke of Alecon (who'd been hatching a plan to displace Catherine), thereby working the two men against each other. Catherine's daughter, Marguerite, was understandably not thrilled with a scheme that involved her mother seducing her husband by proxy.
Why did Catherine have a spy hole in her bedroom?
The Huffington Post reports Catherine eventually resorted to having spy holes drilled in the floor of her bedroom so she could observe Henry and Diane in their element. Adding insult to indignity, Catherine had to put up with Henry's gifting the house she wanted for herself, the Chateau de Chenonceau, to his mistress.
Why did Henry and Catherine divorce?
And that position was in serious danger. There was talk of divorce, both because of Catherine's apparent infertility and because her opulent dowr y had recently been reduced to nothing. Royal marriage was all about babies and cash transactions. Trying to at least solve the first problem, Catherine enlisted the services of a famous physician, Jean Fernel, asking him to give both she and Henry a thorough physical examination.
How many sons did Catherine de Medici have?
Devoted to her children and the success of the Valois line, Catherine supported 3 sons as Kings of France through some of the country’s most violent religious turmoil. So wide-reaching was her influence during this period that it has often been dubbed ‘the age of Catherine de’ Medici’, and she has gone down as one of the most infamous women in history.
When was Catherine de Medici born?
Catherine was born on 13 April 1519 to Lorenzo de’ Medici and his wife Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, who were said to have been ‘as pleased as if it had been a boy’.
How long did Catherine and Catherine have children?
The marriage was not a happy one however. For 10 years the couple produced no children, and soon discussions of divorce were on the table. In desperation, Catherine tried every trick in the book to promote her fertility, including drinking mule’s urine and placing cow dung and ground stags’ antlers on her “source of life”.
How did Henry II die?
In 1559, Henry II suffered a mortal wound in a joust against the young Comte de Montgomery, whose lance pierced through his helmet and into his eye. He died 11 days later in agony, as was predicted.
Who offered his second son Prince Henry?
When King Francis I of France offered his second son Prince Henry, Duke of Orleans as a husband to Catherine de’ Medici her uncle Pope Clement VII jumped at the opportunity, calling it “the greatest match in the world”.
Who predicted Catherine's husband's death?
In an eerie twist of fate, legend tells that Nostradamus predicted the death of Catherine’s husband Henry II, stating:
Who was Charles IX's brother?
At 23, Charles IX too passed away, and the throne moved to his younger brother Henry III. Writing to Henry on his brother’s death, Catherine lamented:
What happened to Catherine's mother?
Catherine’s mother, who came from the French nobility, had died of puerperal sepsis within days of her birth, and soon afterwards her father, Lorenzo de Medicis, perished from a fever.
Where did Catherine and Francis get married?
Nevertheless, the wedding did take place, at Nice in 1533. So richly bejewelled was Catherine’s wedding gown that it was impossible to tell its colour. It was considered that the couple were old enough (they were both 14) to consummate the marriage; presumably Catherine had already reached her menarche. Francis I ‘put them to bed to watch them jousting and they jousted valiantly’ and the Pope waited 34 days to see if his niece had conceived, but in vain. ‘Never mind,’ he consoled her, as he prepared to leave for Rome, ‘a clever woman can always have children.’ However, Catherine had none for ten years.
Why did Catherine marry Henry II?
Catherine herself was never consulted – the marriage was political, made so that France could keep a foot in Italy.
What happened to Henry II?
Henry II, as a child, was sent as a hostage to the Spanish court, as part of the ransom paid for his father, Francis I, taken prisoner in Italy. Henry did not return to France until he was eleven. On his return, his father found him a morose child and entrusted him to the care of a woman then at Court, Diane de Poitiers.
Why did Catherine turn against Diane?
We shall never really know the reasons for Catherine’s interesting obstetric history. After Henry’s death, Catherine, now virtual ruler of France, turned against Diane. She and her friends were banished from Court, she was made to give up her beautiful château on the Loire and to return the crown jewels.
Did Henry II have surgery?
Other historians have speculated that Henry had an operation to correct the hypospadias. Surgery of all kinds was, however, in its infancy, anaesthesia and antisepsis unknown. Ambroise was at the stage of ligating bleeding vessels from war injuries, rather than pouring boiling oil over them. Summoned to the dying Henry II, he could do nothing to save him. It is inconceivable that any surgeon would have operated upon the Royal member to correct a congenital anomaly, or even imagined that by doing so he might solve what would have been thought of as Catherine’s problem. Surgery for the correction of hypospadias was not developed until the late 19th century.
Did Catherine share Henry's bed with Diane?
It has been well-documented that Catherine shared Henry’s bed frequently, at Diane’s bidding: ‘Diane obliged Henry to sleep assiduously with his wife,’ wrote one contemporary. So lack of opportunity was not the reason Catherine was failing to conceive.
Overview
Marriage
On her visit to Rome, the Venetian envoy described Catherine as "small of stature, and thin, and without delicate features, but having the protruding eyes peculiar to the Medici family". Suitors, however, lined up for her hand, including James V of Scotland who sent the Duke of Albany to Clement to conclude a marriage in April and November 1530. When Francis I of France proposed his second son, Henry, Duke of Orléans, in early 1533, Clement jumped at the offer. Henry was a …
Birth and upbringing
Catherine de' Medici was born on 13 April 1519 in Florence, Republic of Florence, the only child of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and his wife, Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, the countess of Boulogne. 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. According to a contemporary chronicler, when Catherine was born, her parents wer…
Queen mother
Francis II became king at the age of fifteen. In what has been called a coup d'état, the Cardinal of Lorraine and the Duke of Guise—whose niece, Mary, Queen of Scots, had married Francis II the year before—seized power the day after Henry II's death and quickly moved themselves into the Louvre Palace with the young couple. The English ambassador reported a few days later that "the house of G…
Patron of the arts
Catherine believed in the humanist ideal of the learned Renaissance prince whose authority depended on letters as well as arms. She was inspired by the example of her father-in-law, King Francis I of France, who had hosted the leading artists of Europe at his court, and by her Medici ancestors. In an age of civil war and declining respect for the monarchy, she sought to bolster royal pr…
Links to the occult
Catherine de' Medici has been labelled a "sinister Queen… noted for her interest in the occult arts". To some, Catherine and Henry's inability to produce an heir for the first ten years of their marriage gave rise to suspicion of witchcraft. Labouvie suggested that women's power was believed to be the ability to create and sustain life, whilst witches were believed to have the opposite power; that of at…
In popular culture
Catherine is portrayed by Megan Follows on the CW television series, Reign. She is a main character in all four seasons of the series and the only character to have appeared in every episode other than Mary, Queen of Scots, who is portrayed by Adelaide Kane. Catherine is depicted as powerful and strong-willed. She is extremely loyal and willing to do whatever it takes, no matter the deadly price, to protect her children, their rule and their legacy. Catherine is often at odds with Mary bec…
Issue
Catherine de' Medici married Henry, Duke of Orléans, the future Henry II of France, in Marseille on 28 October 1533. She gave birth to ten children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived to marriageable age. Three of her sons became kings of France, while two of her daughters married kings and one married a duke. Catherine outlived all her children except Henry III, who died se…