TL;DL: Catherine de Medici

Buckle up, this is a long one

Hey everyone,

Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering that my coverage of Catherine de Medici ran to three episodes, this is also our longest Too Long; Didn’t Listen yet! I’ve put in links to the episodes where they break in Catherine’s story, in case you want to go back and listen.

Are you a student or teacher who wants to use this outline to help build a lesson? Great! Send me an email for discounted access. Hit reply or email me at unrulyfigures@substack.com.

Big thanks to Niko for painstakingly putting this one together. Enjoy everyone!

Catherine de Medici

Early Life

• Caterina Maria Romula de Medici was born in Florence, Italy, on April 13, 1519.

  • Her parents were Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne. Both of them died soon after her birth. 

  • The Medici family was a prominent merchant family in Florence. In the 14th century, they rose to become papal bankers and used their fortune to patronize the arts.

• Catherine was first sent to live with her aunt, and then in the Santa Lucia convent in San Gallo. She stayed there for three years and was educated in Catholic ritual and doctrine, but the conditions were harsh. 

• When Catherine was around twelve or thirteen, Pope Clement VII and King Francis I of France arranged for her to marry Henry, Duke of Orléans, the French king’s second son. 

  • In March 1526, at an early age, Henry and his older brother went into captivity in Spain after France suffered a military disaster. They were kept in squalid conditions and weren’t released until July 1530. 

• Pope Clement arranged Catherine’s dowry and trousseau, wanting it to benefit her new status as a princess of France. 

  • The family ordered such enormous quantities of lace, gold, and jewelry that they levied a new tax on Florence. 

Young Catherine de Medici. Source.

Arrival in France: 

• Catherine arrived in Marseille on October 23, 1533, dressed in gold and silver silk and riding a horse dressed in gold brocade cloth for the wedding. 

• Catherine was adored personally by Francis I but the French resented her Italian heritage. 

• Despite their marriage, Henry maintained a strong relationship with his mistress, an older woman named Diane de Poitiers about twenty years Henry’s senior. 

• August 10, 1536, the Dauphin of France, Henry’s brother Francis and next in line for the throne, died suddenly at age 18 after a tennis game.  

  • Assassination rumors dampened Catherine’s reputation after an Italian man confessed to the murder under torture. 

• Catherine, as the Dauphine now, urgently needed to have children with Henry or risk being put aside.  

• On January 19, 1544, Catherine gave birth to her first son, Francis. 

  • Over the course of twelve years, Catherine and Henry went on to have nine more children; seven survived to adulthood. 

• In 1545, Charles, Henry’s younger brother and Francis’s favorite son, died suddenly of the plague.

• In 1547, King Francis’s health deteriorated aggressively.

  • When it became clear to him in March that he was dying, he sent for Henry and spent days talking frankly and earnestly with him about how to rule.

  • Francis died on March 31, 1547, from various health complications. 

  • Catherine was devasted by his death and followed his example to become a supporter of the arts and project royal grandeur.

Queen of France:

• Henry II’s coronation took place on July 26th, 1547. Catherine’s coronation took place on June 10th, 1549, in Saint-Denis.

• Religious factionalism reached France and the conflict cast a dark shadow over the festivities.

• In 1548, Mary, Queen of Scots, arrived in France. She had been engaged to Francis, Catherine and Henry’s eldest son since she was a baby.