Catherine de' Medici

13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589

Catherine de' Medici was an Italian-born noblewoman who became queen consort of France and, as queen mother, the dominant political force during the reigns of her sons Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III. She governed France through the early decades of the Wars of Religion, alternating between conciliation and repression of the Huguenots. Her name is closely associated with the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572.

Comparing
Compare

Lived at the same time

Well-documented people whose lives overlapped with Catherine de' Medici.

Life events

Born in Florence
13 April 1519

Catherine was born on 13 April 1519, the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, both of whom died within weeks of her birth.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Married Henry, Duke of Orleans, the future Henry II
28 October 1533

At age fourteen Catherine married Henry of Orleans, second son of King Francis I, in Marseille on 28 October 1533.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Relationship ✓
Became Queen of France
31 March 1547

Catherine became queen consort when her husband acceded to the French throne as Henry II on 31 March 1547.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Widowed by the death of Henry II in a jousting accident
10 July 1559

Henry II died on 10 July 1559 from a lance wound suffered in a tournament, leaving Catherine as queen mother to the young Francis II.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Personal ✓
Became regent of France for Charles IX
December 1560

After the early death of Francis II, Catherine was appointed governor of France and ruled as regent for her nine-year-old son Charles IX.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Career ✓
Convened the Colloquy of Poissy
September 1561

Catherine summoned Catholic and Protestant theologians to Poissy in 1561 in a failed attempt to reconcile France's religious factions.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Began construction of the Tuileries Palace
1564

Catherine commissioned the Tuileries Palace in Paris in 1564, one of several ambitious building projects she sponsored.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
St. Bartholomew's Day massacre
24 August 1572

On 24 August 1572, days after the wedding of her daughter Margaret to Henry of Navarre, thousands of Huguenots were massacred in Paris; Catherine has traditionally been blamed for instigating the killings, though her exact role is debated.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Other ✓
Died at the Chateau de Blois
5 January 1589

Catherine de' Medici died on 5 January 1589, months before the assassination of her son Henry III ended the Valois dynasty.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Death ✓