Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France

A deeply fascinating, highly readable, and truly outrageous non-fiction account of the remarkable life of Catherine de Medici. Clearly draws a portrait of her unstable wartime environment and incredible political rise to become one of the most notorious and powerful figures in European history. I bought this book after watching the entertaining The Serpent Queen- which uses this book as it's source, but while the show shapes the material into a very edgy and hip black comedy, Leonie Frieda's writing is much more traditional and erudite, brilliantly displaying the scheming, horror, tragedy, and absurdity of the royal courtly life in Renaissance France. There are also a few maps, a very useful list of the historic houses and family trees, and several color illustrations and paintings included in this book. Highly recommended to fans of European history and biographies. Also recommended the exciting, bloody, costume drama and award winning French film, Queen Margot (1994).

Leonie Frieda has written a tremendous biography of a much maligned Renaissance queen. Catherine De Medici has been blamed for many of the ills experienced by France after the death of her husband, Henry II. How much complicity she had in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre is still a subject of debate. Leonie Frieda states that she did have some culpability. However, she also makes it clear that Catherine made many efforts to make peace with the Huguenots before and after the event. Something that history seems to have neglected. Catherine's entire reign has been defined by that one event. There was much more to this remarkable renaissance queen. She was a woman of her times and ahead of her time. She received an education far beyond what was considered respectable for a woman. She cultivated the arts, poetry and architecture. And yet, she is considered the "Queen of poisons" because several of her enemies seemed to conveniently die (of poison ?). Above all, she was a mother to her children. What is interesting about her is that while she was never affectionate with her children, she loved and protected them. She made sure all of them married well. That was important during the Renaissance. A woman was defined by her marriage. Catherine was no different. Most of her early life was defined by her marriage to Henry II. She didn't come into her own until after his death when she became regent for her son, Francis. This is a period when she flourished. Up until that point, she remained the dutiful and submissive queen. She may well have owed that position to Diane De Poiters, Henry IIs mistress. Catherine remained childless for the first nine years of her marriage. That would have been a legitimate legal reason for an annulment. With Diane's urging (?), Henry kept Catherine and they eventually went on to have ten children. Catherine's relationship with her sons makes for absorbing reading. Three sons lived to become king of France and in Henry III's case, Poland. Her daughters did not achieve the same success of their mother. Although, Margot achieved equal notoriety. This is a wonderful biography as well as history of Renaissance France. I highly recommend it.

It would be hard for me to exaggerate how much I appreciated and enjoyed this biography of Catherine de Medici. This book is packed with information about the various political sub divisions of France, Italy, Spain, England, the Holy Roman Empire and so forth. The book is also is filled with information on the many royal families. I feel that this book could be used as a core text for study of this entire period of Western European History. This is not a light read. There were times I need a proverbial "score card" to keep track of all of the individuals and the shifting alliances and intrigue. In that context, this is in no way a light read and I really had to concentrate. As usual I did parallel reading and took my time to try to get as much as possible from this book. It took me a lot longer to read this book than its length would suggest. I purchased a hard copy of this really excellent book and also listened to an audiobook. While the audiobook is excellent, I would not have gotten nearly as much out of this work while only listening due to the names of people and places, etc. The actual book had maps, family trees, notes and bibliography, that really added so much to an individual such as myself who does not have sufficient prior knowledge of various names and locations. In summary, I am so glad that I purchased and studied this excellent book. I learned so much. I am saving the book for further reference and am completely satisfied with this fine work. Thank You...

Beautifully researched and written with great detail, this biography is a truly outstanding read. The drama and subterfuge of the Court are beautifully crafted and fascinating to read.

The book itself is worth reading but it smells like it was stored in someone's basement. Unfortunate circumstance when you buy used but I've been airing it outside and it's getting better.

The information in this book is amazing and so much crazier even than what’s shown on the Serpent Queen (the STARZ TV show made from the book). CDM is so much more than I ever knew her to be and I’m so glad to have this glimpse into her life and the things going on around her. The book is full of information, it’s not your typical novel that gets turned into a show…it’s more a textbook than anything else. So be prepared, but it’s face paced and relatable written.

This is a good, object depiction of Catherine de Medici. If you are interested on this topic, I recommend this book. However. I found it slow to read, which is my only objection. I also would have liked if the author provided more detail about Catherine's relationship and interaction with Mary, Queen of Scots (the widow of Catherine's son. François II)

Great history of a powerful woman who was a strategy worker. Facts are well documented and presented.

Excelente libro y condiciones del libro! Llegó en perfecto estado!

Normally I do not feel inclined to write commentaries about books, but this shall be an exception: utter delight at reading this new biography, quite short, but interesting with lots of details about Catherine de Medici's time and her contemporaries (although some "wrong" characteristics of Catherine due to Protestant propaganda are still mentioned, "wrong" if you can believe the French Wikipedia article on the subject). Even the kindle version is illustrated. In short: If you want to read a fascinating book about an outstanding woman and her time this is a must!

まず驚いたのは、王太子フランソワが毒殺ではないことと、現代の医者はそう言ったということ。今までの伝記作家は現代の医者に聞いたことがなかったのか？ ずいぶんな怠慢もあったものだ。その上、疑われるのはまずは水を渡した従者の主筋であるエレオノーラ王妃だが、カール五世の妹を疑ったらまずいので、スケープゴートとしてカトリーヌが疑われてきたということ。スケープゴートを後世の歴史家までうのみにしちゃまずいだろ。 さらにはディアヌのがめつさのすごいこと。まあ、私は勝手にこの人強欲だろうなと思っていた（自分の身内を、王の愛人の立場を利用して大貴族と結婚させるなど）が、国王が課税の権利をどんどんディアヌにあげていて、毎日いくら儲かったかを計算していたことなどが書いてあり、ちょっとめまいがした。普通の伝記では強欲なカトリーヌに対し、ディアヌは欲のない人で、清純で貞淑でとなっているので。その上、アンリ二世の死後にディアヌがもらったものの記録と一緒に全部返したというのがひどい。今まではカトリーヌが全部記録をつけていて、それを、それも夫が死の床にある時に返せと迫ったことになっていた。しかも、愛人になった時期がアンリが王太子になったあとで、ただの王子だったら相手にしていなかったからだろうとあって、とことん欲得づくなんだと感心した。 私はこちらの伝記を信じるが、そうでないにしても、書く人によって事実関係まで正反対って、どういうことだ？ どっちかの伝記作家が嘘ついてるってことなのか？ なんというか、当時は「商人」で「女性」だからとカトリーヌが差別されたのだと思う。多分、王族だったり、せめて貴族で男性だったら、有能だとか、野心に見合った才能があったとか言われたんだろう。それはわかるが、今の読者は大体がカトリーヌ以下のご身分だろうに、王族に肩入れしてどうすると思った。

After reading this book - I felt that I had become an expert on the Subject. An extreme amount of research and all included in the book - never once was a minor character missed out. But I will never need to read another book on the subject again. But I sure learned so much