Catherine de Medici Part 1

Summary

The History Chicks : Catherine de Medici Part 1

Release Date: August 28, 2025
Hosts: Becca & Susan

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Overview

This episode kicks off a two-part deep dive into the life of Catherine de Medici, exploring her turbulent childhood as the last heir to the Medici fortune, her entry into the powerful (and perilous) world of the French court, and the formidable adversity she faced before becoming one of the most influential figures in 16th-century Europe. The hosts, Becca and Susan, bring their signature blend of rigorous research, relatable pop culture references, and warm banter to untangle the complexities and early challenges in Catherine’s life, with a tone that is both historical and deeply human.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introducing Catherine de Medici in Context

[00:08 – 02:09]

• In 1533, Catherine de Medici, a young Italian noble, married into French royalty during a period of immense political upheaval across Europe.
• Other contemporaries: Anne Boleyn crowned, Elizabeth I born, Ivan the Terrible a child-prince, Hurrem Sultan freed in the Ottoman Empire.
• The Medici family’s roots as merchant bankers amid Florence’s Renaissance height—a family neither royal nor originally titled, but renowned for their wealth, power, and strategic marriages.

2. The Medici Family – Banking, Power, and Art

[02:09 – 07:17]

• Medicis built an international banking empire by avoiding the financial disasters other Florentine bankers fell into, likened wittily to “Forrest Gump on his shrimp boat after the hurricane” (Susan, 03:21).
• Highlights:
  • Cosimo de Medici: “the King of Florence in everything but name” (Susan, 04:18).
  • Lorenzo the Magnificent: 40 years of Florentine peace, patron to da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo.
  • Political machinations post-Lorenzo: power struggle between France and the Habsburgs.

3. Catherine’s Parents, Marriage Alliances, and Orphanhood

[07:17 – 13:56]

• Catherine’s mother, Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne, was a French noble and a lucrative marriage match—“She was a catch, really” (Becca, 08:25).
• The Medici’s aspiration for French legitimacy through this union.
• Lavish wedding at Chateau d’Amboise, connection to Renaissance royalty—Leonardo da Vinci died the year after, just down the road.
• Tragedy: Madeleine dies of puerperal (childbed) fever days after Catherine’s birth; Lorenzo bedridden and dies same week—Catherine orphaned at birth.

4. Turbulent Childhood: Wards, Courts, and Danger

[16:46 – 23:56]

• Young Catherine shuffled between relatives and later the household of her Medici “uncle” Pope Clement VII, as the family suffered political reversals.
• Florence in chaos: city revolted, famine, plague, occupied by imperial troops.
• Catherine, age 8, nearly made a political scapegoat by angry Florentines; threatened with death or worse.
• Sheltered in elite convents: “She made herself loved by all with her gentle, graceful, grateful disposition” (Susan quoting sources, 21:33).

5. Early Displays of Survival Instincts & Character

[23:12 – 25:26]

• Faced with capture, 11-year-old Catherine attempted to disguise herself as a nun to avoid being taken:

  “Holy Mother, I am yours. Let us now see what excommunicated wretch will dare drag a spouse of Christ from a monastery.” (Becca, 23:35)

• She is taken but spared thanks to the empathy of the captain of the guard, whom she advocated for later in life.

6. Education & Preparation for Marriage

[26:07 – 27:37]

• Well-educated: Greek, Latin, mathematics, needlework—“This is that era in which educating noblewomen like their brethren was very fashionable” (Susan, 26:57).
• Marriage prospects juggled by Pope Clement VII between France and Spain; Clement ultimately chooses Henry of Orléans, second son of King Francis I of France.

7. Traumatic Youth of Henry and the French Marriage

[32:48 – 35:35]

• Henry, Catherine’s future husband, had endured traumatic years as a political hostage in Spain with his brother.
• Both Henry and Catherine were 14 at marriage, both orphaned, both victims of royal realpolitik—“They had both lost their mothers, and...traumatic imprisonment experience” (Becca, 35:02).

8. Marriage, Court Life, and Catherine as Outsider

[37:00 – 43:42]

• Lavish (yet awkward) wedding in Marseilles, processions, “bedding ceremony” presided over by King Francis himself.
  • “The joust was successful, said the king, and everyone partied into the night...” (Susan, 38:23).
• Catherine brings Italian innovations: the side saddle, ladies’ underdrawers, forks, folding fans, and onion soup.
• Early years marked by neglect and scorn; Pope Clement’s death leaves her “a zero—no family, no money, no connections, no beauty, no political advantage at all” (Susan, 43:42).

9. Survival Strategies at Court

[46:10 – 49:40]

• Catherine ingratiates herself with powerful figures: King Francis (who enjoyed her company despite his “stark naked” comment) and the King’s mistress.
• “She was really good at reading people and seeing how she could fit into their lives” (Becca, 48:26).
• The looming threat: Henry idolizes Diane de Poitiers, a much older woman, forming a lifelong romantic/obsessive attachment.

10. Heartbreaks, Fertility Struggles & Political Intrigues

[51:44 – 58:38]

• Years of marital frustration: Henry’s emotional/physical focus on Diane; Catherine unable to conceive, prompting whispers of divorce.
• Scandal: Henry’s brother (the dauphin) dies (likely of pleurisy, not poison), making Henry and Catherine heir and “dauphine.” But Catherine is still childless; immense pressure mounts.
• Catherine tries all contemporary (and bizarre) fertility remedies, consulting astrologers and doctors—“This may have been the beginning of Katherine's keen, famous...interest in astrology and the occult” (Susan, 55:35).
• Diane de Poitiers becomes the dominant female force at court, even raising Catherine's children.

11. Triumphs, Losses, and Enduring Humiliation

[64:25 – 67:29]

• Eventually, with intervention and advice (possibly strategic positioning, mechanical/sexual advice, possibly from Diane), Catherine becomes pregnant and delivers an heir.
• Across her marriage, she births 10 children, 7 survive to adulthood, but remains emotionally sidelined as Diane raises the children.
• “She did her duty, I guess. And you know, the thing that keeps getting to me is...did she love Henry?” (Becca, 67:29).

12. Transition to Power: Widowhood and the Dawn of Change

[69:12 – 85:20]

• King Francis I dies, Henry becomes king (Henri II). Catherine is queen consort, but public humiliation persists: Henry’s love for Diane is openly honored with monograms (H & D), color symbolism, and public treatment—statues of Diana in their processions.
• Their daughter Elizabeth is married off to Philip II of Spain at 13.
• The Dramatic End: Jousting tournament to celebrate Elizabeth's marriage (now queen of Spain) leads to Henry’s fatal accident (“golden cage” prophecy from Nostradamus eerily fulfilled, 83:31). Diane’s black and white colors, Henry’s stubborn participation, and Catherine’s premonition all converge into tragedy.
  • “From that moment, for the rest of her life, she wore black mourning clothes and memory of the king. Think back to the prediction of Nostradamus made four years before.” (Susan, 85:20)

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Notable Quotes

• “[Cosimo de Medici was] the King of Florence in everything but name. He kept the peace. He ensured prosperity. He had the final say. People loved him.” (Susan, 04:18)
• “She made herself loved by all with her gentle, graceful, grateful disposition.” (Susan quoting contemporaries, 21:33)
• “Holy Mother, I am yours. Let us now see what excommunicated wretch will dare drag a spouse of Christ from a monastery.” (Becca, 23:35)
• “The girl has come to me stark naked.” —King Francis I, on Catherine’s lack of dowry/power after her uncle, Pope Clement, dies (Becca, 43:42)
• “She was really good at reading people and seeing how she could fit into their lives, find things in common.” (Becca, 48:26)
• “Henry acted like a little dog, and everyone saw it.” (Susan, on Henry’s devotion to Diane de Poitiers, 49:41)
• “I think that’s a product of childhood trauma, probably.” (Susan, regarding Catherine’s sharp social instincts, 48:46)
• “Catherine managed to maintain her dignity. She did not openly express frustration... She did have one confidant... Because Diane was the dauphin's advisor and in almost all matters, he took her opinion. He catered to her every whim. There was just no doubt in anyone’s mind who the most powerful woman in the kingdom was. And it was certainly not Catherine.” (Susan, 65:21)
• “From this come my tears and my pain.” (Susan, Catherine’s personal motto/symbol after Henry’s death, 85:20)

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Timestamps for Significant Segments

• 00:08 – Quick episode overview: Catherine’s inheritance, marriage, hardship
• 02:09 – The Medici family’s rise and impact on Florence and the Renaissance
• 07:17 – Catherine’s parental lineage, her parents’ brief marriage
• 13:56 – Orphaned infancy; brought to Rome and into the swirl of Medici fortunes lost and regained
• 20:50 – Catherine in convent safety, education among aristocratic nuns
• 23:12 – Attempted self-sanctuary during political turmoil, capture
• 27:37 – Pope Clement VII shuffles European royals as potential matches for Catherine
• 35:35 – Catherine’s and Henry’s shared early traumas and the context of their royal marriage
• 38:23 – Royal wedding described, introducing Catherine’s Italian cultural imports
• 43:42 – After Pope Clement dies, Catherine becomes a political liability at court
• 48:26 – Catherine’s social intelligence, survival skills at court
• 49:41 – Introduction of Diane de Poitiers as Henry’s true object of affection
• 55:35 – Fertility struggles, Catherine’s recourse to superstition and desperation
• 64:25 – Birth of heirs; Diane’s appropriation of Catherine’s maternal role
• 69:12 – Henry’s open homage to Diane, public humiliation for Catherine
• 77:10 – Catherine’s subtle assertion and management of her queenship responsibilities
• 83:31 – Henry II’s jousting accident, drawn parallels to Nostradamus’s prophecy
• 85:20 – Catherine's widowhood, black mourning, anticipation for the dramatic transformation in part two

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Tone and Style

The episode is rich with pop-culture analogies (Forrest Gump, Marie Antoinette, Barbie), informal banter ("Spot the movie reference!", “Work husband, maybe, and not even that close, honestly, I…”) and a warm, modern interpretation of 16th-century intrigue, making it accessible and relatable.
At the same time, Susan and Becca never lose sight of the historic record, highlighting the emotional and psychological tolls on Catherine, the tactical calculations forced on women of her station, and the extraordinary brutality of Renaissance politics.

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Memorable Moments

• The catty historical observation: “You know, everybody’s a jerk in someone else’s story...” (Becca, 50:44)
• The incredulity at period customs, like public bedding ceremonies: “These poor kids. Because that’s really what they were.” (Becca, 38:08)
• Catherine’s clever attempt at self-preservation—impersonating a nun (23:35) and negotiating for the life of her captor (24:58)
• The cultural imports laugh: “She introduced the fork to French court...” (Becca, 40:43)
• The exposure of the monarchy’s emotional dysfunction: “I just hate these gloomy sons. Like, I have no time for dull, sullen, sleepy children. Ugh.” (Becca paraphrasing King Francis, 35:02)
• The emotional pivot into widowhood, with a broken lance for a crest, as darkness—and the legend—settles in.

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Closing Thoughts

This first episode offers a deeply researched, sympathetic portrait of Catherine as a resilient, resourceful, often lonely figure—one who spends her entire early life navigating loss, rejection, and peril. The stage is set for “behavioral and personality changes” that will drive the drama of part two, as Catherine finally comes into her own.

“All of the obstacles to her personal growth and freedom of expression are about to leave the building, aren’t they?” (Susan, 85:29)

Stay tuned for Part 2…

Transcript

[Becca]

Welcome to the History Tricks, where any resemblance to a boring old history lesson is purely coincidental.

[Susan]

And here's your 30 second summary. As the last legitimate heir to a once powerful family, Catherine de Medici was married at 14 into one of the most powerful royal houses in Europe. The two halves of her story are vastly different. And here in part one, we're going to tell you about how she had no resources but her inner resources and the character that developed from the circumstances in which she was placed. The end. Let's talk about Catherine de Medici.

[Becca]

But first, let's drop her into history. In 1533, it was a very busy year for King Henry VIII of England. He wed his second wife, Anne Boleyn, divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in that order, had the second wife crowned queen shortly before she gave birth to their first and only child, a little girl who would grow up to become Queen Elizabeth the First. Robert Dudley, who would become the favorite of Queen Elizabeth I, was also born. Only three years old. The child, who history now knows as Ivan the Terrible, was placed on the throne as the Grand Prince of Moscow. And after the death of his father 14 years later, he would be crowned the very first Tsar of Russia. While the dynasty was already a few centuries old, the Habsburgs were only two emperors. And 80 years into their 360-plus-year reign as holy Roman Emperors. Formerly enslaved by his harem, Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent freed and would soon wed Hurrem Sultan, often referred to in history as Empress Roxelaina, who would help transform that empire. And in 1533, an Italian teenager married the son of a French king and began to carve out her role in history.

[Susan]

Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici was born on April 13, 1519, the one and only child of Lorenzo de Medici and Madeleine de la Tour d'. Auvergne. The Medici family, though in no way noble or royal, by the way, had been the most powerful and wealthiest family in the city state of Florence, Italy, for almost 200 years by the time of Katarina's birth. Now, Medici is the plural of medico, or doctor. But the family business was trade in luxury goods and commodities. Silk, gold, spices, wool. And they dabbled in banking. Now, this is a 100 oversimplification, by the way, with a visual at the end. But the notable bankers of the 1300s in Florence were pressurized into loaning some kings more money than they ever intended to pay back. You know, the bankers knew, like, oh, no, the bankers knew they weren't getting it back. The kings were like, yeah, you probably will, though. And they made them loan it. And the Medicis weren't known or rich enough to be on that list. Do you know what I mean? Like, they benefited from being the Vanderbilts in a sea of the 400, right? They, like, weren't cool enough to be invited to that party. So after everyone else collapsed because they hadn't been paid back, here come the Medici bankers. Like Forrest Gump on his shrimp boat. After the hurricane, they were the only ones with the resources to rebuild, and they built an international banking empire. We are not going to talk about each and every Medici. In fact, I have a book recommendation that will give you all the information you need. However, let's hit a couple of the highlights. Cosimo de Medici was seen as the King of Florence in everything but name. He kept the peace. He ensured prosperity. He had the final say. People loved him. After his death, he was known as Pater Patriae, Father of the country. Under his quote rule, Florence became the birthplace of the Renaissance, home to artistic and political and scholastic awakenings. Creating Cosimo was a patron of the arts. Donatello and his David Brunelleschi, who made the dome at the Duomo. Cosimo's administrative offices are now the Uffizi Gallery. He created the very first public libraries in Florence. His grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent. So you know he's good. Continued his grandpa's patronage of the arts. See if you recognize these names. Botticelli, the Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo. Heavy hitters. I think we can all agree on the roll call of famous artists. In addition, Lorenzo helped create peace in the region by kind of a confederation between the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Florence, the Kingdom of Naples, the Duchy of Milan and the Papal States. Kind of the area around Rome and up the back of the boot. Under Lorenzo's rule, they had 40 years of peace. And what can that lead to? Cultural awakenings and individual prosperity among the citizens. Which, of course, as soon as Lorenzo died, the powers of Europe started picking away at Italy, scrabbling for territory. It was France versus the Habsburgs of Austria and Spain pretty much throughout the rest of our story. So that's where it came from. The guy holding it all together, being the hammer, died. And everyone smelled blood in the water and started fighting. The Medici were forced into exile, in fact, for 18 years now that the Big Cheese was gone, until two of Lorenzo' sons and a grandson reclaimed the Medici legacy. So Giovanni, who was a cardinal, was almost immediately elected pope. Pope Leo X. No less an eminence than King Francis the First of France, was eager to make an alliance with this new Pope. Do you remember Francis from the either our teeny tiny tutor tutorial or from watching the Tudors. He's that handsome young king that Henry VIII was so jealous of for his whole existence. Yes, well, the grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was another Lorenzo, of course, has been tapped by his Pope uncle to go ahead and run Florence in his absence. And on the occasion of the French kings having a son, the dauphin, the firstborn son, that's a big deal. Grandson Lorenzo stood in for the Pope at the baby's baptism and he actually held the baby at the ceremony. Ceremony. Anybody who knows how important pomp and circumstance is to the French court knows that's a big deal. That's how much King Francis was interested in developing a relationship with the Pope. He had written to Duke Lorenzo, quote, I intend to help you with all of my power. I also wish to marry you off to some beautiful and good lady of noble birth and of my kin, so the love of which I bear you may grow and be strengthened.

[Becca]

That woman was a kinswoman. Madeleine de la Tour d'. Auvergne. She doesn't have much to her story. There's not a lot of record keeping. She had a sister named Anne, but what's important to her story is that both of her parents came from French nobility, that is to say, the Bourbons. Obviously, there are still a lot of Bourbons out in France, but that particular family tree branch died out with Madeleine's father, and they had been titled for about 100 years. So these are landowning nobility in France that the Medicis were going to be tied to.

[Susan]

Madeleine was 16 years old and quite beautiful, but more importantly, an heiress. As orphans, she and her sister inherited large amounts of money and territory, which, of course, would pass to the husband. Her sister Anne also married a duke, a Scottish duke. So they're both going to be duchesses, suitable titles for relatives of royalty. Now, no one asked Madeleine, of course. Think about that. You're at home doing whatever you do. You're 16, and like a messenger rides up and tells you, oh, the King has something for you to do, and then you go. The end.

[Becca]

She knew it was going to happen. I mean, that was her. It was inevitable. I mean, she was a catch, really.

[Susan]

I guess. Well, three days after the baptism, King Francis had a grand wedding for the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. I didn't tell you about that. The. The Medicis basically took a dukey. Dookie, ducky, I can't why can't I not say duchy?

[Becca]

Probably for the same reason I keep messing up. Medici.

[Susan]

Okay, Dutchy, I always do it. Pass the duchy on the left hand.

[Becca]

There you go. That's.

[Susan]

I'll remember it. Okay. The Medicis, when they swept back into office, basically stole the Duchy of Urbino and gave it to the grandson, Duke Lorenzo. So that's how they got Urbino anyway. So he was very stressed out that his entertainments might not be fancy enough for an Italian. I mean, such is their reputation. That's kind of sweet, actually. The French will definitely get behind the rise of fashion all over the world later, won't they? But for now, they were nervous lest their entertainments not match up to the Italian standard of coolness.

[Becca]

This union, quite honestly, isn't all that unlike Gilded Age heiresses being married off to titled nobility, except in reverse. Madeleine's family was now going to be able to be connected to the Pope, which was a big deal if you're Catholic, as they were. And Lorenzo's family was now going to be able to be connected to a noble French family, which would give them legitimacy because they just didn't have the lineage, you know, the. The noble heritage that Madeleine's family did. The wedding itself took place at Chateau d'. Amboise. It was the royal residence of the French king. It was his childhood home. He footed the bill for the wedding. He paid her a dowry. There was a lot of money going back and forth here. I was unable to translate the money because at the time into modern money. Were you able to do that?

[Susan]

No. Aq. Aq ecu is an obscure. All I can do is, you know, relatively speaking, like, proportionally. I would guess that a person of average, like, lifespan in the peasantry would live on less than 1 AQ a year.

[Becca]

And she was given 10,000 of them as an allowance by the kids every year. Yeah, yeah, that was. This is my. This is my calculations. It says 1 AQ equals about 6 francs. Six and a half francs equal about €1 equals owie. It's like my brain froze up. I'm like, I don't know how to do this math.

[Susan]

So, yeah, translating, you know, pounds and dollars over, say, the last hundred or two hundred years is a lot easier than going back. I mean, when you try to translate money for money, things were cheaper that aren't now, like human life and labor, by the way. And things were also far more expensive, like transportation then than they are now. So it gets really hard to understand. Just understand that, like, even once you get into the hundreds and the thousands. You're looking at a comfortable middle class existence.

[Becca]

Right. And she's getting 10,000 accused a year as an allowance. And he, Lorenzo, the duchy that the King gave him was going to bring in about 4,500 accused a year.

[Susan]

Yeah. So we're looking about money. Yeah, yeah.

[Becca]

Now, the newlyweds did stay at Amboise. They used it as a home base for several months, as did a family friend of King Francis, one Leonardo da Vinci. He had been given a manor house near the chateau called Clos Lucet. And how's this fur dropped into history? Francis, according to legend and art was at Leonardo's side, holding him when he passed away a year until Madeline and Lorenzo's marriage. So that's what's happening about this time. He lost Leonardo da Vinci at the house down the street. Madeline was spending this early marriage honeymoon time learning Italian and she was pregnant. That happened right away. Lorenzo, however, as soon as that happened, he was out hunting. So, so much for modern day honeymoon. It's just not happening.

[Susan]

Back then, people used to take companions on their honeymoon, so I'm not entirely sure it was ever just the two people. Like, don't we have a major Jane Austen story where Family Moon takes. I think Mariah. Oh, took her sister Julia with her on her honeymoon in Mansfield Park. So maybe it hasn't always been just the two people. I mean, you have to have someone to talk to when you're basically marrying a complete stranger. Well, Duke Lorenzo became very ill, in fact quite bedridden by the end of his wife's pregnancy. Modern historians point to tuberculosis and syphilis. He was failing f by the time his daughter Katerina was born. Mama Madeleine began to suffer from puerperal fever as a result of the birth. This infection, also called childbed fever, was an enormous and ruthless killer of women of all classes up until the 19th century. Another famous victim of Werperl fever, although she has not died yet in our timeline, is Jane Seymour over In England, Henry VIII's third wife and mother of his only living son.

[Becca]

The death of Madeline was not told to Lorenzo because he also was on his final days of life on his deathbed, and he died the same week. She was about 21, he was 26. And now our baby Katerina was an orphan.

[Susan]

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[Becca]

Kind of makes me want to sing under the sea, but I'm not going to.

[Susan]

Thanks. Copyright law.

[Becca]

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[Susan]

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[Becca]

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[Susan]

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[Becca]

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[Susan]

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[Becca]

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[Susan]

The great hope for the resurgence of the Medici was over. The young couple that were to be the glue between France and the Pope were gone. And so the Pope reneged on every single thing they'd ever talked about, really. And made friends with France's biggest enemy, Spain. The baby Duchess of Urbino, such as she was, was a super rich heiress and was brought to Rome and put into her grandmother's household. Grandma immediately died and she went to live with a family of cousins. And then the Pope died and the wheels came off the bus a little. His financial mismanagement came to light and the new male heirs unfortunately for history were both illegitimate. And the Medicis lost, briefly, the papacy and the Duchy of Urbino. Although all of Florence still called little Catarina. Duchessina, Little Duchess. The Medicis had to retool. The Medicis had to figure out what the heck is going on. And they got a new Pope elected. I do not even want to tell you what chicanery went on with the election of popes at the time. I mean, there was violence, there were threats, there were favors exchanged, there was so much behind the scenes machination. But at the end, the new pope, Clement vii, was another Medici, illegitimate, but connected.

[Becca]

Yeah, it was interesting how they made him legitimate so that he could become Pope. I don't. Yeah, that's like some fancy writing or something. I don't know how you do that.

[Susan]

Well, I mean, you know, popes have had children, so.

[Becca]

Yes.

[Susan]

I mean, it all. It's all what it is.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Susan]

Well, he left Florence in the hands of an administrator and went off to Rome, where he flip flopped on alliances and promises. Oh, my goodness. He was telling a guy one thing and then immediately the other ambassador would walk in. As the guy left, the door would shut behind him. He'd say another thing. Rome was sacked by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. The population was assaulted and terrorized for months because Emperor Charles had run out of money to pay his soldiers. And they took it out in flesh and. And looting.

[Becca]

Now, at this time, Catarina was with a family. There were other children she was growing up around. So it wasn't horrible until all this violence started.

[Susan]

The Pope was taken prisoner and could not approve Henry VIII's request for a divorce from his first wife, Catherine, who was the aunt of his captor. On such things. History swivels, doesn't it?

[Becca]

Such things are swiveling all throughout this story. I mean, the alliances are like, they changing their shirts a lot of the time, like, oh, well, you're not useful to me. I think I'm going to put you in the laundry basket and get a fresh one.

[Susan]

I literally don't think any promise made, I mean, you might as well have had it written on toilet paper.

[Becca]

Right. It would be good for that moment.

[Susan]

But when the door closes, like the plane of the doorknob could still have your body heat on it.

[Becca]

Right.

[Susan]

And things would change. Well, the people of Florence took this opportunity to revolt. The two male heirs had managed to escape, but a whole mob arrived to take 8 year old Catherine hostage. She is, in fact, the only legitimate Medici heir. And the Medicis, speaking of being in the air, the Air was not good. People were very angry, very angry. There had been a period of famine, there was violence, people were starving, people were angry, and they needed a focus. Well, Katharina was housed in a series of convents before a brief but peaceful stay at the convent Santa Maria Annunziata della Morate, which means the walled in ones. She stayed there for three years.

[Becca]

This place was actually a school for noble young ladies as well as a retirement home for mature noble ladies. So she was in good company and she was getting an education while she was there.

[Susan]

So for this time, she was very well protected and educated by, you know, the nuns of this convent are themselves aristocratic. It's a common enough thing for an aristocratic young woman who did not wish to be married or could not be married to come into a convent as her life. I mean, their. Their families often paid as if a dowry for them to be a of that community. So Katerina loved her life there. And it was said of her quote, she made herself loved by all with her gentle, graceful, grateful disposition.

[Becca]

I love that she was learning conversation skills. She was learning deportment. She was called the Duchessina, like the little duchess, even though she technically had no territory.

[Susan]

But outside the protective walls, the situation had deteriorated. Florence was beset with a plague and with famine and with imperial troops. And the Pope made a deal with the Emperor. I will crown you Holy Roman Emperor if you help me get Florence back. And hatred for the whole Medici clan. And the air it breathed burned so bright. And everyone was out of reach for revenge, except Catherine, who was only 11. People said they should go get her and brace yourself for this. Lower her naked in a basket in front of the city so she'd be killed by the Pope's allies. And how would he like that? Or maybe we'll drop her off to work in a military brothel so that that will foil the Pope's plans to use her marriage as an alliance getter. How about that? Or you know what? Maybe we should just kill her. I mean, killing her wouldn't have the panache of the other two, but it would get the job done. Now, let us hope no one told her 11 years old any of these things, but that is the level of anger swirling around right outside the peaceful walls of this convent about her.

[Becca]

All this is coming to a head at about the time she was 11, and leaders of that rebellion went to get her. And you know what is going to happen to her? She doesn't know. So she actually goes into a room, cuts her hair off, and pretends that she is one of the novices, and when they come in to capture her, she says, holy Mother, I am yours. Let us now see what excommunicated wretch will dare drag a spouse of Christ from a monastery. So basically, she's saying, I am a nun. You're going to drag me away from here. What's going to happen to you for doing such a horrible thing? It was a valiant attempt, but basically they took her away.

[Susan]

She was certain that she was headed to her own death as she was put on a donkey and taken through the streets that were full of angry people bent on revenge. The captain of the guard could not protect her ears from harsh words or honestly from spit. But he did make sure that his soldiers surrounded her and protected her from any physical harm on the way, including controlling the behavior of all of his own soldiers. He said she was a precious parcel, that she was not to be mistreated in any way. And he delivered her safely to her new holding place and unharmed, really, against great odds.

[Becca]

And she was ultimately very grateful for this man for taking care of her in this time, where she could have been, you know, literally ripped apart in the streets, which is really vile, but that's the level of violence we have at this time of day. She remembered it for the rest of her life and treated him with respect and talked of him kindly.

[Susan]

When the new regime came back, spoiler alert, the Medicis come back. When the Medicis were back in power, of course, this man, as a, you know, an officer of the other side, was condemned to death and her word actually had his sentence commuted because of the kindness and humanity that he had shown her. So she never forgets a slight, I assure you. But she also never forgets a friend. And that's as early as when she is here as a child.

[Becca]

The thing that blows me away is how fast it went from her thinking she was gonna die in the streets to having the Medicis again take power. And her safety is guaranteed. It's only weeks. It's not like they battled for months or anything. It's just weeks. This time, she was sent to air quotes Uncle Clement's court. That would be the new Pope. She was not a prisoner this time. She was cared for. She was finished here. She was polished. She was sent as a family representative to events like weddings. Once again, she is being cared for. And at papal court, she is being.

[Susan]

Prepared for possible marriage. Someone that is 11 is very close to the threshold of reasonable marriage for girls at this time. And a bit of finishing school would be in Order. Her turbulent childhood hardly having offered her the opportunity. She was described as, and I quote, small of stature and thin, without delicate features, with the protruding eyes of the Medici, she is a sensitive child who shows intelligence and spirit. Now, in addition to dance and deportment and the who's who that you must know as a noble woman, she continued her studies, continued the keyword of Greek, Latin and mathematics, to which I have an exclamation point. Afterward. She had already been taught by the nuns the feminine art of needlework, of course, but they also. This is that era, that brief window in which educating noblewomen like their brethren, was very fashionable. The nuns in her last convent were also learned women and pass that on to her. The love of knowledge, the desire to seek it, et cetera, even if it was a traditionally masculine field of study.

[Becca]

But as you said, she was getting ready for marriage. It was up to Pope Clement to find the beneficial marriage for him and his people.

[Susan]

There were many candidates for Catherine's hand, which passed through the Pope's mind and the Pope's mailbox. At one point. Henry VIII's Son, by Bessie Blount, remember him, had been considered. Assorted nobles of the houses of Italy, including the Duke of Milan. King James V of Scotland, by the way, whose mother was Henry VIII's sister, was up for grabs at one point. But it came down, as it usually did, to someone that would please the King of France and someone that would please the Habsburg Emperor of Spain.

[Becca]

Clement actually played these two against each other, telling them both, yes, she's going with you. But in reality, he had absolutely no intention at this point, he had made his decision. He was not sending her to the Habsburgs in Spain, to Emperor Charles. Instead, she was going to become the bride of of the second son of King Francis I of France. Recently, Beckett and I went to an event and I was going to wear kind of a form fitting skirt. So I know because I understand what's in my lingerie drawer. I reach for my honey love shapewear. Why? Because I knew that it would be very comfortable. It was blazing hot that day and I didn't want anything that was going to constrict me and just make me hot, sweaty and just generally uncomfortable. All I wanted was a piece of shapewear that would take my shape and just make it look its best. Not change it, just frame it. Whether you're heading to a rooftop brunch or a garden party or this cool event that Beckett and I got to go to, let's talk about what's underneath because the right shapewear can make a big difference. Today's episode is brought to you by Honeylove, the brand redefining modern shapewear with real comfort and serious support. Their newest innovation is called mesh sculpt. It is the ultimate in summer shapewear. Usually lightweight shapewear doesn't have much hold, but mesh sculpt, it's breathable and lightweight without sacrificing power and hold. It keeps you cool while still delivering the sculpted silhouette that you're looking for in all their items. Honeylove's targeted compression smooths and shapes exactly where you want it to and eases up where you don't. It works with your body, not against it. We've talked about it before. Honeylove is just not about shapewear. They also have unbelievably comfortable bras. Honeylove's best selling crossover bra, for instance. There's no underwires, it's very comfortable, but it still supports everything where you want it supported. So treat yourself to the most comfortable shapewear on earth and save 20% off site wide at honeylove.com historychicks use our exclusive link to get 20% off honeylove.com historychicks and after you purchase, they're going to ask you where you heard about them. Please, please support our show and tell them that we sent you. Experience the new standard in shapewear with Honey Love.

[Susan]

King Francis was still very anxious to get an advantage in gaining territory. Katarina was the heiress to large amounts of the Auvergne, Boulogne, the Barony of Latour. Significant income from these was coming her way. With no brother, that's what happens. The Pope promised that he would add an additional hundred thousand aq. Remember we talked about that earlier? Like if your average peasant can get by on one, right, she's getting a hundred thousand. And on the DL, I'm going to give her Pisa and Parma and Modena on the deal. Like, keep it between us, we'll do it later. Which of course would fold in to France and its crown lands. Through her husband. It was a big coup to pull off. No matter how rich the bride commoners didn't usually get the chance to join a royal family.

[Becca]

And Francis was so excited that he promised an allowance to her as well and that she could keep the money from her mother's properties. So she's gonna have an income coming in that's very sizable, which means that her husband is gonna have an income coming in that's very sizable. And that husband, if we were pretentious, we would Call him Henri, but because we're American, we're gonna call him Henri of Orleans. He had actually been a contender for Mary Tudor's hand. You know, Bloody Mary. She was only a couple years older than him. He was actually exactly the same age as Katharina, so that worked out well. He was the second son of a king. He was despair, but he was in a family that was definitely worthy of a princess.

[Susan]

I feel like we should tell you at least one important thing about husband Henry before we move on to the marriage. He lost his mama early, which, you know, in this social class and time may not have been. The trauma, you know, might not have been a big deal to him. But his father, King Francis, had been captured once upon a time by the Habsburg Emperor Charles. And the only way he could secure his release was to pay 2 million AQ in ransom. Well, I have to go finagle it or finance it or sell things. You know, I gotta be free. I gotta be free to get a hold of this money, man. Okay, fair enough. And the Habsburg Emperor demanded security for that money.

[Becca]

And that security was King Francis's two oldest sons, the heir and spare. That would be Henry as the spare, and Francois, who was the actual heir. These children are 8 and 6 years old, and they are being sent to confinement very similar to what happened to Katharina for four years.

[Susan]

Oh, it started out fine. At first. They were almost part of the family in the queen's household with servants, pets, tutors, etc. You can play outside. But as it became more clear that their father had no intention of following through on his promises, the boys were moved to more heavily guarded, further inland from the border, poorer facilities, until by the end of four and a half years, they were reduced to no attendance, very rough Spanish jailers in a small windowless cell with only a straw mattress to sleep on. They were traumatized. The boys were finally freed, finally fetched at 11 and 12 years old, withdrawn and angry. And the king dared to say, I mean, I'm paraphrasing here, like, ugh, I just hate these gloomy sons. Like, I have no time for dull, sullen, sleepy children. Ugh. And he openly preferred his third son, Charles, three years younger than Henry, who was merry and carefree of, I wonder why. Never having been released as a hostage to be tortured for four and a half years.

[Becca]

It amazes me that Henry and Katharina had so much in common going into this. They're the same age, they're 14. And they had both lost their mothers, and they both had this traumatic imprisonment experience.

[Susan]

I wonder how anyone ever grew up, you know, with all of these scars in their heart, you know, I don't know. I don't know how anyone in any of these royal families ever grow up to be a functional adult. I just really don't know.

[Becca]

No, that's a very valid point.

[Susan]

So much was spent on Catherine's trousseau, meaning her supplies of clothing and accoutrement, that the reigning Duke of Florence, one of those illegitimate men we spoke of before, levied a tax to pay for, quote, reinforcing the city's defensive wall, unquote, but instead, guess where it went? Gowns, underwear, jewels, cloth of gold, fine furniture, etc. To send her off in style. So the bride and her tax levied, undergarments, etc. Age 14, set out on her marital journey with a retinue of carriages and outriders. 70 nobles. They were met by the pope, 27 ships, a large number of high ranking clergymen. Her uncle by marriage, the Scottish Duke of Albany, provided 40 more ships as escort. The lead ship was actually draped in cloth of gold and contained the. The host, a communion wafer. And it was the, the lead ship in the pyramid of ships. And they set sail for Marseilles, where a whole section of town had been demolished in order to erect a temporary palace to house the Medici entourage.

[Becca]

When Caterina was presented, King Francis apparently is a hugger, which totally surprises me.

[Susan]

I get it. He. He seemed like that in the Tudors too. So it was that. Did the actor do research or did he do like. Was it a choice? I don't know.

[Becca]

Oh, I don't know. But, but he hugged her to welcome her into the family. He bestowed gifts upon her.

[Susan]

There were days of feasts, balls, processions and other celebrations, including, lovely, a picnic. Well, it culminated in the actual wedding on October 28, 1533. Both bride and groom were only 14 years old. And sometime just before midnight, there were a select group of the higher ranked attendees that escorted Catherine and Henry to bed. Now, if you've ever seen Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, you'll get a little bit of a visual on what the putting to bed looks like. Supremely uncomfortable. But everyone left except for King Francis, who stayed in the room to watch, to make sure, and I quote, that everyone performed well in the joust. Can you imagine?

[Becca]

I, I know, and that's mod. I mean, it's happening at every single royal wedding back then, but it's still, it's still shocking every time they show it in a movie. I'm like, oh, my gosh, these poor kids. Because that's really what they were.

[Susan]

Hooray. Hooray. The joust was successful, said the king, and everyone partied into the night, and it was debauchery, and we're not going to talk about that. But extraordinarily strange, rare and powerful gifts were exchanged by the assorted dignitaries over the next couple of days, including a unicorn horn said to repel poison, which is probably a narwhal, to be truly honest. And Catherine's relatives got a fully grown lion for their menageries. Hooray. Thanks for the lion. Thanks for the unicorn horn. And they were friends forever for a little while. There were plenty of what you might consider to be regular, extraordinary gifts. Also equally as impractical, but full of artistic and monetary value. One of them is extremely famous.

[Becca]

It's a chest. They called it a casket now, because it still exists. It's called the Medici casket. It's actually carved rock, crystal and silver, about the size of a small shoebox. Extraordinarily valuable. And it exists now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It still exists. Not to brag, but we get to.

[Susan]

Go see it in October. And Catherine de Medici was now a duchess of France. So her people departed and here she is in her new home. Among the innovations she was said to bring with her to her new establishment, the side saddle, which formerly was more like the thing you ride on at the zoo when you ride a camel, do you know what I'm saying? But now was an actual thing that would show off your finely formed calves, always a selling point. She also brought to France the concept of under drawers for ladies wear, which.

[Becca]

Kind of ties perfectly in with the side saddle, because women often not only flashed their calves, but other parts when they got off of a horse.

[Susan]

And, you know, you might not be so into the long ankle length drawers, fair enough. You might also not be into a side saddle. But there is something she brought that you use every day.

[Becca]

She sat down to dinner one night and opened up a case and took out this very curious tool, a fork. She introduced the fork to French court.

[Susan]

The fork at first was seen as very affected, like an overly finicky way to eat, but soon became fashionable and began to appear across all levels of French society. She didn't invent any of these, no, of course, but it was the vector for such things to trickle into the French way of life. You know, formerly, of course, it was eating knives and spoons with an able assist from that old standby the fingers of your right hand, not your left.

[Becca]

Because that does something else. She's also credited with bringing the folding fan, which had been around for centuries. It had come from Asia, but she introduced the folding fan to French court. And she's credited for introducing a Roman classic dish, onion soup, to the French court. Now, it didn't have the crouton and the cheese on it, like we know now as French onion soup. They didn't have it in court as a food. And she introduced it. Another change that she made now that she is married, is she is no longer Katerina, she is now Katherine. That's how she's signing things. So she has become fully Frenchified and we will no longer be calling her Katerina, which is so cute. I hate to let it go.

[Susan]

During the first year of her marriage, Catherine hardly saw her husband, who regarded her with nearly complete indifference. You know, he was openly his father's least favorite son, and I do believe he felt like this, this wife, this humiliatingly low status bride, was a punishment from his papa and he was very oppositional toward his papa and therefore toward his wife, though her accommodating, never fiery, ways endured her to even some of the old holdouts who had called her the merchant's daughter and had sworn to disrespect her in all things. You know, she's chipping away at their resistance. And who knows what might have happened but for a catastrophe of epic proportions? Catherine's uncle, Pope Clement vii, died at less than one year after the wedding, with his promised territories undelivered and much of the dowry unpaid. In fact, the portion that had been passed on had only been obtained from a loan alone. I know Clement had intended some shenanigans, I think, tactics to raise the rest. But alas, his replacement as pope was not a Medici, but a rival Farnese. And he declined to honor his predecessor's promises. Not the alliance. And certainly there'd be no money coming. And Catherine was officially a zero. No family, no money, no connections, no beauty, no political advantage at all.

[Becca]

None. And you know, she had come in dripping with jewels from her uncle Pope, but those were just papal jewels. That was he. That was not cash. He had no cash. He was scraping the bottom of the barrel as it was. But he could give the illusion that there was a lot of money coming and it wasn't. Curiously, shortly before he died, he had commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Last Judgment on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. So he may have left our Catherine high and dry, but he was responsible for that. Painting going up, I guess not enough because she had no value at this point. King Francis the first said, the girl has come to me stark naked. That's how they were looking at her. This is a big year in the Vollenweiter house. Two of my three children are getting their own apartments. My daughter has been living with roommates and she is moving into her own place. And my college aged son is moving into an apartment. So guess what? They needed furniture. And guess where we immediately went to Wayfair. What my kids really loved about it was you can create lists, kind of like boards on Pinterest and label it and they go through and they just find things that they like and just click a little heart on each item. They saw that they had a style. They never thought about it before.

[Susan]

I was a little more selfish. I was looking around and I thought, you know, because Jet also moved into his own apartment, I did not buy things for his apartment. I mean, I did, but for myself from Wayfair. I bought an entire room full of new curtains. Ooh. We have had these curtains up since we moved in. That is pre Jet existence. So they've been up for at least 20 years.

[Becca]

My goodness.

[Susan]

And it is time. My house, it's the house of wood. It's full of wooden trim and wooden floors and giant windows. And the curtains I had just never really gave cozy, you know. And so it was time to treat myself a little in a way that I haven't done in a long time. So I am much looking forward to the. You know, it's like fall. Fall is cozy. These curtains are going to be so cozy and refined. And I. I'm feeling really good about my choices.

[Becca]

Oh, my goodness. That's awesome. I kind of want to go over to your house. After you get them up. Let me know. I'll bring the wine.

[Susan]

Yay. There's something on Wayfair. For every style, no matter what your style is, and every home, no matter what your space or budget is. And they make it easy with endless inspiration for every space and every budget and every free and easy delivery, even on the big stuff, makes it even more convenient. There's no more huge delivery fees for furniture, even for sofas and beds. So get organized, refreshed and back to routine for way less. Head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home, the whole country, it seemed regretted her existence. Now, you know, she's taking the place of another bride. We could have had more territory, more things, more value. I mean, how scary is Catherine's situation? She's basically alone in the world. Look back on her story, what home could she reasonably expect to go back to? Nowhere. So she looked around, knowing that she didn't have the power to change anything on the outside. There's nothing she can do. So she cleverly ingratiated herself with key people at court as life rafts, I guess I'm going to call them. The king, of course, being first and foremost, who was very fond of her.

[Becca]

He was, I mean, naked girl comment notwithstanding. But they got along really well and they had a lot in common. Like, she loved to go riding, you know, horse riding and hunting, and he also loved these things. So they would just go off on. On rides together, just have chat time. I, I don't know what you do on a horse. I, I am imagining it's like being on a road trip, I guess, or going for a run again, I don't know what that is like, but I'm imagining.

[Susan]

I think she was also good at, or at least decided to be good at, jumping and being brave on a horse. Yes. You know, all through Regency fiction, the man falls like, oh, what a notable brave horsewoman she is. And it's like, I love her. Whatever.

[Becca]

Yeah, yeah. I think she also was really good at reading people. I don't know if that's something she developed over, you know, her years being shuttled from one place to another. But I think she was really good at reading people and seeing how she could fit into their lives, find things in common.

[Susan]

I think that's a product of childhood trauma, probably. Catherine also took pains to make friends with the king's mistress, the Duchess d', Etampes, which was a very smart tactic that Marie Antoinette didn't bother to use, by the way. And the king actually is on record of feeling gratified that the little duchess was such amenable soul to this situation. In addition, she got on her side, the king's sister, Marguerite, considered the most intelligent woman at court. And Catherine just had to become tactical to survive. Complicating matters was a member of the Queen's household named Diane dupoitier, who had been asked by the king himself to socialize that emo second son of his, again, I am paraphrasing, get him up to speed. Not, you know, a hum, ahem, wink, wink.

[Becca]

No.

[Susan]

But Henry was idol worshiping this woman who had held him off in that particular way. If you Know what I mean? So far. But Henry acted like a little dog, and everyone saw it.

[Becca]

They had a history. Remember, okay. When he got sent away with his brother to his imprisonment, Diane depoitier was part of the court that brought him. And she was the last person that gave. Just gave him a hug and told him it was going to be okay before he went into captivity. They went back a while, and so seeing her again, remembering that connection that they had, it was pretty smart of his dad to, you know, put her on the case. Let's just take a couple seconds here and talk about Diane de Poitier, because she is very important in this story. And I just want to preface this by saying that everybody is a jerk in someone else's story. And in this story, Diane's time to be a jerk.

[Susan]

Right?

[Becca]

Yeah. She probably could have an episode all of her own. She did survive in an era where women in her position may not have done as well as she did. Diane was from a minor, noble family and, like Catherine, enjoyed riding, although Diane preferred to sit astride her horse. And she was unfamiliar with the pantaloons that Catherine brought back. That's all I'm going to say about that. When Diane was 14, she was married to a man who was 40 years older than her. And they had two daughters. At this point, at the beginning of their marriage, Diane was 33 and Henry, again, just 14. That's the age difference. But she's able to. I don't want to say mother Henry, but she had a very special relationship with him. They definitely had a bond, and one that she not necessarily took advantage of quite yet, but maybe she took advantage of it.

[Susan]

So Henry's emotions were elsewhere. Therefore his body was certainly not with her. Catherine. And after three years now, there'd been no evidence that Catherine was pregnant. Speculation ran rampant through the court. Gossipy gossip. What is going on? Well, in 1536, when Catherine and Henry were both 17, Henry's older brother, Francis. Francois, really. But Francis was playing a round of a game that was a lot like tennis called Jeu de Palme. Tennis. So popular. And the dauphin asked for a cup of water as he was hot and sweaty from his exertions. And it was brought to him by his secretary, whose name is Count Montecuccoccoli. And Francis drank the water and collapsed. He died several days later. Now, what would you think if you were in this time and place? Poison water.

[Becca]

Absolutely.

[Susan]

Also, Montecuccoccoli had been brought to the court by Catherine de Medici from Italy. Now, this man was accused of being in the pay of the emperor of Charles V to do this very thing to assassinate the dauphin. And they searched his quarters and unfortunately for him, they found a book on different types of poison. Now, I will tell you, Italians in general actually had a reputation for sort of this dispassionate poisoning and murder. And in fact, both of those male illegitimate relatives that we keep talking about of Catherine's that sort of took over in Florence. One died by poison. Yes. One died by being murdered by his best friend. So, you know, the reputation is not exactly wrong. Well, under torture, Montecucoli confessed to poisoning the dauphin. Now, in an age before they had forensic laboratories, poison was usually suspected, you know, whenever there was a mysterious death. And of course, torture was considered a way to get at the truth, which it likely just produced whatever the torture thought would make it stop. So his confession can be taken with a grain of salt. Man, I wish we had time to tell you about Aqua Tofana. Maybe we'll work up a reel or something about that. It doesn't fall within either our story or our timeline. I'm making a note now. It's basically a syndicate of poisoners. We'll have to get back on that. You know, and I always thought, based on my reading of Laura Ingalls Wilder, that it was so common for people to collapse after drinking cold water after they were hot. You know, I didn't realize it's not that common unless you have an underlying heart condition. What I learned from the Laura Ingalls Wilder story, by the way, is I am going to post a recipe for a drink called Switchel or Haymaker's Punch. It's basically water, apple cider vinegar, ginger, and like honey or molasses. They used to take that out to farmers and it said in the book that's so they wouldn't get sick from being hot and drinking cold well water. So you put all that other stuff in it to pioneer Gatorade. Exactly. Exactly.

[Becca]

Okay, yeah, Makes sense.

[Susan]

Absolutely.

[Becca]

Probably tasted a little bit better than just plain water too, because there was ginger in it.

[Susan]

Yeah. And sweetener.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Susan]

So. So anyway, Laura Ingalls has primed me to think that Francis drank cold water after tennis and collapsed because of that. I was so bummed out to realize that I had been thinking incorrectly.

[Becca]

This is modern day historians, looking back, medical historians, which I think is just such a cool field, believe that he died of pleurisy, which is an infection of the lining of the lungs. He was never a real healthy guy, so this wasn't out of left field, really. Except it was easier to say, oh, he got poisoned.

[Susan]

Well, plus he had spent formative growth years in dank, damp prison cells, you know, and with poor nutrition and bad air.

[Becca]

So physically and mentally compromised.

[Susan]

Right. So Henry became the dauphin, and Catherine de Medici was now the dauphine of France. Her primary job was to provide heirs for the kingdom, something she had not managed to do. Now, many people advised the king and the dauphin to repudiate her, to divorce her, since it was necessary to continue. The line of fr. Divorce was in the air. And Catherine consulted all the experts she could. She was desperate. Every known trick known is in quotes for getting pregnant. Like placing cow dung and ground stag antlers on her situation, which I'm sure was very woo. That's titillating for the partner in question. And drinking mules urine was considered to be a surefire way to get pregnant. But 100% staying away from actual mules because they're sterile and their bad juju could rub off on you makes a lot of sense. This may have been the beginning of Katherine's keen, famous, keen interest in astrology and the occult. In the pantheon of experts, any expert that offered a solution, she would try. In 1537, Henry had a brief affair with a woman who gave birth to a daughter who he publicly acknowledged. She was named Diane of France, after, you guessed it, his hero, Diane depoitier. And this proved to Henry himself, his father and all of France, Henry was fertile. Aha. It's really her fault. More pressure on Catherine to produce a child. See, I can do it. It's evidently she who is broken now. However, Henry's new status proved to be an irresistible inducement for Diane de Poitier to let go of the reins, to stop holding back from full involvement with Henry. And they began a complete relationship. You know, Henry had been obsessed with Diane de Poitier ever since he came back from Spain. Really? So much so in public that the entire court viewed Diane Moore as a conduit to speak to or work through in order to get to the dauphin. You know, Catherine's irrelevance was obvious and humiliating. And somehow she navigated these waters with complete dignity. I don't know how she could do it, especially since the king's mistress and the dauphin's mistress hated each other. And the whole court had pretty much fallen into King v Dauphin camps.

[Becca]

Right?

[Susan]

I mean, everyone was broken straight down the middle. She successfully angered no one on either side. So either that's a testament to her political savvy. Or more likely, unfortunately, a testament to her unimportance. I'm sorry to say.

[Becca]

I'm sure that Henry had wanted to cross over that line years before. And for Diane to kind of hold off until this point. Again, that's. I kind of admire question mark. I don't know if that's the right word, her being able to do that, but it's kind of like, you know, going into a parking lot over those treadles. Once you cross it, you can't go back. Right. So at this point, at this point, he is so into her that Diane's colors since she was a widow were black and white, that Henry started wearing black and white.

[Susan]

Also, he entrusted Diane with the crown jewels of France.

[Becca]

Mm.

[Susan]

He also gave Diane the Chateau de Chenonceau. This was a piece of royal property. Honestly, it looks like Cinderella's castle. It's like blue and cream colored. It's quite beautiful. Catherine had wanted it for herself, and in the grand scheme of things, the dauphine should receive it, you know, but he gave it to Diane and Catherine was powerless to do anything about it. Catherine became sort of medium obsessed with Diane herself. Like, what does she have that I don't have? What does she do that I don't do?

[Becca]

At one point, she had holes drilled in the floor so she could literally see what Diane did with the dauphin that Catherine wasn't. And obviously it was a lot. Their relationship was much more passionate than anything that Catherine had with the dauphin. It got to the point that Catherine kind of threw herself at the mercy of her father in law and said, I will do whatever you want me to do. There's chatter about me getting divorced, and if that's your will, so be it. I would just love it if I could stay somehow in court. And their relationship was such that King Francis, her father in law, said, my child, it is God's will that you should be my daughter and the wife of the dauphin, so be it. So that gave her a little bit more encouragement.

[Susan]

After a decade of humiliation, Diane actually helped the royal couple conceive. The talk of repudiation had come up again of divorce. And guess who was in the crosshairs if he got a younger noble or a royal or a more enticing wife that might pull Henry away from her. Like, what if someone with more firepower came in when Catherine was so biddable and so easy to, you know, she's no competition at this point. So Diane, selfishly, perhaps, Diane encouraged her dauphin to go visit his wife's bedchamber. How humiliating. There is another story involving an official medical professional. And you know, I don't like 19th century medicine, so what do you think? I'm Gonna think about 16th century medicine.

[Becca]

And this doctor examined both Henry and Catherine and he concluded that their parts didn't quite fit properly and suggested a position for them to try that would indeed result in a pregnancy.

[Susan]

So I'm not sure if the doctor gave medical advice or Diane gave mechanical advice.

[Becca]

Right, right, right.

[Susan]

If you know what I mean.

[Becca]

And it could very well have been both.

[Susan]

It could have very well been.

[Becca]

It could have been everything. Except those stag. One of the things.

[Susan]

Oh, yeah, the stag horns and poop.

[Becca]

Ball that she had to have on her abdomen when Henry visited her in her bedchamber. Okay, we're all in Facebook groups, right? Is that fair to say? Yeah, I'm in one for curly haired people.

[Susan]

Ah, yeah.

[Becca]

And the other day, the conversation started talking about how to sleep with your curls. There was an onslaught of people who said, mulberry silk pillowcases. Yep. I said Blissey. Several other people in this group said Blissey. But mulberry silk, it's not satin. Satin is a cheap imitation. You have to get the silk pillowcase straight hair, curly hair doesn't matter. It helps your hair. It eliminates frizz. Everybody needs that. And it preserves your hairstyles overnight.

[Susan]

It even goes further. Not only is it good on your hair, it's good for your skin. It has anti aging properties. It reduces fine lines and wrinkles over time. It's dermatologist tested and recommended and clinically proven to not clog pores, unlike cotton.

[Becca]

And it's always cool. It's like the cool side of the pillowcase all night long without having to flip it over. Moreover, machine washable. There should be nothing on my bed that I can't throw in the laundry. Blissey silk pillowcases go right in the laundry, right in the washer, right in the dryer, come out perfect.

[Susan]

They're also made to pair with the new Blissy adjustable pillow, so you can get it in either classic or crescent shape. It's got a memory foam filling that contours to your body. It improves posture and relieves joint pain.

[Becca]

Because you're a listener, Blissy is offering 60 nights risk free, plus an additional 30% off when you shop at blissy.com.

[Susan]

Historychicks that's B L-I-S-S-Y.com historychix and use code historychicks to get an additional 30%.

[Becca]

Off your skin and your hair.

[Susan]

Will.

[Becca]

Thank you. Whatever it was. A little bit after their 10th anniversary, Catherine was delivered of a son. A son. She had her first child. Knocked it out of the park with an heir.

[Susan]

And just over a year afterward, she gave birth to her second child, Elizabeth. Now, from 1544 onwards, Catherine and Henry had a total of 10 children. Only seven of these survived to adulthood. There were four boys and three girls. But Diane de Poitier immediately took charge of the children's upbringing as if they were her own, leaving Catherine in the position of writing to the governors of their household, asking for updates because she was not given any. As if she was a non entity, simply the machine that made them.

[Becca]

Yes. How awful. And she'd have to ask for portraits of her children, like, what do they look like now?

[Susan]

I know. So sad. Well, so Catherine's marriage to Henry, you can tell it was not a happy one. Catherine managed to maintain her dignity. She did not openly express frustration with her situation. She did have one confidant. I was actually very happy about this. A woman named Mary Catherine Gandhi, kind of the general. What would you even call her? I guess they. Her official title was manager of the Dauphine's finances. So. How about that? Another math whiz. But she became an extremely trusted confidant, and I'm glad she had somebody because otherwise she had to keep it all inside. Because Diane was the do fan's advisor, and in almost all matters, he took her opinion. He catered to her every whim. He elevated her family. There was just no doubt in anyone's mind who the most powerful woman in the kingdom was. And it was certainly not Catherine. In 1556, Catherine nearly died giving birth to twin daughters, Jean and Victoire. And I don't want to tell you, they. They had to sacrifice one of the twins to save one of them. But the surviving twin died only seven weeks later. And because this birth was so traumatic and nearly fatal, the doctors advised that there should be no more children. Catherine should have no more children. And so therefore, Henry's like, hooray, I'm. And he stopped visiting Catherine's bedroom completely.

[Becca]

On the flip side at this point, because Katherine, I mean, she had 10 children. Seven survived, which is a good percentage, which sounds so crass to say, but for this time, she had elevated her status among other people because she had been able to produce an heir and three spares and a couple extra daughters that she could be using as, you know, political alliances down the road. So she did her duty, I guess. And you know, the thing that keeps Getting to me is I read these accounts and it's like Catherine loved Henry. Catherine loved Henry, did she?

[Susan]

I mean, he is the port in a storm as far as I'm concerned.

[Becca]

I, I mean, I believe that she loved her children, but I, I, I just have a hard time seeing her loving Henry. Other than like your work husband, maybe, and not even that close, honestly, I.

[Susan]

Don'T think Diane de Poitier loved Henry.

[Becca]

But Henry sure thought she did. And that's all that mattered, right?

[Susan]

Well, so it might have been a great relief, like, to her too. Hooray. Like, goodbye, Chaji. Stay away. You know what I was thinking about though? If Henry had paid her proper attention, given her respect, fondness even, I think she was ready to love him. She was willing to love him. She would have forgiven him, I think years into the relationship had he turned it around. But all she got was dismissal and contempt and I don't know how long love, even if it had existed, would really persist in one's heart after years of the treatment that he gave her. So I really don't know. It could have started out that way, but I really do think it curdled at some point. When King Francis I died on March 31, 1547, immediately, the very second he took his last breath, Henri became the king of France and therefore Catherine became the queen consort of France. I am sorry to say that during Henry's very public coronation, Henry managed to humiliate his wife in a way that I find quite shocking.

[Becca]

He had already adapted the colors that Diane wore, so they were already twinsying on the colors. He had a monogram created that intertwined H and D, and he had it everywhere. I mean, if he could have it carved somewhere. It was carved somewhere and it was on his clothing too.

[Susan]

And also when they went through small towns on progress, a lot of times the court would be met with statues of the mythological Diana. And who was that a tribute to? Not Catherine. So that's very sad. To me it is.

[Becca]

And when King Francis had died, Catherine was midway through just her third pregnancy. So I don't know, maybe it's just me, but being pregnant, all those hormones, I didn't do it well, so maybe she was better at it than me. But having all these things in her face about Diane. Diane, Henry, the king, Diane, you know, that had to be another emotional slap in her face.

[Susan]

The household was enriched by the arrival of a small child in 1548. Mary, Queen of Scots, age 5. Also a previous history chick subject. If you want to know more about her had been the Queen of Scotland since the death of her father when she was only six days old. Obviously, there's a regency in place. Her mother, Mary of Guise, had two powerful brothers at the French court that were boyhood friends of King Henry, so of great influence. They were definitely in the VIP room behind the velvet rope. So Mary Queen of Scots was betrothed to Catherine's oldest son, Francis. But for her safety, she was brought up in the safety of the French court to get her away from the intrigues in Scotland, safe from English forces. So, you know, Mary of Ghis is ruling in Scotland as her daughter's regent. Just listen to our Mary Queen of.

[Becca]

Scots episode for more on episode 58 from 2015. I went back and listened to it because I wanted to hear voice. We've come a long way, baby.

[Susan]

It was about this time that a philosopher slash astrologer named Nostradamus published a book. And Catherine got her hands on a copy of this book. She had an interest in astrology and the occult and loved everything about this book. He was invited to court. He advised her on her children's futures. And there was a disturbing. I mean, you know, it's almost like you have to look for things sometimes in these predictions. People have predictions for 2025, too. You don't look it up. Just don't. Just don't look it up. But one of them says. I know one of them says, and this will come up in just a minute. And I quote, he will pierce his eyes through a golden cage, two wounds made one, and then he dies a cruel death. So stay tuned about that. I do not think any one of us should read too much into Catherine's reliance on an astrologer, because, I mean, Elizabeth the First also had an astrologer. And, heck, Nancy Reagan had an astrologer. Her name was Joan Quigley. So it's not like everyone's like, ooh, Catherine de Medici, the serpent queen, was super into the occult and astral. Like, everyone sort of thought, well, this might be real, you know? Yeah, no, it wasn't as rare as you might think.

[Becca]

Right. Yeah. Nostradamus book wasn't a, you know, weird outlier bestseller to a certain group of people. It was very popular. He was popular. The whole industry was popular.

[Susan]

Yeah.

[Becca]

But it's easy to put that on a pamphlet on a propaganda pamphlet. Ooh, Catherine de Medici, the dark arts.

[Susan]

Yeah, she's definitely a Slytherin for anyone that is still following Harry Potter. Yeah. I'm just telling you right now. Okay, Mary Queen of Scots Mary married young Frances in 1558.

[Becca]

In addition to the astrology, Catherine has been keeping herself busy. She's a very intelligent woman. She loves learning things. She loves books. She loves people. She loves. Maybe she loves getting to know people so she can know where they are, you know, how she can not necessarily manipulate them, but where they fit into her life plan. How, you know, you meet somebody and you're like, oh, that's interesting that you do this thing. Maybe someday I'll need to know that you can do this thing for me.

[Susan]

Oh, like the I know a guy network building.

[Becca]

Yes. And that is exactly what Katherine is doing at this point. I mean, yes, she's having all those children, but the kids aren't with her. She's not really, you know, she's keeping up with them through letters and whatever and, and reports. But you know, it's not like the day to day mom of now, right? She's not, they're not there. So she's making connections. She's continuing to manage previous connections, like in Italy. She's never going to go back there, but she still has people there and she's still watching over any properties that she is collecting monies from. She's involved in all of that. She's acting very cool, like, oh yeah, this is just how it is. My husband, the king, has a mistress and she's got his ear. You know, she has the big influence on his life, not me, but it's fine. I have my duties over here and I'll just keep doing them. That's her outward appearance, but inwardly she's not thinking that at all. Later she had told a friend, and this is me paraphrasing it, because there's some things in here that we just don't want to have. On our PG13 podcast, she said if I was polite to Madame and that she means Diane, it was for the king's sake. And I always told him that it was against my will because no one who loves her husband has ever loved his mistress. I always told him that it was against my will. So she's telling Henry that she doesn't like it, but she's accepting it. So she's saying, again I ask, does she love her husband? That's what she's saying right here. I don't know. She did get a dig in on Diane, however. She designed her own monogram with an H and a C in it and stamped it on all the books in her own library. In Catherine's library, she had H and C stamped on all of them, that kind of looked very similar to the H and D monogram.

[Susan]

However, Henry had the H and D monogram placed on buildings.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Susan]

In the public eye. So, you know, it's just the little.

[Becca]

Things, you know, Sometimes all you can, you just take an inch and you're happy with the inch because you got that inch. As queen, Catherine did have her responsibilities. She was given the job to name all the guild leaders in France. She had her own palaces and chateaus to oversee and to visit. She had a huge interest in architecture. She oversaw improvements on her palaces and chateaux. She actually appointed one of Diane's daughters into a very high ranking position in her court. It was a position called Dame d', Honneur, which is kind of the queen bee lady in waiting. Right there with Catherine all the time was one of Diane's grown daughters.

[Susan]

I think Henry wanted that done.

[Becca]

Oh, see, I think Henry did. She was doing it to get one of, I don't know, someone from Diane's side on her side. That's how. Oh, yeah, I think that. No, you're probably right. You're probably right.

[Susan]

Yeah. I think it was an honor given. It's one of those highest ranking women in court thing. And Diane actively sought for her family's aggrandizement at all times. So it was probably a request from Diane, actually.

[Becca]

Okay, well. Well, that's kind of disappointing to me.

[Susan]

So.

[Becca]

It's all right. You've crushed me. When Henry went to battle, he did sometimes entrust things, matters political with Catherine. And she was aware of what was going on in government. If she had questions, he would always tell her. He would tell her. So it wasn't like they didn't ever talk. But I think I thought of her time now. Kind of like that speech in Barbie, you know, you have to be smart, Katherine, but not too smart. You have to be strategic, but always be ladylike. You know, make the hard choices, but be demure when you're saying them. You know, that was what Catherine is doing all this time because she's oppressed.

[Susan]

I do think so. I think she's in a pretty tight cage.

[Becca]

Maybe it's because this has been her whole life.

[Susan]

Right.

[Becca]

She's never been free of a cage.

[Susan]

Right. And she's making the best of the situation that she's in, which is really all any of us can do.

[Becca]

That's true.

[Susan]

After all of these, what they call the Italian wars are going on in the background. All of the countries trying to scrabble around and take a piece of Italy. Italy for themselves, Henry signed what's called the peace of Cato Cambrici with the Holy Roman Emperor and with England. All right, and now it was time to seal the treaty with, as usual, a marriage. The treaty was sealed by the betrothal of Catherine and Henry's daughter, Elizabeth, who was 13 years old, to Philip II of Spain, whose second wife, our old friend, Mary Tudor, Bloody Mary as history knows her. Also another subject. For more on her, listen to our episode on Mary had died and he was available. Their proxy wedding was celebrated in Paris on June 22, 1559.

[Becca]

Now, at this point, Philip is a 32 year old man, Elizabeth is 13. And it is a proxy wedding because, and I quote, King Philip himself. Kings of Spain do not go after their brides. It's just gross to me. You're like, yeah, that's just royals for you.

[Susan]

I mean, I think the brides always travel.

[Becca]

Yes, no, I. I agree. But to have him say that kings of Spain do not go after their brides.

[Susan]

It's like.

[Becca]

It's like an afterthought. Just an, you know, kings of Spain don't have to clean out their own toilets.

[Susan]

I don't know. I think you're reading too much into this, but I get it. I get what you're saying, but a lot of times a proxy wedding was held so that the bride could travel with her rank.

[Becca]

Yes. No.

[Susan]

And nationality.

[Becca]

Yes, I agree, I agree. But I don't always see this quote in those. Yeah, yeah, right. Anyway, okay. Big wedding without a groom.

[Susan]

As part of the celebrations, there was a jousting tournament to be held the week after the proxy wedding. And King Henry was about it. He actively took part in the jousting. Although you can guess just like me that did he wear Catherine de Medici's colors, which at the time were white and green? No, he did not. He wore Diane's black and white colors because that's how he lives. Not cool. No. He defeated a couple of dukes, but the Comte de Montgomery, during their battle, knocked him half out of the saddle. Oh, no, boy. You did not. I'm gonna do it again. Everyone's like, no, just let it ride. He's like, no, I am gonna beat this guy friend of his.

[Becca]

You know, he is 40 years old. He a is not going to change out of his black and white at this point. But he had not been feeling well for months, and he suffered from vertigo, which I've suffered from that before, and I can't even get off the bathroom floor yet. He is getting on a horse he's well enough to get on a horse with vertigo. I don't understand that.

[Susan]

So what you're saying is, did he defeat those dukes or did they let him win? Well, I just don't know.

[Becca]

Yes. Yes, that's what I'm saying. And he is riding a horse named Malaroo, which means unfortunate. And another. And Catherine claimed that she had had a terrible dream where she saw Henry laying down and bleeding from his face. She told him not to joust, but he just basically poo pooed her.

[Susan]

Well, people have dreams all the time.

[Becca]

Yeah.

[Susan]

So.

[Becca]

Yeah, and he's. He's 40 with vertigo, but he's got a point to make. He's got his jousting stick in front of him bigger than anybody else's. I guess.

[Susan]

It's called a lance. Hello. Spot the movie reference. Mine's not off color, but Susan's is. Oh ho. How about that porn illusion, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, Susan with the comment about the stick. Yeah, so the comped Jim Montgomery did knock him out of the saddle halfway. And so Henry insisted. We're gonna do this again. I'm gonna get you. And this time, I'm sorry to say, there was a catastrophic accident. Well, the second time around, Montgomery's lance shattered right in the king's face. Henry flailed around and his face was pouring blood with wooden splinters and I quote of a good bigness sticking out of his iron head. It was such a horrible sight that Diane and Catherine and Prince Francis, the dauphin, all. All fainted. All fainted. Henry was carried to a nearby chateau. And there were five sizable splinters, infinite amounts of tiny splinters, but five scary big ones sticking out of his head. And they pulled them out. I don't think you're supposed to do that. But one of them had pierced his eye all the way through and into his brain. Doctors did not know what to do. Exactly. They went and got some heads of criminals that had just been beheaded. As their punishment, they took them all into the basement to try to replicate the injury and see how they could fix it or. Obviously, no one's saving the eye, but maybe they could save the king. Catherine stayed by his bedside, but Diane kept away because she was worried that she would be barred or expelled by the queen. So now at the very end, she's nervous about being humiliated. And in this circumstance, the queen could expel the mistress and society would uphold the queen. I will tell you.

[Becca]

And it did for a while. A couple days look like Henry was rallying. He asked to have some musicians come in. And Montgomery came to him and he said, please, you, Highness, I am so sorry. You can cut off my hand as punishment. Cut off my head. And the king was said, no. You know, he's a sporty guy, right? So he said no. Basically, the Renaissance equivalent of, nah, dude, it's just part of the game. You played well, congrats. Apparently.

[Susan]

I mean, what a relief, though, because had he not been forgiven, do you know what, like, maybe the son would have taken revenge. You know, it was important to have that forgiveness be out there, I think.

[Becca]

Oh, I agree.

[Susan]

So for the next 10 days, he went up, he went down. He felt well enough for a while to dictate letters, but slowly he began to lose his sight. Certainly he began not to be able to talk anymore. And then he began to rant and rave. He was losing his reason. He was eaten up with infection. And on July 10, only 10 days later, after the accident, he died. He was only 40 years old. From that day, Catherine designed a new emblem for herself. It was a broken lance inscribed with the words, Lachrymai hink hinc dolor. From this come my tears and my pain. And from that moment, for the rest of her life, she wore black mourning clothes and memory of the king. Think back to the prediction of Nostradamus made four years before. He will pierce his eyes through a golden cage. Two wounds made one. Then he dies a cruel death. And so it was.

[Becca]

And I'm afraid to say that's it for this episode. Catherine's story is so big, we need two episodes to cover it.

[Susan]

And here's the thing. During this episode, you all know Katherine as someone who goes along to get along, who's very good at reading people, who has stayed largely under the radar and mostly against her will in that regard. So all of the obstacles to her personal growth and freedom of expression are about to leave the building, aren't they?

[Becca]

So, yeah, that makes this the absolute perfect time to break this episode into two.

[Susan]

So stay tuned for some behavioral and personality changes is all the teaser we're going to leave you with. We will see you in two weeks with part two, and thanks for listening.

[Becca]

Bye.

[Susan]

If you liked what you heard today, please tell a few friends about us or leave a review for us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcatcher here. In part one, we referred to our Mary Tudor and Mary Queen of Scots episodes. Do go back and have a listen with the kind spirit because. Woo, those were way, way back in the catalog at the beginning of this little experiment called the History chicks. Sometimes you have to grow up in the public eye, or the public ear, as it were. So listen at your discretion, we are leaving media for next time. But if that tiny window into Medici history from the beginning of the show is a rabbit hole that you'd like to fall down, I recommend an audiobook called the Medici by Paul Strathern. The song at the end is thank you for Nothing by Vicki Vox, in which I imagine Catherine's inner rage at having endured dismissal and underestimation for all of those years. See you next time, baby, I don't.

[Guest Singer]

Need you to tell me you were wrong Swear my mind erased you the moment when we were done all out of me, you're all out of me I'm finally free it's all good I'll be fine and you'll keep on breaking all I don't want to see your face again and I'll never let you near my friend It's a shame that this is how it ends but I want to see thank you for.

[Susan]

Shame.

[Guest Singer]

On me for trusting a liar with my heart Shame on you for mindlessly tearing it apart all out of me? You're all out of me I'm finally free it's all good make believe it's all that it was right from the start I don't wanna see your face again I'll never let you be my friend It's a shame that this is how it ends But I wanna see thank you for nothing that you my friend It's a shame that this is how it ends I want to say thank you for nothing I want to see thank you for nothing nothing I want to.