Catherine de’ Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen by Mary Hollingsworth

Blurb

A new biography of Catherine de’ Medici, the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, whose author uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable – and remarkably traduced – woman.

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de’ Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country’s long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. Thanks to the malign efforts of propagandists motivated by religious hatred, history tends to remember Catherine as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to eradicate her rivals, as a spendthrift dilettante who wasted ruinous sums of money on building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, and most sinister of all, as instigator of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of innocent Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs.

Mary Hollingsworth delves into contemporary archives to discover deeper truths behind these persistent myths. The correspondence of diplomats and Catherine’s own letters reveal a woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist in peace (a goal for which she continued to strive until the end of her life), who was well-informed on both literary and scientific matters, and whose patronage of the arts helped bring into being glorious châteaux and gardens, priceless work of art, and magnificent festivities combining theatre, music and ballet, which display the grandeur of the French court.

Review

I’ve only ever read history books that mention Catherine de’ Medici in passing but I have always wanted to know more about this formidable character from history. This is also my first book by Mary Hollingsworth. 

I’ve read a lot of history books over the years and after studying Ancient Greek and Roman history it is quite clear that history is written by men and is about men and any woman who even dared to take control and show her strength was severely slandered by the male history writers. Catherine de’ Medici was no different. 

Catherine de’ Medici was an Italian born French queen who was also the mother of three French kings during a tumultuous time of the sectarian wars. History tends to remember Catherine de’ Medici as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to get rid of her enemies. A woman who wasted huge amounts of money on building projects and statues and the person who instigated the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572 which saw thousands of Protestants slaughtered by Catholic mobs. 

Hollingsworth challenges these preconceptions by using letters written by Catherine de’ Medici, correspondence of diplomats, and other historical sources from the time. By piecing together all her findings she shows a very different story of Catherine de’ Medici and one that I wasn’t expecting. 

I absolutely loved reading this book and I really liked how you could see how well researched it is. Hollingsworth shows a completely different Catherine de’ Medici and she is definitely a new favourite for me and I can’t wait to read more about her. Catherine de’ Medici worked tirelessly for her sons and her country and the only thing that stopped her working was illness. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons and will definitely be reading more books by Mary Hollingsworth soon. 

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Purchase Links

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About the author

Mary Hollingsworth is a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, and author of The Cardinal’s Hat, The Borgias: History’s Most Notorious Dynasty and Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century.

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