Italian noblewoman who was queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II, and Queen mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III from 1559 to 1589. The years during which her sons reigned have been called “the age of Catherine de’ Medici” as she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France. Catherine was certainly one of the most powerful women in 16th-century Europe. Born into a powerful family, she never questioned her right to be hedonistic and cruel.
She was the only daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne. On her visit to Rome, the Venetian envoy described Catherine as “small of stature, and thin, and without delicate features, but having the protruding eyes peculiar to the Medici family”. On 28 October 1533, at the age of fourteen, Catherine married Henry, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Catherine’s marriage was arranged by her uncle Pope Clement VII. Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favors on his chief mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wielded much influence over him.
Henry and Catherine had ten children. His death in 1559 thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail 15-year-old King Francis II. When Francis II died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her 10-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. From 1560 to 1563, she ruled France as regent for her son Charles IX, King of France. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, the immoral weakling Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life (he would outlive her by seven months).
Catherine, the mother of three kings, held power through her sons for whom, some accounts say, she had “an abnormal relationship and affection.” On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at the age of sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy, at Château de Blois, Kingdom of France.
Link to Wikipedia biography