Women Queens Part Three: Catherine De Medici

I got a book called” Young Queens” for my birthday which includes articles about Renaissance women and the price of power. I am reading this book because I want to learn about the women that got power in history and the sacrifices/price they paid for that power. Also, I want to know if they got their power and used it! The book is called Young Queen’s- Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power by Leah Redmond Chang.

Medieval women starting to gain a little bit more rights and a little bit more control over there lives- however it wasn’t until the 18th century that women’s rights really started to expand and become more common. Catherine De Medici tried to have kids- the Medici’s had kids much later on in life- King Henry’s also had a mistress and she was allied/had common interests with Catherine Medici. [1]French Kings were told to get their mandate from God. Catherine – De Medici was not fertile at first but was eventually fertile and had 10 kids- 7 survived. Catherine- De Medici was lucky, and did not have many rights-many women didn’t at this time- she also consulted her astrologists and then had lots of kids.

Catherine De Medici loved her husband- King Henry- King Henry had sex with his wife Catherine- for the production of kids – and had a mistress that he had sex with for pleasure/passion. Apparently, Catherine was later found to be barren- the cause of them not being able to have kids- it wasn’t King Henry after all. The Medici Women had a known stereotype that they typically took a while to have kids. Another stereotype was that Italians typically were the “first to poison.”[2]

French Kings got their mandate from God and were crowned in a god like moment.[3] Francis obeyed the laws of France but some of the kings were more authoritarian, or skirted the rules more, like King Francis. King Francis tried to Mary Elizabeth Tudor to create kids- she was the daughter of King Henry the 8th – however it allowed her to become more powerful over time. The mistress was allied with the wife- Catherine- de Medici -.

Catherine- De -Medici’s husband- Francis- consulted his astrologists and decided that she would become fertile and would have at least 6 children- she eventually had 7 children- who survived and 3 children who died soon after birth – 10 total. King Henry the second of France did his duty by his father to continue his duties by having children and continuing to lead his kingdom.

Catherine De Medici had 10 kids- 7 survived French Kings got their mandate “from god”- and she actually really loved her Husband King Henry. Catherine – De Medici was a happy wife- compared to most women at this time however struggled to have kids- like many of her family members. She ended up being very good at producing kids- having 10 of them.

Citations:

BBC History. "Catherine de Medici (1519–1589)." BBC History, accessed May 28, 2025. https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/de_medici_catherine.shtml.

1. Britannica Article on Catherine de’ Medici

Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Catherine de’ Medici." Last modified April 16, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-de-Medici.

2. Young Queens by Leah Redmond Chang

Chang, Leah Redmond. Young Queens: Three Renaissance Women and the Price of Power. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023.lafayette.marmot.org+1Macmillan Publishers+1

[1] Leah Chang Young Queens Three Renaissance Women and The Price of Power, New York, 2023 (25-50)

[3] Leah Chang, Catherine De Medici (25-50)