My Completed Work Wednesday, September 12, 2012 4:49 PM When you are complete, this page should contain… - Cover Page - Report - Bibliography Clear introduction 8HP Page 1 Clear introduction Good details 8HP Page 2 How did Catherine have a lasting impact today? Did her changes to gov't matter today? Is she a role model for other women leaders? 8HP Page 3 8HP Page 4 8HP Page 5 Linh Growing up Achievement Tuesday, September 11, 2012 Legacy 10:56 AM Source Source Material Point Form Notes (Copy / Paste from original, make sure to keep web URL) (key information!) 1 Italian-born French queen, regent and mother of three kings of France. She was a powerful • Powerful influence in 16th century France (Wars of Religion). influence in 16th century France, particularly during the Wars of Religion. • Born 13 April,1519. - Florence • Full name: Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici. Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de Medici was born in Florence on 13 April 1519. Her father • Father: Lorenzo de Medici - Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence. was Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence and her mother was Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, cousin of Francis I, King of France. • Mother: Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergn - Francis I (King of France)'s cousin. • Two weeks old parent died. Catherine's mother died when she was two-weeks-old and her father soon afterwards. In 1533, • 1533 arranged marriage duke of Orleans (second son of France's king) - age 14. at the age of 14, Catherine's uncle Pope Clement VII arranged her marriage to the duke of • Ten years after married have first child. Orléans, second son of the king of France. • Eleven years later 1536 - become Henry II (King of France) - Became Queen. • 1559 - Henry II died in a jousting accident. A year after their marriage, the duke began a long affair with Diane de Poitiers. Diane remained a dominant force in his life for the next 25 years, leaving Catherine sidelined. It was not until • Ten year after married she have a first child. ten years after their marriage that Catherine gave birth to their first child. This greatly • Adopted a conciliatory policy toward the Huguenots (French Protestants). improved the queen’s position and the couple eventually had seven surviving children. • Continued to help in government. • Died on 5th January 1589 - buried next to her husband in the church St Denis, Paris. In 1536, the duke of Orléans became heir to the throne. Eleven years later he was crowned Henry II of France. Unfortunately it was to be a short reign as Henry died in a jousting accident in 1559, thrusting Catherine onto the political stage. Their eldest son Francis was proclaimed king, but died after less than a year. Then in 1560, their second son Charles was crowned, aged just ten years old. Catherine acted as regent for the young king and as a result dominated Charles throughout his reign. She at first adopted a conciliatory policy towards the Huguenots (French Protestants), but in 1562 civil war broke out in France, marking the beginning of the series of conflicts which became known as the French Wars of Religion. In 1572, in an effort to bring reconciliation, Catherine arranged the marriage of her daughter Marguerite to the Protestant Henry, King of Navarre. During the wedding celebrations in Paris, the Huguenot leader, Coligny, was murdered, as were hundreds of other Protestants who had gathered for the wedding. This became known as the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, in which Catherine was probably involved. Charles IX died in 1574 and Catherine's favourite son Henry succeeded as Henry III of France. She continued to play a central role in government and made further fruitless attempts to reconcile the opposing sides in the ongoing civil war. Catherine died on 5 January 1589 and was buried next to her husband in the church of St Denis in Paris. Pasted from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/de_medici_catherine.shtml > 2 A Clever Politician • Catherine arranged married for her daughter to Henri Navarre (a protestant leader) to Despite her power hungry nature, Catherine’s first concern was keeping the French monarchy intact. She knew that make France better by changing into Catholicism. her last son, Henri II, would never produce heirs for the throne. He, with his effeminate manners, loved dressing up like • Catherine helped save the French monarchy securing Henri of Navarre in the French a woman. Catherine arranged for her daughter, Marguerite, to marry Henri of Navarre, a protestant leader. Catherine succession - seventeenth century. recognized that Navarre would do the right thing for France (by converting to Catholicism) when he was called to the throne. He would also be a strong ruler, something none of her own sons had been. By securing Henri of Navarre in the French succession, Catherine helped save the French monarchy, and laid the foundation for the age of Absolutism, in the seventeenth century. Pasted from <http://suite101.com/article/catherine-de-medici-a19080> 3 Catherine believed in the humanist ideal of the learned Renaissance prince whose authority depended on letters as • Believe in Humanist idea. well as arms.[144] She was inspired by the example of her father-in-law, King Francis I of France, who had hosted the • Was inspired by father. leading artists of Europe at his court, and by her Medici ancestors. In an age of civil war and declining respect for the • Catherine spent ruinous sums on the arts. monarchy, she sought to bolster royal prestige through lavish cultural display. Once in control of the royal purse, she • Love architecture in art. launched a programme of artistic patronage that lasted for three decades. During this time, she presided over a distinctive late French Renaissance culture in all branches of the arts. [145] An inventory drawn up at the Hôtel de la Reine after Catherine's death shows her to have been a keen collector. Listed works of art included tapestries, hand-drawn maps, sculptures, rich fabrics, ebony furniture inlaid with ivory, sets of china, and Limoges pottery.[146] There were also hundreds of portraits, for which a vogue had developed during Catherine's lifetime. Many portraits in her collection were by Jean Clouet (1480–1541) and his son François Clouet (c. 1510–1572). François Clouet drew and painted portraits of all Catherine's family and of many members of the court.[147] After Catherine's death, a decline in the quality of French portraiture set in. By 1610, the school patronised by the late Valois court and brought to its pinnacle by François Clouet had all but died out. [148] Beyond portraiture, little is known about the painting at Catherine de' Medici's court. [149] In the last two decades of her life, only two painters stand out as recognisable personalities: Jean Cousin the Younger (c. 1522–c. 1594), few of whose works survive, and Antoine Caron (c. 1521–1599), who became Catherine's official painter after working atFontainebleau under Primaticcio. Caron's vivid Mannerism, with its love of ceremonial and its preoccupation with massacres, reflects the neurotic atmosphere of the French court during the Wars of Religion.[150] Many of Caron's paintings, such as those of the Triumphs of the Seasons, are of allegorical subjects that echo the festivities for which Catherine's court was famous. His designs for the Valois Tapestries celebrate the fêtes, picnics, and mock battles of the "magnificent" entertainments hosted by Catherine. They depict events held at Fontainebleau in 1564; at Bayonne in 1565 for the summit meeting with the Spanish court; and at the Tuileries in 1573 for the visit of the Polish ambassadors who presented the Polish crown to Catherine's son Henry of Anjou.[149] Biographer Leonie Frieda suggests that "Catherine, more than anyone, inaugurated the fantastic entertainments for which later French monarchs also became renowned".[151] The musical shows in particular allowed Catherine to express her creative gifts. They were usually dedicated to the ideal of peace in the realm and based on mythological themes. To create the necessary dramas, music, and scenic effects for these events, Catherine employed the leading artists and architects of the day. Historian Frances Yates has called her "a great creative artist in festivals". [152] Catherine gradually introduced changes to the traditional entertainments: for example, she increased the prominence of dance in the shows that climaxed each series of 8HP Page 6 entertainments: for example, she increased the prominence of dance in the shows that climaxed each series of entertainments. A distinctive new art form, the ballet de cour, emerged from these creative advances. [153] Owing to its synthesis of dance, music, verse, and setting, the production of the Ballet Comique de la Reine in 1581 is regarded by scholars as the first authentic ballet. [154] Catherine de' Medici's great love among the arts was architecture. "As the daughter of the Medici", suggests French art historian Jean-Pierre Babelon, "she was driven by a passion to build and a desire to leave great achievements behind her when she died."[155] After Henry II's death, Catherine set out to immortalise her husband's memory and to enhance the grandeur of the Valois monarchy through a series of costly building projects. [156] These included work on châteaux at Montceaux-en-Brie, Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, and Chenonceau. Catherine built two new palaces in Paris: the Tuileries and the Hôtel de la Reine. She was closely involved in the planning and supervising of all her architectural schemes. [157] Catherine had emblems of her love and grief carved into the stonework of her buildings.