Catherine de Medici

History has not been kind to Catherine de Medici. A member of the most powerful family in Italy and wife of France’s King Henry II, she is remembered as a despotic ruler, a religious bigot and the engineer of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. But as Leonie Frieda shows in this insightful biography, the truth is much more complex, and the woman accused of being one of Europe’s greatest villains could just as easily be called a hero.

Catherine de Medici was orphaned shortly after her birth, and married at the age of 14. She bore her husband ten children, but was constantly humiliated by Henry’s influential mistress, Diane de Poitiers. After Henry died in 1559, Catherine found herself thrust into the maelstrom of French politics. She proved to be a superb strategist and ruthless conspirator, adopting brutal methods to shield her children’s royal birthright. Although reviled by some, she fulfilled her goal, and three of her sickly and corrupt sons became kings of France. In this highly praised biography, Leonie Frieda reveals a skilled ruler who battled extraordinary odds.

Leonie Frieda was born in Sweden and educated in Britain, Germany and France. She speaks five languages. Her research on Catherine de Medici has taken her to Paris, Florence and Rome, as well as the châteaux of the Loire. She lives in London with her daughter Elisabeth and son Jake.

“A smart, revisionist biography … [Leonie Frieda] does a splendid job unraveling the maddeningly complex political-religious context of Catherine’s time.” — Bloomberg News