Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France

Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France 

 Author: Leonie Frieda
 Number of Pages: Around 500
 Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
 Type: Non-Fiction, Biography

The Black Queen 

History. 

Throughout schooling, the word brings up vague memories of tedious documents, peasants throwing tea into a harbor, and... A bunch of old guys wearing wigs? 

All jokes aside, history isn't everyone's favorite subject. It's an ever expanding slew of topics, dates, names, and politics that few people are interested in hearing, and even less interested in remembering. 

It's much more interesting to hear about mysteries, affairs, friendship issues and the occasional murder. What kind of history has all that juicy drama? 

It may surprise you, but a lot of history actually involves these topics to varying degrees. Including that of a fascinating woman, powerful queen and elegant murderer: Caterina Maria Romula de Medici. 

In this 440 page biography, Leonie Frieda lays out the life the notorious 'black queen' from her birth as a simple daughter to a rich family, to her rise to power- first as Dauphine, then as regent, and finally as Queen of France. Rich in details and dark humor, the audience will follow alongside Catherine as she (brings forks to France), faces a multitude of struggles that were common with being born a female in 15th century Europe, simultaneously becoming one of the most influential and powerful women in history. 

So many pages... 

The first thing one might notice about this book is that it is long. About 500 pages to be exact. It is a biography, which, by definition, is a detailed description of a person's life. Catherine had such an interesting one that the timeline that comes with it is... Lengthy, to say the least. Thankfully, approximately 60 of those pages are dedicated to lists of names, titles, family trees, historical images, and indexes. 

This book goes into deep details about every aspect of Catherine's life, as well as some of the history in Europe going on before, during, and after her life. If you don't like reading long books, or if you want a brief overview of the Medici's, this book might not be for you. 

Catherine de Medici (The Topic)

It's hard to get interested in a book whose topic is one to which you are oblivious... So... 

• Catherine de Medici was the daughter of a rich merchant family from Italy. (Born in the early 1500's.) 

• She was not born a noble, or a princess. 

• She ended up being married to a Dauphin of France, Henry (who would later become King.) Not only did she have to survive in a court of nobles and dangerous political figures who disliked, she also had to deal with her husband, the prospect of becoming a Queen, and her husband's infidelity (who was well known for his love of other women. Here comes the love triangle... Drama all around!) 

• Things happen and Catherine eventually became the ruling monarch of France. (As a woman, I'll remind you...) 

• In history, she is viewed as a cruel, murderous woman who was a master with poisons, and who believed in the dark arts. (Was she really? Read to find out...) She was smart, cunning, ruthless and ruled with all the majesty of a King. She did not back down to her male nobles or enemies, and protected her crown and throne with all her might.

• It is also rumored that she was the one who brought the habit of using silverware and eating with forks to France. 

The unique aspect of Catherine's story was less about the politics at the time, but the fact that she was a female. Women have never been viewed or treated as equals to their male counterparts throughout history, and few strong female rulers/monarchs have been recorded. Kings and Princes, sure. But women? 

The 15th and 16th century were times of change, and the increasing influence, bravery, and reign of women and Queens is one of the main reasons why. 

A victim of the times, Catherine's story is empowering, while also portraying the complexities of life back then. 

The Writing 

A book that has to cover so much history can easily become boring and mundane, but Frieda's style of writing eliminates that concern. 

Unlike a manual, essay, or Wikipedia page, Freida organizes the book almost like a diary. It begins with the birth of Catherine, and ends with her inevitable fall. The mass amounts of information that have to be packed into the 500 pages is chosen carefully. The author tries to include only the most important details, and stays on the focus of Catherine for the entire story. 

Unfortunately, having knowledge of European history before, during, and after Catherine's time is a necessity to understand what's going on. Sections of the book turn to various defining events which would later on affect Catherine, but they are short compared to the main story, and the information relayed in as blunt a manner as possible. 

Though the topic matter is serious, Freida tries to keep her writing light. It's not too 'scholarly', and she provides a lot of details about everything. This is important because it helps you connect and visualize the characters and locations within the book. 

For example... 

Her bodice glimmered with vast diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls. Her robe of green-blue velvet, the colour seeming to change slightly according to the light, was embroidered with fleur-de-lys in gold thread, as was her royal mantle, edged with ermine. Her robes were cut to give them fullness and length, adding to their already magnificent effect. (Page 89) 

Names and Terms Galore 

One of the main issues I had while reading the book was the giant amount of French and Italian words, terms, names, and titles. Back then, everyone had a title of some sort, no matter how insignificant they were. 

Frieda tries to temper the problem of people's mortal and forgetful memories by having the entire beginning section of the book used for titles and names, but I still got confused at times. (Another irritating fact about European history is that many of the monarchs and nobles named their sons and daughters after their previous family... Which is why there are a hundred 'Elizabeth's', 'Georges', 'Henry's' and 'Mary's'. Don't forget 'Francis' and 'Charles'... 

I wished at times that she could just change their names to something more simple (they are shortened sometimes) but... This is history, and that was their actual names. There's not much you can do, and slogging through the titles and names is a reason I didn't rate this book higher... 

Just an example but... A few names and ranks include... 

• Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne 
• Marguerite of Angouleme 
• Marguerite of Valois 
• Marguerite of Valois 

(Yes, those are actually 3 totally different people...) 

• Charles IX 
• Charles Cardinal de Bourbon 
• Charles V 
• Charles X 
• Charles of Lorraine 

(Yeah.) 

Final Recommendation 

If you're into history, or looking for a true story about one of the first and most powerful women rulers in history, (or have just watched Reign), then this book is for you. 

Be warned, it is not a 'light read'. It's not something I found that I could just pick up and start reading while sidetracked. Understanding what's going on and accurately processing the facts takes focus. (At least, for me... Maybe all of you are better at understanding history.)  

Be prepared for being given a lot of information in a short amount of time. Trying to include the entire life of any person, especially a royal is not an easy feat in 500 pages or less. Even more detailed records usually fill entire volumes... 

For the history nerd, it's perfect. But if you want fully packed action, drama and romance, this book is definitely not for you... 

Loan or Buy 

Buy it. Because it's so long, checking it out from a library and trying to read the whole thing in a week isn't a good idea... Trust me... I tried. -_-