Catherine de Medici was orphaned at only a week old, and her childhood didn’t improve much from there. Sent to live under house arrest at a convent, she was then married off to the second son of the French King. It was an unhappy marriage, since she was routinely ignored by her husband who preferred his much older mistress. However Catherine was never one to give up, and these early unhappy years would forge a character of steel.

Frieda, Leonie: Catherine De Medici, The Renaissance Queen of France

Goldstone, Nancy: The Rival Queens

Hollingsworth, Mary: Catherine de Medici - The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen

History Extra: Catherine De Medici The ‘Serpent Queen” Who Became One of France’s Most Powerful 16th Century Rulers

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-de-medici-serpent-queen-life-death-legacy-children-regency-france/

Tulchin, Allan Massacres During the French Wars of Religion https://www.academia.edu/219979Massacres_During_the_French_Wars_of_Religion

Wikipedia: Catherine de Medici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici

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Catherine de Medici was orphaned at only a week old, and her childhood didn’t improve much from there. Sent to live under house arrest at a convent, she was then married off to the second son of the French King. It was an unhappy marriage, since she was routinely ignored by her husband who preferred his much older mistress. However Catherine was never one to give up, and these early unhappy years would forge a character of steel.

Sources/Further Reading

Frieda, Leonie: Catherine De Medici, The Renaissance Queen of France

Goldstone, Nancy: The Rival Queens

Hollingsworth, Mary: Catherine de Medici - The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen

History Extra: Catherine De Medici The ‘Serpent Queen” Who Became One of France’s Most Powerful 16th Century Rulers

https://www.historyextra.com/period/tudor/catherine-de-medici-serpent-queen-life-death-legacy-children-regency-france/

Tulchin, Allan Massacres During the French Wars of Religion https://www.academia.edu/219979Massacres_During_the_French_Wars_of_Religion

Wikipedia: Catherine de Medici https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Isabella of Angouleme was one of Englands most unpopular Queens, married to one of its most unpopular kings. She watched as her husband lost most of his territories, and as he signed the Magna Carta. After his death, she ruled her own territory of Angouleme with some strength, and then married her own daughter’s fiance to increase her power. She betrayed her son by supporting his deadly enemy the King of France, and then turned around and (possibly) ordered the assassination of that same French King.

Sources/Further Reading:

Weir, Alison: Queens of the Crusades

Morton, Elizabeth: England’s Queens - From Boudicca to Elizabeth of York

Bennett Connolly, Sharon: Isabella d’Angouleme - A Complicated Queen https://historytheinterestingbits.com/2022/01/22/isabelle-dangouleme-a-complicated-queen/

Wilkinson, Louise: Isabella of Angouleme, Wife of King John https://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/women-of-magna-carta/isabella-of-angouleme-wife-of-king-john/

Wikipedia: Isabella of Angouleme https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_of_Angoul%C3%AAme

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