Catherine de' Medici (1518-89) is one of the most controversial of all historical figures. Wife of one French King and mother of three others she was as Regent and Queen Mother, a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. Praised as a peacemaker she has also been blamed for the Massacre of St Bartholomew (24 August 1572): Professor Knecht goes behind the familiar Black Legend to assess the real Catherine; and while no attempt is made to whitewash her he reveals a more sympathetic and, in her pragmatism, more modern figure ...
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Catherine de' Medici (1518-89) is one of the most controversial of all historical figures. Wife of one French King and mother of three others she was as Regent and Queen Mother, a key figure in the French Wars of Religion. Praised as a peacemaker she has also been blamed for the Massacre of St Bartholomew (24 August 1572): Professor Knecht goes behind the familiar Black Legend to assess the real Catherine; and while no attempt is made to whitewash her he reveals a more sympathetic and, in her pragmatism, more modern figure than most of her leading contemporaries. This study, the first recent biography of her in English, by a leading scholar of Renaissance France, is a major event.
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This book is noteworthy for it's chronicling of the religious wars and turmoil in France in the 1500s. It is detailed and fact filled, yet an easy read for the lay historian.
