The bestselling revisionist Biography of one of the great women of the 16th century
Orphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune.
Her political influence waned, but she survived long enough to ensure the succession of her son-in-law who had married her daughter Margaret.
She nursed dynastic ambitions, but was continually drawn into political and religious intrigues between Catholics and Protestants that plagued France for much of the later part of her life.
When her husband died as a result of a duelling accident in Paris, Catherine was made queen regent during the short reign of her eldest son (married to Mary Queen of Scots and like many of her children he died young).
Married at fourteen to the future Henri II of France, she was constantly humiliated by his influential mistress Diane de Poitiers.
The bestselling revisionist Biography of one of the great women of the 16th century
Orphaned in infancy, Catherine de Medici was the sole legitimate heiress to the Medici family fortune
