Catherine de Medici, Princess of Urbino

   Another name for Catherine was Caterina de Medici.

  General Notes:

Catherine de Medici (1519-89), queen of France, was born in Florence. She was married to Henry, Duc d’Orléans, afterward Henry II of France, but played no great part in French politics till 1559, when the first of her three sons, who ruled over France, ascended the throne as Francis II. Opposed to her she found two parties, the Guises and the ultra-Catholics on one hand, and the Protestants, on the other. She entered into an alliance with the Protestants against the Guises, until the Treaty of Amboise (1563) showed that they had become too strong. She then entered into an alliance with Spain and the Guise party for the extirpation of heretics, which resulted in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. During the reign of her second son, Charles IX (1560), and still more during the reign of her third son, Henry III (1574), she was virtual ruler of France. Consult Sichel’s Catherine de’ Medici. [World Wide Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1935]

  Noted events in her life were:

• Title: Countess of Lauraguais.

• Title: Countess of Auvergne.

• Title: Princess of Urbino.

Catherine married King Henry II of France, son of King Francis I of France and Claude of France, Duchess of Brittany, on 28 Oct 1533 in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France ⁷¹³.^,769 (King Henry II of France was born on 31 Mar 1519 in St. Germain-en-Laye, Île-de-France, France,^713,769 died on 10 Jul 1559 in Paris, Île-de-France, France ^713,769 and was buried in 1559 in St. Denis Basilica, Seine-Saint-Denis, France ^713,769.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Alt. Marriage, 27 Oct 1533, Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France. ⁷¹³