|
Catherine de' Medici (Italian: ''Caterina de' Medici'' ; French ''Catherine de Médicis'' , 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589), daughter of Lorenzo II de' Medici and of Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, was an Italian noblewoman who was Queen of France from 1547 until 1559, as the wife of King Henry II. As the mother of three sons who became kings of France during her lifetime she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France. For a time she ruled France as its regent. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude of France. Under the gallicised version of her name, Catherine de Médicis,〔(:katʁin də medisis)〕 she was Queen consort of France as the wife of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. Throughout his reign, Henry excluded Catherine from participating in state affairs and instead showered favours on his chief mistress, Diane de Poitiers, who wielded much influence over him. Henry's death thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life. Catherine's three sons reigned in an age of almost constant civil and religious war in France. The problems facing the monarchy were complex and daunting but Catherine was able to keep the monarchy and the state institutions functioning even at a minimum level . At first, Catherine compromised and made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots, as they became known. She failed, however, to grasp the theological issues that drove their movement. Later, she resorted in frustration and anger to hard-line policies against them.〔Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 272.〕 In return, she came to be blamed for the excessive persecutions carried out under her sons' rule, in particular for the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris and throughout France. Some historians have excused Catherine from blame for the worst decisions of the crown, though evidence for her ruthlessness can be found in her letters.〔Knecht, 272. For a summary of the fluctuations in Catherine's historical reputation, see the preface to R. J. Knecht's ''Catherine de' Medici'', 1998: xi–xiv.〕 In practice, her authority was always limited by the effects of the civil wars. Her policies, therefore, may be seen as desperate measures to keep the Valois monarchy on the throne at all costs, and her patronage of the arts as an attempt to glorify a monarchy whose prestige was in steep decline.〔Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 20.; Frieda, 454–55.〕 Without Catherine, it is unlikely that her sons would have remained in power.〔Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 26.〕 The years in which they reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici".〔Thomson, 98; Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 3; Neale, ''The Age of Catherine de Medici''.〕 According to one of her biographers Mark Strage, Catherine was the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe.〔Strage, Mark (1976). ''Women of Power: The Life and Times of Catherine de' Medici''. London and New York: Harcourt, Brace & Jovanovich. Prologue, p.xi.〕 ==Birth and upbringing== Catherine was born in Florence, Republic of Florence, as Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de' Medici. The Medici family were at the time the ''de facto'' rulers of Florence: originally bankers, they came to great wealth and power by bankrolling the monarchies of Europe. Catherine's father, Lorenzo II de' Medici, was made Duke of Urbino by his uncle Pope Leo X, and the title reverted to Francesco Maria I della Rovere after Lorenzo's death. Thus, even though her father was a duke, Catherine was of relatively low birth. However her mother, Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, the Countess of Boulogne, was from one of the most prominent and ancient French noble families; this prestigious maternal heritage was of benefit to her future marriage to a ''fils de France''. According to a contemporary chronicler, when Catherine de' Medici was born, her parents, were "as pleased as if it had been a boy".〔Goro Gheri, 15 April 1519, quoted by Frieda, 14.〕 Madeleine died on 28 April of puerperal fever or plague, and Lorenzo died on 4 May. The young couple were married the year before at Amboise as part of the alliance between King Francis I of France and Pope Leo against the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. King Francis wanted Catherine to be raised at the French court, but Pope Leo had other plans for her. He intended to marry her to his brother's illegitimate son, Ippolito de' Medici, and set them up to rule Florence. Catherine was first cared for by her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini (wife of Piero de' Medici). After Alfonsina's death in 1520, Catherine joined her cousins and was raised by her aunt, Clarice Strozzi. The death of Pope Leo in 1521 interrupted Medici power briefly, until Cardinal Giulio de' Medici was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523. Clement housed Catherine in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, where she lived in state. The Florentine people called her ''duchessina'' ("the little duchess"), in deference to her unrecognised claim to the Duchy of Urbino.〔Frieda, 23–24.〕〔Young, ''The Medici: Volume II'', 15.〕 In 1527, the Medici were overthrown in Florence by a faction opposed to the regime of Clement's representative, Cardinal Silvio Passerini, and Catherine was taken hostage and placed in a series of convents.〔Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', p. 11.〕 The final one, the ''Santissima Annuziata delle Murate'' was her home for three years. Mark Strage described these years as "the happiest of her entire life".〔Strage, pp. 13, 15〕 Clement had no choice but to crown Charles Holy Roman Emperor in return for his help in retaking the city.〔Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 10–11.〕 In October 1529, Charles's troops laid siege to Florence. As the siege dragged on, voices called for Catherine to be killed and exposed naked and chained to the city walls. Some even suggested that she be handed over to the troops to be used for their sexual gratification.〔Strage, p.15〕 The city finally surrendered on 12 August 1530. Clement summoned Catherine from her beloved convent to join him in Rome where he greeted her with open arms and tears in his eyes. Then he set about the business of finding her a husband.〔Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 12.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Catherine de' Medici」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|