Catherine de' Medici

The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen

By: Mary Hollingsworth

Narrated by: Rachel Bavidge, Sophie Hunter

Length: 15 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

A new biography of Catherine de' Medici, the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, whose author uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable – and remarkably traduced – woman.

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de’ Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country’s long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. Thanks to the malign efforts of propagandists motivated by religious hatred, history tends to remember Catherine as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to eradicate her rivals, as a spendthrift dilettante who wasted ruinous sums of money on building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, and most sinister of all, as instigator of the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of innocent Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs.

Mary Hollingsworth delves into contemporary archives to discover deeper truths behind these persistent myths. The correspondence of diplomats and Catherine’s own letters reveal a woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist in peace (a goal for which she continued to strive until the end of her life), who was well-informed on both literary and scientific matters, and whose patronage of the arts helped bring into being glorious châteaux and gardens, priceless work of art, and magnificent festivities combining theatre, music and ballet, which display the grandeur of the French court.

©2024 Mary Hollingsworth (P)2024 Head of Zeus

Countering centuries of disinformation

Catherine is one of the most maligned women in European history and this work succeeds in putting to right many distortions perpetuated through centuries of propoganda and disinformation.

It is a reappraisal, not a hagiography nor disingenuous attempt at rehabilitation. It’s not a quick and easy read for those used to the calumnies of Plaidy and Gregory, but a well-considered, deep history of an extraordinary woman who lived in perilous times.

Most of the negative reviews I have seen online have criticized the minutiae of the work, or show an undisguised prejudice against Catholicism. As a Catholic who already admires the good qualities of Catherine, perhaps I am too biased in favor of the work, but I thoroughly enjoyed every chapter, so much that I ordered the book in hardcover.

When I read Leonie Frieda’s biography of Catherine some years ago, it left me with an abiding love of Valois history I enjoy to this day. I’ve particularly enjoyed researching in French and Italian Catherine’s all but forgotten sister in law Marguerite, who deserves a modern English language biography of her own.

Today is the 450th anniversary of Marguerite’s death. She was Catherine’s trusted friend and ally, and I imagine she would be pleased to see this work reveal the Catherine she knew and loved.

For all her faults, Catherine was a brilliant, learned, politically skillful, energetic woman worthy of respect for all she endured and navigated over a long and eventful life.

Thorough, well-researched

Beautifully written, an exciting story of a long and eventful life. The performance was choppy, with very obvious edits and additions made after the final recording, possibly by another reader, which was distracting.

Fascinating story of an amazing woman

I couldn't stop listening to this one. The narrator is excellent and the story of Catherine better than a novel. In terms of historical veracity, I suspect the book is quite good, but it is revisionist history absolving the queen from some of the horrors of the French wars of religion.

Uninspiring narration, detailed history.

Narration is somewhat stilted, monotonic, and dry.

Information is detailed and for scholars and history buffs probably of interest and useful.

For laypersons, however, the material is too dry and delivery mundane to capture sustained interest.

I was looking for something accurate but less meticulous about Catherine (a la SERPENT QUEEN). This did not satisfy my particular need.