The Children of Adam and Eve

She was a major force in French politics during the 30 years of Roman
Catholic-Huguenot wars and an instigator of the St. Bartholomew's Day
Massacre.

She had little power during the reign of her husband and that of her first
son, Francis II, but on Francis's Death in 1560 the government fell
entirely into her hands. She ruled as regent for her second son, Charles
IX, until he reached his majority in 1563, and she continued to dominate
him for the duration of his reign.

Political Role

In her determination to preserve royal power at any cost, Catherine
devoted her energies to maintaining a balance between the Protestant group
known as the Huguenots, led by the French military leader Gaspard de
Coligny, and the Roman Catholics, led by the powerful house of Guise.
During the religious civil wars that began in 1562, Catherine, a Roman
Catholic, usually supported the Catholics; sometimes, However, political
expEdiency led her to switch her support to the Huguenots. Her political
manipulations also affected the personal affairs of her family. In 1560
she arranged for her daughter, Elizabeth of Valois, to become the third
wife of the powerful Roman Catholic King of Spain, Philip II. In 1572
Catherine found it propitious to marry another daughter, Margaret of
Valois, to the Protestant King Henry of Navarre, who later became Henry
IV, King of France. Later in 1572 she found the growing Huguenot influence
over her son Charles, the French King, frightening; accordingly, she
instigated the plot to assassinate the Protestant leader Coligny that led
to his Death and the Deaths of an estimated 50,000 other Huguenots in the
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre (1572). After the Death of Charles in 1574
and the accession to the throne of her third son as Henry III, Catherine's
power declined.

Art Patron

Apart from her political role, Catherine was a patron of the arts. Her
interest in architecture was demonstrated in the building of a new wing of
the Louvre Museum, in initiating construction of the Tuileries gardens,
and in building the ch?au of Monceau. Her personal library, containing
numerous rare manuscripts, was renowned in Renaissance France.