Editing Catherine de' Medici (section)

===Reign of Henry III===
[[File:Anjou 1570louvre.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Henry III of France|Henry, Duke of Anjou]], by [[Jean de Court]], {{Circa|1573|lk=no}}. As [[Henry III of France|Henry III]], he often showed more interest in pious devotions than in government.]]

Two years later, Catherine faced a new crisis with the death of Charles IX at the age of twenty-three. His dying words were "oh, my mother&nbsp;..." The day before he died, he named Catherine regent, since his brother and heir, Henry the Duke of Anjou, was in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]], where he had been elected [[List of Polish monarchs#Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795|king]] the year before. However, three months after his coronation at [[Wawel Cathedral]], Henry abandoned that throne and returned to France in order to become King of France. Catherine wrote to Henry of Charles IX's death: "I am grief-stricken to have witnessed such a scene and the love which he showed me at the end&nbsp;... My only consolation is to see you here soon, as your kingdom requires, and in good health, for if I were to lose you, I would have myself buried alive with you."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 172.</ref>

Henry was Catherine's favourite son. Unlike his brothers, he came to the throne as a grown man. He was also healthier, though he suffered from weak lungs and constant fatigue. His interest in the tasks of government, however, proved fitful. He depended on Catherine and her team of secretaries until the last few weeks of her life. He often hid from state affairs, immersing himself in acts of piety, such as [[pilgrimage]]s and [[flagellation]].<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 232, 240, 247.</ref>

Henry married [[Louise de Lorraine-Vaudémont]] in February 1575, two days after his coronation. His choice thwarted Catherine's plans for a political marriage to a foreign princess. Rumours of Henry's inability to produce children were by that time in wide circulation. The papal [[nuncio]] [[Salviati family|Salviati]] observed, "it is only with difficulty that we can imagine there will be offspring&nbsp;... physicians and those who know him well say that he has an extremely weak constitution and will not live long." As time passed and the likelihood of children from the marriage receded, Catherine's youngest son, [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Francis, Duke of Alençon]], known as "Monsieur", played upon his role as heir to the throne, repeatedly exploiting the anarchy of the civil wars, which were by now as much about noble power struggles as religion.<ref>Sutherland, ''Ancien Régime'', 22.</ref> Catherine did all in her power to bring Francis back into the fold. On one occasion, in March 1578, she lectured him for six hours about his dangerously subversive behaviour.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 205.</ref>

In 1576, in a move that endangered Henry's throne, Francis allied with the Protestant princes against the crown.<ref>Holt, 104.</ref> On 6 May 1576, Catherine gave in to almost all Huguenot demands in the [[Edict of Beaulieu]]. The treaty became known as the ''Peace of Monsieur'' because it was thought that Francis had forced it on the crown.<ref>Holt, 105–106; Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 186.</ref> Francis died of [[tuberculosis|consumption]] in June 1584, after a disastrous intervention in the Low Countries during which his army had been massacred.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 212–213.</ref> Catherine wrote, the next day: "I am so wretched to live long enough to see so many people die before me, although I realize that God's will must be obeyed, that He owns everything, and that He lends us only for as long as He likes the children whom He gives us."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 217.</ref> The death of her youngest son was a calamity for Catherine's dynastic dreams. Under [[Salic law]], by which only males could ascend the throne, the Huguenot Henry of Navarre now became heir presumptive to the French crown.<ref name="Pettegree, 154"/>

[[File:Nicholas Hilliard 002.jpg|thumb|upright|Catherine's youngest son, [[Francis, Duke of Anjou|Francis, Duke of Alençon]], by [[Nicholas Hilliard]], {{Circa|1577|lk=no}}. [[Elizabeth I|Elizabeth of England]] called him "her frog" but found him "not so deformed" as she had been led to expect.]]

Catherine had at least taken the precaution of marrying Margaret, her youngest daughter, to Navarre. Margaret, however, became almost as much of a thorn in Catherine's side as Francis, and in 1582, she returned to the French court without her husband. Catherine was heard yelling at her for taking lovers. Catherine sent [[Pomponne de Bellièvre]] to Navarre to arrange Margaret's return. In 1585, Margaret fled Navarre again. She retreated to her property at [[Agen]] and begged her mother for money. Catherine sent her only enough "to put food on her table". Moving on to the fortress of Carlat, Margaret took a lover called d'Aubiac. Catherine asked Henry to act before Margaret brought shame on them again. In October 1586, therefore, he had Margaret locked up in the [[Château d'Usson]]. D'Aubiac was executed, though not, despite Catherine's wish, in front of Margaret.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 254–255.</ref> Catherine cut Margaret out of her will and never saw her again.

Catherine was unable to control Henry in the way she had Francis and Charles.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 189.</ref> Her role in his government became that of chief executive and roving diplomat. She travelled widely across the kingdom, enforcing his authority and trying to head off war. In 1578, she took on the task of pacifying the south. At the age of fifty-nine, she embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the south of France to meet Huguenot leaders face to face. Her efforts won Catherine new respect from the French people.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 209.</ref> On her return to Paris in 1579, she was greeted outside the city by the Parlement and crowds. The Venetian ambassador, Gerolamo Lipomanno, wrote: "She is an indefatigable princess, born to tame and govern a people as unruly as the French: they now recognize her merits, her concern for unity and are sorry not to have appreciated her sooner."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 200.</ref> She was under no illusions, however. On 25 November 1579, she wrote to the king, "You are on the eve of a general revolt. Anyone who tells you differently is a liar."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 201.</ref>

====Catholic League====
[[File:Guise.jpg|left|thumb|upright|[[Henry I, Duke of Guise|Henry, Duke of Guise]], by Pierre Dumoûtier. Disarmed by Catherine's sweetness on meeting her for negotiations at [[Épernay]] in 1585, Guise tearfully insisted that his motives had been misunderstood. Catherine told him it would be better if he took off his boots and ate something, after which they could talk at length.]]

Many leading Roman Catholics were appalled by Catherine's attempts to appease the Huguenots. After the Edict of Beaulieu, they had started forming local leagues to protect their religion.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 185.</ref> The death of the heir to the throne in 1584 prompted the Duke of Guise to assume the leadership of the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]]. He planned to block Henry of Navarre's succession and place Henry's Catholic uncle [[Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (born 1523)|Cardinal Charles de Bourbon]] on the throne instead. In this cause, he recruited the great Catholic princes, nobles and prelates, signed the [[treaty of Joinville]] with Spain, and prepared to make war on the "heretics".<ref>Pettegree, 164.</ref> By 1585, Henry{{nbsp}}III had no choice but to go to war against the League.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 255.</ref> As Catherine put it, "peace is carried on a stick" (''bâton porte paix'').<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 249.</ref> "Take care", she wrote to the king, "especially about your person. There is so much treachery about that I die of fear."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 251.</ref>

Henry was unable to fight the Catholics and the Protestants at once, both of whom had stronger armies than his own. In the [[Treaty of Nemours]], signed on 7 July 1585, he was forced to give in to all the League's demands, even that he pay its troops.<ref>Knecht, ''Renaissance France'', 440.</ref> He went into hiding to fast and pray, surrounded by a bodyguard known as "[[The forty-five guards|the Forty-five]]", and left Catherine to sort out the mess.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 253.</ref> The monarchy had lost control of the country, and was in no position to assist England in the face of the coming Spanish attack. The Spanish ambassador told Philip{{nbsp}}II that the abscess was about to burst.<ref>Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 287.</ref>

By 1587, the Catholic backlash against the Protestants had become a campaign across Europe. [[Elizabeth I of England]]'s [[Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots|execution]] of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], on 8 February 1587 outraged the Catholic world.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 257.</ref> [[Philip II of Spain]] prepared for an invasion of England. The League took control of much of northern France to secure French ports for his [[Spanish Armada|armada]].

====Last months and death====
[[File:Emanuel van Meteren Historie ppn 051504510 MG 8758 catherina de medices.tif|right|thumb|Engraving of Catherine de' Medici]]

Henry hired Swiss troops to help him defend himself in Paris. The Parisians, however, claimed the right to defend the city themselves. On 12 May 1588, they set up barricades in the streets and refused to take orders from anyone except the Duke of Guise.<ref>"[[Day of the Barricades|The Day of the Barricades]]", as the revolt became known, "reduced the authority and prestige of the monarchy to its lowest ebb for a century and a half." Morris, 260.</ref> When Catherine tried to go to Mass, she found her way barred, though she was allowed through the barricades. The chronicler L'Estoile reported that she cried all through her lunch that day. She wrote to Bellièvre, "Never have I seen myself in such trouble or with so little light by which to escape."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 263.</ref> As usual, Catherine advised the king, who had fled the city in the nick of time, to compromise and live to fight another day. On 15 June 1588, Henry duly signed the Act of Union, which gave in to all the League's latest demands.

On 8 September 1588 at Blois, where the court had assembled for a meeting of the Estates, Henry dismissed all his ministers without warning. Catherine, in bed with a lung infection, had been kept in the dark.<ref>Henry wrote a note to Villeroy, which began: "Villeroy, I remain very well contented with your service; do not fail however to go away to your house where you will stay until I send for you; do not seek the reason for this my letter, but obey me." Sutherland, ''Secretaries of State'', 300–303.</ref> The king's actions effectively ended her days of power.

At the meeting of the Estates, Henry thanked Catherine for all she had done. He called her not only the mother of the king but the mother of the state.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 264–265.</ref> Henry did not tell Catherine of his plan for a solution to his problems.<ref>Yet on 22 December 1588, Guise spent the night with his current mistress [[Charlotte de Sauve]], the most accomplished and notorious member of Catherine de' Medici's group of female spies known as the "Flying Squadron", making it unlikely Catherine was kept 'in the dark'. Emmanuel le Roy Ladurie France 1460–1610.</ref> On 23 December 1588, he asked the Duke of Guise to call on him at the [[Château de Blois]]. As Guise entered the king's chamber, the Forty-five plunged their blades into his body, and he died at the foot of the king's bed. At the same moment, eight members of the Guise family were rounded up, including the Duke of Guise's brother, [[Louis II, Cardinal of Guise]], whom Henry's men hacked to death the next day in the palace dungeons.<ref>Pettegree, 165.</ref> Immediately after the murder of Guise, Henry entered Catherine's bedroom on the floor below and announced, "Please forgive me. Monsieur de Guise is dead. He will not be spoken of again. I have had him killed. I have done to him what he was going to do to me."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 266. The words were reported to the government of Florence by Catherine's doctor, Filippo Cavriana, who acted as their informant.</ref> Catherine's immediate reaction is not known; but on Christmas Day, she told a friar, "Oh, wretched man! What has he done?&nbsp;... Pray for him&nbsp;... I see him rushing towards his ruin."<ref name = K267>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 267.</ref> She visited her old friend Cardinal de Bourbon on 1 January 1589 to tell him she was sure he would soon be freed. He shouted at her, "Your words, Madam, have led us all to this butchery."<ref name = K267/> She left in tears.

[[File:Catherine de Medicis Henri II gisants basilique-Saint-Denis.jpg|thumb|[[Effigy|Effigie]]s of Catherine de' Medici and Henry II by [[Germain Pilon]] (1583), [[Basilica of St Denis]]]]
On 5 January 1589, Catherine died at the age of sixty-nine, probably from [[pleurisy]]. L'Estoile wrote: "those close to her believed that her life had been shortened by displeasure over her son's deed."<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 268–269.</ref> He added that she had no sooner died than she was treated with as much consideration as a dead goat. Because Paris was held by enemies of the crown, Catherine had to be buried provisionally at Blois. Eight months later, [[Jacques Clément]] stabbed Henry{{nbsp}}III to death. At the time, Henry was besieging Paris with the King of Navarre, who would [[Henry IV of France's succession|succeed him as Henry IV of France]]. Henry{{nbsp}}III's assassination ended nearly three centuries of [[House of Valois|Valois]] rule and brought the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon dynasty]] into power. Years later, [[Diane de France|Diane]], daughter of Henry{{nbsp}}II and Philippa Duci, had Catherine's remains reinterred in the [[Basilique Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis basilica]] in Paris. In 1793, a revolutionary mob tossed her bones into a mass grave with those of the other kings and queens.<ref>Knecht, ''Catherine de' Medici'', 269.</ref>

Henry IV was later reported to have said of Catherine:

{{blockquote|text=I ask you, what could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown—our own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Was she not compelled to play strange parts to deceive first one and then the other, in order to guard, as she did, her sons, who successively reigned through the wise conduct of that shrewd woman? I am surprised that she never did worse.<ref>Brantôme, p. 88.</ref>}}