To what extent can Catherine De Medici be considered wicked and unprincipled? - page 1
Keywords: Catherine De Medici, 1477 - 1589, wicked queen, gender, inequality, Charles IX, Coligny, Massacre of St Bartholomew's day, historical inquiry
By Beth Calder on 22/08/2010
Level: A Level (Year 13)
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In the context of monarchy in France 1477-1589, to what extent can Catherine de Medici be considered ‘wicked and unprincipled’?
Catherine de Medici is one of the ‘villains’ of French and indeed European history. Often portrayed as an evil, witch like character – hooked nose and all in various dramatic depictions – Catherine’s name alone is synonymous with ‘evil’, much like Vlad the Impaler. But is her title as one of Europe’s most dangerous Queen deserved? Historians such as N.M.Sutherland would argue no, whilst Neale insists that Catherine is just as black as the legend would have us believe. But perhaps the issues surrounding Catherine are not black and white, and are largely down to the historian’s personal opinion and personality. Some can relate and try to understand the thought processes behind Catherine’s decisions, and others cannot.
Was Catherine the victim of gender inequality or only a few shades lighter than the ‘black legend’ would have us believe? Perhaps the over use of the ‘black legend’ has only caused an increased sympathetic response. By painting such a dark portrait of Catherine, historians and writers alike have only allowed for others to interject and defend her, their main argument being ‘Well, she wasn’t that bad’. This black legend provided the foundations from which the likes of N.M Sutherland could launch their counter arguments from, and like Knecht said, ’Propaganda is seldom more effective than when it blames all the wrongs of this world on a single individual’ . There is no doubt that Catherine De Medici was a difficult woman, but that doesn’t necessarily make her ‘wicked and unprincipled’.
Now, the stick with which many historians use to beat Catherine are her apparently murderous tendencies. It was the ‘Saint Bartholomew’s day massacre’ that really earned her the black legend. Written accounts from the massacre do nothing to evoke any kind of empathy or understanding with Catherine, ‘As I write they are killing them all. They are stripping them naked, dragging them through the streets, plundering the houses and sparing not even the children...’ is what the Spanish ambassador dispatched from Paris that day. The horrifying fact being that this account was not an isolated, gross over dramatization of events.
François Dubois, a French Huguenot painter provides us with perhaps the most well known illustration of the Massacre. It remains unknown whether or not Dubois was present, but his representation is consistent with accounts and
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