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Hello, and Welcome to Western SIEV
episode two hundred and eighty three. Aunrie

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and Catherine Marie, Duke of Orleans, was born on March the thirty first,

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fifteen nineteen. He was the second
son of a king we've discussed already

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Francis the First. Henry's childhood was
traumatic, to say the least. He

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lost his mother when he was only
five. Not long afterwards, Henry and

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his brother became the innocent victims of
his father's worst political and military disaster,

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the Battle of Bavia in fifteen twenty
five. But before we move on to

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Francis's death in Henry's ascension, we
need to review some of the events of

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Francis's reign from Henry's perspective to understand
how these traumatic years impacted his development later

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on. So once more, before
we go forward, we must briefly go

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back back in fifteen fifteen, when
Francis the First became king. The young

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man immediately devoted his energies toward martial
pursuits. He claimed and won the city

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of Milan from its ancestral rulers,
this for as a family. Then he

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solidified his claim by winning the Battle
of Marchiano that same year, he was

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one year into his kingship, and
already Francis had defeated the Habsburg Empire and

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taken a major city. Sadly,
it was also only one year into his

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reign, and it was all downhill
from here. The victory in the end

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proved pyeric. The French state simply
could not maintain Italian conquests, which often

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proved to be nothing more than a
drain on Frenchman power and money. Moreover,

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all Francis had really done was to
make a lifelong enemy out of Charles

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the Fifth, the man that would
prove to be his nemesis for his entire

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life. But for the moment Francis
was riding high. He allied himself with

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the Domiti Chi Pope Leo the tenth
to give him more legitimacy in Italy.

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Even this success would prove short lived. In fifteen nineteen, Charles became the

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Holy Roman Emperor. Francis had also
put his name forward and was bitter at

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the result, though realistically there was
no way the German princes were ever going

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to elect a French king as their
emperor, so by fifteen to twenty one,

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Francis had clearly overreached. That same
year, Charles recaptured Milan. By

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fifteen twenty three, France stood alone
England, having briefly thrown in with Charles.

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There was a failed rebellion in France, and then a failed Imperial invasion

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that Francis was hard pressed to beat
back. After all this, he made

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the colossal error of pursuing the imperial
troops into Italy, where he had no

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support and frankly nothing to gain.
Yet, by February the twenty fourth,

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fifteen twenty five, the two sides
had staked out of battlefield just outside the

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Imperial Italian capital of Pavia. The
battle, as we know, was an

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unmitigated disaster for Francis. Not only
were his forces crushed, but he and

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his surviving nobles were all taken captive. While incarcerated in Spain, Francis became

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too depressed to eat. Eventually he
fell ill, dangerously ill, from an

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abscess in the nose. After several
weeks, when it seemed certain Francis would

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die, he rallied and the abscess
burst. Eventually, seeing no other way

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out, Francis agreed to sign,
under duress a treaty with Charles the Fifth.

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As we know. In said treaty, Francis agreed to give up his

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claim to Milan in a slew of
other territories. He also agreed to turn

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over Burgundy to Charles, which was
never going to happen, and to marry

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Charles's sister, Queen Eleanor of Portugal. Now here's where Henry comes in,

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because for the young boy this was
a disaster. He alongside his older brother

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Francois, were to be collateral for
the deal. The two boys, aged

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eight and six, when exchanged,
would be held hostage in Spain until Francis

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fulfilled the terms of a treaty he
never intended to follow. He was,

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I suppose, from one perspective,
at least sacrificing the freedom of his sons

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for his own. On the day
of the exchange, a tearful Henry received

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scant comfort from anyone in the entourage
except one person, a person who is

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going to become a central figure in
his life. Her name was Diane de

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Poitiers, then twenty five years old. Diane kissed the boy on the cheek

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before he sailed across the river,
dividing the French and Imperial forces. As

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I mentioned, and we'll come back
to her, but later on Diane will

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become a central figure in Henry's course. At first, the two boys were

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held in quote unquote honorable captivity,
but that changed once Charles realized Francis had

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no intention of following through on the
agreement. Now it was Charles who was

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in the tough spot. Not only
did he not get Burgundy, but he

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was totally out of money to pay
his troops. On top of it,

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all, his German territories were so
torn apart by the Reformation that they could

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hardly defend themselves against an impending Turkish
invasion. Francis did his best to make

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life miserable for his enemy. In
fifteen twenty six, he formed the League

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of Konnac to resist imperial hegemony.
So it was that in fifteen twenty seven

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the two captive princes were moved to
Palencia, where it quickly became clear they

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were to be held as common prisoners
with no royal privileges. Their attendants were

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removed and later sold as galley slaves
in Tunis, where ironically, Charles himself

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would later liberate them when he captured
the city in fifteen thirty five. Finally,

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something had to give. Though they
hated each other with the passion of

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a thousand sons, Charles and Francis
were both bankrupt and exhausted. They needed

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peace, both needed a resolution.
In August of fifteen twenty nine, the

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two sides agreed to a new treaty. This time the princes would be exchanged

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not for Burgundy, but cold hard
cash two million equal use. After a

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slew of difficulties in postponements, at
last the time arrived for Henry and Francois

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the Dauphin to be exchanged for the
gold. One of the principal difficulties to

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the transfer had been Francis's problem in
actually raising the money. Extravagant promises to

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contribute to the ransom had been made
by Francis's richer subjects, though when the

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time came they only begrudgingly produced the
money after a lot of prodding. After

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all, Francis's various blunders had been
very expensive for the Kingdom of France.

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When the correct amount of ECUs had
finally been collected, inspected and weighed,

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it was discovered that unscrupulous officials had
actually clipped some of the coinage, so

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Francis had to go back and ask
for more money. Eventually the gold was

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ready, and once again a strict
protocol agreed, noting all the details as

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to how the extra should take place. The king charged the Grand Master of

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France and renowned soldier Anne Baron de
Montemarci, also an important character here,

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with the safety of the gold and
exchange of the prisoners. The Constable of

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Castile brought the two princes to the
Bedosa River, accompanied by the Emperor's sister

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Eleanor, who again was supposed to
marry Francis. The exchange, which had

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originally been fixed for March fifteen thirty, was now to begin on the first

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of July, about a year actually
after the peace treaty had been signed.

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Now there were still problems. The
day before the transfer, the Constable of

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Castile accused Montmorency and the French of
a slight to his honor over some stupid

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little trifle. Without a full apology
from the French government, the Constable declared

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that the arrangements for the exchange would
be halted. For months. Montmorenci had

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been painstakingly fulfilling even the most petty
obligations laid down in the agreement, and

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now some self important Spanish idiot threatened
to prolong this business indefinitely. Clearly exasperated,

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Montmorenci offered to give satisfaction in person. Fortunately, his reputation as a

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fierce soldier had the Spaniard offering to
set aside his grievances with sudden grace.

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All was finally set for the following
day. Just before the prisoners left his

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care, the Constable of Castile presented
Henry and his brother with a pair of

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horses each, asking them to forgive
any wrongs that he might have done them.

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The Dauphin appeared good natured, but
Henry, and this is going to

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be interesting when we talk about his
personality, merely turned his back on this

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despised fool and farted. Queen Eleanor
and the two boys finally reached France late

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in the evening on July the first, and reached Francis and his court two

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days later. Henry was now eleven
years old and had been a prisoner in

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Spain for about four and a half
years. At first sight, the boys

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looked good and had obviously grown a
lot, though it was soon obvious that

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both had been deeply scarred by their
ordeal, quiet and reserved, their insistence

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on points of etiquette. Their clothes
and other details made them seem more Spanish

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than French. Henry, who had
once been described as a lively, intelligent

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boy, had changed. He was
now withdrawn, taciturn and very quiet.

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Their incarceration and all the deprivations they
had gone through nearly marked both children for

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life. After the celebrations were over, Francis and this just drives me bonkers,

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but became a little impatient with his
sons for being so sad, you

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know, when he exchanged them for
four years of their freedom, he declared,

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quote the mark of a Frenchman was
to be always gay and lively,

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and there was no time for dreamy, sully sleepy children. End quote.

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Are you kidding me, buddy?
To this? The King, now tacitously,

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showed a marked preference for the prince's
younger brother, Charles, the Duke

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of Angloomey, the guy who wasn't
exchanged. Younger than Henry by one year,

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Charles resembled his father in looks an
outgoing manner. Henry decided to vent

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his frustration mostly through sport. He
was constantly hunting, tilting so jousting,

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slang, and engaging in any kind
of rough exercise. I wouldn't want to

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be his opponent. He also became
an accomplished tennis player and surrounded himself with

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a tight knit band of friends.
Most of these were noble youths who would

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one day go on to form the
core of Henry's court. Around this time,

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Henry also developed a close bond with
one of the most important French generals

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of the age, the aforementioned Anne
de Montmorency. Henry greatly respected the old

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warrior. Montmorency was a staunch conservative, and Henry loved his loathing of the

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emperor, which he shared For obvious
reasons. That fall, Francis and his

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family embarked on a grand tour of
the kingdom. In part, this was

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intended as a gigantic celebration to thank
his loyal subjects who contributed to freeing his

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son the future kings of France.
Unfortunately for France, these and Francis's later

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festivities were both extremely creative and extremely
offensive. It was around this time that

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Francis started to think more about his
second son, Henry, specifically his marriage

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prospects. After Henry y eight turned
him down. When Francis proposed a match

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to Mary Tudor, Francis approached Pope
Clement about the potential for a different match,

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this one to a certain Catherine de
Medici. Francis thought of this as

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nothing more than a way to get
back into Italy. Little did he know

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just how important this marriage was going
to be for the future of France.

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So before we move on to the
wedding and Francis's death, let's sidetrack once

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more and introduce the woman who is
going to become the first true ruling queen

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of France. Metici was born on
April the eleventh, fifteen nineteen. Her

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father was Lorenzo de Medici, one
of a long line of ruling de Medici's

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of Florence. Florence and the surrounding
countrysides were their domains. Catherine's mother,

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a French royal, herself died shortly
after the young girl's birth. Still,

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the fact that Catherine's mother had a
blood connection to Francis the first meant that

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she herself had a natural connection to
the French royal line. This would prove

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important later on. The Menicci family
itself wasn't blue blooded in the least.

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They were bankers by trade, and
very good ones at that. By the

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early fifteenth century they had become the
most important and wealthiest family in Florence.

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Lorenzo had three sons. It is
said that he called one good, one

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wise, and one the fool.
Unfortunately it was the fool, Piero,

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who was the eldest, ill suited
to rule. Piero found himself and his

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family quickly ejected from the Republic,
and he later died in exile. His

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brother, Giuliano the Good, worked
with Giovanni the Wise, who became a

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cardinal at thirteen thanks to his father's
intervention. These two younger of the de

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Medici family worked for the eventual return
of the family to Florence. Unfortunately,

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they had to plot in bankruptcy because
their fortune had been taken by usurpers and

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their properties confiscated by the Republic.
Giovanni had a good head for intrigue,

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a required patience. It was a
long wait before the Medici finally gained favor

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in Florence again. Perhaps the family
motto Le tempes reverent our time will return

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gave them courage. It was certainly
the moral by which Catherine was to later

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live her life. In fifteen twelve, a league of small Italian states managed

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to temporarily expel the French from Italy. Unwisely, for one of the local

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military leaders, he had denied the
league Florentine support. The League turned upon

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Florence in revenge for not joining them
against the French and caused the local government

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to collapse. Finally, the Mediceese
were able to seize this moment and maneuver

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to regain their law citizenship as a
new regime took power. It is worth

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remembering that another figure returned to Florence
as a result of this coup. His

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name was Nicolo Machiavelli. In fifteen
thirteen, Machiavelli, in exile at the

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time, wrote his famous work The
Prince. It took some time for the

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book to surface and make an impact
outside of Florence, but eventually it would.

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Catherine absolutely adored the book, so
much so that later contemporaries called it

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her bible. Will revisit why in
later episodes. In March of fifteen thirteen,

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Giovanni the Wise de Medici was elected
Pope Leo the Tenth. At that

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time, Leo was the head of
the family and due to his removal to

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Rome, he needed to select a
successor to protect the family's position in Florence.

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It was decided that Giuliano the Good, whom Leo thought far too soft,

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should help the new Pope in Rome, and that their nephew Lorenzo could

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be left in charge of Florentine affairs, though he had no patience for them

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and was often in Rome with his
uncle, leaving the Florentines to often feel

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like a colonial state. This was
hardly in the tradition of even the nomine

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old Florentine Republic, but thanks to
a medici wearing the papal crown, Leo

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wisely made it seem that there would
be plenty of advantages for their subjugation.

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In fifteen fifteen, Giuliano traveled as
Leo's emissary to France to congratulate Francis the

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First on his ascension to the throne. As we know, the king was

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in a hurry to conquer Milan and
take Naples, of which the Pope was

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technically in charge. The two men
met later that same year in the papal

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town of Bologna, where they signed
an agreement that restored relations between the French

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Church and the Papacy. To flatter
Leo, Francis offered Giuliano the Dukedom of

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Nemours in France and his aunt Philberto
of Savoy's hand in marriage. In exchange,

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Francis was to get the Italian states
of Parma and Pienza and the support

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of the Pope regarding his ambitions for
Milan and Naples. The marital alliance between

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the ruling house of France and the
merchant Medici was as thrilling to the latter

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as as it was to prove short
lived. Giuliano, the newly minted Duke

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of Nemours, died within a year
of his marriage, leaving no legitimate son

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whatsoever. As a result, all
of Leo's hopes now rested with his nephew

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Lorenzo. Leo and Francis both wanted
to continue this alliance despite Giuliano's death,

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so Lorenzo, by then the Dirk
of Urbino, became his holiness as emissary

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representing the Pope at the christening of
France's firstborn son, the Dafan. Leo

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had been asked to stand godfather to
the baby. Some time before the christening,

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Francis had written to Lorenzo to congratulate
him on becoming Duke of Urbino,

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adding quote, I intend to help
you with all my power. I also

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wish to marry you off to some
beautiful and good lady of noble birth of

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my kind, so that the love
which I bear you may be grown and

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strengthened and quote. Once the bride
had been selected, it was decided that

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the marriage should take place soon after
the baptism of the Dauphin. The other

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important matter was the bride's enormous inheritance. This young lady came with a substantial

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dowry which would allow the Medicis to
re establish themselves firmly in control of Florence.

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And it was this young lady who
was also the mother to Catherine de

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Medici. So it was not hard
to imagine the dismay of both the Pope

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and the King of France when both
Lorenzo and Madeline de Medici died months later,

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leaving only their daughter Catherine as the
living token. To make matters worse,

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Catherine fell ill in August of fifteen
nineteen, when only three months old,

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and for weeks her life hung in
the balance. Yet she survived and

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by October, Leo insisted that the
Duchessina, as the Florentine people called her,

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could be moved to Rome without risks
to her health. Leo had already

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emphatically refused Francis's request that the child
be brought up at the French court.

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He quite sensibly declined to offer up
his great niece. It was really his

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only card left to play as a
hostage against the promises he had made to

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Francis, for as we know,
he was already planning to break them.

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The circumstances had completely changed, so
now must his policies. After he wiped

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away his tears at the death of
his nephew and niece, Leo lost no

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time in opening secret talks with King
Charles of Spain, now Charles the Fifth,

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the new Holy Roman Emperor and as
we know, Francis mortal enemy.

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Fifteen twenty one, Leo was openly
allied to Charles, whom he had promised

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to crown as emperor and invest with
Naples. When he heard the news,

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Francis fell into a furious rage at
the Pope's betrayal, and before long France

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and the Empire were months more at
war. Catherine was dutifully brought to Rome,

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but Leo didn't live long enough to
see any plans for her to come

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to Fruition. On December the first, fifteen twenty one, he died.

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Catherine's life and position now very much
depended on the Medicis being able to remain

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in power in Florence without papal assistance, which would be a difficult task.

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The new Pope, Hadrian the sixth, Adrian of Utrecht and Charles the Fifth's

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boyhood tutor, was no friend to
the de Medicis. Luckily for Catherine,

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Hadrian died in September of fifteen twenty
three. By the way, just as

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a side note here, from this
point on it would be four hundred and

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fifty years until the next non Italian
would be elected pope. In Hadrian's place,

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Giuliano de Medici became Pope Clement the
seventh. Once more Catherine looked like

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00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:18.079
a potentially a good marriage pawn.
Clement left for Rome and left his lieutenant,

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Cardinal Passadini, in charge of Florence. But Clement ruled Florence, and

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everyone knew it and resented it.
Clement was not the man for the hour,

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as we know Charles and Francis were
nearly always at war. On the

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00:24:32.160 --> 00:24:37.000
verge of war, Lutheranism kept expanding
in Germany, and Clement seemed powerless to

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do anything about it. As a
result, Italy plunged ever deeper into chaos.

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Disaster struck on May sixth, fifteen
twenty seven, when Imperial troops camped

250
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outside Rome, ran amuck and pillaged
the city. As Rome was sacked and

251
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insurrection was mounted in Florence, aided
by the arrival of the Emperor's arms me

252
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the overthrow of Passerini and the Medician
regime proved all too easy. Catherine's position

253
00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:15.039
now was uncertain. By the eleventh
of May fifteen twenty seven, news had

254
00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:19.519
filtered back to Florence about the horrors
taking place in Rome. In the Medici

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00:25:19.599 --> 00:25:26.440
Palace, the eight year old Catherine
would have grasped that this was a calamity.

256
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Pasarini and his sons fled Florence on
the seventeenth of May. This left

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Catherine and her aunt alone to face
the wrath of the mob. The new

258
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:45.240
rulers of Florence boiled with fury and
refused to let Catherine out of their grasp.

259
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It was then decided that the child
should be taken to the Santa Lucia

260
00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:57.559
Convent, a place known for its
antipathy to the Medici family. Moments later,

261
00:25:57.640 --> 00:26:03.400
Catherine found herself being being bundled off
for what would prove to be three

262
00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:08.680
hazardous years of semi incarceration, during
which her life was under different degrees of

263
00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:15.079
threat depending upon what was going on
in the political scene. The little girl

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00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:19.680
lived miserably in the Santa Lucia convent, but in December fifteen twenty seven,

265
00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:26.440
orders came that she be moved to
the convent of Santa Catarina in Siena,

266
00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:30.839
also in Florence. When the French
ambassador visited her, he found the place

267
00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:37.759
a disease ridden hovel. It insisted
that Catherine must be relocated immediately. With

268
00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:44.920
the permission of the Florentine Signoria,
the ambassador arranged for the child's transfer to

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00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.799
a far nicer location, another convent, this one the Santa Maria. The

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00:26:49.799 --> 00:26:55.440
convent of Santa Maria in this case, was actually known more as a fortress

271
00:26:55.920 --> 00:27:00.359
than as a convent, its walls
being so high. These walls deprived Catherine

272
00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:06.480
of her liberty, but they also
protected her from the hostile world outside.

273
00:27:06.680 --> 00:27:12.240
Hatred now fueled the Florentine people's mood
as they desecrated and damaged all reminders of

274
00:27:12.240 --> 00:27:19.400
the Medici. During an angry outburst
early in this rebellion, Michelangelo's masterpiece,

275
00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:25.079
the Statue of David, lost its
left arm when a stone was thrown at

276
00:27:25.079 --> 00:27:30.799
it. If Catherine were to remain
a valuable negotiating tool for the government in

277
00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:34.680
Florence, however, they had to
see to her well being now. As

278
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:40.960
luck would have it, the abess
of the Santa Maria Convent was Catherine's godmother,

279
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:45.440
and she arranged for her to have
a spacious and comfortable cell. During

280
00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:49.920
this period of her life, Catherine
was forced to develop the skills that would

281
00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:56.680
later make her a formidable politician,
listening, empathy, conversation, and the

282
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:03.119
fortitude to keep her own counsel.
One of the nuns wrote of the child

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00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:08.000
as quote, dear little child,
with such gracious manners that she made herself

284
00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:15.039
loved by all. She was so
gentle and pleasant that the sisters did all

285
00:28:15.079 --> 00:28:19.960
they could to ease her sorrows and
difficulties and quote. Another wrote of the

286
00:28:21.000 --> 00:28:27.079
girl's quote good disposition end quote.
They felt protective of Catherine, while death

287
00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:33.480
continued to take all of Catherine's loved
ones, her mother figure dying on May

288
00:28:33.640 --> 00:28:38.519
third, fifteen twenty eight, The
French ambassador now became her only rock in

289
00:28:38.599 --> 00:28:42.519
the storm, and he did what
he could to see to her well being.

290
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:48.720
In October fifteen twenty nine, Imperial
troops laid siege to the city of

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00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:56.559
Florence. The accompanying plague and famine
only exacerbated the people's hatred of the Medici,

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00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.920
who they now associated with the Pope, who everyone blamed, rightly or

293
00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:07.119
wrongly, for Italy's present dilemma.
Within the city, the leaders began to

294
00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:11.200
wonder whether they might use Catherine as
a means of escaping their present catastrophe.

295
00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:18.680
The Signora sent a contingent of troops
to fetch her late in the evening on

296
00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:23.559
July the twentieth, fifteen thirty.
Catherine, certain that she had been condemned

297
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.680
to death and that they had come
to fetch her for her execution, put

298
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:33.079
up a struggle. In preparation.
The eleven year old girl had cut her

299
00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:38.200
hair and Donna Nunn's habit, announcing
that as a bride of Christ, she

300
00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:42.400
refused to go quietly. Catherine cried
out, quote, Holy Mother, I

301
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:48.359
am yours. Let us now see
what excommunicated wretch will dare to drag a

302
00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:53.000
spouse of Christ from her monastery end
quote. She refused to change out of

303
00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:57.839
her nun's clothing, and the men
gathered to take her brought her through the

304
00:29:57.880 --> 00:30:02.920
small streets, riding a day donkey, braving a starving and menacing crowd,

305
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:10.000
voicing threats and open hatred. This
perilous journey proved to be a formative experienced

306
00:30:10.119 --> 00:30:15.640
for the young woman, as the
men kept Catherine safe and surrounded until she

307
00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:21.480
was delivered to the Santa Lucia Convent. It was actually here that she had

308
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:26.720
first started life as a captive nearly
three years earlier. She actually never forgot

309
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:32.680
the kindness of the guards who protected
her, and when on the twelfth of

310
00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:37.359
August fifteen thirty the siege was lifted
and Pope Clement took possession of the city

311
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:42.119
once more, she interceded for these
men and succeeded in having their death sentences

312
00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:48.279
commuted to exile. Upon her release, Catherine visited the sisters of the other

313
00:30:48.319 --> 00:30:52.640
convenants she had stayed in, and
together they celebrated her good fortune. She

314
00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:56.559
remained in contact with these orders for
the rest of her life and wrote to

315
00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:02.559
them regularly, sending them money in
annually in giving them revenues from one of

316
00:31:02.599 --> 00:31:08.480
her properties. This was one of
Catherine's most important personality traits. She never

317
00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:15.519
forgot a kindness and never forgave a
disservice. Now all the two. Soon

318
00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:21.160
this young girl found herself a central
feature in Pope Clement's international policy, and

319
00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:26.279
was moved to Rome. Unfortunately,
we don't know exactly how Catherine passed her

320
00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:32.920
time in Rome. Certainly, her
later love of architecture might be connected to

321
00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:37.640
this period in Rome. She also
would have become accustomed to the formalities of

322
00:31:37.640 --> 00:31:42.680
the papal court, and she would
lean on that experience in later years.

323
00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:49.279
Family matters were at the top of
Pope Clement's agenda. His illegitimate son,

324
00:31:49.400 --> 00:31:55.640
in fifteen thirty two, was created
the new Duke of Florence. Catherine had

325
00:31:55.640 --> 00:31:59.359
been sent to the city to lend
legitimacy to the proceedings, and for the

326
00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:05.880
first time she undertook public duties.
Observers noted that the now thirteen year old

327
00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:12.000
Catherine carried herself with admirable dignity and
grace, She continued her public role in

328
00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:17.039
Florence while awaiting the arrival of Pope
Clement's son's bride in April of fifteen thirty

329
00:32:17.079 --> 00:32:23.680
three. Apart from enjoying the many
and lavish celebrations marking the new Duke's confirmation,

330
00:32:24.279 --> 00:32:30.960
Catherine also continued to pursue her studies. We know little about her formal

331
00:32:30.079 --> 00:32:36.079
education, but we do know that
she learned Greek, Latin, and French.

332
00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:42.200
She was also a keen mathematician,
an interest that would coincide later with

333
00:32:42.279 --> 00:32:47.440
her love of astrology. Clement kept
her in Florence. He proceeded carefully with

334
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:52.839
marriage talks on her behalf in Rome. Now since her birth, Catherine had

335
00:32:52.839 --> 00:33:00.240
inevitably been the object of much matrimonial
discussion. Even before the revolt in Floras,

336
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:06.839
Clement had been approached by various potential
suitors, mainly various Italian nobles from

337
00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:12.079
families such as the Gonzaga of Manchua, the Estae of Ferrara, and the

338
00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:17.160
de la Rovari of Urbino. Now
that the Pope enjoyed a far stronger position

339
00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:24.160
than formerly, he looked for more
illustrious offers. Among the earlier candidates was

340
00:33:24.200 --> 00:33:30.480
Henry the Eighth's illegitimate son, the
Duke of Richmond. Although Sir John Russell,

341
00:33:30.880 --> 00:33:36.039
the English ambassador to the Vatican,
reported his Holiness was quote very well

342
00:33:36.079 --> 00:33:39.160
contented to have such an alliance end
quote. Nothing came of the talks,

343
00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:45.200
and the Duke died a few years
later, probably from being poisoned. And

344
00:33:45.240 --> 00:33:50.000
the Duke died a few years later, probably from being poisoned. When the

345
00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:53.759
Duke of Albany, Catherine's uncle,
proposed the candidacy of James the Fifth of

346
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:59.759
Scotland, Clement did not think this
offered him any real advantages, and worried

347
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:04.119
that the courier service between the two
countries would be too costly. The Prince

348
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:08.239
of Orange had briefly been considered a
possible husband, until he died while trying

349
00:34:08.239 --> 00:34:14.599
to retake Florence. The one candidate
Clement could not afford to ignore, however,

350
00:34:15.159 --> 00:34:20.519
was the Holy Roman Emperor's own preference. Charles back to marriage between Catherine

351
00:34:20.519 --> 00:34:27.519
and Francisco, the second Svorza,
Duke of Milan. Unfortunately for Catherine,

352
00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:32.840
the Duke was not exactly intelligent.
He was prematurely aged at thirty seven,

353
00:34:32.920 --> 00:34:39.239
He was sick, sickly and mainly
by the huge sums of the money demanded

354
00:34:39.239 --> 00:34:45.320
by the Emperor in order to retain
his duchy was not particularly gleaming prospect for

355
00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:50.760
anyone. In addition, Clement feared
that by marrying Catherine to Charles's client,

356
00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:54.880
he would find himself so deeply in
the Emperor's pocket that he would never be

357
00:34:54.920 --> 00:35:00.000
able to free himself. Another worry
for Clement to, of course, was

358
00:35:00.119 --> 00:35:07.119
Charles's request for a general Church Council. He didn't want the potential schism this

359
00:35:07.159 --> 00:35:12.280
would bring, but remember from previous
episodes, Clement wasn't good at dealing with

360
00:35:12.519 --> 00:35:15.719
the ongoing Reformation. He did his
best to try to put his head in

361
00:35:15.760 --> 00:35:21.679
the sand and ignore it. Interestingly, though, there was a reason for

362
00:35:21.719 --> 00:35:25.440
this. Clement had never actually been
ordained into the priesthood, and so he

363
00:35:25.559 --> 00:35:32.199
was technically not eligible to be pope, and he feared that if he called

364
00:35:32.199 --> 00:35:38.599
the Church council it might result in
his removal, which makes sense. But

365
00:35:38.679 --> 00:35:45.840
then something happened. A new proposal, a really exciting proposal arrived for Catherine's

366
00:35:45.840 --> 00:35:50.360
marriage, and this one came from
Francis, the first, of course,

367
00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:55.400
of France. His ambitions for territories
in Italy were stirring again, and he

368
00:35:55.480 --> 00:36:00.239
needed a friendly pope to back him. In fifteen thirty one, with this

369
00:36:00.280 --> 00:36:05.760
in mind, Francis offered Clement his
second son, Henry, Duke of Orlean,

370
00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:12.440
as a potential husband for Catherine.
Early in fifteen thirty one, the

371
00:36:12.480 --> 00:36:17.000
Bishop of Tarbas was sent as Francis's
envoy to discuss such a marriage. By

372
00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:22.760
April, already a preliminary agreement had
been signed by Francis. It is stipulated

373
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:27.840
that Catherine would live at the French
court until the age to consummate the marriage,

374
00:36:28.239 --> 00:36:31.440
and secret clauses in the agreement stated
that her dowry would include Pisa,

375
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:38.119
Parma, Pienza, Reggio, Modena
and Lakehorn. Clement also committed himself to

376
00:36:38.199 --> 00:36:44.079
backing French efforts to take Genoa in
Milan and to make a joint effort to

377
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:49.800
annex Urbino for the young couple.
In June fifteen thirty one, word came

378
00:36:49.840 --> 00:36:52.360
back to France that Clement would not
after all send Catherine to live at the

379
00:36:52.360 --> 00:36:58.119
French court before her marriage. He
was both weary of the wrath he knew

380
00:36:58.119 --> 00:37:00.800
this alliance would incur in the Emperor, and fearful of any change in French

381
00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:07.719
policy. Once Catherine found herself in
Frances's hands, his matrimonial ace would thus

382
00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:14.639
remain in his own care until the
wedding. Clement also stipulated that Catherine's dowry

383
00:37:14.719 --> 00:37:21.119
of one hundred thousand gold ECUs would
include an extra thirty thousand ECUs in exchange

384
00:37:21.320 --> 00:37:27.320
for the revenues from her Florentine inheritance. Francis agreed to give Catherine a further

385
00:37:27.400 --> 00:37:30.519
ten thousand livres per annam, and
she would enjoy a substantial income that came

386
00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:36.880
from her mother's inheritance. Now,
as the second son of the King of

387
00:37:36.920 --> 00:37:40.039
France, Henry, Duke of Orleans, had no shortage of potential brides.

388
00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:45.440
The most important of these had been
married Tutor. The possibility of a marriage

389
00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:50.559
with Henry the eighth's eldest daughter had
been marred, though, when the English

390
00:37:50.679 --> 00:37:53.079
king tried to have the marriage to
her mother, Catherine of Arragon annulled.

391
00:37:54.119 --> 00:38:00.360
Meanwhile, Francis concentrated his efforts on
Catherine, who could best further his Italian

392
00:38:00.480 --> 00:38:06.719
ambitions. Henry, who as the
second son, could not be expected to

393
00:38:06.719 --> 00:38:12.000
inherit the French throne, represented a
substantial catch for any royal princess let alone,

394
00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:15.679
an Italian duchess without a duchy,
Catherine might have been rich, but

395
00:38:15.719 --> 00:38:21.039
she was emphatically not of royal blood. In January fifteen thirty three, at

396
00:38:21.079 --> 00:38:25.639
Bologna, secret talks were held between
Clement and Francis's emissaries. The Pope,

397
00:38:25.719 --> 00:38:29.480
terrified that the Emperor had put a
stop to the French alliance if he caught

398
00:38:29.480 --> 00:38:34.519
wind of it, decided to continue
negotiations regarding a marriage to Francisco, Duke

399
00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:38.440
of Milan, as a faint.
In fact, Charles, certain that Francis

400
00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:43.480
would never stoop to marrying his son
to a merchant's daughter, generally laughed off

401
00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:46.320
the rumors when he heard about them. By the time the marriage was announced

402
00:38:46.400 --> 00:38:52.280
later on that same month, Charles
the Fifth could do nothing about it other

403
00:38:52.360 --> 00:38:58.760
than be amazed. It was really
Pope Clement's finest hour. The marriage was

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00:38:58.800 --> 00:39:02.480
set for the summer of fifteen thirty
three at Nice. The jewelry that Catherine

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00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:07.320
brought with her alone was worth a
kingdom. One piece was a set of

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pearls, which she would later give
to Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen

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00:39:12.760 --> 00:39:17.360
Elizabeth of England would wear them after
Mary lost the neck necessary for wearing such

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00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:22.159
an item. Catherine's first meeting with
Henry, it should go without saying,

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00:39:22.199 --> 00:39:28.119
I hope that the marriage was arranged, went fine. This despite the fact

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00:39:28.119 --> 00:39:35.119
that Henry was taciturn and awkward.
He was tall and muscular and not bad

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00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:40.559
looking, but he was somewhat melancholy. Francis managed to push him into at

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00:39:40.639 --> 00:39:47.320
least appearing to enjoy his own wedding. The nuptial mass finally took place on

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00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:52.320
October the twenty eighth, fifteen thirty
three, and the event went off without

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00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:58.119
a hitch. By midwinter, Catherine
and the royal women had joined the king

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00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:04.199
and his entourage and Bergend, where
Francis immediately announced the details of the agreement

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00:40:04.239 --> 00:40:08.199
he had made with Pope Clement.
First, he proclaimed the Duchy of Urbino

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00:40:08.679 --> 00:40:14.239
to be the rightful territory of his
son Henry through his marriage to Catherine,

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00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:21.000
and by the July of fifteen thirty
four, he was building an army ready

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00:40:21.000 --> 00:40:28.760
to reconquer Orbino. Milan and other
Italian territories would now be added as well,

420
00:40:29.400 --> 00:40:35.199
with the help of his papal ally. Meanwhile, Catherine spent little time

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00:40:35.239 --> 00:40:38.760
with her husband in more time with
his sisters, Marguerite and Madeline, whose

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00:40:38.760 --> 00:40:44.679
household she shared. Traveling back through
France to Paris with her father in law's

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00:40:45.039 --> 00:40:49.840
huge itenor in court, Catherine,
amiable and eager to please, made great

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00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:53.760
efforts to be liked. Gradually she
became part of her new family and won

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00:40:53.840 --> 00:41:00.000
over some of her more snobbish courtiers. Both were those among them who muttered

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00:41:00.039 --> 00:41:04.880
that they would rather have their knees
broken than bend them to an Italian merchant's

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00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:15.320
daughter than Disaster struck on the twenty
fifth of September fifteen thirty four, less

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00:41:15.320 --> 00:41:19.920
than a year after Catherine's marriage,
Pope Clement the seventh died in Rome,

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00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:29.079
his territorial promises to Francis unfulfilled and
Catherine's dowry only partially paid. Francis was

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00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:36.000
apoplectic, and the French people soon
decried this union as ridiculous, a fool's

431
00:41:36.039 --> 00:41:39.639
bargain. The child, who thought
that she had found a family peace and

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00:41:39.679 --> 00:41:47.320
security, was left to reap the
harvest of her uncle's untimely death. The

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00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:53.519
new Pope, Alexandro Farnese, who
took the title of Pope all the third,

434
00:41:53.719 --> 00:42:02.159
was neutral but firmly refused to honor
either Clement's dowry obligations or the alliance

435
00:42:02.360 --> 00:42:09.400
with Francis. Catherine was now of
no value whatsoever to Francis politically, and

436
00:42:09.480 --> 00:42:15.960
he declared quote, the girl has
come to me stark naked end quote.

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00:42:15.320 --> 00:42:22.760
In contrast to her triumphant arrival in
France, Catherine now faced one thousand pinbricks

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00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:30.239
of humiliation as her prestige vanished with
the wind, along with clements, worthless

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00:42:30.880 --> 00:42:37.000
promises. As always, if you'd
enjoyed the show, please check out the

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00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:40.920
links in the show notes got additional
content there. You can support the show

441
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442
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443
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us a rating of review. Helps
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wonders that is Western history.

