Hello, and Welcome to Western SIEV episode two hundred and eighty three. Aunrie
and Catherine Marie, Duke of Orleans, was born on March the thirty first,
fifteen nineteen. He was the second son of a king we've discussed already
Francis the First. Henry's childhood was traumatic, to say the least. He
lost his mother when he was only five. Not long afterwards, Henry and
his brother became the innocent victims of his father's worst political and military disaster,
the Battle of Bavia in fifteen twenty five. But before we move on to
Francis's death in Henry's ascension, we need to review some of the events of
Francis's reign from Henry's perspective to understand how these traumatic years impacted his development later
on. So once more, before we go forward, we must briefly go
back back in fifteen fifteen, when Francis the First became king. The young
man immediately devoted his energies toward martial pursuits. He claimed and won the city
of Milan from its ancestral rulers, this for as a family. Then he
solidified his claim by winning the Battle of Marchiano that same year, he was
one year into his kingship, and already Francis had defeated the Habsburg Empire and
taken a major city. Sadly, it was also only one year into his
reign, and it was all downhill from here. The victory in the end
proved pyeric. The French state simply could not maintain Italian conquests, which often
proved to be nothing more than a drain on Frenchman power and money. Moreover,
all Francis had really done was to make a lifelong enemy out of Charles
the Fifth, the man that would prove to be his nemesis for his entire
life. But for the moment Francis was riding high. He allied himself with
the Domiti Chi Pope Leo the tenth to give him more legitimacy in Italy.
Even this success would prove short lived. In fifteen nineteen, Charles became the
Holy Roman Emperor. Francis had also put his name forward and was bitter at
the result, though realistically there was no way the German princes were ever going
to elect a French king as their emperor, so by fifteen to twenty one,
Francis had clearly overreached. That same year, Charles recaptured Milan. By
fifteen twenty three, France stood alone England, having briefly thrown in with Charles.
There was a failed rebellion in France, and then a failed Imperial invasion
that Francis was hard pressed to beat back. After all this, he made
the colossal error of pursuing the imperial troops into Italy, where he had no
support and frankly nothing to gain. Yet, by February the twenty fourth,
fifteen twenty five, the two sides had staked out of battlefield just outside the
Imperial Italian capital of Pavia. The battle, as we know, was an
unmitigated disaster for Francis. Not only were his forces crushed, but he and
his surviving nobles were all taken captive. While incarcerated in Spain, Francis became
too depressed to eat. Eventually he fell ill, dangerously ill, from an
abscess in the nose. After several weeks, when it seemed certain Francis would
die, he rallied and the abscess burst. Eventually, seeing no other way
out, Francis agreed to sign, under duress a treaty with Charles the Fifth.
As we know. In said treaty, Francis agreed to give up his
claim to Milan in a slew of other territories. He also agreed to turn
over Burgundy to Charles, which was never going to happen, and to marry
Charles's sister, Queen Eleanor of Portugal. Now here's where Henry comes in,
because for the young boy this was a disaster. He alongside his older brother
Francois, were to be collateral for the deal. The two boys, aged
eight and six, when exchanged, would be held hostage in Spain until Francis
fulfilled the terms of a treaty he never intended to follow. He was,
I suppose, from one perspective, at least sacrificing the freedom of his sons
for his own. On the day of the exchange, a tearful Henry received
scant comfort from anyone in the entourage except one person, a person who is
going to become a central figure in his life. Her name was Diane de
Poitiers, then twenty five years old. Diane kissed the boy on the cheek
before he sailed across the river, dividing the French and Imperial forces. As
I mentioned, and we'll come back to her, but later on Diane will
become a central figure in Henry's course. At first, the two boys were
held in quote unquote honorable captivity, but that changed once Charles realized Francis had
no intention of following through on the agreement. Now it was Charles who was
in the tough spot. Not only did he not get Burgundy, but he
was totally out of money to pay his troops. On top of it,
all, his German territories were so torn apart by the Reformation that they could
hardly defend themselves against an impending Turkish invasion. Francis did his best to make
life miserable for his enemy. In fifteen twenty six, he formed the League
of Konnac to resist imperial hegemony. So it was that in fifteen twenty seven
the two captive princes were moved to Palencia, where it quickly became clear they
were to be held as common prisoners with no royal privileges. Their attendants were
removed and later sold as galley slaves in Tunis, where ironically, Charles himself
would later liberate them when he captured the city in fifteen thirty five. Finally,
something had to give. Though they hated each other with the passion of
a thousand sons, Charles and Francis were both bankrupt and exhausted. They needed
peace, both needed a resolution. In August of fifteen twenty nine, the
two sides agreed to a new treaty. This time the princes would be exchanged
not for Burgundy, but cold hard cash two million equal use. After a
slew of difficulties in postponements, at last the time arrived for Henry and Francois
the Dauphin to be exchanged for the gold. One of the principal difficulties to
the transfer had been Francis's problem in actually raising the money. Extravagant promises to
contribute to the ransom had been made by Francis's richer subjects, though when the
time came they only begrudgingly produced the money after a lot of prodding. After
all, Francis's various blunders had been very expensive for the Kingdom of France.
When the correct amount of ECUs had finally been collected, inspected and weighed,
it was discovered that unscrupulous officials had actually clipped some of the coinage, so
Francis had to go back and ask for more money. Eventually the gold was
ready, and once again a strict protocol agreed, noting all the details as
to how the extra should take place. The king charged the Grand Master of
France and renowned soldier Anne Baron de Montemarci, also an important character here,
with the safety of the gold and exchange of the prisoners. The Constable of
Castile brought the two princes to the Bedosa River, accompanied by the Emperor's sister
Eleanor, who again was supposed to marry Francis. The exchange, which had
originally been fixed for March fifteen thirty, was now to begin on the first
of July, about a year actually after the peace treaty had been signed.
Now there were still problems. The day before the transfer, the Constable of
Castile accused Montmorency and the French of a slight to his honor over some stupid
little trifle. Without a full apology from the French government, the Constable declared
that the arrangements for the exchange would be halted. For months. Montmorenci had
been painstakingly fulfilling even the most petty obligations laid down in the agreement, and
now some self important Spanish idiot threatened to prolong this business indefinitely. Clearly exasperated,
Montmorenci offered to give satisfaction in person. Fortunately, his reputation as a
fierce soldier had the Spaniard offering to set aside his grievances with sudden grace.
All was finally set for the following day. Just before the prisoners left his
care, the Constable of Castile presented Henry and his brother with a pair of
horses each, asking them to forgive any wrongs that he might have done them.
The Dauphin appeared good natured, but Henry, and this is going to
be interesting when we talk about his personality, merely turned his back on this
despised fool and farted. Queen Eleanor and the two boys finally reached France late
in the evening on July the first, and reached Francis and his court two
days later. Henry was now eleven years old and had been a prisoner in
Spain for about four and a half years. At first sight, the boys
looked good and had obviously grown a lot, though it was soon obvious that
both had been deeply scarred by their ordeal, quiet and reserved, their insistence
on points of etiquette. Their clothes and other details made them seem more Spanish
than French. Henry, who had once been described as a lively, intelligent
boy, had changed. He was now withdrawn, taciturn and very quiet.
Their incarceration and all the deprivations they had gone through nearly marked both children for
life. After the celebrations were over, Francis and this just drives me bonkers,
but became a little impatient with his sons for being so sad, you
know, when he exchanged them for four years of their freedom, he declared,
quote the mark of a Frenchman was to be always gay and lively,
and there was no time for dreamy, sully sleepy children. End quote.
Are you kidding me, buddy? To this? The King, now tacitously,
showed a marked preference for the prince's younger brother, Charles, the Duke
of Angloomey, the guy who wasn't exchanged. Younger than Henry by one year,
Charles resembled his father in looks an outgoing manner. Henry decided to vent
his frustration mostly through sport. He was constantly hunting, tilting so jousting,
slang, and engaging in any kind of rough exercise. I wouldn't want to
be his opponent. He also became an accomplished tennis player and surrounded himself with
a tight knit band of friends. Most of these were noble youths who would
one day go on to form the core of Henry's court. Around this time,
Henry also developed a close bond with one of the most important French generals
of the age, the aforementioned Anne de Montmorency. Henry greatly respected the old
warrior. Montmorency was a staunch conservative, and Henry loved his loathing of the
emperor, which he shared For obvious reasons. That fall, Francis and his
family embarked on a grand tour of the kingdom. In part, this was
intended as a gigantic celebration to thank his loyal subjects who contributed to freeing his
son the future kings of France. Unfortunately for France, these and Francis's later
festivities were both extremely creative and extremely offensive. It was around this time that
Francis started to think more about his second son, Henry, specifically his marriage
prospects. After Henry y eight turned him down. When Francis proposed a match
to Mary Tudor, Francis approached Pope Clement about the potential for a different match,
this one to a certain Catherine de Medici. Francis thought of this as
nothing more than a way to get back into Italy. Little did he know
just how important this marriage was going to be for the future of France.
So before we move on to the wedding and Francis's death, let's sidetrack once
more and introduce the woman who is going to become the first true ruling queen
of France. Metici was born on April the eleventh, fifteen nineteen. Her
father was Lorenzo de Medici, one of a long line of ruling de Medici's
of Florence. Florence and the surrounding countrysides were their domains. Catherine's mother,
a French royal, herself died shortly after the young girl's birth. Still,
the fact that Catherine's mother had a blood connection to Francis the first meant that
she herself had a natural connection to the French royal line. This would prove
important later on. The Menicci family itself wasn't blue blooded in the least.
They were bankers by trade, and very good ones at that. By the
early fifteenth century they had become the most important and wealthiest family in Florence.
Lorenzo had three sons. It is said that he called one good, one
wise, and one the fool. Unfortunately it was the fool, Piero,
who was the eldest, ill suited to rule. Piero found himself and his
family quickly ejected from the Republic, and he later died in exile. His
brother, Giuliano the Good, worked with Giovanni the Wise, who became a
cardinal at thirteen thanks to his father's intervention. These two younger of the de
Medici family worked for the eventual return of the family to Florence. Unfortunately,
they had to plot in bankruptcy because their fortune had been taken by usurpers and
their properties confiscated by the Republic. Giovanni had a good head for intrigue,
a required patience. It was a long wait before the Medici finally gained favor
in Florence again. Perhaps the family motto Le tempes reverent our time will return
gave them courage. It was certainly the moral by which Catherine was to later
live her life. In fifteen twelve, a league of small Italian states managed
to temporarily expel the French from Italy. Unwisely, for one of the local
military leaders, he had denied the league Florentine support. The League turned upon
Florence in revenge for not joining them against the French and caused the local government
to collapse. Finally, the Mediceese were able to seize this moment and maneuver
to regain their law citizenship as a new regime took power. It is worth
remembering that another figure returned to Florence as a result of this coup. His
name was Nicolo Machiavelli. In fifteen thirteen, Machiavelli, in exile at the
time, wrote his famous work The Prince. It took some time for the
book to surface and make an impact outside of Florence, but eventually it would.
Catherine absolutely adored the book, so much so that later contemporaries called it
her bible. Will revisit why in later episodes. In March of fifteen thirteen,
Giovanni the Wise de Medici was elected Pope Leo the Tenth. At that
time, Leo was the head of the family and due to his removal to
Rome, he needed to select a successor to protect the family's position in Florence.
It was decided that Giuliano the Good, whom Leo thought far too soft,
should help the new Pope in Rome, and that their nephew Lorenzo could
be left in charge of Florentine affairs, though he had no patience for them
and was often in Rome with his uncle, leaving the Florentines to often feel
like a colonial state. This was hardly in the tradition of even the nomine
old Florentine Republic, but thanks to a medici wearing the papal crown, Leo
wisely made it seem that there would be plenty of advantages for their subjugation.
In fifteen fifteen, Giuliano traveled as Leo's emissary to France to congratulate Francis the
First on his ascension to the throne. As we know, the king was
in a hurry to conquer Milan and take Naples, of which the Pope was
technically in charge. The two men met later that same year in the papal
town of Bologna, where they signed an agreement that restored relations between the French
Church and the Papacy. To flatter Leo, Francis offered Giuliano the Dukedom of
Nemours in France and his aunt Philberto of Savoy's hand in marriage. In exchange,
Francis was to get the Italian states of Parma and Pienza and the support
of the Pope regarding his ambitions for Milan and Naples. The marital alliance between
the ruling house of France and the merchant Medici was as thrilling to the latter
as as it was to prove short lived. Giuliano, the newly minted Duke
of Nemours, died within a year of his marriage, leaving no legitimate son
whatsoever. As a result, all of Leo's hopes now rested with his nephew
Lorenzo. Leo and Francis both wanted to continue this alliance despite Giuliano's death,
so Lorenzo, by then the Dirk of Urbino, became his holiness as emissary
representing the Pope at the christening of France's firstborn son, the Dafan. Leo
had been asked to stand godfather to the baby. Some time before the christening,
Francis had written to Lorenzo to congratulate him on becoming Duke of Urbino,
adding quote, I intend to help you with all my power. I also
wish to marry you off to some beautiful and good lady of noble birth of
my kind, so that the love which I bear you may be grown and
strengthened and quote. Once the bride had been selected, it was decided that
the marriage should take place soon after the baptism of the Dauphin. The other
important matter was the bride's enormous inheritance. This young lady came with a substantial
dowry which would allow the Medicis to re establish themselves firmly in control of Florence.
And it was this young lady who was also the mother to Catherine de
Medici. So it was not hard to imagine the dismay of both the Pope
and the King of France when both Lorenzo and Madeline de Medici died months later,
leaving only their daughter Catherine as the living token. To make matters worse,
Catherine fell ill in August of fifteen nineteen, when only three months old,
and for weeks her life hung in the balance. Yet she survived and
by October, Leo insisted that the Duchessina, as the Florentine people called her,
could be moved to Rome without risks to her health. Leo had already
emphatically refused Francis's request that the child be brought up at the French court.
He quite sensibly declined to offer up his great niece. It was really his
only card left to play as a hostage against the promises he had made to
Francis, for as we know, he was already planning to break them.
The circumstances had completely changed, so now must his policies. After he wiped
away his tears at the death of his nephew and niece, Leo lost no
time in opening secret talks with King Charles of Spain, now Charles the Fifth,
the new Holy Roman Emperor and as we know, Francis mortal enemy.
Fifteen twenty one, Leo was openly allied to Charles, whom he had promised
to crown as emperor and invest with Naples. When he heard the news,
Francis fell into a furious rage at the Pope's betrayal, and before long France
and the Empire were months more at war. Catherine was dutifully brought to Rome,
but Leo didn't live long enough to see any plans for her to come
to Fruition. On December the first, fifteen twenty one, he died.
Catherine's life and position now very much depended on the Medicis being able to remain
in power in Florence without papal assistance, which would be a difficult task.
The new Pope, Hadrian the sixth, Adrian of Utrecht and Charles the Fifth's
boyhood tutor, was no friend to the de Medicis. Luckily for Catherine,
Hadrian died in September of fifteen twenty three. By the way, just as
a side note here, from this point on it would be four hundred and
fifty years until the next non Italian would be elected pope. In Hadrian's place,
Giuliano de Medici became Pope Clement the seventh. Once more Catherine looked like
a potentially a good marriage pawn. Clement left for Rome and left his lieutenant,
Cardinal Passadini, in charge of Florence. But Clement ruled Florence, and
everyone knew it and resented it. Clement was not the man for the hour,
as we know Charles and Francis were nearly always at war. On the
verge of war, Lutheranism kept expanding in Germany, and Clement seemed powerless to
do anything about it. As a result, Italy plunged ever deeper into chaos.
Disaster struck on May sixth, fifteen twenty seven, when Imperial troops camped
outside Rome, ran amuck and pillaged the city. As Rome was sacked and
insurrection was mounted in Florence, aided by the arrival of the Emperor's arms me
the overthrow of Passerini and the Medician regime proved all too easy. Catherine's position
now was uncertain. By the eleventh of May fifteen twenty seven, news had
filtered back to Florence about the horrors taking place in Rome. In the Medici
Palace, the eight year old Catherine would have grasped that this was a calamity.
Pasarini and his sons fled Florence on the seventeenth of May. This left
Catherine and her aunt alone to face the wrath of the mob. The new
rulers of Florence boiled with fury and refused to let Catherine out of their grasp.
It was then decided that the child should be taken to the Santa Lucia
Convent, a place known for its antipathy to the Medici family. Moments later,
Catherine found herself being being bundled off for what would prove to be three
hazardous years of semi incarceration, during which her life was under different degrees of
threat depending upon what was going on in the political scene. The little girl
lived miserably in the Santa Lucia convent, but in December fifteen twenty seven,
orders came that she be moved to the convent of Santa Catarina in Siena,
also in Florence. When the French ambassador visited her, he found the place
a disease ridden hovel. It insisted that Catherine must be relocated immediately. With
the permission of the Florentine Signoria, the ambassador arranged for the child's transfer to
a far nicer location, another convent, this one the Santa Maria. The
convent of Santa Maria in this case, was actually known more as a fortress
than as a convent, its walls being so high. These walls deprived Catherine
of her liberty, but they also protected her from the hostile world outside.
Hatred now fueled the Florentine people's mood as they desecrated and damaged all reminders of
the Medici. During an angry outburst early in this rebellion, Michelangelo's masterpiece,
the Statue of David, lost its left arm when a stone was thrown at
it. If Catherine were to remain a valuable negotiating tool for the government in
Florence, however, they had to see to her well being now. As
luck would have it, the abess of the Santa Maria Convent was Catherine's godmother,
and she arranged for her to have a spacious and comfortable cell. During
this period of her life, Catherine was forced to develop the skills that would
later make her a formidable politician, listening, empathy, conversation, and the
fortitude to keep her own counsel. One of the nuns wrote of the child
as quote, dear little child, with such gracious manners that she made herself
loved by all. She was so gentle and pleasant that the sisters did all
they could to ease her sorrows and difficulties and quote. Another wrote of the
girl's quote good disposition end quote. They felt protective of Catherine, while death
continued to take all of Catherine's loved ones, her mother figure dying on May
third, fifteen twenty eight, The French ambassador now became her only rock in
the storm, and he did what he could to see to her well being.
In October fifteen twenty nine, Imperial troops laid siege to the city of
Florence. The accompanying plague and famine only exacerbated the people's hatred of the Medici,
who they now associated with the Pope, who everyone blamed, rightly or
wrongly, for Italy's present dilemma. Within the city, the leaders began to
wonder whether they might use Catherine as a means of escaping their present catastrophe.
The Signora sent a contingent of troops to fetch her late in the evening on
July the twentieth, fifteen thirty. Catherine, certain that she had been condemned
to death and that they had come to fetch her for her execution, put
up a struggle. In preparation. The eleven year old girl had cut her
hair and Donna Nunn's habit, announcing that as a bride of Christ, she
refused to go quietly. Catherine cried out, quote, Holy Mother, I
am yours. Let us now see what excommunicated wretch will dare to drag a
spouse of Christ from her monastery end quote. She refused to change out of
her nun's clothing, and the men gathered to take her brought her through the
small streets, riding a day donkey, braving a starving and menacing crowd,
voicing threats and open hatred. This perilous journey proved to be a formative experienced
for the young woman, as the men kept Catherine safe and surrounded until she
was delivered to the Santa Lucia Convent. It was actually here that she had
first started life as a captive nearly three years earlier. She actually never forgot
the kindness of the guards who protected her, and when on the twelfth of
August fifteen thirty the siege was lifted and Pope Clement took possession of the city
once more, she interceded for these men and succeeded in having their death sentences
commuted to exile. Upon her release, Catherine visited the sisters of the other
convenants she had stayed in, and together they celebrated her good fortune. She
remained in contact with these orders for the rest of her life and wrote to
them regularly, sending them money in annually in giving them revenues from one of
her properties. This was one of Catherine's most important personality traits. She never
forgot a kindness and never forgave a disservice. Now all the two. Soon
this young girl found herself a central feature in Pope Clement's international policy, and
was moved to Rome. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly how Catherine passed her
time in Rome. Certainly, her later love of architecture might be connected to
this period in Rome. She also would have become accustomed to the formalities of
the papal court, and she would lean on that experience in later years.
Family matters were at the top of Pope Clement's agenda. His illegitimate son,
in fifteen thirty two, was created the new Duke of Florence. Catherine had
been sent to the city to lend legitimacy to the proceedings, and for the
first time she undertook public duties. Observers noted that the now thirteen year old
Catherine carried herself with admirable dignity and grace, She continued her public role in
Florence while awaiting the arrival of Pope Clement's son's bride in April of fifteen thirty
three. Apart from enjoying the many and lavish celebrations marking the new Duke's confirmation,
Catherine also continued to pursue her studies. We know little about her formal
education, but we do know that she learned Greek, Latin, and French.
She was also a keen mathematician, an interest that would coincide later with
her love of astrology. Clement kept her in Florence. He proceeded carefully with
marriage talks on her behalf in Rome. Now since her birth, Catherine had
inevitably been the object of much matrimonial discussion. Even before the revolt in Floras,
Clement had been approached by various potential suitors, mainly various Italian nobles from
families such as the Gonzaga of Manchua, the Estae of Ferrara, and the
de la Rovari of Urbino. Now that the Pope enjoyed a far stronger position
than formerly, he looked for more illustrious offers. Among the earlier candidates was
Henry the Eighth's illegitimate son, the Duke of Richmond. Although Sir John Russell,
the English ambassador to the Vatican, reported his Holiness was quote very well
contented to have such an alliance end quote. Nothing came of the talks,
and the Duke died a few years later, probably from being poisoned. And
the Duke died a few years later, probably from being poisoned. When the
Duke of Albany, Catherine's uncle, proposed the candidacy of James the Fifth of
Scotland, Clement did not think this offered him any real advantages, and worried
that the courier service between the two countries would be too costly. The Prince
of Orange had briefly been considered a possible husband, until he died while trying
to retake Florence. The one candidate Clement could not afford to ignore, however,
was the Holy Roman Emperor's own preference. Charles back to marriage between Catherine
and Francisco, the second Svorza, Duke of Milan. Unfortunately for Catherine,
the Duke was not exactly intelligent. He was prematurely aged at thirty seven,
He was sick, sickly and mainly by the huge sums of the money demanded
by the Emperor in order to retain his duchy was not particularly gleaming prospect for
anyone. In addition, Clement feared that by marrying Catherine to Charles's client,
he would find himself so deeply in the Emperor's pocket that he would never be
able to free himself. Another worry for Clement to, of course, was
Charles's request for a general Church Council. He didn't want the potential schism this
would bring, but remember from previous episodes, Clement wasn't good at dealing with
the ongoing Reformation. He did his best to try to put his head in
the sand and ignore it. Interestingly, though, there was a reason for
this. Clement had never actually been ordained into the priesthood, and so he
was technically not eligible to be pope, and he feared that if he called
the Church council it might result in his removal, which makes sense. But
then something happened. A new proposal, a really exciting proposal arrived for Catherine's
marriage, and this one came from Francis, the first, of course,
of France. His ambitions for territories in Italy were stirring again, and he
needed a friendly pope to back him. In fifteen thirty one, with this
in mind, Francis offered Clement his second son, Henry, Duke of Orlean,
as a potential husband for Catherine. Early in fifteen thirty one, the
Bishop of Tarbas was sent as Francis's envoy to discuss such a marriage. By
April, already a preliminary agreement had been signed by Francis. It is stipulated
that Catherine would live at the French court until the age to consummate the marriage,
and secret clauses in the agreement stated that her dowry would include Pisa,
Parma, Pienza, Reggio, Modena and Lakehorn. Clement also committed himself to
backing French efforts to take Genoa in Milan and to make a joint effort to
annex Urbino for the young couple. In June fifteen thirty one, word came
back to France that Clement would not after all send Catherine to live at the
French court before her marriage. He was both weary of the wrath he knew
this alliance would incur in the Emperor, and fearful of any change in French
policy. Once Catherine found herself in Frances's hands, his matrimonial ace would thus
remain in his own care until the wedding. Clement also stipulated that Catherine's dowry
of one hundred thousand gold ECUs would include an extra thirty thousand ECUs in exchange
for the revenues from her Florentine inheritance. Francis agreed to give Catherine a further
ten thousand livres per annam, and she would enjoy a substantial income that came
from her mother's inheritance. Now, as the second son of the King of
France, Henry, Duke of Orleans, had no shortage of potential brides.
The most important of these had been married Tutor. The possibility of a marriage
with Henry the eighth's eldest daughter had been marred, though, when the English
king tried to have the marriage to her mother, Catherine of Arragon annulled.
Meanwhile, Francis concentrated his efforts on Catherine, who could best further his Italian
ambitions. Henry, who as the second son, could not be expected to
inherit the French throne, represented a substantial catch for any royal princess let alone,
an Italian duchess without a duchy, Catherine might have been rich, but
she was emphatically not of royal blood. In January fifteen thirty three, at
Bologna, secret talks were held between Clement and Francis's emissaries. The Pope,
terrified that the Emperor had put a stop to the French alliance if he caught
wind of it, decided to continue negotiations regarding a marriage to Francisco, Duke
of Milan, as a faint. In fact, Charles, certain that Francis
would never stoop to marrying his son to a merchant's daughter, generally laughed off
the rumors when he heard about them. By the time the marriage was announced
later on that same month, Charles the Fifth could do nothing about it other
than be amazed. It was really Pope Clement's finest hour. The marriage was
set for the summer of fifteen thirty three at Nice. The jewelry that Catherine
brought with her alone was worth a kingdom. One piece was a set of
pearls, which she would later give to Mary, Queen of Scots. Queen
Elizabeth of England would wear them after Mary lost the neck necessary for wearing such
an item. Catherine's first meeting with Henry, it should go without saying,
I hope that the marriage was arranged, went fine. This despite the fact
that Henry was taciturn and awkward. He was tall and muscular and not bad
looking, but he was somewhat melancholy. Francis managed to push him into at
least appearing to enjoy his own wedding. The nuptial mass finally took place on
October the twenty eighth, fifteen thirty three, and the event went off without
a hitch. By midwinter, Catherine and the royal women had joined the king
and his entourage and Bergend, where Francis immediately announced the details of the agreement
he had made with Pope Clement. First, he proclaimed the Duchy of Urbino
to be the rightful territory of his son Henry through his marriage to Catherine,
and by the July of fifteen thirty four, he was building an army ready
to reconquer Orbino. Milan and other Italian territories would now be added as well,
with the help of his papal ally. Meanwhile, Catherine spent little time
with her husband in more time with his sisters, Marguerite and Madeline, whose
household she shared. Traveling back through France to Paris with her father in law's
huge itenor in court, Catherine, amiable and eager to please, made great
efforts to be liked. Gradually she became part of her new family and won
over some of her more snobbish courtiers. Both were those among them who muttered
that they would rather have their knees broken than bend them to an Italian merchant's
daughter than Disaster struck on the twenty fifth of September fifteen thirty four, less
than a year after Catherine's marriage, Pope Clement the seventh died in Rome,
his territorial promises to Francis unfulfilled and Catherine's dowry only partially paid. Francis was
apoplectic, and the French people soon decried this union as ridiculous, a fool's
bargain. The child, who thought that she had found a family peace and
security, was left to reap the harvest of her uncle's untimely death. The
new Pope, Alexandro Farnese, who took the title of Pope all the third,
was neutral but firmly refused to honor either Clement's dowry obligations or the alliance
with Francis. Catherine was now of no value whatsoever to Francis politically, and
he declared quote, the girl has come to me stark naked end quote.
In contrast to her triumphant arrival in France, Catherine now faced one thousand pinbricks
of humiliation as her prestige vanished with the wind, along with clements, worthless
promises. As always, if you'd enjoyed the show, please check out the
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