Catherine de' Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen

by Mary Hollingsworth

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici.

In this new biography of the most powerful woman in sixteenth-century Europe, Mary Hollingsworth uses neglected primary sources to recreate the life and times of a remarkable – and remarkably traduced – woman.

Mary Hollingsworth delves into the archives to discover deeper truths behind the persistent myths of sectarian cruelty and ruinous extravagance, and to reveal a cultured and politically astute woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist peacefully.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, France, Audiobook, Historical, Italy

448 pages, Paperback

Published May 8, 2025

About the author

Mary Hollingsworth is a scholar of the Italian Renaissance, and author of The Cardinal's Hat, The Borgias: History's Most Notorious Dynasty and Patronage in Renaissance Italy: From 1400 to the Early Sixteenth Century.

Reviews

[River · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 2nd biography of Catherine de' Medici that I read, the first is Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda.

I found that book a lot more interesting than this one. The Frieda biography discusses the people surrounding Catherine in much more detail, especially her daughter Marguerite, who left behind a significant volume of personal memoirs. That book also names the Wars of Religion, and for this one I was left to cross-reference with the timeline on the Wikipedia page about the French Wars of Religion.

In both books I found the presentation of dates quite frustrating; dates are usually written without a year and the reader is left to infer which year is being talked about (particularly confusing given there's three different calendars in play).

This book is also weirdly divided between discussions of political events (wars, marriages, alliances, Henri/Anjou becoming the king of Poland, etc) and discussions of Catherine's interest in architecture. The latter is not particularly interesting to me but it occupied a large percentage of the book.

If you are extremely interested in Catherine de' Medici then this biography might be worth your time (although again I enjoyed the Frieda treatment more), but if you're primarily interested in the history of the French Wars of Religion then I would recommend finding something else.

[Paige]

DNF at p138

This book has the problem I think a lot of biographies about female historical figures have — this is a very interesting woman, but the sources that exist tell the story around her. We haven’t seen much agency from her yet and (for obvious reasons) next to no interiority, which simply isn’t that interesting.

It’s not bad by any means, but it’s due at the library today so I’m calling it.

8.27.24

[Vaiva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kiek pritrūko pačios Kotrynos toje keturis dešimtmečius trukusioje kovoje tarp kataliku ir protestantų. O kur dar nesuskaičiuojamas kiekis įvairių asmenybių, kurių vardu tiesiog neįmanoma atsiminti. Nuošalyje pasiliko ir jos, kaip kultūros, meno ir architektūros globėjos portretas. Nesibaigiančios derybos ir ganėtinai paviršutiniškas žvigsnis į ją pačią.

[Joann · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a volatile time, with a huge cast of characters to keep straight and all sorts of intrigues. Hollingsworth gives a favorable depiction of Catherine who was left with much responsibility when her husband died. Above all, Catherine worked mightily to bring peace to the religious factions with some success though she had to be a master at juggling all the elements involved. Having read this book, I do better understand this period of history.

[Christina Karvounis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruthless as she needed to be to maintain her power, for better or for worse, a fascinating persona crafted meticulously. Inspired to learn more about her after visiting Chenonceau.

[Kayiris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked a lot. Very well written with opposing views about Catherine presented. Well researched. The view that Catherine was a Serpent seems not to have been true. The other interesting aspect of this book is it talked about how the spread of Protestantism and the Catholic opposition to it played out in France. Worth reading if interested in history.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is an overly revisionist biography; from the history of bios of Catherine, it appears that by the mid-20th century, there was a strong pushback against Dumas, and those before him, who really thought she was a serpent queen. But, that revisionism went too far and was needfully corrected. As best I can tell, if there's a "thesis" here, Hollingsworth is pushing back against that!

Note the "as far as I can tell."

A serious biography of a major figure, whether one of statecraft, the arts, the sciences, etc., eventually will likely face a "why" question or two.

Here, it's ultimately why did Catherine apparently order the assassination of Coligny and other leading French Protestants of the height of the French wars of religion? Nobody is accusing her anymore in modern bios of having ordered the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre that followed; if Hollingsworth really believes that, she's pushing at an empty door. That was likely, certainly in Paris, a spontaneous crowd reaction, though perhaps egged on by the Guises here and there.

But, the killing of major Protestant political leaders, above all Coligny, and the arrests of the prince of Conde and king of Navarre, the future Henry IV of France? Those were ordered. So, by whom?

And, Wiki's page on him indicated Charles IX, though not "indolent," was indeed passive. Though he was well into his majority, Catherine still acted halfway like his regent.

Hollingsworth's answer is one-third words, two-thirds silence and handwaving that "it happened" without offering any real idea of who did it, and then moving on to the actual massacre, there to absolve Catherine.

GIVE ME A THESIS.

Even if it's wrong. (Wiki notes two or three possibilities. One is that it was in fact Charles; a second that it was Henri d'Anjou his brother, either taking the lead alone, or working with Catherine's Italian advisors. On this interpretation, Catherine was glad to see him elected King of Poland as it got him out of France.)

Even if Catherine didn't orchestrate the assassinations, Hollingsworth doesn't explain WHY Catherine suddenly feared for the crown, or why Charles did, for that matter. Nor does she explain why Catherine signed off on Charles' plan (if it wasn't her own) to kill Coligny and other Protestant leaders, rather than arrest and try them. (The Duc de Montgomery, who had killed Henry II in the famous jousting, then fled to England, was legally tried for treason after his 1574 capture.) Wiki's page on the massacre notes she mistrusted Coligny and his influence on Charles for some time. Did she push Charles? Did she do so thinking that she could continue to walk the line claiming this was only political and not religious? Assuming that's the case, why did she really believe this, knowing Paris was a Catholic powder keg after the dual Protestant marriages of Navarre and Conde? Hollingsworth doesn't discuss. Nor, per the "serpent" theme, does she even look at the possibility that Catherine set them up, as Protestants felt afterward.

Give me a thesis!

Since you haven't, Hollingsworth, and this is a revisionist bio, I take it as your thesis that Catherine had nothing to do with the assassination of Coligny et al.

And why did François de Montmorency leave Paris before the massacres of the Protestant leaders, then the larger massacre? Illness or suspicion of what actually happened? Hollingsworth doesn't discuss.

And, that would be wrong. I learned more about these murders, and their spillover into the massacre, from Wiki pages and footnotes therein referencing either other biographies or else books about the religious wars that weren't bios of Catherine or any of the three kings that were her sons.

And? Whether you like it or not, the massacre, and the assassinations before it, are the keynote of Catherine's life as we know it today. Spending no more than half a dozen pages on the events themselves is simply a failure. (And, at this point, and with the mind of friend Marquise in the background urging non-softy reviews, I decided I would bump down to one star at this point. Also, there are no one-star reviews.)

Reality on Catherine being in charge? Francis II she clearly tried to control in his year or so of rule. Charles IX she controlled until his death at 24. Henry III she tried to control and failed, and ditto with his younger brother as the last of the Valois line, and got upset over these failures.

Wiki's page on her refers repeatedly to the bio of R.J. Knecht of the late 1990s. Goodreads' page on it notes that revisionism against Dumas et al had started long before Knecht wrote, and that he was pushing back against over-revisionism. Hollingsworth is maybe pushing back against the likes of that? If so, it's a failure. It seems clear that, including from religious elements, including a church council that Hollingsworth omits, that she simply didn't get the religious intensity angle.

That leads to the second unanswered why? WHY did Catherine insist, stubbornly, well past the massacre, that this was ultimately a political, not a religious issue? On its Massacre page, Wiki references Mac Holt's in-depth book about the wars of religion.

So, again, instead of just a that, give me a "why." Hollingsworth has written another book about the House of Medici. Did Catherine bring a Machiavellian like spirit from there to France? After all, in that book, she claims the Medici were as devious as the Borgias.

There's other issues.

First, along with another low-star reviewer? The amount of royal progresses, castle touring and arts, plus the claim, in essence, that Catherine brought the Renaissance to France, began to wear. And, while Hollingsworth occasionally admits this was "extravagance," in a crown trying to control a bunch of nobles, and without the absolutism of the later House of Bourbon, how much of a problem was this?

Second? Spending more time on Margot, her last daughter, who married Henry of Navarre, than on the St. Bartholomew's Day events?

And, speaking of that name? Also weird and presumably something British is calling Henry III (and Navarre) "Henri" before they take the throne. Why? And, not weird, but certainly not true, is the indirect — and once, semi-direct — claim that Catherine brought the Renaissance from Italy to France. Er, Francis I invited Leonardo up there much earlier.

The pace of the book picked up at the end, but I couldn't give it two stars, and the epilogue ruined everything in the 50 pages before.

Hollingsworth claims that, due to Catherine's "tireless efforts to negotiate ... that the kingdom Henry IV inherited was a united realm and tolerant of both religions."

Henry's own assassination refutes that last point. The united realm was achieved by his own work after taking the throne, with the great assistance of Sully. And with that, the BS bookshelf gets a new member.

So, this is maybe 1.5 stars as a bio of Catherine. As information on Wars of Religion, it's not even a full 1 star.

I also see that all but one of her books fail to break the 4-star mark on average rating, which is a "tell" on here.

[Gerald Flanzbaum]

I looked forward to reading this book having read Mary Hollingsworth's earlier work "The Family Medici" and was not disappointed. Some may criticize the many many men and women who people this history but Hollingsworth provides a long List of Characters at the beginning of the book, followed by detailed family trees of the different dynasties that appear as well as two contemporary maps. The work is incredibly researched and the end notes contain nearly 1,300 citations from twelve chapters and yet they read like an historical novel as much as a history bo0k. Overall, it attempts to portray the historically much maligned Catherine in a different and for this reader, convincing new light. While it in no way distracts from the book, it portrays an era of religious savagery between Catholics and Protestants that reminds one of Blaise Pascal's words that "men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as they do it from religious conviction" or that of Voltaire who observed that "those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities." There are uneasy comparisons that can be made with today's chaotic politics and shifting alliances in the world at large, with warnings unheeded and the terrible consequences that result. It is a work that deserves a wide audience.

[History Today]

In early 1579 the 25-year-old Henri de Bourbon, king of Navarre and future king of France, was in talks with a seasoned negotiator. It was neither a government minister nor a monarch, but the French king’s mother and Navarre’s own mother-in-law: Catherine de’ Medici. A dowager queen some 60 years old, Catherine had been consort to Henri II, after whose sudden demise in 1559 she was pushed aside by the powerful Guise brothers (duke and cardinal), who briefly governed France on behalf of her teenage son François II. But François’ unexpected death in 1560 returned Catherine to prominence. As regent for Charles IX, her second son, and then adviser to his brother and successor Henri III, she worked with – and frequently in place of – her young, sickly and sometimes negligent children. In early 1579 it was Henri III who had entrusted Catherine to broker peace in the south of France, where many were failing to observe a royal edict aimed at ending war between Protestants and Catholics, a situation which threatened not only violence but also the authority of the Crown. Worse still, the Protestant Navarre, governor in the region, was at loggerheads with his Catholic lieutenant-general, the Baron of Biron. To break the deadlock, Catherine delayed and dragged out meetings; on one day she denied the negotiators a break for food. While presiding over the talks the dowager queen maintained a constant correspondence with the royal court, soliciting news from trusted ministers and secretaries and relaying details of her own progress. Taking a shrewd line on the information that should be passed on to the sovereign, Catherine advised one secretary: ‘If it is bad throw it on the fire; if it is good show it to the king.’

Catherine de’ Medici was not necessarily destined for a position of great influence. Though a member of a cadet branch of the Medici family, and the relative and ward of two popes, she was orphaned within a month of her birth in 1519 and raised quietly by relatives and nuns. Before she had reached her eighth birthday, the Medici had been overthrown as rulers of Florence and the authority of her papal uncles, Leo X and then Clement VII, gravely threatened, as Martin Luther’s protests catalysed the rejection of papal authority across Europe. Catherine’s prospects improved in 1533 when she married the future Henri II, but her influence was dwarfed by that of Diane de Poitiers, the mistress to whom Henri would devote himself. The king’s position was far from stable: he inherited a bellicose rivalry with the Habsburgs who had extended their influence across the continent (and globe) during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. A lasting peace with the Habsburgs would not arrive until the eve of Henri’s death. Moreover, while these Catholic princes fought among themselves their subjects clashed with increasing ferocity, as Protestants inspired by men such as Luther and John Calvin fought for religious liberty and the right to worship, while Catholics sought to exterminate the heresies of these so-called ‘reformers’.

Read the rest of the review at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...

Jessica Wärnberg is author of City of Echoes: A New History of Rome, its Popes and its People (Icon, 2023).

[Charles Inglin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pity poor Catherine de Medici. Caught in the middle of France's religious wars of the 16th century, she was smeared by both sides. Mary Hollingsworth tries to give a much more balanced account of a remarkable woman. Married to the future Henry II of France, in a marriage arrange by her uncle, the pope, three of Catherine's sons became kings of France during her lifetime, two dying before her. As regent Catherine was effectively the ruler of France, something which did not go down well with the nobility. Later, as the queen mother, she continued to exert considerable influence over affairs of state, especially during the reign of Henry III, who often had little interest in actually governing.

The great crisis of Catherine's time was the rise of Protestantism and the reaction of the conservative Catholics. Many French nobles were attracted to the new religion. While many Catholics were moderate in their views, the faction called Ultra Catholics, allied with the popes, were determined to stamp out the "heretics." Catherine's own views are uncertain, but she worked to maintain peace between the factions and tried to make tolerance official policy. In this she had to thread a delicate path between the Ultra Catholic Guise family, the pope, and Phillip II of Spain, and the Bourbon family and other nobles leaning towards or openly in favor of the Protestants. Open warfare broke out repeatedly, including the infamous Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre of Protestants, which Catherine was blamed for by the Protestants.

A good read, and a good introduction to a period of history which I've little studied.

[Javaneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have always found Catherine de’ Medici a fascinating figure and felt she was wildly misunderstood/misrepresented. It turns out I may have been right. A lot of fiction weaves a story of a serpent queen who was ruthless, cruel, jealous and a religious zealot. It is more factual to say she was an actual servant than these things based on the evidence in this book. This biography of the queen from her birth until death tells a story of a woman who was used as a pawn, disregarded and abused because of her name, and judged for being to accepting of Protestants. She may not have been the ruler thanks to French laws but she ruled where her husband and sons just could not. She attempted to ease tensions between Catholics and Protestants and tried to remain neutral so both religions and their followers could live in peace in a united France. The book details everything from her time in a convent as a girl to her unwelcome reception in France as well as her relationship with her husband’s chief (and much older) mistress and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Mary Hollingsworth dove head first into all aspects of Catherine’s life and translated as many pieces of info written of her and by her to give the readers and extremely comprehensive idea of who she truly was and not what fiction would have you believe she was. I have it 4 instead of 5 stars simply because towards the 3/4 mark I struggled to pay attention but that is par the course for much non-fiction. Great book though and destiny worth a read/listen. The narrator was fantastic!

[Northumberland · Rating 5 out of 5]

History is rarely kind to women of power, but few have had their reputations quite so brutally shredded as Catherine de' Medici, Italian-born queen of France and influential mother of three successive French kings during that country's long sequence of sectarian wars in the second half of the sixteenth century. Thanks to the malign efforts of propagandists motivated by religious hatred, history tends to remember Catherine as a schemer who used witchcraft and poison to eradicate her rivals, as a spendthrift dilettante who wasted ruinous sums of money on building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, and most sinister of all, as instigator of the St Bartholomew's Day massacre of 1572, in which thousands of innocent Protestants were slaughtered by Catholic mobs.

Mary Hollingsworth delves into contemporary archives to discover deeper truths behind these persistent myths. The correspondence of diplomats and Catherine's own letters reveal a woman who worked tirelessly to find a way for Catholics and Protestants to coexist in peace (a goal for which she continued to strive until the end of her life), who was well-informed on both literary and scientific matters, and whose patronage of the arts helped bring into being glorious châteaux and gardens, priceless work of art, and magnificent festivities combining theatre, music and ballet, which display the grandeur of the French court.

[Gregory Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this book in my possession for so long that the public library sent me a notice that the book was on their lost list. I'll return it today. Looking at the list of "Dramatis Personae" I almost put it back on the shelf. I am glad I didn't as this work was most entertaining and illustrative. I knew next to nothing about this period of time in history, I now have a new frame of reference by which to judge this period of time and it isn't at all what I expected. Eminently readable, a real romp through the sixteenth century in Europe. Many of the names I knew but not in the context present in this fine work. Damn the villains of the French Revolution who destroyed many beautiful works of art created for these regents. Almost the entire time during which this story is told the Catholics are fighting the Protestants. It's a sad indictment of the leaders of both beliefs. Christians in name only.

[Jude🧜🏻‍♂️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemingly well researched and detailed book. That being said, one thing that is evident as that not much (letters, correspondence, diaries) seems to have survived from that time on which to draw actual indisputable historical fact so much of this seems to be the author filling in with supposition or common sense so we don’t really know who pushed what agenda or who had what influence. And to that point, Hollingsworth seems to be on a personal crusade to exonerate Catherine from the scurrilousness and salaciousness that surrounded her, touching on it only very briefly at the end of the chapter on the St Bartholomew Day Massacre. I’d have liked more of that - surely it’s a large part of her appeal? There could have been an entire 50page chapter on how this has shaped her myth and her legacy and what we know of her today.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was a lot going on politically during Catherine’s life and I can imagine it was probably a challenge to fit it all in and keep the book a semi-decent length. However, this read a bit dry and dense to me. I won’t lie and say I was 100% engaged the whole time (I was listening to the audio while crafting), so it’s entirely possible I missed things, however, I didn’t learn from this book why she was even called the serpent queen. It’s a good thorough history that I was interested in after seeing Ambroise in France earlier this year, but what I thought would be an exciting history (based on that trip and the description of this book), I am feeling a bit disappointed and underwhelmed. The ending was particularly anticlimactic. Oh well!

[Elle Jorgensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading this book, you can tell that the author did a tremendous amount of research and wanted to capture all of the nuances that made Catherine De'Medici. She was thorough and very detail oriented. That being said, this book was tough to read at times. Hundreds of people were mentioned and at times it was hard to keep track of everyone and everything. This is no fault to the author as Catherine lived a complex life and crossed paths with so many historic figures. I recommend this book if you are interested in French history and/or the Catholic vs. Protestant wars that plagued Europe during the renaissance + post renaissance era.

[Cassy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was incredibly dense and honesty kinda boring. The content itself should make for a riveting read, but the writing was dull and jam packed with information that really wasn’t overly relevant. For example, Catherine traveled south and artichokes were in season and this was her favorite food, also since they were in the south there was fish 🙄

Also, I’m not sure why, but the book never tells us why Catherine was called the serpent queen. Why put it in the title, if you are never going to provide the answer?

I think I may find a book about the St. Bartholomew massacre though.

[Brittany (B's Book Nook) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent biography about Catherine de'Medici, exploring the queen's life at several unique intervals and exposing information and context that is often overlooked about her achievements. From details about her letters, to her work preventing an all-out war between Catholics and Protestants in France, to new perspectives on how history maligned her without just cause, Hollingsworth presents an entirely unexpected and fairly complete picture of Catherine. Highly recommend for anyone with even a passing interest in the subject looking for something beyond the "Poisoner Queen" label.

[Dakota Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect biography- I honestly thought what most people probably do about de' Medici... that she's sneaky, big on espionage, generally not a nice person, etc but boy have I been proven wrong. Turns out she was a powerful woman who achieved SO SO much through intelligence and passion...and actually didn't like sneaky to the point she should've been more conniving several times. 

I also listened to this rather than read and it was easily followed and understood - perfect flow, sense of place, etc. 

A biography everyone should read cause this woman is amazing! 

[Madame Histoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened quite casually while riding around, as I am embarking on a medici deep dive before a Florence trip. As a Frenchie, she is obviously the most well-known Medici figure to me. While actually most of her life was actually spent in France. The two main take-away I get from this biography is her demonstrated marital devotion to Henri II while he was ostentatiously with Diane & the fact that she was a lot more moderate and tolerant about the protestants than we think in the collective mind (thanks to Dumas!).

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating royal figure, I'd first read about Catherine de' Medici in high school. I'd always wondered why she was nicknamed The Serpent Queen. She was fiercely diplomatic and religiously moderate. I commend the queen mother of 16th century France for holding fast to her personal religious ideals a while still advocating religious tolerance for the sake of the Crown. Catherine was a fine example of what it means to think secularly in terms of politics.

[Deborah Quazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an under appreciated historic figure is Catherine De Medici - queen of France - queen mother of France - diplomat - politician - devout Catholic - defender of family - defendant of Protestant and Catholic peace - and it’s not just because she was a brilliant leader in a trim when women were not out in front but because she was surgical and not vindictive in achieving her ends. Great great figure in history

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably 2.5 stars, honestly. The view here seemed a little myopic, and although it if not an area of history about which I know a lot, I didn’t get a bigger sense of what was going on at all. I feel like the author genuinely thinks Catherine has been misrepresented, but the book is somewhat dry, and I think tries to deliberately downplay the excesses of the court. Just not a super read for me

[Jean Bonilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good solid history book. I really enjoyed it. One thing I particularly liked was the better attempt to link events to dates! Always an issue for me, especially in audio books. Though I agree with another reviewer, that too many times the author just says things like, “Then in March,” or “The following Fall.” I also had to cross reference with other sources.

[Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written across the board. Hollingsworth makes the era interesting, especially for someone who doesn't know a lot or haven't read much about The Renaissance. She describes her characters well. I haven' seen the mini-series, but the book. I imagine would be a good companion piece.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and relatively interesting, but it fails to really humanize Catherine. Much of the book feels like it is about other people, and there are a lot of lists of objects and denominations of money that hold no meaning.

[Holden Richards · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells the story around her in exhaustive detail with very little interiority. We know what she did and when, how much money, who was there etc. But exhaustive accounts of events leave blessed little narrative sometimes.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed, at times dense with details on wardrobe, court practices or how many horses used for a tour.

[Jim Perillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read, although it got a bit confusing at times. There were so many similarly named people, I found myself flipping back to the genealogy pages often.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very interesting topic. Just too many people on a page to map and keep track off. It got very long at mid point of the book.