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A review by boomwormbrittany
Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Catherine de Medici is a biography about the Renaissance French queen Catherine de Medici and the life that she lived.
I picked up this book because I am watching the show The Serpent Queen and found that Catherine de Medici as a person really interested me. I found this book when looking up books to read about her and I thought this was a really interesting look at her life. A lot of what we know about Catherine is through contemporary writings of her and her own letters that were saved throughout the centuries.
It was so fascinating to read about a woman who had so much turmoil in her life and how she handled those tumultuous times. Through loss of her husband and some of her children and her having to continually take over as regent, she stayed a pretty strong woman. She was someone who knew how to scheme and politic her way to the top. She tried to make both sides happy considering that France was in the midst of Catholic and Protestant civil war. She was stuck in tough spots yet I found it interesting how she was able to influence things happening in court and in the country.
I would say that if you have an interest in Catherine as a person, definitely pick this book up as I thought it was an interesting read.
I picked up this book because I am watching the show The Serpent Queen and found that Catherine de Medici as a person really interested me. I found this book when looking up books to read about her and I thought this was a really interesting look at her life. A lot of what we know about Catherine is through contemporary writings of her and her own letters that were saved throughout the centuries.
It was so fascinating to read about a woman who had so much turmoil in her life and how she handled those tumultuous times. Through loss of her husband and some of her children and her having to continually take over as regent, she stayed a pretty strong woman. She was someone who knew how to scheme and politic her way to the top. She tried to make both sides happy considering that France was in the midst of Catholic and Protestant civil war. She was stuck in tough spots yet I found it interesting how she was able to influence things happening in court and in the country.
I would say that if you have an interest in Catherine as a person, definitely pick this book up as I thought it was an interesting read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Child death