The long barren years of Catherine de Medicis: a gynaecologist’s view of history

Abstract

[Extract] On June 30 1559, the French Court was at Paris for the marriage celebrations of Philip II of Spain to Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II of France and his Queen, Catherine de Medicis. The marriage had been arranged to cement the recent peace treaty of Cateau- Cambrésis that ended a series of wars with the Spanish for the control of Italy. Following the wedding, a tournament was arranged for the entertainment of the guests; the participants included Henry himself, who was struck in the eye, inadvertently, by the lance of Captain Montgomery of the Scottish Guard. Henry died ten days later, leaving the throne to his 15 year-old son, Francis II. Francis lacked both maturity and experience so real power passed into the hands of his mother, Catherine, who was to reign, sometimes unofficially and sometimes as Regent, for the next thirty years.