Catherine de' Medici, Queen of France

Catherine de' Medici, Duchess of Urbino and Queen of France, is an interesting figure in history. Catherine was alone and used as a pawn after only a few weeks of life. The reason for this was because her mother died in April 1519, only weeks after her birth and her father died in May of the same year. Form then on she would be used by Princes, Kings and Popes until she became the ruler of France though out the reign of her three sons until her death.
Catherine was born in Florence on 13 April 1519 to Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Ubino and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, Countess of Boulogne. After there deaths she was raised by her grandmother and aunt. Loe X, her Great Uncle was in control of her form the binging. He looked over her up bring and hoped that he could marry her to his brother's illegitimate son, Ippolito de' Medici, and set the pair up as rulers of Florence but this never came to pass because he died in 1521. His successor Clement VII also cared for her and placed her in the Palazzo Medici in Florence. However, this almost killed her when there was a uprising in Florence and she was almost killed by the rebels before Charles V's troops could get there.
Clement was the one who arranged the marriage between her and Henry, the second son of the King of France. The marry was an unhappy one form the binging. She saw little of her husband and with Clement's death her standing was undermine. She did not produced a child for 10 years and her husbands took little interest in her. Her husband took a mistress almost at once, Diane de Poitiers, who really took Catherine's position in all but title and responsibility in giving Henry children. Pressure to give Henry a child was increased when Henry became heir to the throne when Francois died. It was discussed that Catherine might be thrown away because of her inability to have a child, until it was found out that something was wrong with the couple and with the help of a doctor, Catherine gave Henry seven surviving children. Nothing changed when she became Queen consort. She finally gained control of her life when her husband died and she became Queen Mother.
Catherine ruled over France came form her three oldest sons dependents on her. Her rule came when the France had became another battle ground in the conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism. She tried to compromise with the protestants but this did not work and lead to several wars under her rule. One of the important events of her reign was St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. This was a Massacre of protestants that started in Paris and when thought out France for months afterwards. Catherine was blamed for this act but none real know who real ordered this attack. Catherine's rule ended when Henry II died and Henry of Navarre came to the throne. Catharine still had power but she would never rule again. She die at age sixty-nine, probably from pleurisy.
Catharine is an important person in French history. She held France together in a time of religious and political wars. Although stained as an evil queen that killed thousands of people, she is one of the few Catholic rulers that tried to comprise with her protestant subjects.