Catherine de Medici: Mistress of Her Own Husband

She was called the “Black Widow” and “Madam Snake.” She was branded as a “poisoner” and a “black magician.” She is believed to be the mastermind behind the monstrous massacre of the St. Bartholomew’s Night. But if you look at Catherine de’ Medici’s fate with at least a bit of objectivity and impartiality, most of these accusations crumble to dust. “A merciless poisoner”? But none of the murders she’s suspected of has been proven. Incitement to the Bartholomew massacre? But Catholics reasonably considered their actions a forced act of self-defense. The “Black Widow”? Yet it was precisely thanks to Catherine that the French court acquired its characteristic brilliance, and French cuisine — refinement. It was her who had the “Squadron of Girls” at her service; she invented pantaloons and high heels, introduced fashion for corsets, ice cream, and snuff. This astonishing woman was friends with Nostradamus — and… she was the lover of her own husband! As a widow, she was known for her strictness, but she raised Henry III, who loved dressing in women’s clothes and had an entire staff of “minions,” and Margaret — the very “Queen Margot,” scandalously known from a young age for her escapades in alcoves…

The book was also published under the title “Catherine de’ Medici. Matters of the Heart.”