{"product_id":"catherine-de-medici-renaissance-queen-of-france-isbn-9780060744922","title":"Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe inspiration for the STARZ original series, \u003cem\u003eThe Serpent Queen \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003e second season premiering July 12th!\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“A beautifully written portrait of a ruthless, subtle and fearless woman fighting for survival and power in a world of gangsterish brutality, routine assassination and religious mania. . . . Frieda has brought a largely forgotten heroine-villainess and a whole sumptuously vicious era back to life. . . . This is \u003cem\u003eThe Godfather\u003c\/em\u003e meets \u003cem\u003eElizabeth\u003c\/em\u003e.” —Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of \u003cem\u003eStalin: The Court of the Red Tsar\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoisoner, besotted mother, despot, necromancer, engineer of a massacre: the dark legend of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen of France to reveal a skilled ruler battling extraordinary political and personal odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on comprehensive research including thousands of Catherine’s own letters, Frieda unfurls Catherine’s story from her troubled childhood in Florence to her tumultuous marriage to Henry II of France; her transformation of French culture to her reign as a queen who would use brutality to ensure her children’s royal birthright. Brilliantly executed, this enthralling biography goes beyond myth to paint a very human portrait of this remarkable figure.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003ePoisoner, besotted mother, despot, necromancer, engineer of a massacre: the stain on the name of Catherine de Medici is centuries old. In this critically hailed biography, Leonie Frieda reclaims the story of this unjustly maligned queen of France to reveal a skilled ruler battling against extraordinary political and personal odds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOrphaned in infancy, imprisoned in childhood, heiress to an ancient name and vast fortune, Catherine de Medici was brought up in Florence, a city dominated by her ruling family. At age fourteen, the Italian-born young woman became a French princess in a magnificent alliance arranged by her uncle the pope to Henry, son of King Francis I of France. She suffered cruelly as her new husband became bewitched by the superbly elegant Diane de Poitiers. Henry's influential and lifelong mistress wisely sent her lover to sleep with Catherine, and after an agonizingly childless decade when she saw popular resentment build against her, she conceived the first of ten children. Slowly Catherine made the court her own: she transformed the cultural life of France, importing much of what we now think of as typically French -- cuisine, art, music, fashion -- from Italy, cradle of the Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a freak jousting accident in 1559, a wooden splinter fatally pierced Henry's eye. Hitherto sidelined, Catherine found herself suddenly thrust into the maelstrom of French power politics, for which she soon discovered she had inherited a natural gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA contemporary and sometime ally of Elizabeth I of England, Catherine learned to become both a superb strategist and ruthless conspirator. During the rise of Protestantism, her attempts at religious tolerance were constantly foiled, and France was riven by endemic civil wars. Although history has always laid the blame for the infamous St. Bartholomew's Day massacre by a Catholic mob of thousands of French Protestants at Catherine's door, Leonie Frieda presents a powerful case for Catherine's defense.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis courageous queen's fatal flaw was a blind devotion to her sickly and corrupt children, three of whom would become kings of France. Despite their weaknesses, Catherine's indomitable fight to protect the throne and their birthright ensured the survival of the French monarchy for a further two hundred years after her death, until it was swept away by the French Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLeonie Frieda has returned to original sources and reread the thousands of letters left by Catherine, and she has reinvested this protean figure with humanity. The first biography of Catherine in decades, it reveals her to be one of the most influential women ever to wear a crown.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“This intelligent and well-researched biography is a worthy testament to Catherine’s formidable strength. Catherine de Medici reveals Frieda, a first-time biographer, to be a writer of tremendous skill and talent.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“As Leonie Frieda relates in this well-researched and immensely readable first biography, from her turbulent home in Florence Catherine found herself presiding over perhaps the nastiest period in all French history. Frieda is much to be praised for painting a wonderfully rich canvas.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLondon Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Intelligent and well-researched . . . Catherine de Medici reveals Frieda, a first-time biographer, to be a writer of tremendous skill and talent.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eAmanda Foreman, author of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Vivid and entertaining. . . . a convincing human portrait against the backdrop of a brutal age.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A carefully nuanced portrait. . . [Leonie Frieda] achieves remarkable balance as she freshly interprets Catherine. . . a revealing biography.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A smart, revisionist biography. . . [Leonie Frieda] does a splendid job unraveling the maddeningly complex political-religious context of Catherine’s time.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBloomberg News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“”Riveting and dramatic . . . there is no mistaking the abiding pleasure of this book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A stunning biography, which brings to vivid life a heroic woman and the tumultuous, cruel and gaudy times in which she lived. An outstanding first book by a newcomer to the ranks of English historians.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePaul Johnson\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Leonie Frieda does this remarkable woman full justice. Refusing to play judge, she reveals her to us through the best of means, which is narrative. The skill with which Frieda finds her way through the maze of this confusing period is exemplary. You read on eagerly. An enthralling book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLiterary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889106907365,"sku":"NP9780060744922","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780060744922.jpg?v=1730230530","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/catherine-de-medici-renaissance-queen-of-france-isbn-9780060744922","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}