Female Rulers of Europe Part I:
Introduction to series:
While rampant sexism throughout the history of Europe has resulted in very few elected female rulers, hereditary monarchies have allowed for a significant number of women to rule. In this series of posts, I hope to honour these women with short biographies and descriptions of their accomplishments. Interestingly, in my research for this series I have found that many of the famous, female European monarchs had a reputation for cruelty or severity. Rulers such as Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine de Medici, and Catherine the Great embodied these traits perfectly. I believe this to be a result of a necessity to assert their power in a male dominated environment. I hope to eventually compare the perceptions of some of these ancient queens to modern female politicians like Margaret Thatcher, Angela Merkel, and Theresa May, who can also be viewed as cold and unfeminine. I hope you enjoy this brief dive into the lives of some of the most influential women in European history.
In fact, it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason.
-Mary Wollstonecraft
Catherine de Medici
Born into the powerful Medici family of Florence, Caterina Maria Romula di Lorenzo de Medici was married at 14 years of age to Prince Henry, second son of King Francis I. She was only married to such a powerful nobleman because a Medici was the current pope. Ordinarily, she would never have been married to a man of such high status because she was technically a commoner, although an uncommonly rich and powerful commoner.
The Medici Coat of Arms
Her young husband Henry ascended to the throne soon after their marriage as King Henry II of France. She was largely ignored by her husband, who preferred the company of a mistress. However, she gave birth to eight children from the marriage, six of whom survived infancy. She was also kept out of state affairs and largely ignored by society until she was thrust into the position of regent by the death of her husband in 1560. Her husband died dramatically in a jousting accident where a lance broke on his face sending splinters into his brain through his eye.
Upon the death of King Henry, Catherine’s son Francis II ascended to the throne. Francis was 15 years old and almost always in poor health. He had also recently been married to a young Scottish princess who had been raised in the French court. She went on to be known as Mary Queen of Scots. Throughout the short reign of Francis, Catherine increased her influence over the crown through political machinations and skirmishes with the powerful Guise family. When Francis died less than a year after his father, her second son Charles IX became king. Charles was only 9 years old and was completely controlled by his mother. During the reign of Charles, Catherine had to deal with a country at the brink of a religious civil war and an English invasion. She pushed the English out of France, and even visited battles herself, telling generals “my courage is as great as yours.” During this war some of her political rivals perished, consolidating her power.
It was also under the rule of Charles that the most infamous incident of Catherine’s rule occurred: The St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. Tensions were high between protestant Huguenots and French Catholics. An assassination attempt on a French admiral by the protestants prompted Catholics in Paris and other cities to murder Protestants en masse. Catherine’s complicity in the event is disputed, however her letters and the opinions of her sons seem to suggest that she supported the killings. After this event, Catherine gained a reputation as a wicked Italian queen using the principles enumerated by Machiavelli to gain sway over events in France.
Charles the IX died two years after the massacre. Henry III, her third son, then took over the role of King of France. She held much less sway over him, as he was older and more independent. Despite this, she remained central to his administration and was often sent in his stead to organise troops or placate political dissidents. Catherine died soon after her son Henry had secretly plotted and murdered many of the prominent members of the Guise family. Some said she died because she couldn’t bear the shame of her son’s murderous plan.
When Catherine arrived in France she was kept in the shadows by an unloving husband and looked upon as a meddling foreigner by the public. Despite this, she rose to become one of the most powerful statesmen and political forces in Europe. She handled revolutions, religious wars, invasions, and ubiquitous sexism. She was maligned by the people as an evil foreign queen, an occultist, and a tyrant. Like many female rulers before and after her, her gender poisoned opinions about her legacy. Had she been male, she would most likely be recognised as one of the greatest political strategists of all time.
I ask you, what could a woman do, left by the death of her husband with five little children on her arms, and two families of France who were thinking of grasping the crown—our own [the Bourbons] and the Guises? Was she not compelled to play strange parts to deceive first one and then the other, in order to guard, as she did, her sons, who successively reigned through the wise conduct of that shrewd woman? I am surprised that she never did worse.
-King Henry IV of France
References:
Allinson, R. (2012). A monarchy of letters. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bbc.co.uk. (2019). BBC - History - Catherine de Medici. [online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/de_medici_catherine.shtml [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Dimuro, G. (2018). Catherine De Medici And Her Female Spies That Used Sex And Intrigue To Keep Her In Power. [online] All That's Interesting. Available at: https://allthatsinteresting.com/catherine-de-medici [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Catherine de’ Medici | Biography, Accomplishments, & Reign. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Catherine-de-Medici [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Factinate. (2019). 42 Scandalous Facts About Catherine de Medici, The Deadly Queen Mother Of France. [online] Available at: https://www.factinate.com/people/42-scandalous-facts-catherine-de-medici-deadly-queen-mother-france/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Feminism | The Thinker. (2019). Catherine de' Medici | Feminism | The Thinker. [online] Available at: https://www.thesalvatorian.com/single-post/2018/05/28/Catherine-de-Medici [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].
Prahl, A. (2018). The Life and Reign of Catherine de Medici, Renaissance Queen. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/catherine-de-medici-biography-4155305 [Accessed 23 Mar. 2019].