Catherine de medici interesting facts

Fabricated catherine de medici interesting facts

1) She was a princess of France and married an English nobleman, William Cecil. He died in battle with the French army at Poitiers.

2) Her husband's death is what caused her to become involved in politics. She became queen regnant of France, but she never ruled as such because she had other ambitions.

3) After her husband's death, Catherine became more interested in learning about history and philosophy. This led her to write two books on political theory called "The Rights of Man" and "The Education of the Human Soul."

4) One of her main goals in life was to destroy the House of Valois, through which she thought her enemies would gain more power. This included her cousin King Charles IX of France (he was also her first cousin once removed), her second cousin King Henry III of France, and finally her second cousin once removed King Henry of Navarre.

5) The first major battle that Catherine was involved in was a war with Spain. Her husband had traded territory with them, and Catherine believed the territory that was given up was not enough. She also believed that the border that was set, was unfair to France. The border was set by the Garonne River, which is a wide and shallow river that cuts through the middle of France. This makes the French territory shorter than that of the Spanish.

Catherine began the long process of war by sending an invasion fleet to take back the territory that was lost. She believed that the Spanish fort that was built in the lost territory was too powerful and that it would hinder any future gain of territory by the French. The fort was indeed too powerful and it proved to be one of the turning points in the war. The Spanish were crushed by the fort in 1588, but they would not give up.

Catherine was determined to make more territorial gains, and she would pursue war with Spain for almost twenty some odd years. The Spanish king at the time, Charles II, was a very skillful general. He fought a very effective defense against the French and did not suffer many territorial losses, but it was enough to finally break the French will to fight.

In the same way that the Dutch fought the Spanish for nearly two hundred years, Catherine wanted to fight a long drawn out war. Unfortunately, the times were changing. The people were growing tired of war, and they wanted peace. The treasury was low, and it was hard to keep going on a war that would not end in victory. Catherine was stubborn and would not listen. She continued to wage war and finally in the year 1598 the people got so tired of the war that they revolted.

Three cities joined together to revolt; Nantes, Brest, and La Rochelle. The rebellion was known as the War of the Three Henries. Catherine made one more desperate attempt to win the war by coming out of her self-canon and attacking La Rochelle. She failed, and she was wounded severely in the Battle of the Ranzès River. She died a few days later of her wounds.

Catherine was a very skilled commander and a good queen, but her country did not share in her loyalty. She fought a sad, unhappy, and ultimately unsuccessful war. She had no respect from any group that might have supported her; the military, the aristocracy, the people, or even her family. She will always be known as a woman who lost a war she could have easily won.

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