Catherine de Medici

**Notice:** This **article** uses content directly taken from the Catherine de' Medici **article** at the Reign Wiki, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.

## Biographical Information

### Occupation

* Queen Consort of France (Formerly)
* Dowager Queen of France (Formerly)
* Queen Mother (Currently)
* Regent of France (Formerly)

### Species

* Human (with some Witch powers)
* Spirit in Ana's Dimension

## Family Information

### Family Members

* Henry II † (Late Husband)
* Clarissa †  (Daughter)
* Francis II (Son)
* Elisabeth †  (Daughter)
* Claude †  (Daughter)
* Louis †  (Son)
* Charles †  (Son)
* Henry III †  (Son)
* Emone †  (Daughter)
* Henrietta †  (Daughter)
* Margaret †  (Daughter)

## Appearance

### Played By

* Megan Follows

**Catherine de' Medici (Italian: *Caterina de' Medici*)** is the widow of Henry II and the mother of ten children: Francis, Louis, Charles, Henry III, Elisabeth, Claude, twins: Emone and Henrietta, Louis, Margaret, and Clarissa. She is also the mother-in-law of Philip II, Erik Joens, Tatiana De Novo Delacourt, and Mary Stuart.

Earlier in the series, Catherine learned from Nostradamus that Mary will cause Francis' death and Anastasia would cause war with France and England if she married the right man. She has plotted to get rid of her in order to protect her son and France. When Francis, Mary, and Ana found out that it was Catherine trying to ruin Mary and Ana's reputation or trying to have them killed, Mary and Ana refused to go down without a fight as Francis threatened his mother that she would lose him if he continued to go after his fiancée and friend. Finally when Henry decided to push up the wedding date, Catherine told Mary and Ana the truth of why she had been trying to get rid of them causing Ana to leave the French Court, seeing how Nostradamus prediction of Aylee and Vessela never going home and sleeping in a darkness forever came true. However, Ana was soon found by the guards and was returned to the castle. Mary refused to marry Francis and decided to have Bash legitimized, for him to become the next King of France which led to Catherine's new nest of plotting. As Catherine planned to have Bash killed, Henry found out about her past affair with former lover, Viscount Richard Delacroix, and learned she had a illegitimate child with him. Catherine was soon to be beheaded for the act. Catherine was soon reunited with her long lost daughter whom she thought was dead. Clarissa kidnapped Charles and little Henry and planned to kill them due to her mother's rejection. However, Ana saved the children only by killing Clarissa. Later on, Nostradamus told Catherine of new visions of Mary and Francis' future. Seeing how Clarissa was actually Catherine's firstborn not Francis, she helped Mary see what is truly in her heart as she had to choose between Francis and Sebastian. Mary eventually chose Francis and Catherine was spared from death. She had been giving Mary advice on trying to get pregnant.

After the death of Henry, Catherine turned her attention to helping Francis keep his throne secure and dealing with the nobles. Catherine was also began to be haunted by her twin daughters, Emone and Henrietta as well as her husband, Henry. This eventually led to finding her daughters true murderer, Diane and the truth about what caused Henry's madness, he was poisoned. When Catherine found out of Ana's affair with Louis Condé, she did whatever it took to destroy her for her betrayal against France. She also had a sexual relationship with Narcisse which ended as he betrayed her and led to her being exiled from France and teaming up with Mary and Ana's greatest enemy, Elizabeth.

Time after teaming up with Elizabeth, Catherine was captured and brought back to France being held prisoner and branded a traitor. Eventually, she was able to reconcile with her children and promising Francis that she would become Queen Regent after his death in order to help Charles who would become the next king. Later on, she was reunited with Nostradamus and learned that the prophecy was coming back into play. She was later informed by Bash that Francis has died. Catherine comforted Mary while putting aside her own grief and the two became closer than ever. Catherine was eventually put into a heated battle against Narcisse for the Regency which she eventually won.

**Catherine** is a member of the **House of Medici** by birth and the **House of Valois** by marriage.

## Early Life

Catherine was born into the extremely wealthy Italian House of Medici in Florence. Her parents died of illness when she was young and she was a ward of Pope Clement VII, her first cousin, once removed.

When she was eight, the citizens of Florence rebelled against the Medici, storming the palace where Catherine lived. She was taken hostage and held in a convent for several years, eventually being threatened with rape as a way of spoiling her marriage value for her family. Together with the nuns, she prayed for salvation by the Pope's armies. Eventually she was rescued and embraced by Clement before being taken to Rome. At first, it is unclear if she was actually raped or not, but Mary later figures out that she was raped.

At age fourteen, Catherine was married to Henry, the second son of the previous King of France. Apparently, Henry chose her over her cousin, Hortenza. Catherine and Henry were initially in love, but Catherine was unaware that Henry was already, also in love with Diane de Poitiers. Over time, Catherine feared being repudiated because she had not produced an heir, so she consulted doctors and coerced Henry into taking different, unpleasant remedies.

During this time, Catherine had an affair with Richard, and had a baby girl with him, who became the castle 'ghost', Clarissa. To avoid questions about the baby's distinguishing birthmark, she gave the baby to Nostradamus' father. Some time later, she gave birth to Francis.

## Personality

Queen Catherine could give one the impression at times that she is a horrible woman, given her manipulative nature, and how she would resort to any measures to achieve her goals. She also has extensive knowledge of poison and is a mistress of it.

However, she is fiercely loyal to those she loves, and she would do anything for her children. Though she tried everything she could to ruin the relationship between Francis and Mary, her motivation was pure in the sense that she was trying to save her son from death. Later on, when she has the chance to escape France and flee to Italy, she stayed instead to find and rescue her younger sons when they were kidnapped.

Queen Catherine is an unpredictable, complex, and fascinating woman: no one would know for sure what to expect from her, and though her actions could be interpreted as cold and cruel, no one could question or doubt her love and devotion to her children. Her tumultuous and ultimately bittersweet relationship with Mary was also a testament to the fact that she does have a sense of compassion and decency but was forced to restrain them when she needed to in order to pursue what she deemed best for her children and her country.

## Physical Appearance

Catherine has long strawberry blonde hair which she usually wears tied up in a variety of different buns. She has hazel eyes, fair skin and she is rather short. As Queen of France, Catherine wore beautiful gowns of various colors and patterns along with matching crowns and jewelry which befitted her station as Queen. As Queen Mother, and Queen Dowager Catherine still wears beautiful clothes and jewelry which while a bit more low key color wise fit her current status at French Court. Queen Catherine's favorite color apparently is red.