1. Les Châteaux de la Loire
Il était une fois…
(Once upon a time there was)

2. A little girl named Catherine de Medici who was born to Duc Lorenzo de Medici and Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne on April 13th, 1519 in Florence Italy. Unfortunately, due to tragic events, her mother died in April of that same year and her father in May!
Shocking!

3. Catherine was now orphaned but she belonged to a very powerful family in Italy and with strong ties to the Catholic Church.
Her Uncle Guilio, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, recognized her importance since her mother was of French nobility and so made sure that she continued to be cared for and protected. He would later use her for political leverage…the plot thickens!

4. Political unrest in Florence overthrows the powerful Medici family that Catherine belongs to…, Catherine becomes a prisoner!
She is sent to convents where she is taught by the nuns to read complicated text and write with intelligence and clarity…
She becomes one of the most learned women of her time!

5. Uncle Guilio becomes POPE!
Pope Clement the VII! He regains power and strikes an agreement with the French King François I to marry his second son Henri II to Catherine de Medici who was only 14 years old.

6. Meantime…
Henri II is a player! He has an older brother so he is not the Dauphin, first born destined to be a king. So he hangs out at “royal court” having a good time with his buds.

7. Along comes Diane de Poitier
Along comes Diane de Poitier! Beautiful, smart, and known to bathe every day! Henri is smitten (in love)! And Diane is French…Catherine, is Italian and she isn’t very popular with the French people. Everyone loves Diane.

8. Catherine is devastated!
She is not very attractive, has unusually large bulging eyes (a characteristic of the Medici Family) and rather dumpy!

9. Incredibly, Henri II’s brother dies
Incredibly, Henri II’s brother dies! Suddenly, Henri is to be the future king. This now means that Catherine will be queen as well. When François I dies in 1547, Henri II becomes king and to add insult to injury takes on the following emblem to mark his architectural accomplishments… Whose name do you see? Diane, Henri, and Catherine! She is put on the same level as her husbands mistress!

10. Catherine sees RED. She has only one way to get even… she gets to work to assure that she provides an heir to the throne. She has ten children in all. But unfortunately, three would die at birth…, and none of her sons would provide an heir to the throne. It appeared as though Catherine was cursed!

11. When Henri II dies in a terrible jousting accident, Catherine kicks Diane out of her favorite château, Chateau Chenonceau. The château was given to Diane as a gift from the late king, Henri II.

12. Diane is forced to live out the rest of her days in Château Chaumont along a cold and windy cliff.