Catherine de’ Medici (Radio Edit)

You're Dead to Me

BBC

Comedy, History

4.7 • 10.9K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Greg Jenner is joined in 16th-Century France by Dr Estelle Paranque and comedian Shaparak Khorsandi to learn all about controversial queen Catherine de’ Medici.

Catherine’s life was dramatic from the moment she was born: orphaned when she was just a few weeks old, she was brought up by her uncle the Pope, and her childhood was shaped by the tumultuous politics of Renaissance Florence. At fourteen, she was married to the son of the king of France and shipped off to the French court, only to find herself involved in a literal ménage à trois with her teenage husband’s older mistress. But after her husband became king – and even more so after he died and her sons ruled France – Catherine came into her power as queen and later queen mother. And through her children and the marriages she organised for them, Catherine’s influence was even felt beyond the borders of France. She even corresponded with Tudor queen Elizabeth I!

This episode traces Catherine’s tumultuous personal and political life from orphaned child to grandmother of Europe, exploring along the way the terror of the French Wars of Religion, and asking whether the dark legend of Catherine 'the serpent queen' is deserved, or whether she has been misunderstood by history.

This is a radio edit of the original podcast episode. For the full-length version, please look further back in the feed.

Hosted by: Greg Jenner Research by: Hannah Cusworth Written by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow, Emma Nagouse, and Greg Jenner Produced by: Emmie Rose Price-Goodfellow and Greg Jenner Audio Producer: Steve Hankey Production Coordinator: Ben Hollands Senior Producer: Emma Nagouse Executive Editor: James Cook

Transcript

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0:41.3	Hello and welcome to You're Dead to Me, the Radio 4 comedy podcast that takes history seriously.
0:46.3	My name is Greg Jenner. I am a public historian, author and broadcaster. And today we are
0:50.6	grabbing out crowns and galloping back to the 16th century to learn all about the famous French queen, Catherine de Medici.
0:57.1	And to help us, we have two very special guests.
0:59.4	In History Corner, she's a associate professor in early modern history at Northeastern University London.
1:04.2	She's an expert on royal and diplomatic studies in 16th and 17th century Europe, especially queenship.
1:10.2	And luckily for us, she's also the author
1:11.8	of the incredible blood, fire and gold, the story of Elizabeth I and Catherine D'Amelici. It's Dr. Estelle
	...

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