Catherine de' Medici, Serpent Queen

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2024

⏱️ 41 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Queen Consort of France and mother to three successive Kings, Catherine de’ Medici's legacy could have been one of intelligence, fortitude, artistic patronage and religious moderation. But instead, as with so many women in positions of power, Catherine's life and actions have been almost entirely vilified. Deemed a witch and a callous spendthrift, she is perhaps best remembered as a dangerous instigator of extreme violence, because of her contested part in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572.

In this fourth and final episode of our mini-series exploring the lives and legacy of the House of Medici, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Mary Hollingsworth, whose new book Catherine de’ Medici: The Life and Times of the Serpent Queen, tries to get to the heart of one of history's most remarkable women.

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Alice Smith, audio editor Ella Blaxill and the producer is Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Suzanne Ellipscombe, and welcome to not just the Tudors from History Hit,
0:07.0	the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Berlin to the Aztecs,
0:11.0	from Holbein to the Huguenoes, from Shakespeare to Summarise.
0:17.0	Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage, and witchcraft.
0:21.0	Not in other words, just the the Tudors but most definitely also the Tudors.
0:39.1	Queen Consul to France and Mother to three successive Kings, Catherine de Medici's legacy could be one of intelligence, fortitude, artistic patronage and religious moderation.
0:45.0	Instead, as with so many women in positions of power, Catherine's life and actions
0:51.0	have been almost entirely vilified, not least for her part in the increasingly
0:56.4	bloody French Wars of religion.
0:58.8	Deemed a witch and a callous spendthrift, she's perhaps best remembered for her contested part in the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of 1572 as a dangerous
1:08.6	instigator of extreme violence. But what do we really know of the woman known as the Serpent Queen?
1:16.0	How did her actions shape the political and cultural landscape of France
1:21.0	during one of its most critical turning points.
1:26.0	Returning to not just the tutors today is Dr Mary Hollinsworth, historian and author whose previous
1:31.2	work on the borders and the Medici has explored some of the most enduring
1:35.6	myths of the Italian Renaissance. Today we'll discuss her new book, Catherine de Medici, The life and times of the Serpent Queen,
1:44.0	and the complex and compelling story it tells of one of history's most remarkable women.
1:50.0	I'm Professor Suzanne Lipscomb, and you are listening to not just the tutors from History Hit.
1:59.3	Mary, welcome back to the podcast.
2:01.8	Thank you for having me. Well I suppose we should begin at the podcast. Thank you for having me.
2:03.1	Well, I suppose we should begin at the beginning.
2:05.5	Let's think about the world in which
	...

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