Catherine de' Medici (1519–1589) was queen consort of King Henry II of
France from 1547 to 1559. Throughout Henry II's reign, he excluded
Catherine from influence and instead showered favours on his mistress,
Diane de Poitiers. Henry's death in 1559 thrust Catherine into the
political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis
II. When he died in 1560, she became regent on behalf of her
ten-year-old son King Charles IX and was granted sweeping powers. After
Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of her
third son, Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last
months of her life. Catherine's three sons reigned in an age of almost
constant civil and religious war in France. The problems facing the
monarchy were complex and daunting. At first, Catherine compromised and
made concessions to the rebelling Protestants, or Huguenots, as they
became known. Later, she resorted in frustration and anger to hard-line
policies against them. Her policies may be seen as desperate measures
to keep the Valois monarchy on the throne at all costs, and her
spectacular patronage of the arts as an attempt to glorify a monarchy
whose prestige was in steep decline. Without Catherine, it is unlikely
that her sons would have remained in power. The years in which they
reigned have been called "the age of Catherine de' Medici".
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de%27_Medici>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1542:
Explorer Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo became the first European to set foot
on Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Catalina_Island%2C_California>
1571:
The Ottoman Empire was decisively defeated by the Christian West for
the first time, as a multinational fleet led by Don John of Austria
crushed the Turkish navy near the Gulf of Corinth in the Battle of
Lepanto .
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto_%281571%29>
1849:
American writer and poet Edgar Allan Poe died under mysterious
circumstances at Washington Medical College after being found four days
earlier on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland, in a delirious and
incoherent state.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Edgar_Allan_Poe>
1967:
Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader Che Guevara was captured
near La Higuera, Bolivia.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara>
2003:
Californians voted to recall Governor Gray Davis from office and
elected Arnold Schwarzenegger from a list of 135 candidates.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
firebrand (n):
1. An argumentative troublemaker or revolutionary; one who agitates
against the current situation.
2. A torch or other burning stick with a flame at one end
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/firebrand>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Chaos needs no allies, for it dwells like a poison in every one of us.
--Steven Erikson
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Steven_Erikson>
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