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

_______________________________ 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

_____________________________ 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

___________________________ 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