Becarefulouis and Mary Queen of Scots...

If Becarefulouis could travel back in time, she'd be in...............................

the 16th century, in France.

The seventeenth century saw the beginnings of France in modern times.

The kingdom of France in the sixteenth century was rich, strong and well- governed.

It was a respected power between the Holy Roman Empire and Spain Dominated by the Habsburgs.

But after 1550, new challenges were emerging : the succession of kings Laws under the regency of Catherine de Medicis and the country was torn by religious wars between Catholics and Protestants.

The first battlefield would be Italy, where French kings fought several wars leading to the disaster of Pavia.  

 

 

At this time everything was recent: invention of printing, and arts and the cultural influence of Italy brought a cultural and artistic revival: the Renaissance.

This is the moment of the greatest inventions and great discoveries.

The Loire valley was adorned with  palaces all more sumptious  than each other.

Going back to religious wars : those religious wars began in 1562 and continued, interspersed with periods of peace until 1598, with the establishment of the Edict of Nantes.

 During this time, the character of Catherine de Medicis was often linked to the religious wars of the sixteenth century, specifically the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Many historians and politicians over the centuries accused her of being responsible.

 

Similarly, she is often considered as an evil queen who, in the image that one has of Italy at the time, instead of all the vices and all the tricks, used  poisons and increased the plots and the intrigues to achieve her goals of personal power.

 

 

 

Life of Catherine de Medicis in some words :

 

By her marriage to the future King Henry II, she became Dauphine and Duchess of Brittany from 1536 to 1547, then queen of France from 1547 to 1559. Mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX, Henry III of queens Elizabeth (Queen of Spain ) and Marguerite, she governs France as queen mother and regent from 1560 to 1563.

 

 

 

Some anecdotes about Catherine de Medicis :

 

• She had carried the Rod Rose (scepter of the queens of France) in the tomb of Saint-Denis in her death, because she was jealous of the other queens and she wanted this scepter for her)

• Superstitious and indulging in spiritualist practices, she was surrounded by mediums, including the famous Nostradamus.
  
  

She is the person I would like to meet if I could travel  back in time because I think she was a courageous queen and she is considered one of the greatest Queen of France.

 

By the way I invite you to watch the series Reign, which retraces the life of the queen, of her kingdom and her children, especially Francis and Mary, her fiance.

It is certainly not always conform to reality regarding the places, the costumes, the deaths of certain characters but it's still a good series that gives us a little culture about France.

Here 's a little trailer, enjoy.

 

                              

 

How to understand this trailer :

You can see first Mary Stuart, the futurewife of Francis, Catherine's son.

And then you see « Lola » as Mary said, she is Mary's friend and by the way her ladies-in-waiting.

« Take off your shoes come on ! Dance with me ! » said Mary. [David Bowie said that too in his hit song Let's Dance  Mrs P.]

At this moment you can see Francis, Catherine's son and Mary's husband who seems a little bit... surprised... of the courage of his future wife (they've known each other since they were six and they promised their love and now they are going to be married.)

She brings all her friends and they dance, by the way the song is « Back to you » by Twin Forks. At 0:35 you can see Henri...

Just beside him, his mistress, Diane de Poitiers.

Then you can see Catherine de Medicis « wherever run by scots ».

 

Just after you can see Sebastian, they  called him Bash.

 

You can notice that he is watching Mary as if watching someone he loves.

 

And then Francis again, and after some flashbacks between Francis and Mary when they were young.

 

Don't forget to comment below, you will have bonus points from Mrs P.

 

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