Catherine de’ Medici – Queen of France

Florentine girl was the mother of three French kings

Cristofano dell'Altissimo's portrait of
Catherine de' Medici, in the Uffizi

Catherine de’ Medici, who married King Henry II of France and gave birth to the three subsequent Kings of France, was born on this day in 1519 in Florence.

Because of her influence over France during the period of the French-Huguenot wars, Catherine is said to have been one of the most important people in Europe during the 16th century.

She was the daughter of Lorenzo de’ Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de La Tour d’Auvergne, but within a month of her birth, both her parents had become ill and died.

Her paternal grandmother, Alfonsina Orsini cared for her initially, but after her death, Catherine was brought up by her aunt, Clarice de’ Medici.

After her uncle, Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici, was elected Pope Clement VII in 1523, he hosted Catherine in stately surroundings in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence.

But in 1527, the Medici were overthrown in Florence and Catherine was taken hostage by Pope Clement VII’s enemies and housed in a series of convents.

The three-year period while she was living in the convent of the Santissima Annunziata delle Murate is believed to have been the happiest of her life and the time in which her interest in plants and Tuscan food was fostered. 

It was also a period of great danger for Catherine, as Clement VII had crowned Archduke Charles V of Austria as Holy Roman Emperor in return for his help taking the city.

A depiction of the marriage of Catherine de'
Medici to Henry II of France, in 1533

Charles began to lay siege to Florence and after a while some Florentines called for Catherine to be killed and for her body to be displayed on the walls of the city.

However, the city surrendered to Charles in 1530, and afterwards Clement VII summoned Catherine to Rome where he was said to have greeted her with ‘open arms and tears in his eyes’.

Clement VII then decided to find a suitable husband for Catherine and he accepted the offer from King Francis I of France, who had suggested his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans. The pontiff regarded this as a good match for Catherine, who was not of royal birth, despite her wealth. 

The wedding took place in Marseille in 1533, when Catherine was still only 14. Three years later, after Henry’s older brother, Francis II, died, Catherine’s husband became heir to the French throne.

The pressure was on for Catherine to produce an heir, and after more than ten years of marriage she gave birth to a son, Francis. Catherine then went on to have another nine children, another two of whom were to become kings of France.

Francis became King Francis II of France and he married Mary Queen of Scots. He died in 1558 and was succeeded by his brother, Charles, who became Charles IX of France and married Elizabeth of Austria. After Charles died in 1574, he was succeeded by his brother, Henry, who became Henry III of France and married Louise of Lorraine. He reigned until he was assassinated in 1589. He had survived his mother by just eight months.

A portrait of Catherine de' Medici
wearing a widow's black cap and veil

Catherine had died in January 1589, probably of pleurisy. She was buried in Blois at first, but her remains were later interred at the Saint Denis basilica in Paris at the request of her husband’s long-time mistress, Diane de Poitiers.  But in 1789, a revolutionary mob tossed Catherine’s bones into a mass grave in Paris along with those of other former kings and queens.

During the reigns of all three of her sons, Catherine played a big part in ruling France. When Charles IX became king at just ten years old, she was appointed Governor of France and had sweeping powers. She also played a key role during the reign of her third son, Henry III. She is said to have taken a hard line against the Calvinist Protestants, known as Huguenots. She has been blamed by historians for her part in the St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in 1572 when thousands of Huguenots were killed.

There is a long-held belief that Catherine de’ Medici had a strong influence on the cuisine of France by introducing Italian recipes, although this is disputed.

Proponents of this story claim Catherine brought in Italian chefs to the royal kitchen, who introduced the use of herbs and spices from Italy and Catherine’s favourite vegetables, which were not being served in France at the time. Some of today’s classic French recipes are said to have their origins in Tuscan cooking.

However, some experts say France already had a sophisticated cuisine of its own.

Florence's Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore,
with Brunelleschi's enormous brick-built dome

Travel tip: 

The founder of the Medici dynasty, Catherine’s ancestor, Cosimo de’ Medici, became Europe’s richest banker and a great art patron, supporting Fra Angelico, Donatello, Ghiberti, and many others. He also had a great influence on the skyline of Florence by encouraging Filippo Brunelleschi to complete his great dome for Florence’s cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore. The largest dome of its time, it was built without scaffolding and given an inner shell to provide a platform for the timbers that support the outer shell. The architect died in 1446 before it was completed, but his dome remains to this day the largest masonry dome in the world.

The Murate monastery complex now houses bars,
shops, apartments and a restaurant 

Travel tip:

It is said that Catherine de’ Medici’s happiest time was spent living as a young girl in the 15th century convent of the Santissima Annunziata delle Murate in Florence. It was there she is said to have become interested in plants and cookery. Once a closed, religious community, the convent, between Via Ghibellina and Via Agnolo near Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, became a men’s prison for many years, and is where Carlo Levi, the doctor and politician, who wrote Cristo e fermato a Eboli, was held during the Fascist era. It has now been converted into a restaurant and cultural hub following designs by Renzo Piano.

Also on this day:

1808: The birth of engineer and inventor Antonio Meucci

1920: The birth of banker Roberto Calvi

1928: The birth of racing driver Giannino Marzotto

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Pope Gregory XI returns the papacy to Rome

Important date in Roman and papal history

Pope Gregory XI was the last French pope
and the last to rule from Avignon

The French Pope, Gregory XI, returned the papacy to Rome, against the wishes of France and several of his cardinals, on this day in 1377.

The move back to Rome was a highly significant act in history as the papacy, from that date onwards, was to remain in the city.

Gregory was born Pierre-Roger De Beaufort in Limoges. He was the last French pope, and he was also the last pope to reign from Avignon, where he had been unanimously elected in 1370.

He immediately gave consideration to returning the papacy to Rome in order to conduct negotiations for reuniting the Eastern and Western Churches and to maintain papal territories against a Florentine revolt being led by the powerful Visconti family.

But Gregory had to shelve his Roman plan temporarily in order to strive for peace between England and France after another phase in the Hundred Years’ War started.

However, in 1375, he defeated Florence in its war against the Papal States and the following year, he listened to the pleas of the mystic Catherine of Siena, later to become a patron saint of Italy, to move the papacy back to Rome.

Giovanni di Paolo's painting depicts the meeting
of Catherine of Siena with Gregory XI at Avignon

After peace was concluded against Florence, Gregory returned the papal court to Rome, entering the city on 17 January 1377, ending nearly 70 years of popes residing in Avignon.

His last few months in Rome were marred by conflict and at one stage he had to flee to Anagni, a town outside the city. Gregory died in March 1377 in Rome and was interred in the church of Santa Maria Nuova.

But the move back to Rome he brought about was important in papal history. Since then, the papacy, despite the reigns of antipopes in other cities, has always remained in Rome.

After Gregory’s death, the College of Cardinals was threatened by a Roman mob that broke into the voting chamber to try to force an Italian pope into the papacy.

The Italians chose Urban VI, but the Cardinals were against him and withdrew to Fondi, the city between Rome and Naples that was the home of the powerful Caetani family, where they annulled the election of Urban and elected a French pope, Clement VII.

This election of rival popes caused the split known as the Western Schism, forcing Europe into a dilemma about papal allegiance.

The Schism was not resolved fully until the Council of Constance was held by the College of Cardinals between 1414 and 1418. The Council deposed both popes and elected the Roman-born Martin V.

After a long stay in Florence, Martin V entered Rome in 1420 and immediately set to work restoring order and repairing dilapidated churches and palaces.

The papal residence in Anagni was a retreat for many
popes seeking refuge from Rome

Travel tip:

Anagni, where Pope Gregory XI briefly sought refuge, is an ancient town in the province of Frosinone in Lazio. It is south east of Rome in an area known as Ciociaria, named after the primitive footwear, ciocie, a type of sandal, worn by people living in the area. During medieval times many popes chose to reside in Anagni, considering it safer and healthier than Rome. The town produced four popes, the last one being Boniface VIII, who was hiding out there in 1303 when he received the famous Anagni slap, delivered by an angry member of the fiercely antipapal Colonna family after he refused to abdicate. After his death the power of the town declined and the papal court was transferred to Avignon. The medieval Palace of Boniface VIII, is near the Cathedral in the centre of the town. Close by there is a restaurant named Lo Schiaffo - The Slap.

Gregory XI's tomb at the Basilica di Santa
Francesca Romana, near the Roman Forum

Travel tip:

The church of Santa Maria Nuova, where Pope Gregory XI is buried, adjoins the Roman Forum and is now known as the Basilica di Santa Francesca Romana, off the piazza of the same name. The tomb of Pope Gregory XI is in the south transept of the church and was reconstructed in 1584 to a design by Per Paulo Oliviero.

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Lazzaro Ponticelli – war veteran

Wounded soldier survived to set records for longevity

Lazzaro Ponticelli as a young
soldier in the First World War

Lazzaro Ponticelli, who became the oldest living man of Italian birth and the oldest man living in France, was born on this day in 1897 in a frazione of Bettola in Emilia-Romagna.

Before his death at the age of 110 years and 79 days, Ponticelli was the last surviving officially recognised veteran of the First World War from France and the last infantry man from its trenches to die.

He had moved to France at the age of eight to join his family who had gone there to find work. At the age of 16, he lied about his age to join the French army in 1914.

Ponticelli was transferred against his will to the Italian army when Italy entered the war the following year. He enlisted in the 3rd Alpini regiment and saw service against the Austro-Hungarian army at Mount Pal Piccolo on the Italian border with Austria.

At one stage he was wounded by a shell but continued firing his machine gun although blood was running into his eyes.

He spoke of a period when fighting ceased for three weeks and the two armies swapped loaves of bread for tobacco and took photographs of each other, as many of them could speak each other's language.

The Ponticelli Brothers' headquarters in a Paris suburb

After the war Ponticelli founded a piping and metal work company with his brothers. As of 2017, Ponticelli Brothers was still in business.

They produced supplies for the war effort during the First World War and Ponticelli also worked with the French Resistance against the Nazis. He managed the company until his retirement in 1960.

Every Armistice Day until 2007 Ponticelli attended ceremonies honouring deceased veterans. But in his later years he also criticised war.

He said he felt unworthy of the state funeral the French Government offered him, but eventually accepted it. He asked for the occasion to focus on the many ordinary soldiers who died on the battlefield.

Ponticelli pictured in
2007, aged 109

He died in France on 12 March 2008 at the age of 110 years and 79 days, at the home he shared with his daughter in Kremlin-Bicetre, a suburb of Paris.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy honoured Ponticelli’s wish and dedicated a plaque to the soldiers who had been killed in battle during the super centurion’s funeral.

On the first Armistice Day after his death, the street where he had lived was renamed Rue de Verdun-Lazare-Ponticelli in his honour.

Travel tip:

Lazzaro Ponticelli was born in Cordani, a frazione - the Italian equivalent of a ward or parish - of Bettola in the province of Piacenza in Emilia-Romagna. It is claimed that the explorer Christopher Columbus was born in the nearby frazione of Pradello and the main square of Bettola is named Piazza Colombo.

Remains still exist of military positions built on
Mount Pal Piccolo during the First World War

Travel tip:

During the First World War, Lazzaro Ponticelli fought in a series of furious battles against the Austro-Hungarian army at Mount Pal Piccolo in the region of Udine. An open air museum has been created on Mount Pal Piccolo where you can visit Italian and Austro-Hungarian military installations. For more information visit www.itinerarigrandeguerra.com.

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