Off With Her Head: Catherine de Medici
Royal Scapegoats, Witchy Edition!
Welcome back to the Fascinator’s exclusive series on royal scapegoats! This series examines the lives of women who have been the subjects of blatantly biased treatment throughout history. In honor of spooky season, I’ve been releasing special installments and adding a twist—these newsletters are focused on royal women who have been accused of witchcraft.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the previous newsletters on Jacquetta of Luxembourg and Anne Boleyn—two women who were accused by their political enemies of “bewitching” the king to advance their own families. Today’s subject was accused of witchcraft on a larger scale, but for much the same reason: to undermine her power and influence.
Catherine de' Medici, a renaissance Queen of France and mother of three kings, was heavily rumored to dabble with the dark arts in her political machinations during the French Wars of Religion. Though these accusations were never formally pursued, they did damage her reputation—to the point where a show is currently running on STARZ showing Catherine consorting with dark magic to advance her goals.
Even in death, Catherine de’ Medici has been unable to escape the rumors about her supposed sorcery. Is that because there’s substance to them? Or is this another case of convenient scapegoating?