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Catherine I

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Catherine was born the daughter of a powerful Italian prince from the Medici family in the year 1519. Shortly after Catherine was born her mother passed due to a fever. Not very long after that, her father left her an orphan at less than a month of age. She was raised by her father’s Roman relatives including Pope Leo X and Pope Clement the VIII. During this time the Italian Wars took place, and both Popes Leo X and Clement VIII were heavily involved in the events that went on. When Catherine was eight the German army of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V took control of Rome. The citizens of Florence chose to take advantage of this time and captured Catherine in the hopes of using the Medici name to restore their republic. Her uncle, Clement …show more content…

At the time the reformation began, France was full of demobilized and unpaid soldiers, and many peasants found themselves with heavy tax burdens. The Catalyst preachers found themselves a common and receptive audience with the message of uncorrupted faith in their government. Huguenot nobleman started a plan to overthrow and take control of Francis II’s court. They even managed to win the support of England's new protestant queen, Elizabeth I, and took action almost immediately. Their first attack started in the city of Amboise, where their military uprising failed and the Huguenot leaders were arrested by the Royal Army. In the presence of Queen Catherine and her children, 57 of the Protestant reformation leaders were hanged or beheaded. However this message of retribution did little to end the conflict between the people of France. It led to many more uprisings, and amongst the chaos Queen Catherine's son, Francis II, was murdered, bringing her other son Charles to the throne. He became known as King Charles …show more content…

Catherine and Charles tried to avoid joining either side. The religious war became even more complicated due to the English involvement and support of the alliance with the huguenots, and complications that existed due to blood feuds of major noble families. This began when the Huguenot leader Admiral Gaspard de Coligny ordered the assassination the Duke of Guise. While the fighting continued into the late 1560s, Huguenot armies continued mercilessly attacking convents and monasteries, torturing and killing their inhabitants. While Catholic forces, equally as cruel, began to slay Huguenots from many

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