of marrying her
favourite son, the duke of Anjou, to Queen Elizabeth of England, and her
daughter Margaret to Henry of Navarre. To this end she became reconciled
with the Protestants, and allowed Coligny to return to court and to
re-enter the council. Of this step she quickly repented. Charles IX.
conceived a great affection for the admiral and showed signs of taking
up an independent attitude. Catherine, thinking her influence menaced,
sought to regain it, first by the murder of Coligny, and, when that had
failed, by the massacre of St Bartholomew (q.v.). The whole of the
responsibility for this crime, therefore, rests with Catherine; unlike
the populace, she had not even the excuse of fanaticism. This
responsibility, however, weighed but lightly on her; while her son was
overwhelmed with remorse, she calmly enjoyed her short-lived triumph.
After the death of Charles in 1574, and the succession of Anjou under
the name of Henry III., Catherine pursued her old policy of compromise
and concessions; but as her influence is lost in that of her son, it is
unnecessary to dwell upon it. She died on the 5th of January 1589, a
short time before the assassination of Henry, and the consequent
extinction of the House of Valois. In her taste for art and her love of
magnificence and luxury, Catherine was a true Medici; her banquets at
Fontainebleau in 1564 were famous for their sumptuousness. In
architecture especially she was well versed, and Philibert de l'Orme
relates that she discussed with him the plan and decoration of her
palace of the Tuileries. Catherine's policy provoked a crowd of
pamphlets, the most celebrated being the _Discours merveilleux de la
vie, actions et deportemens de la reine Catherine de Medicis_, in which
Henri Estienne undoubtedly collaborated.

See _Lettres de Catherine de Medicis_, edited by Hector de la Ferriere
(Paris, 1880, seq.), in the _Collection de documents inedits sur
l'histoire de France_; A. von Reumont, _Die Jugend Caterinas de'
Medici_ (1854; French translation by A. Baschet, 1866); H. Bouchot,
_Catherine de Medicis_ (Paris, 1899). For a more complete bibliography
see Ernest Lavisse, _Histoire de France_ (vol. v., by H. Lemonnier,
and vol. vi., by J.H. Mariejol, 1904-1905). See also Miss E. Sichel's
books, _Catherine de' Medici and the French Reformation_ (1905), and
_The Later Years of Catherine de' Medici_ (1908).

CATHERINE OF ARAGON (1485-1536), queen of Henry VII