History vs. Fiction: Or, What Did Catherine Do?

[Pop Tart]

Use this thread to compare real historical events with how you think they may play out on the show. 

[Razzberry]

I don't know a lot about Catherine's life other than the bare essentials, but I'm always interested to learn so I'm grateful for this thread and for Wikipedia lol.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de'_Medici

"The wedding, a grand affair marked by extravagant display and gift-giving,[19] took place in the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille on 28 October 1533.[20] Prince Henry danced and jousted for Catherine. The fourteen-year-old couple left their wedding ball at midnight to perform their nuptial duties. Henry arrived in the bedroom with King Francis, who is said to have stayed until the marriage was consummated. He noted that "each had shown valour in the joust".[19] Clement visited the newlyweds in bed the next morning and added his blessings to the night's proceedings."

I didn't realize they were both just fourteen.

[Razzberry]

I can't find anything about Pope Clement VII having asshole problems other than Henry VIII who wanted him to grant a divorce.

[PinkRibbons]

I'm listening to the book the show is based on (wild btw, I'm listening to it on Scribd and I saved the book the night the show premiered - in that time the cover dramatically changed from an actual painting of Catherine to this show's poster), and while it doesn't grab me the way the Tudors story does (I think mostly because as far as characters in history go, Catherine was the only really interesting one in her story, as opposed to the entire Tudor clan), it's informative and interesting.

Anyway I bring it up because I'm pretty sure (like 80%) that the...tushy problems were actually an affliction of a slightly earlier Pope (also possibly a Medici one, I've already forgotten). Composite character work, which is fair.

I cannot wait to see how this show portrays Margot and Catherine's apparent hatred of her. I feel like they will go there without hesitancy.

[Spartan Girl]

You know even though the relationship between Henri and Diane would be grooming by today ‘s standards, that shouldn’t excuse what an asshole he was to Catherine, basically giving Diane all the jewels, all the queen’s rights and honors, and even giving her charge of all the kids. I really hope this show has Catherine call Henri out on being an asshole instead of making her a Love Martyr. 

[PinkRibbons]

Henri was a complete asshole when it came to how he treated Diane as de facto queen. He had the makings of a great king, being genuinely kind and chivalrous and a decent ruler. His obsession with Diane was not seen well by basically anyone near him. There's having an Official Mistress, but that title had its own decorum and deference to the Queen. Henri somehow didn't see how incredibly bad he looked embarrassing his wife like that. Hell, Henry VIII kept his mistresses discreet until Anne Boleyn, so as not to harm Catherine of Aragon's respect or standing.

Catherine did get the last laugh since her playing up the Love Martyr side of things made the public way more predisposed to liking her while Diane was hated. Diane got really greedy for jewels and power as time went on. Meanwhile Catherine was knocking her role out of the park by acting with perfect refinement, building up goodwill, and most importantly giving Henri 10 kids, about half of them boys. Even though she was a foreigner (which would dog her later on) and technically a commoner, Diane's disgusting contrast to her got Catherine a lot of empathy from the common folk. This gave her a huge jumpstart when she basically took over the kingdom.

Also Henri wasn't even cold before Catherine basically stripped Diane naked and threw her ass out. I am so looking forward to seeing that.

[taanja]

On 9/14/2022 at 12:42 PM, Razzberry said:

I don't know a lot about Catherine's life other than the bare essentials, but I'm always interested to learn so I'm grateful for this thread and for Wikipedia lol.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de'_Medici

"The wedding, a grand affair marked by extravagant display and gift-giving,[19] took place in the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille on 28 October 1533.[20] Prince Henry danced and jousted for Catherine. The fourteen-year-old couple left their wedding ball at midnight to perform their nuptial duties. Henry arrived in the bedroom with King Francis, who is said to have stayed until the marriage was consummated. He noted that "each had shown valour in the joust".[19] Clement visited the newlyweds in bed the next morning and added his blessings to the night's proceedings."

I didn't realize they were both just fourteen.

Also they were married for 10 full years before Catherine became pregnant for the first time. 10 years! The show made seem like a year at most.

[Toby Bruce]

On 9/14/2022 at 8:42 PM, Razzberry said:

I don't know a lot about Catherine's life other than the bare essentials, but I'm always interested to learn so I'm grateful for this thread and for Wikipedia lol.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_de'_Medici

"The wedding, a grand affair marked by extravagant display and gift-giving,[19] took place in the Église Saint-Ferréol les Augustins in Marseille on 28 October 1533.[20] Prince Henry danced and jousted for Catherine. The fourteen-year-old couple left their wedding ball at midnight to perform their nuptial duties. Henry arrived in the bedroom with King Francis, who is said to have stayed until the marriage was consummated. He noted that "each had shown valour in the joust".[19] Clement visited the newlyweds in bed the next morning and added his blessings to the night's proceedings."

I didn't realize they were both just fourteen.

I also don't know too much about Catherine's life (thanks for wiki link!) and haven't watched the show yet. However, I am already surprised that they are 14 years old here! I will go look for the show to watch and write my version of the event in the thread. Recently, I began to watch various scientific, including historical or documentary shows and films. In fact, it has become an additional source of information for the study of history. I often used Edubirdie for various written assignments, here https://www.aresearchguide.com/edubirdie-review.html I learned about this service. I often get bored writing history assignments, so reading this review saved me. But I must admit that when I watched a few documentary shows, studying history became much more interesting, and writing assignments on my own also became more manageable. I think it's worth using such different methods to broaden your horizons, as well as to have a holistic view of the past better.

I also don't know too much about Catherine's life (thanks for wiki link!) and haven't watched the show yet. However, I am already surprised that they are 14 years old here! I will go look for the show to watch and write my version of the event in the thread.

Edited June 17, 2023 by Toby Bruce