Politics is fractured in France these days. Extremists on the Left and the Right are in the ascendant and the centre struggles to hold. Yet things could be worse. Mary Hollingsworth’s biography of Catherine de’ Medici takes us back to a time in French history that makes the Fifth Republic seem harmonious by comparison.

Hollingsworth has written widely on the politics and cultural patronage of Italian noble families. She brings that perspective to bear on this new biography. Born in Italy into the illustrious Medici family, Catherine lived from 1519 to 1589 and became successively dauphine, queen consort, regent and queen mother of France. The book covers her early life in Florence, a city turbulent with dynastic and political conflicts. It then traces her marriage in 1533 to Henry of Orléans, the second son of King Francis I of France, who became, after his elder brother’s death in 1536, heir to the throne. Catherine got on very well with her father-in-law, even as she had to cope with her husband’s relationship with his mistress Diane de Poitiers. Henry’s accession in 1547 made Catherine queen, and Hollingsworth provides a vivid portrait of her life during her twelve years as consort. She had already fulfilled her chief duty, securing the succession, with the birth of her son Francis in January 1544; she went on to provide Henry with a further nine children.

Henry’s death on 10 July 1559 brought her into the front line of French government and dynastic politics as regent for her son Francis II, who was still a child. Hollingsworth confirms the views of Nicola Sutherland and the late Robert Knecht that Catherine’s love for her husband and respect