Her father was Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino and ruler of Florence and her mother was Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, cousin of Francis I, King of France. Catherine's mother died when she was ...

Catherine de’ Medici was born a piece on a political chessboard ... The bride’s father-in-law, the king of France, was ...

And Catherine de'Medici, Queen of France, made sure she was informed of the intrigues at court by expressly employing a group of pretty young women to engage in pillow talk with gullible male ...

Even so, fork use started to spread throughout Italy. When Catherine de’ Medici arrived in France in 1533, she attempted to popularize fork usage. While Catherine did much to Italianize French ...