Although kept on a leash by the Emperor Charles V, Cosimo I completes Florence's consolidation of the rest of Tuscany...except for one hold-out.

Now secure in his reign, Cosimo sets about building something like a modern state. But was he a reformer, a tyrant, or something in-between?

In the wake of Alessandro de' Medici's assassination, the Medici family's country cousin Cosimo becomes the new duke. Right away, he has to fight for his throne and prove that he is no pawn.

The Wars of Religion reaches its crescendo with a three-way struggle, and Catherine watches as her most beloved child makes a horrific and bloody mistake that would prove too much for her to bear. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon. You can also drop some change in the tip jar and see my other work here.

Henri tries to get comfortable as king surrounded by his minions and scholars while Catherine's problem son, François d'Alençon, helps cause the Wars of Religion to break out again. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon. You can also drop some change in the tip jar and see my other work here.

With an atrocity between them, Catherine de' Medici's relationship with her son King Charles IX falls apart. She can take pride in her favorite son Henri's election as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, although unfortunately her beloved child decides he hates his new job.

Catherine de' Medici and King Charles IX lash out against perceived enemies only to release a horror beyond their control, one that will stain Catherine's image forever.

Catherine seems to have finally ended the religious civil war, a lasting peace that would be sealed with the marriage of her glamorous daughter Margot and the Protestant great hope Henri de Bourbon. But no one saw the storm that was coming... Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon.

The war between Catholics and Protestants in France finally erupts in earnest. Catherine travels across France with Charles IX to try to calm the volcano, but her own patience with the increasingly desperate Protestants is wearing thin...

Catherine de' Medici takes the reins under the novel title of Governess of France. Just as she assumes power, a crisis that will overshadow the rest of her life begins to take shape. 

Catherine de' Medici's chronically ill son is now King François II of France. Rather than getting to enjoy the perks of being a king's mother, she finds herself caught having to deal with not only the growing tensions between Catholic and Huguenot, but the feud between two powerful families, the Guises and the Bourbons. (Note that I'm going on hiatus until late January. Also, apologies for the sound issue where there's an occasional noise outside my voice. I think I identified the cause...

Now queen of France, Catherine de' Medici is forced to form a somewhat unorthodox household with her husband Henri and Diane de Poitiers. Meanwhile religious persecution and violence have been growing, and Henri prepares to once again face his and his father's nemesis, Emperor Charles V.  Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon.

Far from a fairly tale life, to secure her future Catherine de' Medici must overcome snobbery at the royal court, anti-Italian racism, escalating religious and political tensions, her husband's bizarre love for his own surrogate mother Diane de Poitiers, and even her own body's seeming inability to get pregnant with an heir to the French throne.  Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon.

Catherine de' Medici has just married into the monarchy of France, arguably the oldest surviving Catholic Christian monarchy in Europe. So it's a good time to ask the question that would shape Catherine's life: how was it that a monarchy that barred women and their children from the crown also had a long history of powerful women guiding it?  Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon.

From the start of her life, the orphaned Catherine's life was marred by politics. First, she was destined to be a figurehead for her great-uncle's territorial ambitions. Then she was a hostage blamed for the crimes of her family, and next a pawn on the royal marriage market. No one could have guessed that the future had grander things in store for her than just a marriage to some prince... Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast...

Duke Alessandro de' Medici enters a deadly contest with his cousin, Cardinal Ippolito. The real threat, however, may be closer to home. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon 

For our 50th episode, I give an overview of how the Medici went from being just one of several powerful banking families to joining the ranks of European royalty and high nobility. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon 

Just a brief update on the latest way the Worst Summer Of My Life has messed with me and what that means for the podcast along with what's in store with future episodes.

We leave the Medici papacy behind and look at the life and times of Alessandro de' Medici, the first Medici de facto ruler of Florence and (possibly) a black head of state in Renaissance Europe. The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support the podcast on Patreon and check out my blog/newsletter here.

Pope Clement VII sells his soul to Emperor Charles V to get back Florence. Part of the bargain includes Clement essentially signing off on the death warrant of the Republic of Florence.

Lorenzo the Magnificent's granddaughter Clarice triggers a coup in Florence just by berating the man in charge. Meanwhile Pope Clement is driven to hide in a derelict palace in the mountains and receives an unwelcome visitor all the way from England. The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support us at Patreon.

Pope Clement tries once more to loosen Emperor Charles V's grip on Italy, another revolution in Florence is narrowly avoided through one man's incompetence, and the stage is set for one of modern history's most notorious war-time atrocities.

Clement VII brings back the artistic glories of Renaissance Rome, but disaster for himself, his family, and for Rome looms overhead.  The theme music is "La Disperata", composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles. Check out pictures, bibliographies, and more at http://www.medicipodcast.com. Support us at Patreon.

After Leo X's sudden death, the Medici are briefly out of power in the papacy. In the meantime, Emperor Charles V changes the landscape of European politics by getting elected as Holy Roman Emperor, and the fate of the Medici family is put in the hands of an orphaned, illegitimate son. Check out images, maps, genealogies, and more at medicipodcast.com. Support me on Patreon