The Royals
Great Kates in History
From real-life queens to Hollywood royalty, meet the other women who've created a lasting legacy
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CATHERINE DE MÉDICI
1519–1589
Legacy: Mother of three kings of France
Behind every great man, there's a great woman was never more true than in the case of Catherine de Médici. The Italian-born, Roman Catholic royal became queen of France in 1547, when her husband Henry II ascended the throne. But it was her political cunning, which set off the bloody St. Batholomew's Day Massacre, that put her in the history books – and three sons on the French throne.
