Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), the Italian-born Queen of France was the daughter of Lorenzo, duke of Urbino, grandson of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and the French Countess, Madeleine de la Tour D'Auvergne. Catherine grew up around the artistic splendors of the Medici villas and took particular delight in the banquets, balls, triomfi and intermezzi given by her powerful Florentine relatives. In 1533, as part of an Italian-French dynastic alliance, Catherine was married to Henri, duke of Orleans (the future Henri II). In a letter to her future father-in -law, Catherine stated that she greatly enjoyed Italian court dances, and hoped that she might be allowed to learn those of the French court, of which she had heard glowing reports.
Catherine, influenced by her Medici heritage, imported Italian artists, poets, musicians and dancing masters to the French court (among these was Balthazar Beaujoyeulx). As Queen and Queen Mother, she was actively involved in the planning and staging of many of the court spectacles. As the Valois court spectacles developed over the years, they included more and more dance, in an attempt to show, by means of the collaboration of music, verse and dance, the essence of peace and harmony.
The ancient Greek concept of the cosmic dance was incorporated into the Renaissance worldview. The motions of the dancers were understood to mirror the harmony and order to the celestial bodies. Dance, therefore could establish order out of chaos and bring peace and harmony to those involved in the event, either as participants or spectators. Catherine de Medici, fully believed in the transformative and restorative power of dance as it existed within the context of the court spectacle. By using dance as a political tool in the Valois court fetes, Catherine hoped to put an end to the religious strife between the warring Catholics and Huguenots, to establish a policy of religious tolerance in France, and to illustrate the wisdom, beneficence, and power of the Valois monarchy and the French state.
Material evidence remains for five of the Valois court fetes sponsored by Catherine de' Medici: These are the festivals at Fontainebleau and Bayonne, Le Paradis d'Amour, Balet des Polonais, and Le Balet Comique de la Reine.
*Lydia Joel, "Catherine de' Medici, Parts I and II, in Dance Magazine
For more on Catherine de Medici see Francis Yates, The Valois Tapestries. and Roy Strong,Art and Power. (Click here to return to text)