ABSTRACT
Very little is known about the early childhood of Catherine de Medici, born on a Wednesday morning, April 13, 1519, of the marriage of Lorenzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d’Auvergne. The cruelly premature death of Lorenzo de Medici finally put an end to French influence in Italy, which had already been more than threatened by the secret treaty, signed on January 17, 1519, between Leo X and Don Carlos, who was to become the Emperor Charles V, and which was to confirm that of 1512. The death of Lorenzo de Medici prepared the way for the return to the policy of Julius II. The sacking of Rome in 1527 was the factual result of the Ghibelline mistake, which had led to the loss of Pavia. Even Reumont and Baschet, who minutely explored the archives of Florence, Venice, and Rome, are vague and confused regarding the orphan’s infancy.
