Les Presses Universitaires de France and Frémeaux & Associés offer this biography of Catherine de Medici by Céline Borello, professor of modern history at the University of Le Mans and specialist in Protestantism. While tensions are very strong everywhere - we are in the 16th century, that of the Wars of Religion - Catherine de Medici is pursuing a policy of appeasement between Catholics and Protestants. Queen of France, regent and mother of monarchs, her place in the kingdom's political spectrum is unprecedented. He is also one of the most prolific patrons of his time. Accused of the worst atrocities by her contemporaries, the "filthy Jezebel" (Michelet) drags behind her a stubborn black legend. Céline Borello is leading the investigation and here sheds new light on a statesman, passionate about the arts, an attentive mother, who has marked her time through the breadth of her political and cultural action.