Catherine of Medici (1519–89), queen of France, is certainly one of the most famous, yet controversial, women of the Renaissance. Her faith is linked with one of the darkest chapters in the history of France: the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Even today, not all the facts that led to this massacre have been clarified, which adds to the ambiguity of Catherine's role in the events leading up to this mass murder and has given rise to “black and hagiographic legends” (1), as Malettke puts it, which have overshadowed her biography to date. This complex and unsatisfactory situation stands at the beginning of this biography, which Malettke presents as one of his later works and thus as a synopsis of his long-term research.

Malettke defines his approach in differentiation from other recent biographies on Catherine: Thierry Wanegffelen (2005) focused on her female way of wielding power; Denis Crouzet (2005) depicted her as a typical exponent of the Renaissance and a singular personality at the same time; Raphaël Dargent (2011) called her an “iron queen”; Henri Pigaillem (2018) even spoke of her “diabolic” traits. Sabine Appel's 2018 biography counts as a profound contribution to rehabilitate Catherine, but Malettke misses the latest insights there into the historical and political framework.

Beginning with a chapter on the hagiographic legends around Catherine, Malettke arranges the book in a primarily chronological and biographic approach to Catherine's life, which he studies in eight chapters along decisive stages. Malettke points out, correctly, that Catherine learned many lessons for her future life in her turbulent childhood, when she was confronted with life-threatening situations and the need to disguise her real emotions. This strategic use of emotions is of course nothing specific to Catherine, as even her contemporaries noted, who compared her to Machiavelli's prince. In particular, her duplicity, contrived with her son Henry III, is comparable to similar strategies adopted by other Renaissance couples (e.g., Isabella d'Este and Francesco II Gonzaga), a strategy that allowed them to side with different political parties while most probably collaborating with each other.

Malettke sees Catherine's greatest political mission in her efforts to achieve harmony, concordia, and to keep communication open between conflicting parties. While he sees this attitude rooted in her Renaissance culture, it is at the same time one of the most outstanding political roles of women, who, from the Middle Ages, were ambassadors and mediators par excellence in political culture. In her personal life, Catherine shared many of the challenges of her peers: arriving as a stranger at a new court at the young age of fourteen; enduring the presence of her husband's mistress and the pressure to bear an heir, overshadowed by her very long childlessness. What makes her situation certainly more singular is the contingent fact that she served as a regent for her husband and for three of her sons, a historical circumstance which added to her immense political influence.

The book is inspired by a dual perspective: first of all, it is in many aspects an apology of Catherine's political actions; second, it contributes to a better understanding of French history in the second half of the sixteenth century. While the book displays a profound political approach, inspired also by a keen eye for the cultural history of politics, it refrains from adopting a gender-historical view. However, in looking at Catherine's personal biography and integrating her individual experiences with the structural parameters of her time, Malettke offers many insights which are revealing for gender-historical questions. While choosing a chronological approach may meet expectations centered on the genre of a biography, this structure creates some chapter lengths that make for cumbersome reading at times. The author's sympathy is certainly with Catherine, yet he strives to present and discuss concurring views and above all relies on what is known from the sources. Refraining from speculations and from craving for sensation, ascriptions which are all too easily attributed to women of power, Malettke offers a very balanced and nuanced biography, which convincingly considers Catherine as a woman and an individual of her time.