Serpent Queen – Venomous Power Grab
Based on Leonie Frieda’s 2004 biography, Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France, Serpent Queen, a Starz mini-series, follows Catherine de Medici (Samantha Morton). We first see her as a teenager unexpectedly orphaned by a series of unfortunate events. That her bloodline is from the renowned and extremely wealthy Medici family results in treacherous schemes. Catherine escapes an oppressive Florentine convent to rise as the imperial mastermind of the French Valois court in 1547. Her reign survives for over forty years.
Deception and betrayal start when fourteen-year old Catherine de Medici is forced into an arranged marriage by her powerfully connected uncle, Pope Clement VII (Charles Dance). Motivated by a large dowry he will share with King Francis I of France, the Pope contracts with the King to have young Catherine marry Henry, the King’s second son.
Unfortunately for Catherine, she actually loves Henry but he doesn’t reciprocate. Charming and sharing many interests with Catherine, Henry nonetheless is enamored with a much older woman, his lover Diane de Poitiers, who engages in perversions to which he is addicted.
Misfortunes pile up for young Catherine. Her dowry is unpaid and she is unable to conceive. Yet she is undeterred. With only her almost preternatural political intelligence and determination, she becomes adept at the blood sport that is the furious battle between Catholic and Protestant political and economic interests. Called the period of “The War of the Religions”, Catherine is confronted with betrayal from all sides. King Francis I dies in 1547, and Catherine is named queen consort of France. When her husband King Henry is away in battle, Catherine becomes queen regent. When Henry dies in 1559, she becomes queen mother while her eldest son, still a child, becomes King Francis II. When he dies soon afterwards, she remains queen mother to her next son, King Charles IX, also still a boy. During this period, religious civil war is on the brink of erupting.
The prestige of the court is plummeting as corruption and wanton excess by Catholics and Protestants alike hemorrhage money from the peasant population–certainly not the domain of only Catherine. Nonetheless, her patronage of the arts, including the lavish Tuileries Gardens, exposes her reign to war with the Holy Roman Emperor, King Charles V of Spain (Rupert Everett). In addition she must navigate the predatory conditions imposed by the international banking lenders to finance the war. As if that is not enough, she must maneuver the draconian and transgressive behavior of her children.
Everyone plots to defy her. Her children (ever dwindling in number, due to unforeseen death) despise her. The men on her Privy Council are not making the decisions she feels are necessary to retain power. She seizes control with an iron fist, but her overriding mission is religious tolerance and a secular state, despite the fact that her Valois court is fundamentally Catholic.
Is Catherine de Medici a “Serpent Queen”–perhaps. Morally agnostic–definitely. A pestilent, villainous vector who sacrifices her own happiness–if she even wants or knows how to be happy–perhaps. Catherine, above all, however, believes the choices she makes are for a higher good: for the good of France.
Most of all, she is a survivor. Left with allies on one side and adversaries on the other, nevertheless she remains terribly alone. Catherine descends into the pain of hell with her eyes wide open. To be unwanted, unloved, and unrecognized, fighting for everything, Catherine refuses to be undone. Serpent Queen is about doing anything to maintain power. Brilliantly written and acted, with a highly intricate web of intrigue, betrayal, duplicity, and unexpected violence towards family and purported friends, this is one of the best series in recent years! Serpent Queen keeps the viewer hooked from the very first episode. Samantha Morton deserves a Golden Globe for her unforgettable, often chilling, performance. Serpent Queen could be watched more than once because of the many subplots and shifting alliances for the sake of political support. A tale for our own time.