The Devil's Queen: A Novel of Catherine De Medici (69 page)

Even though I enjoy reading about Renaissance magic and related matters, I’m a skeptic; I approach it the way an anthropologist would approach learning about the magical beliefs of an ancient culture. But I admit, I was shocked when I came across the link between the star Algol and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

“Even though I enjoy…Renaissance magic and related matters, I’m a skeptic.”

Since ancient times, Algol has been associated with the violent shedding of blood on a mass scale; the Chinese called the star “the Heaped-Up Corpses,” and the Arabs called it
al-ghul
, “the demon” star. Renaissance magicians and modern-day astrologers believed it to be the most evil star in the heavens, predicting great catastrophe.

Algol rose and made an extremely bad aspect with the planet Mars (associated with war and bloodshed) less than an hour before the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre began. Catherine surely knew this—she made use of several astrologers, including her favorite, Ruggieri, and always checked their mathematical calculations against hers (which were always right).

To learn more about Catherine’s favorite black magic spells, dark charms, and mysterious incantations, visit
www.stmartins.com/thedevilsqueen
.

Ruth Miller

Reading Group Questions

1. What did you know about Catherine de’ Medici—either from your own studies, or as portrayed in popular film/television adaptations—before reading
   The Devil’s Queen
   ? How, if at all, did this book teach you about, or change your impression of, this important chapter in French history?
   
2. What do you see as Catherine’s most and least admirable qualities?
   
3. To what extent do you think Jeanne Kalogridis took artistic liberties with this work? What does it take for a novelist to bring a “real” period to life?
   
4. Discuss the nature of fact versus fiction in
   The Devil’s Queen.
   You may wish to take this opportunity to compare it with other historical novels you’ve read (as a group or on your own).
   
5. Catherine was orphaned at an early age, raised by an unaffectionate aunt, imprisoned for years, and misused by her cousin, Ippolito. What possible impact could such traumatic events have had on a child’s character? How do you think they affected Catherine?
   
6. What made Catherine capable of the ritual murder of an innocent? Was she evil at heart, or was her act understandable, if not justifiable?
   
7. Wicked, bloodthirsty, scheming…many adjectives have been used by historians to describe Catherine de’ Medici’s character. What words would you use to describe her?
   
8. Take a moment to talk about Catherine’s roles—as a prisoner, a marriage pawn, a princess, a queen, and later a regent—in Renaissance society. How was Catherine different from other women of her era? Do you think she was a “woman ahead of her time”?
   
9. As an astrologer and practitioner of magic, Catherine believed in fate. Do you believe that she could have taken a different course of action to avoid the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, or was it inevitable? If not, what steps could she have taken to stop it?
   
10. Why do modern readers enjoy novels about the past? How and when can a powerful piece of fiction be a history lesson in itself?
    
11. We are taught, as young readers, that every story has a moral. Is there a moral to
    The Devil’s Queen
    ? What can we learn about our world—and ourselves—from Catherine’s story?