Catherine, de' Medici (de ma'de-che)

Born at Florence, 1519: died at Blois, France, Jan. 5, 1589. Queen of France, regent during the minority of Charles IX., 1560-63. She was the daughter of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. She married in 1533 the Duke of Orleans (Henry II., 1547-59), by whom she became the mother of Francis II. (1559-60), Charles IX. (1560-74), and Henry III. (15741589). During her regency, by the policy of attempting to hold the balance of power between the Huguenots and the Catholic party of the Guises, in accordance with which she intrigued alternately with both parties, she precipitated in 1562 the so-called Wars of the Huguenots, which, with interruptions, devastated France until 1596; and, on the occasion of the marriage of her daughter Marguerite of Valois with Henry of Navarre, prevailed upon Charles to give the order for the ma acre of St. Bartholomew, Aug. 24, 1572. She is said to have plunged her children into licentiousne and di ipation, in order, by unfitting them for mental exertion, to retain her ascendancy over them; and had till her death an important though sometimes concealed share in the intrigues and party contests which distracted France. Catharine, or Catherine, de' Ricci (dā rēchē), Saint. Born at Florence, 1522: died Feb. 2, IMG:content-0324.png:[ocr errors][merged small] The Century Cyclopedia of Names Catharine de' Ricci Dominican nuns at Prato, Tuscany, in 1535, and was made perpetual priore at the age of twenty-five. She was canonized in 1746 and is commemorated on the 13th of February. Catharine, or Catherine, of Siena, Saint. Born at Siena, Italy, March 25, 1347: died at Rome, April 29, 1380. An Italian saint. She a umed the habit of the third order of St. Dominic in 1365, and obtained so great a fame for sanctity that she was enabled to mediate a peace between the Florentines and Pope Urban VI. in 1378. She was canonized in 1461, and is commemorated on April 30. Catharine, or Catherine, of Sweden, Saint. Born 1331: died in Sweden, March 24, 1381. A Swedish saint. She was the daughter of Saint Birgitta, whom she succeeded as abbe of Wadstena. Catharine of France, or of Valois. Born at Paris, Oct. 27, 1401: died at Bermondsey, England, Jan. 3, 1438. A queen of England, daughter of Charles VI. of France, and wife of Henry V. of England, whom she married in 1420. She married Owen Tudor about 1425 (?). Catharine Archipelago. A name sometimes given to the Aleutian Islands. Catharine Howard. See Howard , Catharine . Catharine Parr. See Parr , Catharine . quence of Cicero, who was then consul. The rebellion having broken out in Etruria, Oct. 27, Cicero pronounced in the senate, Nov. 8, his first oration against Cat i line, which caused the latter to leave the city. On Nov. 9 Cicero delivered in the Forum his second Catilinian oration, in which he acquainted the people with the events in the senate and the departure of Cat i line from Rome. On Dec. 3 documentary evidence of the conspiracy was obtained from an emba y of Allobroges, which had been tampered with by the Catilinarians; and in the evening Cicero de livered in the Forum his third oration, in which he acquainted the people with the events of the day and the seizure of the conspirators left in Rome. On Dec. 5 Caucasians Catskin's Garland, or The Wandering Young Gentlewoman. A ballad, the English form in which the story of "Cinder ell a" is pre- served. The heroine is made a scullery-maid and reduced to dre in catskins. Cicero delivered in the senate his fourth oration, which was followed by the execution in prison of Lentulus, Cattack. See Cuttack . Cethegus, Statilius, and Galinius. Meanwhile Cat i line Cattako. See Comanche . amounted to about two legions, but was overtaken by the army of the senate as he was attempting to escape into Gaul, and was defeated and slain in the battle which en- sued. Cat i line's Conspiracies. 1. A play by Stephen Go on, written before 1579. It was acted, but not printed.-2. A tragedy by Robert Wilson and Henry Chettle, perhaps a revised ver sion of Go on's play (1598, Henslow). Cat i line's Conspiracy. A tragedy by Ben Jonson, produced in 1611. Cat i line is made inhumanly ferocious in this play. Cathay (ka-tha'). The name given by Marco Cat Island (kat i'land), or San Salvador (sän Polo to a region in eastern Asia, supposed to be northern China. It was one of the countries which Columbus expected to reach by sailing westward, and more than once he believed that he was near it. The Persian name Cathay, and its Ru ian form of Kitai, is of modern origin; it is altered from Ki - tah , the race which ruled northern China in the tenth century, and is quite unknown to the people it designates.