Abstract
The French royal family was living in exile at Blois when the Queen Mother of France, Catherine de’ Medici (b. 1519), dictated her will on the morning of her death, on 5 January 1589. She bequeathed to her granddaughter, Christine of Lorraine (1565–1637), one half of her movable possessions. This paper explores the nature and meanings embedded in the testamentary bequest and the corresponding inventory of the movable goods acquired by Christine through this gift and eventually brought to Florence on the occasion of her marriage in 1589 to Ferdinando de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (1549–1609). A translation of the inventory is provided in an online appendix.
Devoted Politics: Jesuits and Elite Catholic Women at the Later Sixteenth-century Valois Court