If she was nicknamed “the Black Queen“, it is because Catherine de Medici paid great attention to esotericism and astrology. The Chateau de Chaumont in northern France witnessed a disastrous scene.

Surrounded by magicians and astrologers

Superstitious from childhood, Queen Catherine de Medici loved to surround herself with magicians and astrologers, the best known of which were Cosimo Ruggieri and Nostradamus. A part of the court, these diviners were at the heart of state affairs and followed the queen on her travels. A legendary scene took place at the Château de Chaumont where Catherine received the Florentine Ruggieri. It was here that he predicted to the Black Queen the end of the Valois dynasty in favor of that of the Bourbons.

The end of the Valois dynasty

The magic Côme Ruggieri used to advance his words was amazing, he made the faces of the three sons of the queen who were destined to reign appear in a mirror. Each of the faces would make as many turns on itself as it did years of reign. His eldest son, Francis II, made only one turn and disappeared. Indeed, he died a year later. His second son, future Charles IX, spun thirteen times, which corresponded to the thirteen years he had to live. Finally, the face of Henri III, made fifteen rotations, the fifteen years of his reign before it returned to Henri de Bourbon.