The obsession of a Queen was not to give an heir to her royal husband. To put the odds on her side, Catherine de Medici used strange decoctions to ensure her fertility.

A proven infertility

Daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici, Catherine de Medici was married at the age of 13 to the Dauphin of the Kingdom of France who reigned under the name of Henri II For more than ten years, Catherine de Medici, Duchess of Orléans, then Dauphine of France, lived in anguish. The cause? Her proven infertility since her husband had, on his side, a little girl with his Italian mistress Filippa Duci.

A miracle cure

What if Catherine was repudiated ? To keep her husband and her place at court, the young woman appealed to astrologers and physicists of all kinds. She also used aphrodisiacs, love filters, strange concoctions. It was applied above the navel, a kind of strange poultice, composed of earthworms, powdered periwinkle, pulverized deer horn, cow dung and mare’s milk. And don’t hesitate to drink mule urine, reputed to be effective in this area. A miracle cure ? In 1544, the Dauphine finally gave birth to a boy… The first of her ten children!