Catherine de' Medici (1519 – 1589) was born in Florence, Italy, as Caterina Maria Romola di Lorenzo de' Medici. Her parents were Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, countess of Boulogne. She was queen consort of King Henry II of France from 1547 to 1559. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, Caterina married Henry, second son of King Francis I of France and Queen Claude. When the dauphin, Prince François died in 1536, Henry became the heir to the throne and Catherine as she was now known, his dauphine. Henry ascended the throne as Henry II in 1547. Throughout his reign, he excluded Catherine from influence and instead showered favours on his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Henry’s death in 1559 thrust Catherine into the political arena as mother of the frail fifteen-year-old King Francis II. When he too died in 1560, she was appointed regent for her ten-year-old son King Charles IX, with sweeping powers. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine played a key role in the reign of the third of her sons to become king, Henry III. He dispensed with her advice only in the last months of her life.

When she came to France, she discovered French food was awful. She sent for her chefs and had them teach the backward French how to cook. French cuisine is ultimately her invention.