For three centuries, the Medici family was among the most powerful in the world. They were the supreme rulers of Florence, and later of Tuscany. They patronized the arts and produced three popes and enough royal marriages throughout Europe to ensure their lasting influence.
Catherine de Medici was a child of the early 16th century. As a teenager, she was small and thin, not quite 5 feet in height. She was painfully plain, with indelicate features and eyes too large for her face.
Catherine had nothing to say about her betrothal to the Duke of Orleans -- par for the royal matchmaking course. On the other hand, the Duke was to be come the next King of France, Henry II. Catherine would be his Queen. The thought itself was almost too thrilling to contemplate.
The young Catherine began feeling insecure.
The French court was, perhaps, the most splendid on the earth. Those who populated it were so elegant, so glamorous. How could tiny, plain Catherine possibly charm the inventors of such a world? How could she make a dramatic and imperious impression on the fabulous French Court?
In desperation, young Catherine de Medici sought the aid of an ingenious Florentine artisan. For hundreds of years, scholars have tried in vain to discover his name. All we know is that he had a brilliant reputation, and he was there when Catherine needed him.
Not unlike the fabled Cinderella, Catherine confided in this clever, fairy godfather -- at best, she would be ignored, at worst she would be ridiculed -- unless she dazzled all at her first French Ball.
And the artisan smiled. He would produce a creation that would cast a spell over the entire French nation.
On September 1, 1533, Catherine de Medici bade her homeland farewell and embarked on her journey to Paris. The wedding was even more jubilant and spectacular than she had imagined it, and an aristocratic multitude clamored to meet her. Their first opportunity would be at the Royal Ball.
Catherine-s appearance created a sensation. The men, it is said, were staggered by this sensuous Florentine Queen. The women were breathless with envy. There was, all agreed, something indefinably alluring in her walk, a subtle undulation, a gently seductive sway, the like of which the French had never seen.
What sorcery had this enchanting young woman brought to their court? Of course, we know that the source of the magic was a gifted artisan back home in Florence -- a man whose name was long ago forgotten -- the fairy godfather of Catherine de Medici -- her cobbler.
For Catherine, he had concocted that which would later be called the world's most potent aphrodisiac -- a device which not only endowed her with serpentine grace, but gave her the physical stature she could not otherwise posses.
So don-t let it be forgotten that once upon a time the sophisticated French looked up to a girl of 14 -- Catherine de Medici, their future queen and the mother of the modern high-heeled shoe.
