The Serpent Queen is an American period drama television series about the life of Catherine de' Medici, the 16th century Queen of France, as portrayed by actress Samantha Morton.
The Serpent Queen follows the life of Catherine de Medici, who was Queen of France in the mid-1500s. The series is narrated by Catherine (Samantha Morton) as she tells the story of her life to her new maid, Rahima (Sennia Nanua).
Regardless of Catherine's role (or lack thereof) in the massacre, her name is irrevocably linked with the bloodshed—a fact that contributed to her later vilification as the “serpent queen,” the “black queen” and the “maggot from Italy's tomb.” Together with lurid—and easily debunked—tales of poison, black magic and the ...
The Serpent Queen is essentially a dramatization of the much-happening and enigmatic life of Catherine de' Medici (Liv Hill). Some aspects of the show, however, are not at all exaggerated and adhere as closely to the unanimously agreed-upon facts as possible.
Catherine's cousin, Diane de Poitiers, is a famous beauty who is well-informed and who can converse easily with her superiors in the French court while keeping those below her in their place.
One major plot point in The Serpent Queen is Catherine de' Medici's relationship with her betrothed (and later husband) Henry II of France. Catherine was very much in love with Henry, but she also suffered greatly at the hands of his favourite (and mistress) Diane de Poitiers.
The eighth and final episode of Starz's The Serpent Queen opens with Catherine's maid Rahima in the forest looking for Ruggieri. She betrayed his location to Mary in exchange for her freedom.
The King is furious and hits him. Catherine, upset, leaves the court for her bedroom and discovers she is not pregnant, missing the King's violent assault on Francis. Diane comforts her and tells her own marriage horror story.
Catherine sees Sebastio's arm get pulled off and then runs away, shedding clothes and saying she can't breathe. Her servants follow her, and when she vomits, Aabis tells her she's pregnant. Back in Samantha Morton's time! We finally meet her — Mary, Queen of Scots!
Although history paints Catherine as evil, with nicknames like "the Serpent Queen," "Black Queen," and "Maggot from Italy's Tomb," Morton doesn't perceive Catherine as entirely wicked. "Catherine is about survival. Her ambition is more about survival... It's not like 'how can I rule' or 'how can I be queen of France?'
She continued this strategy – though less successfully – with her next-youngest son, Henry III, who became king upon Charles's death in 1574.
Queen of France, Catherine de' Medici would do anything to keep her family in power, including using poison and black magic. A nation-wide killing spree during her rule earned her the name, The Black Queen.
All the “Marys” have their white dresses, which was the color of mourning back then for a queen, but they all have little Chanel embellishments on them.
Marie-Andrée Leclerc was the girlfriend of notorious convicted murderer Charles Sobhraj, also known as “the Bikini Killer” — or “The Serpent,” which is where BBC One's drama series based on his life, now streaming on Netflix, gets its name.
Royal & the Serpent's dramatic alt-electro-pop is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Ryan Santiago. She introduced her assertive sound and distinctively girlish yet bluesy voice with the single "Temperance" in 2017.
The series follows the story of Catherine de' Medici, who marries into the French Valois court as a fourteen year-old teenager expected to bring in a fortune in dowry and produce heirs. Despite many challenges, a lifetime of clever political maneuvering allows her to rule France as queen for 30 years.
Diane drinks a lethal combination of gold chloride and diethyl ether. Not only that, but we see her bathing in it in this episode. Even though the real-life Diane purportedly passed away after a bad fall, she most likely died because of her inordinate liquid gold consumption.
With her worsening addiction to gold, Diane is becoming even more trouble than she was before, and it isn't just the royal court that stands to be worse off for it, but all of France.
She is finally captured, but her uncle, the Pope, rescues her only to be told that she will be marrying the second son of the King of France, Prince Henri. Her marriage to Prince Henri comes with an agreement to provide a hefty dowry to the King for the treasury and assure that she will produce heirs.
It follows the breakout success of shows such as The White Queen, The White Princess, and The Spanish Princess on the premium streaming platform.
Shortly thereafter, the Dauphin dies suddenly of natural causes while playing racquetball with his now stronger younger brother, Henry. Two things implicate Sebastio, though, in the Dauphin's death.
That night a furious Catherine sneaks into Diane's chambers, and whacks her with a fireplace shovel; the enraged Queen then murders Diane by strangling her, in revenge for killing her babies, stealing Henry from her, and for framing her daughter Claude.
"I want to be unforgettable," Diane says. Angelica produces a vial of liquid gold, which she tells Diane will preserve her youth and make her shine from within.
Diane heads to the King's room but is stopped by the guard who was told specifically not to let her in. Hah. Next day, Angelica gives Diane more gold and warns her that she's taking too much. Diane plants a kiss on Angelica, which came out of nowhere.