reign, she managed to continue her murderous plans and accomplished
the death of Henry of Guise and his brother the cardinal, which crime
united the majority of the Catholics of France against the king and
was the cause of his assassination in 1589. This ended the power of
Catherine de' Medici; when she died, no one rejoiced, no one lamented.
Wherever she had turned her eyes, she had seen nothing but occasions
for uneasiness and sadness; she had retired from court, feeling her
helplessness and disgrace as well as the decline in power of that son
in whom her hopes were centred. She decided to reënter the scene of
action and save Henry. The stormy scenes of the Barricades and the
League and the murder of the Duke of Guise hastened her death, which
occurred in 1589.

Catherine de' Medici may rightfully be called the initiator and
organizer of social and court etiquette and courtesy—of conventional
and social laws. However great her political activity, she made
herself deeply felt in the social and moral worlds also. She taught
her husband the secret of being king; she introduced the _lever_
audience; in the afternoon of every day, she held a reunion of all the
ladies of the court, at which the king was to be found after dinner
and every lord entertained the lady he most loved; two hours were
spent in this pleasure which was continued after supper if there were
no balls; bitter railleries and anything that passed the restrictions
of good company were forbidden.

Her ladies of honor obeyed her as they would their God. Marguerite
of Valois said of her: "I did not dare to speak to her, and when
she looked at me I trembled for fear of having done something that
displeased her." Ladies who had been delinquent were stripped and
beaten with lashes; for correction—frequently for mere pastime—she