From her untimely birth, “security” was perhaps a foreign concept to Catherine de Medici. She went from a prisoner of war in Italy to a fertility-challenged princess of France—but nothing was going to keep this ruthless manipulator from the power she craved. Catherine fought and clawed her way to the highest echelon of European society, no matter who or what stood in her way. Read on for scandalous facts about Catherine de Medici, the deadly Queen Mother of France. Catherine de Medici Facts1. The Orphaned DuchessiaWithin a month of her birth, illness killed both of Catherine’s parents. For the…