Samantha Morton to Play Catherine de Medici in Starz's 'The Serpent Queen'

Upcoming Starz period drama The Serpent Queen has found its star in former Harlots leading lady Samantha Morton.

Morton will play the infamous Catherine de Medici, one of the most influential - and often controversial - women to ever wear a crown. A queen and mother to three kings, Catherine wielded significant influence over France for over fifty years. She married into French court at just fourteen years old, wed to a second son and expected to do little more than produce heirs. At the time of her wedding, her spouse - the man who would become King Henry II - had already formed a romantic attachment to the mistress he would keep for the rest of his life, a thirty-five-year-old widow named Diane de Poitiers. Yet, Catherine ultimately learned to play the game of court politics better than anyone.

King Henry II's untimely death in a jousting accident pushed Catherine into power as the mother of her sickly, 15-year-old eldest son, King Francis II (who, incidentally, was married to Mary, Queen of Scots). Francis ruled France for roughly a year, and when he died Catherine officially became regent on behalf of her 10-year-old son Charles IX. She basically ruled France for three years by herself until Charles reached his majority. After Charles died in 1574, Catherine also played a key role in the reign of her third son, Henry III. He only broke with her during the final months of her life and outlived her by just seven months.