Despite the fact that for much of this I hadn't really much of a clue who was trying to outmanoeuvre whom, I thoroughly enjoyed this historical dose of state sponsored murder and mayhem. Presided over by the imperiously devious Catherine de Medici (Virna Lisi) we follow the machinations at the French court of her sons as they vie for power in France and in Navarre whilst reconciling the growing number of Huguenots (Protestants) in their midst demanding an end to the power of the Catholic church over the state and the poverty stricken people. It's to that end that she marries off her eponymous ...