1.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
2.
Prefectures in France
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There are 101 prefectures in France, one for each department. The official in charge is the prefect, the prefect represents the national government at the local level and as such exercises the powers that are constitutionally attributed to the national government. The prefect issues ordinances written for the application of law, to close a building that does not conform to safety codes. In the past, the prefect was head of the department, but since 1982, there is an exception in Paris and its three surrounding departments. These departments are administered by a prefecture for law enforcement and security purposes, called the Prefecture of Police. The power of law enforcement is usually invested in the mayor in other French communes, the departments are divided into arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons. The chef-lieu darrondissement is the subprefecture, the official in charge is the subprefect (French, sous-préfet. Cantons have relatively few competences, the most important one being the local organisation of elections, administrative divisions of France French National Police
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
5.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
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Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest administrative region in France, located in the southwest of the country. The region was created by the reform of French Regions in 2014 through the merger of three regions, Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes. It covers 84,061 km2 – or 1⁄8 of the country – and has approximately 5,800,000 inhabitants, the new region was established on 1 January 2016, following the regional elections in December 2015. It is the largest region in France by area, with a slightly larger than that of Austria. Its largest city, Bordeaux, together with its suburbs and satellite cities, forms the 7th-largest metropolitan area of France, with 850,000 inhabitants. The region has 25 major urban areas, among which the most important after Bordeaux are Bayonne, Limoges, Poitiers, Pau, after Île-de-France, New Aquitaine is the premier French region in research and innovation, with five universities and several Grandes Ecoles. Many companies specializing in surfing and related sports have located along the coast, in terms of culture, the new region includes major parts of Southern France, marked by Basque, Occitan and Oïl cultures. Historically, it is the successor to medieval Aquitaine. In June 2016, a group headed by historian Anne-Marie Cocula. The decision came after the favorite, Aquitaine, faced resistance by regional politicians from Limousin. The other popular favorite, Grande Aquitaine, was rejected for its connotation with a feeling of superiority, alain Rousset, president of the region, concurred with the working groups conclusion, reaffirming that he considered the acronym ALPC no choice at all. On 27 June 2016, just a few days ahead of the 1 July deadline, frances Conseil dÉtat approved New-Aquitaine as the new name of the region on 28 September 2016, effective 30 September 2016. Nouvelle-Aquitaine is delimited by four other French regions, three communities in Spain to the south, and the North Atlantic Ocean to the west. Its largest city and only metropolis is Bordeaux, in the heart of an agglomeration of nearly one million inhabitants. Taking into consideration the area, the new region is home to six of the fifty largest metropolitan areas of French territory. It is part of five watersheds facing the Atlantic Ocean, Loire, Charente, Garonne and Dordogne and Adour, giving rivers bordering land dedicated mostly to viticulture and to agriculture. This diverse area is the area of the oyster, mussel, the Landes forest, by far the most extensive, covering almost one million hectares, making it the largest artificial forest of Western Europe. The Landes forest is included in the Landes de Gascogne Regional Natural Park
6.
Subprefectures in France
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In France, a subprefecture is the administrative center of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the prefecture for its department. The term also applies to the building houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement. The civil servant in charge of a subprefecture is the subprefect, between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by the title commissaire adjoint de la République. Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon, and Marseille) are divisions of the city rather than the prefecture, and so are not arrondissements in the same sense
7.
Aubusson, Creuse
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Aubusson is a commune in the Creuse department region in central France. Aubusson is situated in the part of the département, at the confluence of the Creuse River. The route nationale N141 goes through the town, the Camp des Châtres, within the town’s boundaries, for a long time considered a Roman fort, actually dates back a little further, to the Iron Age. The town was known as Albuciensis in 936 and under the name Albuconis in 1070, the name possibly originates from a name of a man, Albucius Other scholars claim the name is from a Celtic word meaning craggy. In the Middle Ages the town was ruled by viscounts, the vicecomital family also produced a troubadour named Joan dAubusson. Aubusson is well known for its tapestry and carpets, which have been throughout the world since the 14th century. Its origins were born with the arrival of weavers from Flanders, there is a famous collection of Aubusson tapestries at Vallon-Pont-dArc. The style of the tapestries produced has changed through the centuries, in the 17th Century, the Aubusson and Felletin workshops were given Royal Appointment status. A downturn in fortunes came after the French revolution and the arrival of wallpaper, Aubusson tapestry still thrives today, preserving a range of traditional skills. In 1983, l’Atelier Raymond Picaud chose Burhan Doğançays Ribbon Series as a tapestry subject, coventry cathedrals famous Christ in Glory tapestry, designed by artist Graham Sutherland, was woven in nearby Felletin. Installed in 1962, this was the worlds largest vertical tapestry up until the 1990s, created in 1981, the museum exhibits nearly 600 years of tapestry creation and production. This rich collection is composed of 17th, 18th and 19th Century tapestries, as well as works from its own collection, there are also regular exhibitions of tapestries from around the world, showcasing works right up to the present day. This is a permanent exhibition that is staged in an ancient Creusois house in Aubusson, the interior tells the history and traditions of tapestry as well as showing furniture of the period. The Clock Tower The old town Sainte-Croix church Ruins of the chateau The Vallenet House In the medieval period and its rulers were, Ranulf I. -934 Robert I 934-942 Renaud I 942-958 Ranulf II Cabridel 958-1031 Ranulf III 1031-1060 Renaud III 1060-1069 William I 1069-1106 Renaud IV 1106-. Renaud V The Leper. -1185 Guy I 1185-,1265 William II1263, lord of La Borne, La Feuillade, Monteil-au-Vicomte, Poux, Pintarion and Damoiseau, started a noble line that continued with his son Renaud VIII and his successors. Around 1263/1266 the vice-county was sold to the count of La Marche, jules Sandeau, member of the Académie française Alfred Assollant, Children’s author – “The Adventures of Captain Corcoran”. He was an opponent of Napoleon III. Camille Benassy, mayor of Aubusson but also a national politician, jean-Joseph Sanfourche has made tapestries, one conducted in Aubusson with its forms, even the most unusual
8.
Socialist Party (France)
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The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France, and the largest party of the French centre-left. The PS is one of the two major political parties in France, along with the Republicans. The Socialist Party replaced the earlier French Section of the Workers International in 1969, the PS is a member of the Party of European Socialists, the Socialist International and the Progressive Alliance. The PS first won power in 1981, when its candidate François Mitterrand was elected President of France in the 1981 presidential election, under Mitterrand, the party achieved a governing majority in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and again from 1988 to 1993. In 2007, the candidate for the presidential election, Ségolène Royal, was defeated by conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy. Then, the Socialist party won most of regional and local elections, in 2016, the party had 42,300 members. In 2014, the party had 60,000 members, in 2012 the party had 173,486 members. The defeat of the Paris commune greatly reduced the power and influence of socialist movements in France and its leaders were killed or exiled. Frances first socialist party, the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France, was founded in 1879 and it was characterised as possibilist because it promoted gradual reforms. Two parties split off from it, in 1882, the French Workers Party of Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, at the same time, the heirs of Louis Auguste Blanqui, a symbol of the French revolutionary tradition, created the Central Revolutionary Committee led by Édouard Vaillant. There were also some declared socialist deputies such as Alexandre Millerand, in 1899, the participation of Millerand in Pierre Waldeck-Rousseaus cabinet caused a debate about socialist participation in a bourgeois government. In 1905, during the Globe Congress, the two merged in the French Section of the Workers International. Leader of the group and director of the party paper LHumanité. The party was hemmed in between the liberals of the Radical Party and the revolutionary syndicalists who dominated the trade unions. Together with the Radicals, who wished to install laicism, the SFIO was a component of the Left Block without to sit in the government, in 1906, the General Confederation of Labour trade union claimed its independence from all political parties. The French socialists were strongly anti-war, but following the assassination of Jaurès in 1914 they were unable to resist the wave of militarism which followed the outbreak of World War I and they suffered a severe split over participation in the wartime government of national unity. In 1919 the anti-war socialists were heavily defeated in elections, the right wing, led by Léon Blum, kept the old house and remained in the SFIO. In 1924 and in 1932, the Socialists joined with the Radicals in the Coalition of the Left, the question of the possibility of a government participation with Radicals caused the split of neosocialists at the beginning of the 1930s
9.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
10.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
11.
Communes in France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
12.
Estuary
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An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a zone between river environments and maritime environments. They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of fresh water and sediment. The inflows of sea water and fresh water provide high levels of nutrients both in the water column and in sediment, making estuaries among the most productive natural habitats in the world. Most existing estuaries formed during the Holocene epoch with the flooding of river-eroded or glacially scoured valleys when the sea began to rise about 10. Estuaries are typically classified according to their geomorphological features or to water-circulation patterns, the banks of many estuaries are amongst the most heavily populated areas of the world, with about 60% of the worlds population living along estuaries and the coast. The word estuary is derived from the Latin word aestuarium meaning tidal inlet of the sea, there have been many definitions proposed to describe an estuary. However, this definition excludes a number of water bodies such as coastal lagoons. This broad definition also includes fjords, lagoons, river mouths, an estuary is a dynamic ecosystem having a connection to the open sea through which the sea water enters with the rhythm of the tides. The sea water entering the estuary is diluted by the water flowing from rivers. The pattern of dilution varies between different estuaries and depends on the volume of water, the tidal range. Drowned river valleys are known as coastal plain estuaries. In places where the sea level is rising relative to the land, sea water progressively penetrates into river valleys and this is the most common type of estuary in temperate climates. Well-studied estuaries include the Severn Estuary in the United Kingdom and the Ems Dollard along the Dutch-German border, the width-to-depth ratio of these estuaries is typically large, appearing wedge-shaped in the inner part and broadening and deepening seaward. Water depths rarely exceed 30 m, examples of this type of estuary in the U. S. are the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, and Delaware Bay along the Mid-Atlantic coast, and Galveston Bay and Tampa Bay along the Gulf Coast. They are relatively common in tropical and subtropical locations and these estuaries are semi-isolated from ocean waters by barrier beaches. Formation of barrier beaches partially encloses the estuary, with only narrow inlets allowing contact with the ocean waters, bar-built estuaries typically develop on gently sloping plains located along tectonically stable edges of continents and marginal sea coasts. They are extensive along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U. S. in areas with active coastal deposition of sediments, barrier beaches form in shallow water and are generally parallel to the shoreline, resulting in long, narrow estuaries
13.
Creuse (river)
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The Creuse is a 264-kilometre long river in western France, a tributary of the river Vienne. Its source is in the Plateau de Millevaches, an extension of the Massif Central. The Creuse flows northwest through the departments and towns, Creuse department. Indre-et-Loire department, Yzeures-sur-Creuse, Descartes Vienne department, La Roche-Posay The Creuse flows into the river Vienne about 20 kilometres north of Châtellerault, a tributary of the river Creuse is the Gartempe. The Creuse valley is the setting for paintings by the so-called Crozant School, including works by Armand Guillaumin, there are six hydroelectric dams on the river. Three are in the Creuse département with one at Chambon-Sainte-Croix above Anzeme, one at Les Chezelles near Le Bourg-dHem, the remaining three are in the Indre including the Éguzon dam which was opened in 1926 and was, at the time, the largest dam in Europe. The lakes created by the dams are popular tourist destinations and several have artificial beaches, http, //www. geoportail. fr The Creuse at the Sandre database Media related to Creuse river at Wikimedia Commons
14.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
15.
Provinces of France
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The Kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4,1790, when the establishment of the department system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the counties of England. In some cases, several regions or departments share names with the historic provinces. The list below shows the provinces of France at the time of their dissolution during the French Revolution. Capital cities are shown in parentheses, bold indicates a city that was also the seat of a judicial and quasi-legislative body called either a parlement or a conseil souverain. In some cases, this body met in a different city than the capital, comtat Venaissin, a Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37, montbéliard, a fief of Württemberg Partial display of historical provincial arms, Ancien Régime in France Gallery of French coats of arms Coat of arms Heraldry
16.
County of La Marche
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The County of Marche was a medieval French county, approximately corresponding to the modern département of Creuse. Marche first appeared as a separate fief about the middle of the 10th century, when William III, Duke of Aquitaine, gave it to one of his vassals named Boso, in the 12th century, the countship passed to the family of Lusignan. They also were sometimes counts of Angoulême and counts of Limousin, with the death of the childless Count Guy in 1308, his possessions in La Marche were seized by Philip IV of France. In 1316 the king made La Marche an appanage for his youngest son the Prince, several years later in 1327, La Marche passed into the hands of the House of Bourbon. The family of Armagnac held it from 1435 to 1477, when it reverted to the Bourbons, in 1527 La Marche was seized by Francis I and became part of the domains of the French crown. It was divided into Haute Marche and Basse Marche, the estates of the former continuing until the 17th century, from 1470 until the Revolution, the province was under the jurisdiction of the parlement of Paris. Aldebert II, son of Bernard I His daughter, also named Almodis, peter II of Bourbon Charles III of Bourbon, count of Montpensier, Beaujeu, Marche, and Forez, duke of Bourbon Prince Robert, Count of La Marche Marches Provinces of France
17.
France in the Middle Ages
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From the 13th century on, the state slowly regained control of a number of these lost powers. The crises of the 13th and 14th centuries led to the convening of an assembly, the Estates General. From the Middle Ages onward, French rulers believed their kingdoms had natural borders, the Pyrenees, the Alps and this was used as a pretext for an aggressive policy and repeated invasions. The belief, however, had little basis in reality for not all of territories were part of the Kingdom. France had important rivers that were used as waterways, the Loire, the Rhone and these rivers were settled earlier than the rest and important cities were founded on their banks but they were separated by large forests, marsh, and other rough terrains. Before the Romans conquered Gaul, the Gauls lived in villages organised in wider tribes, the Romans referred to the smallest of these groups as pagi and the widest ones as civitates. These pagi and civitates were often taken as a basis for the imperial administration and these religious provinces would survive until the French revolution. Discussion of the size of France in the Middle Ages is complicated by distinctions between lands personally held by the king and lands held in homage by another lord, the domaine royal of the Capetians was limited to the regions around Paris, Bourges and Sens. The great majority of French territory was part of Aquitaine, the Duchy of Normandy, the Duchy of Brittany, the Comté of Champagne, the Duchy of Burgundy, and other territories. Philip II Augustus undertook a massive French expansion in the 13th century, only in the 15th century would Charles VII and Louis XI gain control of most of modern-day France. The weather in France and Europe in the Middle Ages was significantly milder than during the preceding or following it. Historians refer to this as the Medieval Warm Period, lasting from about the 10th century to about the 14th century, part of the French population growth in this period is directly linked to this temperate weather and its effect on crops and livestock. At the end of the Middle Ages, France was the most populous region in Europe—having overtaken Spain, in the 14th century, before the arrival of the Black Death, the total population of the area covered by modern-day France has been estimated at around 17 million. The population of Paris is controversial, josiah Russell argued for about 80,000 in the early 14th century, although he noted that some other scholars suggested 200,000. The higher count would make it by far the largest city in western Europe, the Black Death killed an estimated one-third of the population from its appearance in 1348. The concurrent Hundred Years War slowed recovery and it would be the mid-16th century before the population recovered to mid-fourteenth century levels. The vast majority of the population spoke a variety of vernacular languages derived from vulgar Latin. Modern linguists typically add a group within France around Lyon
18.
William III, Duke of Aquitaine
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William III, called Towhead from the colour of his hair, was the Count of the Duchy of Aquitaine from 959 and Duke of Aquitaine from 962 to his death. He was also the Count of Poitou from 935 and Count of Auvergne from 950, the primary sources for his reign are Ademar of Chabannes, Dudo of Saint-Quentin, and William of Jumièges. William was son of Ebalus Manzer and Emilienne and he claimed the Duchy of Aquitaine from his fathers death, but the royal chancery did not recognise his ducal title until the year before his own death. Shortly after the death of King Rudolph in 936, he was constrained to some land to Hugh the Great by Louis IV. He did it with grace, but his relationship with Hugh thenceforward deteriorated, in 950, Hugh was reconciled with Louis and granted the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine. He tried to conquer Aquitaine with Louiss assistance, but William defeated them, Lothair, Louiss successor, feared the power of William. In August 955 he joined Hugh to besiege Poitiers, which resisted successfully, William, however, gave battle and was routed. After the death of Hugh, his son Hugh Capet was named duke of Aquitaine and he was given the abbey of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand, which remained in his house after his death. He also built a library in the palace of Poitiers and his father was duke Ebles Manzer, who already was a man in his middle years when he was born in about 913. According to the chronicle of Ademar de Chabannes, Williams mother was Geirlaug, William III married a lady named Adèle, perhaps about 936, in a match that may have been arranged by William I of Normandy. With Adèle, he had at least one child whose filiation is clearly attested, William and he abdicated to the abbey of Saint-Cyprien in Poitiers and left the government to his son
19.
House of Lusignan
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It also had great influence in England and France. The family originated in Poitou, near Lusignan in western France, by the end of the 11th century, the family had risen to become the most prominent petty lords in the region from their castle at Lusignan. In the late 12th century, through marriages and inheritance, a branch of the family came to control the kingdoms of Jerusalem. In the early 13th century, the main branch succeeded in the Counties of La Marche, as Crusader kings in the Latin East, they soon had connections with the Hethumid rulers of the Kingdom of Cilicia, which they inherited through marriage in the mid-14th century. The Armenian branch fled to France, and eventually Russia, after the Mamluk conquest of their kingdom, the claim was taken by the Cypriot branch, until their line failed. This kingdom was annexed by the Republic of Venice in the late 15th century, the Château de Lusignan, near Poitiers, was the principal seat of the Lusignans. It was later destroyed during the Wars of Religion, and only its foundations remain in Lusignan, according to legend, the earliest castle was built by the folklore water-spirit Melusine. The lords of the castle at Lusignan were counts of La Marche, Hugh I Hugh II Hugh III Hugh IV Hugh V Hugh VI inherited by collateral succession the County of La Marche as a descendant of Almodis. Hugh VI Hugh VII Hugh VIII Hugh IX Raoul I Raoul II Marie Hugh IXs son, Hugh X, married Isabelle of Angoulême, thus securing Angoulême. Hugh X Hugh XI Hugh XII Hugh XIII Guy Yolande Yolande sold the fiefs of Lusignan, La Marche, Angoulême and they became a part of the French royal demesne and a common appanage of the crown. In the 1170s, Amalric de Lusignan arrived in Jerusalem, having been expelled by Richard Lionheart from his realm, Amalric married Eschiva, the daughter of Baldwin of Ibelin, and entered court circles. He had also obtained the patronage of Agnes of Courtenay, the mother of King Baldwin IV. He was appointed Agnes constable in Jaffa, and later as constable of the kingdom, hostile rumours alleged he was Agnes lover, but this is questionable. Amalrics younger brother, Guy de Lusignan, arrived at some date before Easter 1180, when he arrived is quite unknown, although Ernoul said that he arrived at that time on Amalrics advice. Many modern historians believe that Guy was already established in Jerusalem by 1180. But, Amalric of Lusignans success certainly facilitated the social and political advancement of his brother Guy, Agnes was said to have foiled these plans by advising her son to have Sibylla married to Guy. As the new King of France, Philip II, was still a minor and he owed the Pope a penitential pilgrimage on account of the Thomas Becket affair. Guy was a vassal of Richard of Poitou and Henry II, Guy and Sibylla were hastily married at Eastertide 1180, apparently preventing a coup by Raymonds faction to marry her to Baldwin of Ibelin, the father-in-law of Almaric
20.
History of Limousin
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The history of Limousin, one of the traditional provinces of France, reaches back to Celtic and Roman times. The region surrounds the city of Limoges, Limousin lies in the foothills of the western edge of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter. During the 3rd century, Saint Martial evangelized the region, the northernmost part of Limousin belonged to the County of La Marche, while the bishops of Limoges controlled most of present-day Haute-Vienne. Such political fragmentation led to the construction of castles, whose ruins still evoke memories of that historical period. In 1199, King Richard I of England was fatally wounded by a bolt during his siege of Château de Châlus-Chabrol. The region was reconstituted during the Fifth Republic as part of efforts by the French government. LAtlas du Limousin, Ph. Bernard-Allée, M. -F
21.
Philip IV of France
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Philip IV, called the Fair or the Iron King, was King of France from 1285 until his death. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also Philip I, Philip relied on skillful civil servants, such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny, to govern the kingdom rather than on his barons. Philip and his advisors were instrumental in the transformation of France from a country to a centralized state. Philip, who sought an uncontested monarchy, compelled his vassals by wars and his ambitions made him highly influential in European affairs. His goal was to place his relatives on foreign thrones, princes from his house ruled in Naples and Hungary. He tried and failed to make relative the Holy Roman Emperor. He began the advance of France eastward by taking control of scattered fiefs. To further strengthen the monarchy, he tried to control the French clergy and this conflict led to the transfer of the papal court to the enclave of Avignon in 1309. In 1306, Philip the Fair expelled the Jews from France and, in 1307, Friday 13th, Philip was in debt to both groups and saw them as a state within the state. His final year saw a scandal amongst the family, known as the Tour de Nesle Affair. His three sons were kings of France, Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV. A member of the House of Capet, Philip was born in the fortress of Fontainebleau to the future Philip III. He was the second of four born to the couple. His father was the heir apparent of France at that time, in August 1270, when Philip was two years old, his grandfather died while on Crusade, his father became king, and his elder brother Louis became heir apparent. Only five months later, in January 1271, Philips mother died after falling from a horse, a few months later, one of Philips younger brothers, Robert, also died. Philips father was crowned king at Rhiems on 15 August 1271. Six days later, he married again, Philips step-mother was Marie, in May 1276, Philips elder brother Louis died, and the eight year old Philip became crown prince. It was suspected that Louis had been poisoned, and that his stepmother, one reason for these rumours was the fact that the queen gave birth to her own eldest son in the same month as the death of the crown prince
22.
Charles IV of France
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Charles IV, called the Fair in France and the Bald in Navarre, was the last direct Capetian King of France and King of Navarre from 1322 to his death. Charles was the son of Philip IV, like his father. Beginning in 1323 Charles was confronted with a peasant revolt in Flanders, as duke of Guyenne, King Edward II of England was a vassal of Charles, but he was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a known as the War of Saint-Sardos. In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles, in exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory. When Charles IV died without heir, the senior lineage of the House of Capet ended. He was succeeded by his cousin Philip of Valois, but the legitimacy was one factor of the Hundred Years War. By virtue of the birthright of his mother, Joan I of Navarre, Charles claimed the title Charles I, King of Navarre. From 1314 to his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of La Marche and was crowned King of France in 1322 at the cathedral in Reims. Charles married his first wife, Blanche of Burgundy, the daughter of Otto IV, Count of Burgundy, in 1308, after Charles assumed the throne he refused to release Blanche, their marriage was annulled, and Blanche retreated to a nunnery. His second wife, Marie of Luxembourg, the daughter of Henry VII, Charles married again in 1325, this time to Jeanne dÉvreux, she was his first cousin, and the marriage required approval from Pope John XXII. Jeanne was crowned queen in 1326, in one of the better recorded French coronation ceremonies, the coronation was also the first appearance of the latterly famous medieval cook, Guillaume Tirel, then only a junior servant. During the first half of his reign Charles relied heavily on his uncle, Charles of Valois, for advice, Charles of Valois would have been aware that if Charles died without male heirs, he and his male heirs would have a good claim to the crown. Charles undertook rapid steps to assert his own control, executing the Count of LIsle-Jourdain, a troublesome southern noble, Charles, a relatively well educated king, also founded a famous library at Fontainebleau. During his six-year reign Charles administration became increasingly unpopular and he debased the coinage to his own benefit, sold offices, increased taxation, exacted burdensome duties, and confiscated estates from enemies or those he disliked. He was also involved in Jewish issues during the period. Charles father, Philip IV, had confiscated the estates of numerous Jews in 1306, and Charles took vigorous, finally, Charles at least acquiesced, or at worst actively ordered, in the expulsion of many Jews from France following the leper scare. Charles inherited a long-running period of tension between England and France, once Charles took up the throne, Edward attempted to avoid payment again
23.
House of Bourbon
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The House of Bourbon is a European royal house of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century, by the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg currently have Bourbon monarchs, the royal Bourbons originated in 1268, when the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon married a younger son of King Louis IX. The house continued for three centuries as a branch, while more senior Capetians ruled France, until Henry IV became the first Bourbon king of France in 1589. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, a cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years, until it too was overthrown. The Princes de Condé were a branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV. Both houses were prominent in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. When the Bourbons inherited the strongest claim to the Spanish throne, the claim was passed to a cadet Bourbon prince, a grandson of Louis XIV of France, who became Philip V of Spain. The Spanish House of Bourbon has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734–1806 and in Sicily from 1734–1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816–1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731–1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859, all legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV. The term House of Bourbon is sometimes used to refer to this first house and the House of Bourbon-Dampierre, the second family to rule the seigneury. In 1268, Robert, Count of Clermont, sixth son of King Louis IX of France, married Beatrix of Bourbon, heiress to the lordship of Bourbon and their son Louis was made Duke of Bourbon in 1327. His descendant, the Constable of France Charles de Bourbon, was the last of the senior Bourbon line when he died in 1527. Because he chose to fight under the banner of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and lived in exile from France, the remaining line of Bourbons henceforth descended from James I, Count of La Marche, the younger son of Louis I, Duke of Bourbon. With the death of his grandson James II, Count of La Marche in 1438, all future Bourbons would descend from James IIs younger brother, Louis, who became the Count of Vendôme through his mothers inheritance. In 1514, Charles, Count of Vendôme had his title raised to Duke of Vendôme and his son Antoine became King of Navarre, on the northern side of the Pyrenees, by marriage in 1555. Two of Antoines younger brothers were Cardinal Archbishop Charles de Bourbon, Louis male-line, the Princes de Condé, survived until 1830. Finally, in 1589, the House of Valois died out and he was born on 13 December 1553 in the Kingdom of Navarre
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House of Armagnac
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The House of Armagnac is a French noble house established in 960 by Bernard I, Count of Armagnac. It achieved its greatest importance in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the House of Armagnac, at the end of the thirteenth century, was not yet powerful enough to play a political role beyond its possessions. At the beginning of the century, the Armagnacs reached the rank of great feudal lords with the legacy of the County of Rodez. This heritage, combined with its Gascon lands, allowed the family to hold a rank of major importance in the heart of the nobility and, therefore, King Louis XI broke their desire for independence by force and the Armagnacs would never recover from their defeat. They declined and became extinct in the sixteenth century, the House of Armagnacs most famous member was Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac and Rodez, Constable of France, leader of the Armagnacs opposed to the Burgundians during the Hundred Years War. The House of Armagnac is from the lineage of the former Dukes of Gascony known since the eighth or ninth century, arnold I of Astarac received Astarac. William Garcés of Fézensac detached from his land the County of Armagnac, to give to his younger son Bernard, who founded the first house of Armagnac. Bernard II, younger son of Bernard I, was briefly Count of Biscay—a title which he inherited from his mother—but was deposed by his cousin Guy Geoffroy Guillaume VIII, Duke of Aquitaine. In 1140 the elder branch of Fézensac ended, which benefited the counts of Armagnac, at the death of Louis dOrléans, he succeeded him in the war against the Burgundians, becoming the head of the party that became that of the Armagnacs. To increase his power, he dispossessed the cadet branches of the family, recovering the Fezensaguet and Pardiac and he died in 1418, leaving two sons, John IV, Count of Armagnac and Rodez. Bernard, Count of Pardiac, head of a branch that will later inherit by marriage Nemours. From the assassination of Louis dOrléans in 1407 to the Treaty of Arras in 1435, the Armagnacs represented the armed wing of France. After serving the Capetians during the century and the beginning of the fifteenth. They assumed that the role they played during the Hundred Years War gave them greater rights than the rest of the nobility and they had not counted on the pugnacity of King Louis XI. At the end of century, the Armagnacs were claiming sovereign rights. The Countess was stripped of her jewels and dragged, even though she was seven months pregnant, there King Louis XI ordered the extinction of the House of Armagnac. Cardinal Jouffroy ordered the apothecaries and the soldiers to force the unfortunate Countess to drink a potion to destroy her unborn child, jeanne de Foixs child was stillborn in April 1473. Jacques dArmagnac, Duke of Nemours and Count John V were both targets of King Louis XIs deadly vengeance against the House of Armagnac and they were two of the last three grandsons and male heirs of Bernard VII, Count of Armagnac
25.
Francis I of France
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Francis I was the first King of France from the Angoulême branch of the House of Valois, reigning from 1515 until his death. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and he succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a male heir. Francis reign saw important cultural changes with the rise of absolute monarchy in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. For his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres. He was also known as François au Grand Nez, the Grand Colas, following the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, he sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time. Francis was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, today the town lies in the department of Charente. Francis was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his fathers cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, the Salic Law prevailed in France, thus females were ineligible to inherit the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois. In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered that his daughter Claude and Francis be married immediately, Claude was heiress to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Annes death, the took place on 18 May 1514. Louis died shortly afterwards and Francis inherited the throne and he was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort. As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France, some of his tutors, such as François Desmoulins de Rochefort and Christophe de Longueil, were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and his mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son
26.
Parlement of Paris
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A parlement was a provincial appellate court in the France of the Ancien Régime, i. e. before the French Revolution. In 1789,13 parlements existed, the most important of which was by far the Parlement of Paris, while the English word parliament derives from this French term, parlements were not legislative bodies. They consisted of a dozen or more judges, or about 1,100 judges nationwide. They were the court of appeal of the judicial system. Laws and edicts issued by the Crown were not official in their respective jurisdictions until the parlements gave their assent by publishing them, the members were aristocrats called nobles of the gown who had bought or inherited their offices, and were independent of the King. From 1770 to 1774 the Lord Chancellor, Maupeou, tried to abolish the Parlement of Paris in order to strengthen the Crown, however, when King Louis XV died in 1774, the parlements were reinstated. The parlements spearheaded the resistance to the absolutism and centralization of the Crown, but they worked primarily for the benefit of their own class. Alfred Cobban argues that the parlements were the obstacles to any reform before the Revolution. In November 1789, early in the French Revolution, all parlements were suspended, the political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the Kings Council, and consequently enjoyed ancient, customary consultative and deliberative prerogatives. In the 13th century, the parlements acquired judicial functions, then the droit de remontrance against the king, the Paris parlements jurisdiction covered the entire kingdom as it was in the 14th century, but did not automatically advance in step with the Crowns ever expanding realm. The Parlement of Paris played a role in stimulating the nobility to resist the expansion of royal power by military force in the Fronde. In the end, the King won out and the nobility was humiliated, in such a case, the parlements powers were suspended for the duration of this royal session. King Louis XIV moved to centralize authority into his own hands, in 1665, he ordained that a Lit de justice could be held without the king having to appear in person. In 1667, he limited the number of remonstrances to only one, in 1671–1673, however, the parlements resisted the taxes occasioned by the Dutch War. In 1673, the king imposed additional restrictions that stripped the parlements of any influence upon new laws by ordaining that remonstrances could only be issued after registration of the edicts. After Louis death in 1715, all the restrictions were discontinued by the regent and these locations were provincial capitals of those provinces with strong historical traditions of independence before they were annexed to France. Nevertheless, the Parlement of Paris had the largest jurisdiction of all the parlements, covering the part of northern and central France. In some regions provincial States-General also continued to meet and legislate with a measure of self-governance, tenure on the court was generally bought from the royal authority, and such positions could be made hereditary by payment of a tax to the King called la Paulette
27.
Marcel Deprez
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Marcel Deprez was a French electrical engineer. Deprez was born in Aillant-sur-Milleron in rural France and attended the School of Mines in Paris and he was not able to complete the course but he must have made a good impression as he was employed as a secretary to the Director of the school, Charles Combes. At Creil, from 1876 to 1886, Deprez conducted the first experiments to transmit power over long distances. At the International Exposition of Electricity, Paris in 1881, Deprez undertook the task of presenting an electricity system based on the long-distance transmission of direct current. The first successful attempt took place in 1882 from Miesbach to Munich at the occasion of the Exposition of Electricity in the Glaspalast organised by Oskar von Miller, there he transmitted 1.5 kW at 2kV over a distance of 35 miles. Deprez conducted experiments in La Chapelle, Grenoble, Vizille, Paris and he eventually attained transmission over thirty-five miles for industrial purposes. In 1889, Rene Thury continued his approach of arranging generators in series, La Revue n°23 - Juin 1998. Distribution de lénergie électrique par courant continu ou alternatif, les grands noms de la houille blanche. Les grands noms de la houille blanche, print sales website of the Science Museum, National Railway Museum and National Media Museum, incorporating the Royal Photographic Society Collection
28.
Haute-Vienne
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Haute-Vienne is a French department named after the river Vienne. It is one of the 12 departments that constitute the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The neighbouring departments are, Creuse, Corrèze, Dordogne, Charente, Vienne, the chief and largest city in the department is Limoges, the other towns in the department each having fewer than twenty thousand inhabitants. Haute-Vienne is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region and it is bordered by six departments, Creuse lies to the east, Corrèze to the south, Dordogne to the southwest, Charente to the west, Vienne to the northwest and Indre to the north. The department has two rivers which cross it from east to west, the Vienne, on which the two main cities, Limoges and Saint-Junien, are situated, and the Gartempe, a tributary of the Creuse. To the southeast of the department lies the Massif Central, the source of the Charente is in the department, in the commune of Chéronnac, near Rochechouart. Artefacts from the Bronze Age include axe heads found at Châlus, with the coming of the Romans, trade was opened up and gold and tin were mined. Agriculture developed and grapes were grown, amphorae for storing wine were found at Saint-Gence, during the reign of Augustus, the city of Augustoritum was founded at a strategic ford across the Vienne. The Romans built roads from here to Brittany, Lyon and the Mediterranean, the city declined in the 3rd Century when barbarian invasions of the region took place. The domination of the Visigoths was short-lived and Clovis I seized control of Limousin after the battle of Vouillé in 507, by 674, the region was attached to the duchy of Aquitaine, and the Viscount of Limoges was created. There followed a period with various powers vying for control. In 1199, Richard Cœur de Lion was mortally wounded during the siege of the Château de Châlus-Chabrol, the region was much involved in the Hundred Years War and at the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, France granted England a large area of territory comprising much of Limousin. Limoges city rebelled and gave its allegiance to the French crown, after a revolt by the peasants, Henri IV brought peace and prosperity to the region of Limousin. He visited Limoges in 1607 and was greeted enthusiastically, the Counter-Reformation led to the creation of numerous convents and religious orders, especially in Limoges. In 1761, Anne Robert Jacques Turgot was appointed intendent of Limoges and he negotiated a reduction in taxes payable by the region and developed fairer methods of collecting taxes, as well as improving the road system and encouraging agricultural development. Around 1765, kaolin was discovered near Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche in the south of the department, at first it was given the number 81, but in the nineteenth century, the number was changed to the 87th department, when further land to the east and northeast was added. It takes its name from the reaches of the Vienne which flows through it. In 1998, the southwest part of the department, together with the part of the region of Périgord was designated as the Parc Naturel Régional Périgord-Limousin
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Allier
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Allier (French pronunciation, , is a French department located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France named after the river Allier. Moulins is the prefecture and the INSEE and Post Code is 03, the inhabitants of the department are known as Elavérins or Elavérines Allier department is composed of almost all of the former Duchy of Bourbonnais. It is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and borders the departments of Cher, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Loire, Puy-de-Dome, and Creuse. The Bourbonnais Bocage To the north and just over 500 metres above sea level, almost all of the southern area consists of Combrailles which is sometimes called High Bourbonnais, in an area that goes beyond the departmental boundaries of Creuse and Puy-de-Dôme. This area of the department rises to 778 metres at Bosse, the rivers Sioule, Bouble, and Cher have carved the most picturesque gorges in Allier. Limogne, together with Sioule and Allier, is part of the Gannat / Escurolles / Saint-Pourçain triangle while Forterre covers the Canton of Varennes-sur-Allier ending near Jaligny, as noted Atlantic winds are dominant from the west, northwest, or southwest. The influence of topography, especially in the valleys of Cher and Allier, the history of Allier corresponds to the Duchy of Bourbon with which it shares almost the entire territory. Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 and it was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne and Bourbonnais. In 1940, the government of Marshal Philippe Pétain chose the town of Vichy as its capital, Vichy also became the departments second sub-prefecture in 1940, since the department now found itself split by the demarcation line between the occupied and free zones of France. On 1 January 1997 the population of Allier was estimated at 357,100 inhabitants which represented an average density of 50 people/km², many areas have a density less than 20 people/km². Since the early 1980s Allier has faced many demographic handicaps, the ratio of older people is important and with low fertility rates the natural growth is negative. Meanwhile, net migration has become very negative, at 1 January 2009 the legal population was 343,046 inhabitants. Allier has three cities, Montlucon, Vichy, and Moulins by size. The rest of the department includes some towns and villages scattered mainly along the rivers. The few villages are far from other and it is generally a sparsely populated department. Until the end of the 19th century, however, the population was increasing through the development of its cities compensated by the rural exodus, the department then passed 420,000 inhabitants. After the population losses of the First World War the population stabilized, since then, due to the continuing rural exodus and especially the decline of old industries, the population has decreased and aged steadily from 386,533 inhabitants in 1968 to 343,046 in 2009. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the censuses conducted in the communes of the department since 1793
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Cher (department)
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Cher is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. It is named after the Cher River, Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Most of it was created, along with the adjacent department of Indre from the province of Berry. The southeastern corner of the department was part of the Duchy of Bourbon, the department is part of the current administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire. It is surrounded by the departments of Indre, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Nièvre, Allier, the inhabitants of the department are called Berrichons from the former province of Berry. The President of the General Council is Alain Rafesthain of the Socialist Party, the Bourges Cathedral of St. Étienne is a major tourist attraction. Cantons of the Cher department Communes of the Cher department Arrondissements of the Cher department The historical languages are Berrichon and these are both dialects of French, or the Langues doïl. They are named respectively after the former Province of Berry and the former Duchy of Bourbon, some 11 communes in the extreme South used to speak Occitan. During the twentieth century government educational policy promoted a more standardised version of the French language
31.
Indre
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Indre is a department in the centre of France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are called Indriens, Indre is part of the current region of Centre-Val de Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Cher, Creuse, Vienne, and Haute-Vienne. The préfecture is Châteauroux and there are three subpréfectures at Le Blanc, La Châtre and Issoudun, Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, by order of the National Constituent Assembly. The new departments were to be administered and approximately equal in size. The department was created from part of the province of Berry. Before the Roman conquest, the Celtic Bituriges tribe occupied an area that included Indre, Cher and their capital was Avaricum, and another important settlement was at Argenton-sur-Creuse. The area then part of Roman Gaul after its conquest by Julius Caesar around 58 BC. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the Frankish tribes living in Gaul were united under the Merovingians, from this time, the Franks controlled most of Gaul and the Carolingian Empire was the last stage of their rule. The Carolingian dynasty reached its peak with the crowning of Charlemagne and after his death in 814, the Carolingian territories were divided into three sections in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun, and the area that is now the department of Indre, became part of West Francia. In 869, the king of Middle Francia died without leaving a legitimate heir, a castle was built at Châteauroux in the late tenth century. In the eleventh century, the lords of Châteauroux were powerful in the region, Indre is a department in central France and is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire. The capital and largest town in the department is Châteauroux, to the north of Indre lies Loir-et-Cher, to the east Cher, to the south lies Creuse and Haute-Vienne, to the southwest lies Vienne, and to the northwest lies Indre-et-Loire. Most of the department is relatively level plains in the broad Loire Valley, the area of the department is 2,269 square miles and it is some 60 miles from north to south and some 54 miles wide. The land is undulating and slopes gently towards the northwest, the main rivers are the Creuse, the Claise and the Indre. The Creuse, a tributary of the Vienne, is 264 kilometres long and has been impounded in places, at the time it was built in 1926. The Claise is 88 kilometres long and is a tributary of the Creuse, the Indre is a longer waterway and flows centrally through the department from south to north, through the major towns of La Châtre, Châteauroux and Loches. It is a tributary of the Loire, joining it at Chinon in the department of Loir-et-Cher. The highest point of the department is near the town of Pouligny-Notre-Dame where the land rises to 459 m above sea level, the remaining land is heathland, urban land and waterways
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Massif Central
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The Massif Central is an elevated region in the middle of southern France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers approximately 15 percent of the country, the region was a barrier to transport within France until the opening of the A75 motorway, which not only made north-south travel easier, but also opened up the Massif Central itself. The Massif Central is an old massif, formed during the Variscan orogeny and it was powerfully raised and made to look geologically younger in the eastern section by the uplift of the Alps during the Paleogene period and in the southern section by the uplift of the Pyrenees. These tectonic movements created faults and are maybe at the origin of the volcanism in the Massif Central, in fact, above the crystalline foundation, we can observe many volcanoes of many different types and ages, volcanic plateaus, stratovolcanoes, and small, very recent monogenic volcanoes. The entire region contains a concentration of approximately 450 extinct volcanoes. The strip of Chaîne des Puys, running north to south and less than 60 square miles long, the Auvergne Volcanoes National Park is in the massif. In the south, one region, made up of features called causses in French. The most famous of these is the canyon of Tarn, the following régions are part of the Massif Central, Auvergne, Limousin. Part of the following régions are in the Massif Central, Languedoc-Roussillon, the largest cities are Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Étienne
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