1.
Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
2.
Composer
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A composer is a person who creates or writes music, which can be vocal music, instrumental music or music which combines both instruments and voices. The core meaning of the term refers to individuals who have contributed to the tradition of Western classical music through creation of works expressed in written musical notation, many composers are also skilled performers, either as singers, instrumentalists, and/or conductors. Examples of composers who are well known for their ability as performers include J. S. Bach, Mozart. In many popular genres, such as rock and country. For a singer or instrumental performer, the process of deciding how to perform music that has previously composed and notated is termed interpretation. Different performers interpretations of the work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen. Composers and songwriters who present their own music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others, although a musical composition often has a single author, this is not always the case. A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, in the 20th and 21st century, a culture eventually developed whereby faithfulness to the composers written intention came to be highly valued. This musical culture is almost certainly related to the esteem in which the leading classical composers are often held by performers. The movement might be considered a way of creating greater faithfulness to the original in works composed at a time that expected performers to improvise. In Classical music, the composer typically orchestrates her own compositions, in some cases, a pop songwriter may not use notation at all, and instead compose the song in her mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music. In the development of European classical music, the function of composing music initially did not have greater importance than that of performing it. The preservation of individual compositions did not receive attention and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance. In as much as the role of the composer in western art music has seen continued solidification, for instance, in certain contexts the line between composer and performer, sound designer, arranger, producer, and other roles, can be quite blurred. The term composer is often used to refer to composers of music, such as those found in classical, jazz or other forms of art. In popular and folk music, the composer is usually called a songwriter and this is distinct from a 19th-century conception of instrumental composition, where the work was represented solely by a musical score to be interpreted by performers
3.
Geoffrey Chaucer
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Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages. He was the first poet to be buried in Poets Corner of Westminster Abbey, among his many works are The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame, The Legend of Good Women and Troilus and Criseyde. He is best known today for The Canterbury Tales, Chaucers work was crucial in legitimizing the literary use of the Middle English vernacular at a time when the dominant literary languages in England were French and Latin. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London sometime around 1343, though the precise date and his father and grandfather were both London vintners, several previous generations had been merchants in Ipswich. In 1324 John Chaucer, Geoffreys father, was kidnapped by an aunt in the hope of marrying the boy to her daughter in an attempt to keep property in Ipswich. The aunt was imprisoned and the fine levied suggests that the family was financially secure. In the City Hustings Roll 110,5, Ric II, dated June 1380, Geoffrey Chaucer refers to himself as me Galfridum Chaucer, filium Johannis Chaucer, Vinetarii, Londonie. He also worked as a courtier, a diplomat, and a civil servant, as well as working for the king from 1389 to 1391 as Clerk of the Kings Works. In 1359, in the stages of the Hundred Years War, Edward III invaded France and Chaucer travelled with Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence, Elizabeths husband. In 1360, he was captured during the siege of Rheims, Edward paid £16 for his ransom, a considerable sum, and Chaucer was released. After this, Chaucers life is uncertain, but he seems to have travelled in France, Spain, around 1366, Chaucer married Philippa Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to Edward IIIs queen, Philippa of Hainault, and a sister of Katherine Swynford and it is uncertain how many children Chaucer and Philippa had, but three or four are most commonly cited. His son, Thomas Chaucer, had a career, as chief butler to four kings, envoy to France. Thomass daughter, Alice, married the Duke of Suffolk, thomass great-grandson, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, was the heir to the throne designated by Richard III before he was deposed. Geoffreys other children probably included Elizabeth Chaucy, a nun at Barking Abbey, Agnes, an attendant at Henry IVs coronation, Chaucers Treatise on the Astrolabe was written for Lewis. According to tradition, Chaucer studied law in the Inner Temple at this time and he became a member of the royal court of Edward III as a valet de chambre, yeoman, or esquire on 20 June 1367, a position which could entail a wide variety of tasks. His wife also received a pension for court employment and he travelled abroad many times, at least some of them in his role as a valet. In 1368, he may have attended the wedding of Lionel of Antwerp to Violante Visconti, daughter of Galeazzo II Visconti, two other literary stars of the era were in attendance, Jean Froissart and Petrarch
4.
Ars nova
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The term is sometimes used more generally to refer to all European polyphonic music of the 14th century. For instance, Italian ars nova is sometimes used to denote the music of Francesco Landini, the ars in ars nova can be read as technique, or style. The term was first used in two treatises, titled Ars novae musicae by Johannes de Muris, and a collection of writings attributed to Philippe de Vitry often simply called Ars nova today. However, the term was only first used to describe an era by Johannes Wolf in 1904. Roughly, then, the ars antiqua is the music of the century. Other musical periods and styles have at times been called the new art, however, in modern historiographical usage. Stylistically, the music of the ars nova differed from the era in several ways. The overall aesthetic effect of changes was to create music of greater expressiveness. The most famous practitioner of the new style was Guillaume de Machaut. The ars-nova style is evident in his body of motets, lais, virelais, rondeaux. Denkmäler alter Musik aus dem Codex Reina, esther Lamandier, voice, harp, and portative organ. La fontaine amoureuse, Poetry and Music of Guillaume de Machaut, Music for a While, with Tom Klunis, narrator. La Messe de Nostre Dame und Motetten, James Bowman, Tom Sutcliffe, countertenors, Capella Antiqua München. La messe de Nostre Dame, Le voir dit, Messe de Notre Dame, Le lai de la fonteinne, Ma fin est mon commencement. Philippe De Vitry and the Ars Nova—Motets, sequentia Freiburg, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi,1991. Jean Bollery, Studio der Frühen Musik, anne Azéma, Dominique Visse, Boston Camerata and Ensemble Project Ars Nova. The Service of Venus and Mars, Music for the Knights of the Garter, the Spirit of England and France I, Music of the Late Middle Ages for Court and Church. The Study of Love, French Songs and Motets of the 14th Century, in Medieval France, An Encyclopedia, edited by William W. Kibler, Grover A. Zinn, Lawrence Earp, and John Bell Henneman, Jr. 72–73
5.
Motet
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In western music, a motet is a mainly vocal musical composition, of highly varied form and style, from the late medieval era to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music, according to Margaret Bent, a piece of music in several parts with words is as precise a definition of the motet as will serve from the 13th to the late 16th century and beyond. In the early 20th century, it was believed the name came from the Latin movere. The Medieval Latin for motet is motectum, and the Italian mottetto was also used, if the word is from Latin, the name describes the movement of the different voices against one another. Today, however, the French etymology is favoured by reference books, in fact, the troped clausulas that were the forerunner of the motet were originally called motelli, soon replaced by the term moteti. The earliest motets arose in the 13th century from the organum tradition exemplified in the Notre Dame school of Léonin and Pérotin, the motet probably arose from clausula sections, usually strophic interludes, in a longer sequence of organum, to which upper voices were added. Usually the clausula represented a sequence in Latin which was sung as a discant over a cantus firmus. The motet took a definite rhythm from the words of the verse, the main exception is the conductus motet, in which the parts proceed in essentially homophonic rhythms. The practice of discant over a cantus firmus marked the beginnings of counterpoint in Western music, from these first motets arose a medieval tradition of secular motets. It is suspected that, for the sake of intelligibility, in performance the cantus firmus, among the trouvères, Robert de Reins La Chievre and Richart de Fournival composed motets. While it grew out of the isorhythmic motet, the Renaissance composers of the motet generally abandoned the use of a repeated figure as a cantus firmus. During this time, however, the use of cantus firmi in works such as the parody mass tended to stretch the cantus firmus out to great lengths compared to the multivoice descant above it. This tended to obscure the rhythm supplied by the cantus firmus that had been apparent in the medieval isorhythmic motet. The cascading, passing chords created by the interplay between multiple voices, and the absence of a strong or obvious beat, are the features that distinguish medieval, the texts of antiphons were frequently used as motet texts. This is the sort of composition that is most familiarly designated by the term motet, in essence, these motets were sacred madrigals. The language of the text was the feature, if it is Latin, it is a motet, if the vernacular. Religious compositions in vernacular languages were often called madrigali spirituali, spiritual madrigals, secular motets continued to be written, however. These motets typically set a Latin text in praise of a monarch, commemorating some public triumph, nevertheless, the themes of courtly love often found in the medieval secular motet were banished from the Renaissance motet
6.
Rondeau (forme fixe)
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A rondeau is a form of medieval and Renaissance French poetry, as well as the corresponding musical chanson form. It is structured around a pattern of repetition of material involving a refrain. The rondeau is believed to have originated in dance songs involving alternating singing of the elements by a group. The older French rondeau or rondel as a song form between the 13th and mid-15th century begins with a statement of its refrain, which consists of two halves. Thus, it can be represented as AB-aAab-AB, where A and B are the repeated refrain parts. If the poem has more than one stanza, it continues with further sequences of aAab-AB, aAab-AB, in the rondeau quatrain, the rhyme scheme is usually ABBA–ab–AB–abba–ABBA, in the rondeau cinquain it is AABBA–aab–AAB–aabba–AABBA. Fait lui avés longuement ceste offence, Ou est celluy qui onc fut ne en France, qui endurast tel mortel deshonneur. Allés, Regrez, … In the medieval manuscripts, the restatement of the refrain is not written out. After the mid-15th century, this came to be regarded no longer as a mere scribal abbreviation. As the form was gradually divorced from the structure and became a purely literary genre. This form is defined as the rondel in modern literary compendia. Another version has the refrains shortened even further, both restatements are reduced to just the first two or three words of the first line, which now stand as short, pithy, non-rhyming lines in the middle and at the end of the poem. If derived from the erstwhile rondeau quatrain, this results in a 12-line structure that is now called the rondeau prime, if derived from the erstwhile 21-line rondeau cinquain, the result is a 15-line form with the rentrements in lines 9 and 15. This 15-line form became the norm in the literary rondeau of the later Renaissance, auprés de leau me fault de soif perir, Je me voy jeune, et en aage fleurir, Et si me monstre estre plein de vieillesse Avant mes jours. Like the other formes fixes, the Rondeau was frequently set to music, the earliest surviving polyphonic rondeaux are by the trouvère Adam de la Halle in the late 13th century. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Guillaume de Machaut, Guillaume Dufay, Hayne van Ghizeghem, early rondeaux are usually found as interpolations in longer narrative poems, and separate monophonic musical settings survive. After the 15th century, the musical form went out of fashion, the musical rondeau is typically a two-part composition, with all the A sections of the poems AB-aAab-AB structure set to one line of music, and all the B parts to another. Although far rarer than the French usage, the Italian equivalent, a single rondello appears in the Rossi Codex
7.
Virelai
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A virelai is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three formes fixes and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. One of the most famous composers of virelai is Guillaume de Machaut, other composers of virelai include Jehannot de lEscurel, one of the earliest, and Guillaume Dufay, one of the latest. A virelai with only a stanza is also known as a bergerette. The virelai as a form of the 14th and early 15th century usually has three stanzas, and a refrain that is stated before the first stanza and again after each. Within each stanza, the structure is that of the bar form, the third section of each stanza shares its rhymes and music with the refrain. Within this overall structure, the number of lines and the scheme is variable. The refrain and abgesang may be of three, four or five each, with rhyme schemes such as ABA, ABAB, AAAB, ABBA, AAAB. The structure often involves an alternation of longer with shorter lines, typically, all three stanzas share the same set of rhymes, which means that the entire poem may be built on just two rhymes, if the stollen sections also share their rhymes with the refrain. Douce Dame Jolie by Guillaume de Machaut is an example of a virelai with rhymes AAAB in the refrain, douce dame jolie, Pour dieu ne pensés mie Que nulle ait signorie Seur moy fors vous seulement. Quadès sans tricherie Chierie Vous ay et humblement Tous les jours de ma vie Servie Sans villain pensement, et je mendie Desperance et daïe, Dont ma joie est fenie, Se pité ne vous en prent. Douce dame jolie, Pour dieu ne pensés mie Que nulle ait signorie Seur moy fors vous seulement, from the 15th century onwards the virelai was no longer regularly set to music but became a purely literary form, and its structural variety proliferated. The 17th-century prosodist Père Mourgues defined what he called the virelai ancien in a way that has little in common with the musical virelais of the 14th and 15th centuries. In the second stanza, the b rhymes are shifted to the verses, and a new c rhyme is introduced for the shorter ones. These forms have occasionally been reproduced in later English poetry, e. g. by John Payne, list of virelais by Guillaume de Machaut
8.
Ballade (forme fixe)
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The ballade is a form of medieval and Renaissance French poetry as well as the corresponding musical chanson form. It was one of the three formes fixes and one of the forms in France most commonly set to music between the late 13th and the 15th centuries. The formes fixes were standard forms in French-texted song of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the ballade is usually in three stanzas, each ending with a refrain. The ballade as a form typically consists of three eight-line stanzas, each with a consistent metre and a particular rhyme scheme. The last line in the stanza is a refrain, the stanzas are often followed by a four-line concluding stanza usually addressed to a prince. The rhyme scheme is therefore usually ababbcbC ababbcbC ababbcbC bcbC, where the capital C is a refrain, the many different rhyming words that are needed makes the form more difficult for English than for French poets. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in the form and it was revived in the 19th century by English-language poets including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Algernon Charles Swinburne. Other notable English-language ballade writers are Andrew Lang, Hilaire Belloc, a humorous example is Wendy Copes Proverbial Ballade. In many ballades, the part of the B section may reintroduce melodic material referring back to the end of the A part. An alternative form employed by Machaut, known as duplex or balladelle, has the B part also divided into two repetitions, with the refrain line sung as part of the repetition. A famous exception to the form is Se la face ay pale by Guillaume Dufay. Guillaume de Machaut wrote 42 ballades set to music, a few of them set two or even three poems to music simultaneously, with different texts sung in different voices. Most of the others have a single texted voice with either one or two untexted accompanying voices, one of the most notable writers of ballades in the 15th century was François Villon. There are many variations to the ballade. It is in ways similar to the ode and chant royal. A seven-line ballade, or ballade royal, consists of four stanzas of rhyme royal, a ballade supreme has ten-line stanzas rhyming ababbccdcD, with the envoi ccdcD or ccdccD. An example is Ballade des Pendus by François Villon, there are instances of a double ballade and double-refrain ballade
9.
Reims
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Reims, a city in the Grand Est region of France, lies 129 km east-northeast of Paris. The 2013 census recorded 182,592 inhabitants in the city of Reims proper and its river, the Vesle, is a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by the Gauls, it became a city during the period of the Roman Empire. Reims played a prominent ceremonial role in French monarchical history as the site of the crowning of the kings of France. The Cathedral of Reims housed the Holy Ampulla containing the Saint Chrême and it was used for the anointing, the most important part of the coronation of French kings. Reims functions as a subprefecture of the department of Marne, in the region of Grand Est. Although Reims is by far the largest commune in both its region and department, Châlons-en-Champagne is the capital and prefecture of both. Before the Roman conquest of northern Gaul, Reims, founded circa 80 BC as *Durocorteron, at its height in Roman times the city had a population in the range of 30,000 -50,000 or perhaps up to 100,000. Christianity had become established in the city by 260, at which period Saint Sixtus of Reims founded the bishopric of Reims, for centuries the events at the crowning of Clovis I became a symbol used by the monarchy to claim the divine right to rule. Meetings of Pope Stephen II with Pepin the Short, and of Pope Leo III with Charlemagne, took place at Reims, Louis IV gave the city and countship of Reims to the archbishop Artaldus in 940. Louis VII gave the title of duke and peer to William of Champagne, archbishop from 1176 to 1202, by the 10th century Reims had become a centre of intellectual culture. Archbishop Adalberon, seconded by the monk Gerbert, founded schools which taught the liberal arts. Louis XI cruelly suppressed a revolt at Reims, caused in 1461 by the salt tax, during the French Wars of Religion the city sided with the Catholic League, but submitted to Henri IV after the battle of Ivry. In August 1909 Reims hosted the first international meet, the Grande Semaine dAviation de la Champagne. Major aviation personages such as Glenn Curtiss, Louis Blériot and Louis Paulhan participated, hostilities in World War I greatly damaged the city. German bombardment and a subsequent fire in 1914 did severe damage to the cathedral, from the end of World War I to the present day an international effort to restore the cathedral from the ruins has continued. The Palace of Tau, St Jacques Church and the Abbey of St Remi also were protected and restored, the collection of preserved buildings and Roman ruins remains monumentally impressive. During World War II the city suffered additional damage, but in Reims, at 2,41 on the morning of 7 May 1945, General Eisenhower and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht
10.
Ardennes
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The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges formed by the geological features of the Ardennes mountain range and the Moselle and Meuse River basins. Geologically, the range is a extension of the Eifel. The eastern part of the Ardennes forms the northernmost third of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, also called Oesling, the greater region maintained an industrial eminence into the 20th century after coal replaced charcoal in metallurgy. The region is typified by steep-sided valleys carved by swift-flowing rivers and its most populous cities are Verviers in Belgium and Charleville-Mézières in France, both exceeding 50,000 inhabitants. The Ardennes is otherwise relatively sparsely populated, with few of the cities exceeding 10,000 inhabitants with a few exceptions like Eupen or Bastogne. The Eifel range in Germany adjoins the Ardennes and is part of the geological formation. N. B. the Belgian Province of Luxembourg in the above list is not to be confused with the known as the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The Ardennes is an old mountain formed during the Hercynian orogeny, in France similar formations are the Armorican Massif, the Massif Central, the low interior of such old mountains often contain coal, plus iron, zinc and other metals in the sub-soil. This geologic fact explains the greatest part of the geography of Wallonia, the region was uplifted by a mantle plume during the last few hundred thousand years, as measured from the present elevation of old river terraces. This geological region is important in the history of Wallonia because this old mountain is at the origin of the economy, the history, Wallonia presents a wide range of rocks of various ages. Some geological stages internationally recognized were defined from rock sites located in Wallonia, except for the Tournaisian, all these rocks are within the Ardennes geological area. Before the 19th century industrialization, the first furnaces in the four Walloon provinces and in the French Ardennes used charcoal for fuel and this industry was also in the extreme south of the present-day Belgian province of Luxembourg, in the region called Gaume. Wallonia became the industrial power area of the world in proportion to its territory. The rugged terrain of the Ardennes limits the scope for agriculture, arable, the region is rich in timber and minerals, and Liège and Namur are both major industrial centres. The extensive forests have an abundant population of wild game, the scenic beauty of the region and its wide variety of outdoor activities, including hunting, cycling, walking and canoeing, make it a popular tourist destination. The region took its name from the ancient Silva, a vast forest in Roman times called Arduenna Silva, the modern Ardennes covers a much smaller area. The Song of Roland describes Charlemagne as having a nightmare the night before the Battle of Roncevaux Pass of 778 and this nightmare took place in the Ardennes forest, where his most important battles occurred. Another song about Charlemagne, the Old French 12th-century chanson de geste Quatre Fils Aymon, mentions many of Wallonias rivers, villages and other places
11.
John of Bohemia
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John the Blind was the Count of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He was the eldest son of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and he is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. Raised in Paris, John was French by education, but deeply involved in the politics of Germany, in 1310 his father arranged the marriage of the 14-year-old to Elisabeth from the Přemyslid dynasty, sister of the deceased King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia. The Castle at Prague was uninhabitable so John made residence in one of the houses on the Old Town Square and he thereby became one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and – in succession of Wenceslaus III – claimant to the Polish and Hungarian throne. His attempts to follow his father as King of the Romans failed with the election of Louis IV of Wittelsbach in 1314. He later would support Louis in his rivalry with Frederick the Fair of Habsburg, culminating in the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf, like his predecessor Henry, he was disliked by much of the Czech nobility. John was considered to be a king and gave up the administration of Bohemia after a while. He parted ways with his wife and left the Czech country to be ruled by the barons while spending time in Luxembourg and his travels took him to Silesia, Poland, Lithuania, Tyrol, Northern Italy and Papal Avignon. A rival of King Władysław I the Elbow-high to the Polish crown and he also made several Silesian dukes swear an oath of allegiance to him. In 1335 in Congress of Visegrád, Władysławs successor King Casimir III the Great of Poland paid a significant amount of money in exchange for Johns giving up his claim to the Polish throne. John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from ophthalmia in 1336, a treatment by the famous physician Guy de Chauliac had no positive effects. At the outbreak of the Hundred Years War in 1337 he allied with King Philip VI of France and was governor of Languedoc from 30 November 1338 to November 1340. At the Battle of Crécy in 1346 John controlled Phillips advanced guard along with controlling the large contingents of Charles II of Alençon and Louis I, John was killed at age 50 while fighting against the English during the battle. His men said, Sir, we cannot tell, we think he be fighting. Then he said, Sirs, ye are my men, my companions and friends in this journey, I require you bring me so far forward, the legend, which first appeared in 1614, has been proved to be false. John was succeeded as King of Bohemia by his eldest son Charles, in Luxembourg, he was succeeded by his son by his second wife, Wenceslaus. The manner of his death gave rise to the obsolescent idiom, to fight like King John of Bohemia, one of John of Luxembourg’s first steps as king was the re-establishment of authority and to secure peace within the country. Although the aristocracy was encouraged to raise armies when peace within the country was threatened, on the other hand, the king’s right to appoint a foreign official to office was abolished
12.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
13.
Bohemia
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Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. Bohemia was a duchy of Great Moravia, later an independent principality, a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, after World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions with sizeable German-speaking minorities of all three Czech lands were joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland, in 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which become a separate state in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was a unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its lands. Bohemia was bordered in the south by Upper and Lower Austria, in the west by Bavaria and in the north by Saxony and Lusatia, in the northeast by Silesia, and in the east by Moravia. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, the Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia and the Battle of Mutina. After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps, much later Roman authors refer to the area they had once occupied as Boiohaemum. The earliest mention was by Tacitus Germania 28, and later mentions of the name are in Strabo. The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *haimaz home and this Boiohaemum was apparently isolated to the area where King Marobods kingdom was centred, within the Hercynian forest. The Czech name Čechy is derived from the name of the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, Bohemia, like neighbouring Bavaria, is named after the Boii, who were a large Celtic nation known to the Romans for their migrations and settlement in northern Italy and other places. Another part of the nation moved west with the Helvetii into southern France, to the south, over the Danube, the Romans extended their empire, and to the southeast in Hungaria, were Sarmatian peoples. In the area of modern Bohemia the Marcomanni and other Suebic groups were led by their king Marobodus and he took advantage of the natural defenses provided by its mountains and forests. In late classical times and the early Middle Ages, two new Suebic groupings appeared to the west of Bohemia in southern Germany, the Alemanni, many Suebic tribes from the Bohemian region took part in such movements westwards, even settling as far away as Spain and Portugal. With them were also tribes who had pushed from the east, such as the Vandals, other groups pushed southwards towards Pannonia. These are precursors of todays Czechs, though the amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves, the first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia. Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samos tribal confederation and his death marked the end of the old Slavonic confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia. Other sources divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare, Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century
14.
Canon (priest)
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A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule. This way of life grew common in the eighth century, in the eleventh century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, in the Roman Catholic Church, the members of the chapter of a cathedral or of a collegiate church are canons. Depending on the title of the church, several languages use specific titles, e. g. in German Domherr or Domkapitular in a Dom, Stiftsherr in a prelature that has the status of a Stift. One of the functions of the chapter in the Roman Catholic Church was to elect a Vicar Capitular to serve during a sede vacante period of the diocese. All canons of the Church of England have been secular since the Reformation, mostly, however, they are ordained, that is, priests or members of the clergy. Today, the system of canons is retained almost exclusively in connection with cathedral churches, a canon is a member of the chapter of priests, headed by a dean, which is responsible for administering a cathedral or certain other churches that are styled collegiate churches. The dean and chapter are the body which has legal responsibility for the cathedral. The title of Canon is not a permanent title and when no longer in a position entitling preferment, however, it is still given in many dioceses to senior parish priests as a largely honorary title. It is usually awarded in recognition of long and dedicated service to the diocese, honorary canons are members of the chapter in name but are non-residential and receive no emoluments. They are entitled to call themselves canon and may have a role in the administration of the cathedral, in some Church of England dioceses, the title Prebendary is used instead of canon when the cleric is involved administratively with a cathedral. Honorary canons within the Roman Catholic Church may still be nominated after the Second Vatican Council, on the demise of the Kingdom of France this honour became transferred to the Presidents of the Republic, and hence is currently held by François Hollande. This applies even when the French President is not Catholic, as is the case with the atheist Hollande, the proto-canon of the papal basilica of Saint Mary Major is the King of Spain, currently Felipe VI. The rank of lay canon is especially conferred upon diocesan chancellors and it has traditionally been said that the King of England is a canon or prebendary of St David’s Cathedral, Wales. However, this is based on a misconception, the canonry of St Mary’s College, St David’s became the property of the Crown on the dissolution of the monasteries. The Sovereign was never a canon of St David’s, even as a layman, though he or she may occupy the first prebendal stall, a canon professor is a canon at an Anglican cathedral who also holds a university professorship. Section 2 of the Church of England Measure 1995 was passed for the purpose of enabling Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Historically, the chair in Greek at the university was also a canon professorship and this canonry was transferred to the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in 1940
15.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
16.
Verdun
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Verdun is a small city in the Meuse department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department, Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc. Verdun was founded by the Gauls and it has been the seat of the bishop of Verdun since the 4th century, with interruptions. The 843 Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagnes empire into three parts, the city has been famous for dragées or sugared almonds from 1200 onwards, they were distributed at the baptism of French princes. Verdun was part of the kingdom of Lotharingia, and in 1374 it became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull and Metz the Three Bishoprics, from 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. In 1670, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban visited Verdun and drew up a scheme to fortify the whole city. Although much of his plan was built in the following decades, despite the extensive fortifications, Verdun was captured by the Prussians in 1792 during the War of the First Coalition, but abandoned by them after the Battle of Valmy. During the Napoleonic War, the citadel was used to hold British prisoners of war, in the Franco-Prussian War, Verdun was the last French fortress to surrender in 1870. Shortly afterwards, a new system of fortification was begun and this consisted of a mutually supporting ring of 22 polygonal forts up to 8 kilometres from the city, and an inner ring of 6 forts. The Battle of Verdun was fought on August 20,1792 between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army and this therefore opened the path to Paris. Norwich Duff visited Verdun in 1819, shortly after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars and he writes, Verdun is prettily situated in a valley surrounded by hills. The River Meuse runs through the town and forms several canals and ditches round the town which is fortified and, I believe, the citadel and are a good deal out of repair and were at work on them. Though there is little to see at Verdun, every part of it felt interesting from the number of our countrymen confined here during the war, Verdun is famous for its sweetmeats, sugar plums, confits etc. which are said to be the best in France. They made us show our passports it being a fortified town, Verdun was the site of a major battle, and the longest-lasting, of the First World War. One of the costliest battles in history, Verdun exemplified the policy of a war of attrition pursued by both sides, which led to an enormous loss of life and very large casualty lists. Following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914 and the solidifying of the Western Front, once the French army had bled to death, Britain could be brought down by Germanys submarine blockade and superior military strength. Recent scholarship by Holger Afflerbach and others, however, has questioned the veracity of the Christmas memo, no copy has ever surfaced and the only account of it appeared in Falkenhayns post-war memoir
17.
Arras
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Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France, prior to the reorganization of 2014 it was located in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. It is located in Northern France on the Scarpe river, the Arras plain lies on a large chalk plateau bordered on the north by the Marqueffles fault, on the southwest by the Artois and Ternois hills, and on the south by the slopes of Beaufort-Blavincourt. On the east it is connected to the Scarpe valley, established during the Iron Age by the Gauls, the town of Arras was first known as Nemetocenna, which is believed to have originated from the Celtic word nemeton, meaning sacred space. The first mention of the name Arras appeared in the 12th century, some hypothesize it is a contraction of Atrebates, a Belgic tribe of Gaul and Britain that used to inhabit the area. The name Atrebates could have evolved to become Atrades, Atradis, Aras. Others believe it comes from the Celtic word Ar, meaning running water, Arras is Pas-de-Calais’ third most populous town after Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer. The town counted 43,693 residents in 2012, with the Arras metropolitan area having a population of 124,200, Arras is located 182 kilometers north of Paris and can be reached in 2 hours by car and in 50 minutes by TGV. It is the center of the former Artois province. Its local speech is characterized as a patois, the city of Arras is well known for its architecture, culture, and history. It was once part of the Spanish Netherlands, a portion of the Low Countries controlled by Spain from 1556 to 1714, each year Arras attracts thousands of visitors, who explore the citys architecture and historic buildings. Some famous attractions include the splendid Town Hall and its Belfry, the Boves, the Squares, the Art District, the Abbey District, the Vauban Citadel, unlike many French words, the final s in the name Arras should be pronounced. Archaeologists found evidence of human settlements in the Scarpe basin. The archaeological sites of Mont-Saint-Vaast in Arras and Biache-Saint-Vaast were Stone Age settlements of the Mousterian culture and they were evidenced by the finds of stone tools. Very little was found to document the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age in the Arras area, Arras was founded on the boat of Baudimont by the Belgic tribe of the Atrebates, who named it Nemetocenna in reference to a nemeton that probably existed there. It was later renamed Nemetacum/Atrebatum by the Romans, under whom it became an important garrison town, in the Scarpe valley archaeologists excavations and data recovery revealed Late Iron Age settlements. These buildings, believed to be farms, were found near the municipalities of Arras, Hamblain-les-Prés, in the 4th century, Nemetecacum was renowned for its arts and crafts as well as textiles trade throughout the whole empire. Between 406 and 407, the city was taken and destroyed by Germanic invaders, in 428, the Salian Franks led by Clodion le Chevelu took control of the region including the current Somme department. Roman General Aetius then chose to negotiate for peace and concluded a treaty with Clodion that gave the Franks the status of «foederati» fighting for Rome
18.
Pope Benedict XII
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Pope Benedict XII, born Jacques Fournier, was Pope from 20 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon Pope, Benedict was a careful pope who reformed monastic orders and opposed nepotism. Unable to remove his capital to Rome or Bologna, he started the great palace at Avignon and he decided against a notion of Pope John XXII by saying that souls may attain the fulness of the beatific vision before the last judgment. He tried unsuccessfully to reunite the Greek and Roman churches and he also failed to come to an understanding with Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Little is known of the origins of Jacques Fournier and he is believed to have been born in Canté in the Comté de Foix around the 1280s to a family of modest means. He became a Cistercian monk and left the countryside to study at the University of Paris, in 1311 he was made Abbot of Fontfroide Abbey and quickly became known for his intelligence and organizational ability. In 1317 he was made Bishop of Pamiers, there he undertook a rigorous hunt for Cathar heretics, such as Guillaume Bélibaste, which won him praise from religious authorities, but alienated the local people. His efforts against the Cathars of Montaillou in the Ariège were carefully recorded in the Fournier Register and his transcription was edited by Jean Duvernoy and has been documented by Emmanuel Le Roy Laduries pioneering microhistory, Montaillou, village occitan. In 1326, upon the successful rooting out of the last – it was believed – heretics of the south, he was made Bishop of Mirepoix in the Ariège, and, Fournier succeeded Pope John XXII as Pope, after being elected in the Conclave of 1334. The Conclave opened on 13 December, and it appeared that there might be a quick election, a two-thirds majority were prepared to elect Cardinal Jean-Raymond de Comminges, the Bishop of Porto, if he would only swear in advance to agree not to return the Papacy to Rome. Comminges refused to make any promises in order to get elected, the Conclave therefore ground on through lengthy discussions. As Fournier himself said. in the discussion held over the election of a future pope, in other words, there were a number of possible candidates. The Cistercian cardinal, Jacques Fournier, was elected on the evening of 20 December 1334, after Vespers, Benedict XII was a reforming pope who did not carry out the policies of his predecessor. He chose to make peace with Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, and as far as possible came to terms with the Franciscans and he tried to curb the luxuries of the monastic orders, though without much success. He also ordered the construction of the Palais des Papes in Avignon, Benedict spent most of his time working on questions of theology. He rejected many of the ideas developed by John XXII, in this regard, he promulgated an apostolic constitution, Benedictus Deus, in 1336. Though some claim that he campaigned against the Immaculate Conception, this is far from clear and he engaged in long theological debates with other noted figures of the age, such as William of Ockham and Meister Eckhart. Though born a Frenchman, Benedict felt no patriotism towards France nor her king, from the start of his papacy, relations between him and Philip were frigid
19.
Bonne of Luxembourg
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Bonne of Luxemburg or Jutta of Luxemburg, was born Jutta, the second daughter of John the Blind, king of Bohemia, and his first wife, Elisabeth of Bohemia. She was the first wife of King John II of France, however, as she died a year prior to his accession, Jutta was referred to in French historiography as Bonne de Luxembourg. She was a member of the House of Luxembourg, among her children were Charles V of France, Philip II, Duke of Burgundy, and Joan, Queen of Navarre. In 1326, Jutta was originally betrothed to Henry of Bar, however this arrangement was broken and she stayed at the abbey of Saint-Esprit until her marriage to John, Jutta was married to John, Duke of Normandy on 28 July 1332 at the church of Notre-Dame in Melun. She was 17 years old, and the king was 13. Her name Jutta, translatable into English as Good, was changed by the time of her marriage to Bonne or Bona, upon marriage, Bonne was the wife of the heir to the French throne, becoming Duchess of Normandy, and Countess of Anjou and of Maine. The wedding was celebrated in the presence of six thousand guests, the festivities were prolonged by a further two months when the young groom was finally knighted at the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris. John was solemnly granted the arms of a knight in front of a prestigious audience bringing together the kings of Bohemia and Navarre, and the dukes of Burgundy, Lorraine, Bonne was a patron of the arts, the composer Guillaume de Machaut being one of her favorites. She died on 11 September 1349 of the plague in Maubisson. She was buried in the Abbey of Maubuisson, less than six months after Bonnes death, John married Joan I, Countess of Auvergne
20.
John, Duke of Berry
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John of Berry or John the Magnificent was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was the son of King John II of France and Bonne of Luxemburg, his brothers were King Charles V of France, Duke Louis I of Anjou. He is primarily remembered as a collector of the important illuminated manuscripts and other works of art commissioned by him and he was born at the castle of Vincennes on 30 November 1340. When Poitiers was ceded to England in 1360, John II granted John the newly raised duchies of Berry, by the terms of the Treaty of Brétigny, signed that May, John became a hostage of the English Crown and remained in England until 1369. Upon his return to France, his brother, now King Charles V, appointed him lieutenant general for Berry, Auvergne, Bourbonnais, Forez, Sologne, Touraine, Anjou, Maine, and Normandy. Upon the death of his older brother Charles V in 1380, his son and heir, Charles VI was a minor, so Berry and his brothers, following the death of Louis of Anjou in 1384, Berry and his brother Burgundy were the dominant figures in the kingdom. John was also stripped of his offices in Languedoc at that time, Berry and Burgundy bided their time, and were soon able to retake power, in 1392, when the King had his first attack of insanity, an affliction which would remain with him throughout his life. The two royal dukes continued to rule until 1402, when the king, in one of his moments of lucidity, took power from them and gave it to his brother Louis, Duke of Orléans. Simon of Cramaud, a canonist and prelate, served the Duke in his efforts to find a way to end the Great Western schism that was not unfavorable to French interests, in his later years, John became a more conciliatory figure in France. It was largely due to his urging that Charles VI and his sons were not present at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and he died a few months after the battle, which proved as disastrous as he had feared, on June 151416 in Paris. In 1389 he married his wife, Joan II, Countess of Auvergne. John of Berry was also a patron who commissioned among other works the most famous Book of Hours. His spending on his art collection severely taxed his estates, works created for him include the manuscripts known as the Très Riches Heures, the Belles Heures of Jean de France, Duc de Berry and the Turin-Milan Hours. Goldsmiths work includes the Holy Thorn Reliquary and Royal Gold Cup, among the artists working for him were the Limbourg Brothers, Jacquemart de Hesdin and André Beauneveu. The web site of the Louvre says of him, Emmerson, key Figures in Medieval Europe, An Encyclopedia. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, new York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–
21.
Charles V of France
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Charles V, called the Wise, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1364 to his death. In 1349, as a prince, Charles received from his grandfather King Philip VI the province of Dauphiné to rule. This allowed him to bear the title Dauphin until his coronation, after 1350, all heirs apparent of France bore the title of Dauphin until their coronation. Charles became regent of France when his father John II was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. With the help of talented advisers known as the Marmousets, his management of the kingdom allowed him to replenish the royal treasury. He established the first permanent army paid with regular wages, which liberated the French populace from the companies of routiers who regularly plundered the country when not employed. Furthermore, the French Navy, led by Jean de Vienne and he was succeeded by his son Charles VI the Mad, whose disastrous reign allowed the English to regain control of large parts of France. Charles was born at the Château de Vincennes outside of Paris, the future king was highly intelligent but physically weak, with pale skin and a thin, ill-proportioned body. This made a sharp contrast to his father, who was tall, strong, as neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to buy, the transaction was concluded with Philip VI. Under the Treaty of Romans, the Dauphiné of Viennois was to be held by a son of the future king John the Good, so it was Charles, the eldest son of the latter, who became the first Dauphin. At the age of twelve, he was confronted with the exercise of power while staying in Grenoble. A few days after his arrival, the people of Grenoble were invited to the Place Notre-Dame, young Charles took his place next to Bishop John of Chissé and received the oath of allegiance of the people. On April 8,1350 at Tain-lHermitage, the Dauphin married his cousin Joanna of Bourbon at the age of 12, the prior approval of the pope was obtained for this consanguineous marriage. The marriage was delayed by the death of his mother Bonne of Luxembourg and his grandmother Joan the Lame, the dauphin himself had been seriously ill from August to December 1349. Gatherings were limited to slow the spread of the then raging in Europe. Despite his young age, the applied to be recognized by his subjects. Charles was recalled to Paris at the death of his grandfather Philip VI, the legitimacy of John the Good, and that of the Valois in general, was not unanimous. His father, Philip VI, had lost all credibility with the disasters of Crecy, Calais, the ravages of the plague, the royal clan had to cope with opposition from all sides in the kingdom
22.
Charles II of Navarre
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Charles II, called Charles the Bad, was King of Navarre 1349–1387 and Count of Évreux 1343–1387. Thus, in Northern France, Charles possessed Évreux, Mortain, parts of Vexin, and he was a major player at a critical juncture in the Hundred Years War between France and England, repeatedly switching sides in order to further his own agenda. His horrific death by burning was widely considered Gods justice upon him, Charles was raised in France during childhood and up to the moment he was declared king at 17, so he probably had no command of the Romance language of Navarre at the moment of his coronation. In October 1349, he assumed the crown of Navarre, in order to take his coronation oath and be anointed, Charles II visited his kingdom in summer 1350. For the first time, the oath was taken in a other than Latin or Occitan as it was customary. He hoped for a time for recognition of his claim to the crown of France. However, he was unable to wrest the throne from his Valois cousins, Charles II served as Royal Lieutenant in Languedoc in 1351 and commanded the army which captured Port-Sainte-Marie on the Garonne in 1352. The same year he married Joan of Valois, the daughter of King John II of France and he soon became jealous of the Constable of France, Charles de La Cerda, who was to be a beneficiary of the fiefdoms of Champagne, Brie, and Angoulême. Once again Charles changed sides, the threat of a renewed English invasion forced John II to make a new agreement of reconciliation with him and this agreement, too, did not last. John amended matters by making his son Duke of Normandy, four of his principal supporters were beheaded and their bodies suspended from chains. Charles was taken to Paris and then moved from prison to prison for greater security, Charles remained in prison after John II was defeated and captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers. They continually pressed the Dauphin to release him, meanwhile his brother Philip of Navarre threw in his lot with the invading English army of the Duke of Lancaster and made war on the Dauphins forces throughout Normandy. Eventually on 9 November 1357 Charles was sprung from his prison in the castle of Arleux by a band of 30 men from Amiens led by Jean de Picquigny. Greeted as a hero when he entered Amiens, he was invited to enter Paris by the Estates General and he addressed the populace on 30 November listing his grievances against those who had imprisoned him. Étienne Marcel led a demand for justice for the King of Navarre which the Dauphin was unable to resist and he also demanded the Dauphins own Duchy of Normandy and the county of Champagne, which would have made him effectively ruler of northern France. The Dauphin was virtually powerless, but he and Charles were still in negotiations when news reached them that Edward III and John II had reached a peace agreement at Windsor. Knowing this could only be to his disadvantage, Charles had all the prisons in Paris opened to create anarchy, meanwhile Paris was in the throes of revolution. The Dauphin was forced to agree to many of Charless territorial demands, etienne Marcel implored Charles to intercede with the Dauphin but he achieved nothing and the land around Paris began to be plundered both by Charless forces and by the Dauphins
23.
French literature
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This article is a general introduction to French literature. For detailed information on French literature in specific periods, see the separate historical articles in the template to the right. Literature written in French language, by citizens of nations such as Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, Senegal, Algeria, Morocco. As of 2006, French writers have been awarded more Nobel Prizes in Literature than novelists, poets and essayists of any other country, France itself ranks first in the list of Nobel Prizes in literature by country. French literature has been for French people an object of pride for centuries. The French language is a dialect derived from Latin and heavily influenced principally by Celtic. Today, French schools emphasize the study of novels, theater, the literary arts are heavily sponsored by the state and literary prizes are major news. The Académie française and the Institut de France are important linguistic and artistic institutions in France, Literature matters deeply to the people of France and plays an important role in their sense of identity. As of 2006, French literary people have been awarded more Nobel Prizes in Literature than novelists, poets and essayists of any other country, a writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honorable form. For most of the 20th century, French authors had more Literature Nobel Prizes than those of any other nation. M. G, le Clézio 2014 – Patrick Modiano Grand Prix de Littérature Policière – created in 1948, for crime and detective fiction. Grand Prix du roman de lAcadémie française – created 1918, Prix Décembre – created in 1989. Prix Femina – created 1904, decided each year by an exclusively female jury, Prix Goncourt – created 1903, given to the author of the best and most imaginative prose work of the year. Prix Goncourt des Lycéens – created in 1987, Prix Littéraire Valery Larbaud – created in 1957. Prix Médicis – created 1958, awarded to an author whose fame does not yet match their talent, Prix Renaudot – created in 1926. Prix Tour-Apollo Award – 1972–1990, given to the best science fiction published in French during the preceding year. Prix des Deux Magots – created in 1933, a short history of French literature Burgwinkle, William, Nicholas Hammond, and Emma Wilson, eds. The Cambridge history of French literature Cobb, Richard, Promenades, an appreciation of modern French literature Harvey, Paul. The Oxford companion to French literature Denis Hollier, ed, a New History of French Literature, Harvard University Press,1989,1150 pp. France, Peter
24.
Medieval French literature
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Medieval French literature is, for the purpose of this article, literature written in Oïl languages during the period from the eleventh century to the end of the fifteenth century. For historical background, see History of France, France in the Middle Ages or Middle Ages, for other national literary traditions, see Medieval literature. The language in southern France is known as langue doc or the Occitan language family, also known under the name of one of iys dialects, the Western peninsula of Brittany spoke Breton, a Celtic language. Catalan was spoken in the South, and Germanic languages and Franco-Provençal were spoken in the East, the various dialects of Old French developed into what are recognised as regional languages today. Languages which developed from dialects of Old French include Bourguignon, Champenois, Franc-Comtois, Francien, Gallo, Lorrain, Norman, Anglo-Norman, Picard, Poitevin, Saintongeais and Walloon. From 1340 to the beginning of the century, a generalized French language became clearly distinguished from the other competing Oïl languages. This is referred to as Middle French, the vast majority of literary production in Old French is in verse, the development of prose as a literary form was a late phenomenon. The French language does not have a significant stress accent or long and this means that the French metric line is not determined by the number of beats, but by the number of syllables. The most common lengths are the ten-syllable line, the eight-syllable line. Verses could be combined in a variety of ways, blocks of assonanced lines are called laisses, the choice of verse form was generally dictated by the genre. The Old French epics are written in ten-syllable assonanced laisses. The earliest extant French literary texts date from the ninth century, the first literary works written in Old French were saints lives. The Canticle of Saint Eulalie, written in the half of the ninth century, is generally accepted as the first such text. It is a poem that recounts the martyrdom of a young girl. The best known of the early Old French saints lives is the Vie de Saint Alexis, the life of Saint Alexis, a translation/rewriting of a Latin legend. Saint Alexis fled from his familys home in Rome on his wedding night and dwelled as a hermit in Syria until a mystical voice began telling people of his holiness. In order to avoid the earthly honor that came with such fame, he left Syria and was back to Rome. He was only identified later when the pope read his name in a letter held in the saints hand
25.
17th-century French literature
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In reality, 17th-century French literature encompasses far more than just the classicist masterpieces of Jean Racine and Madame de La Fayette. In Renaissance France, literature was largely the product of encyclopaedic humanism, a new conception of nobility, modelled on the Italian Renaissance courts and their concept of the perfect courtier, was beginning to evolve through French literature. In the mid-17th century, there were an estimated 2,200 authors in France, under Cardinal Richelieu, patronage of the arts and literary academies increasingly came under the control of the monarchy. Henry IVs court was considered by contemporaries a rude one, lacking the Italianate sophistication of the court of the Valois kings, the court also lacked a queen, who traditionally served as a focus of a nations authors and poets. Henrys literary tastes were largely limited to the chivalric novel Amadis of Gaul, in the 1620s, the most famous salon was held at the Hôtel de Rambouillet by Madame de Rambouillet, a rival gathering was organized by Madeleine de Scudéry. The word salon first appeared in French in 1664 from the Italian word sala, before 1664, literary gatherings were often called by the name of the room in which they occurred -- cabinet, réduit, alcôve, and ruelle. For instance, the term derives from literary gatherings held in the bedroom. Nobles, lying on their beds, would receive close friends, ruelle refers to the space between a bed and the wall in a bedroom, it became a name for these gatherings, often under the wing of educated women in the first half of the 17th century. In the context of French scholastica, academies were scholarly societies which monitored, fostered, academies first appeared in France during the Renaissance, when Jean-Antoine de Baïf created one devoted to poetry and music, inspired by the academy of Italian Marsilio Ficino. The first half of the 17th century was marked by a growth in private academies. Academies were generally more formal and more focused on criticism and analysis than salons, however, certain salons were closer to the academic spirit. In the mid-17th century, academies gradually came under government control and sponsorship, the first private academy to fall under governmental control was LAcadémie française, which remains the most prestigious governmental academy in France. Founded in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu, LAcadémie française focuses on the French language, in certain instances, the values of 17th-century nobility played a major part in the literature of the era. Most notable of these values are the aristocratic obsession with glory, the spectacle of power, prestige and luxury found in 17th-century literature may be distasteful or even offensive. The château of Versailles, court ballets, noble portraits, triumphal arches – all of these were representations of glory, the notion of glory was not vanity or boastfulness or hubris, but rather a moral imperative for the aristocracy. Nobles were required to be generous, magnanimous and to great deeds disinterestedly. Ones status in the world demanded appropriate externalisation, nobles indebted themselves to build prestigious urban mansions and to buy clothes, paintings, silverware, dishes and other furnishings befitting their rank. They were also required to show generosity by hosting sumptuous parties, conversely, social parvenus who took on the external trappings of the noble classes were severely criticised, sometimes by legal action
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18th-century French literature
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In common with a similar movement in England at the same time, the writers of 18th century France were critical, skeptical and innovative. Their lasting contributions were the ideas of liberty, toleration, humanitarianism, equality, and progress, the 18th century saw the gradual weakening of the absolute monarchy constructed by Louis XIV. France was forced to recognize the power of England and Prussia. The Monarchy finally ended with King Louis XVI, who was unable to understand or control the forces of the French Revolution. The new class began to challenge the cultural and social monopoly of the aristocracy, French cities began to have their own theaters, coffee houses and salons, the Rise of the Third Estate culminated in their political victory in the French Revolution. Faith in science and progress was the force behind the first French Encyclopedia of Denis Diderot. The Protestants achieved legal status in France in 1787, the exchange of ideas with other countries also increased. British ideas were important, particularly such ideas as constitutional monarchy and romanticism. Toward the end of the century, a sober style appeared, aimed at illustrating scenery, work. These writers, and others such as the Abbé Sieyès, one of the authors of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. They came from the upper class or Third Estate, sought a society founded upon talent and merit. Their ideas were influenced by those of John Locke in England. They introduced the values of liberty and equality which became the ideals of the French Republic founded at the end of the century and they defended the freedom of conscience and challenged the role of religious institutions in society. For them, tolerance was a value of society. When the Convention placed the ashes of Voltaire in the Pantheon in Paris, while the philosophes had widely different approaches, they all had as a common objective, both for mankind and for individuals, the ideal of happiness. Some, like Rousseau, dreamed of the happiness of the savage, rapidly disappearing, others, like Voltaire. The philosophes were optimists, and they saw their mission clearly, they did not simply observe, the comedies of Marivaux and of Beaumarchais also played a part in this debate about and diffusion of great ideas. The relaxing of morals under the French Regency brought the return in 1716 of the Comédie-Italienne and his major works include Les Fausses Confidences, le Jeu de lamour et du hasard, and lÎle des esclaves
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19th-century French literature
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19th-century French literature concerns the developments in French literature during a dynamic period in French history that saw the rise of Democracy and the fitful end of Monarchy and Empire. French literature enjoyed enormous prestige and success in the 19th century. The first part of the century was dominated by Romanticism, until around the mid-century Realism emerged, in the last half of the century, naturalism, parnassian poetry, and symbolism, among other styles, were often competing tendencies at the same time. Some writers did form into literary groups defined by a name, in other cases, these expressions were merely pejorative terms given by critics to certain writers or have been used by modern literary historians to group writers of divergent projects or methods. Nevertheless, these labels can be useful in describing broad historical developments in the arts and their influence was felt in theatre, poetry, prose fiction. Foreign influences played a big part in this, especially those of Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, Byron, Goethe, Le mal du siècle, a sense of loss, disillusion, and aporia, typified by melancholy and lassitude. Romanticism in England and Germany largely predate French romanticism, although there was a kind of pre-romanticism in the works of Senancour and Jean-Jacques Rousseau at the end of the 18th century. French Romanticism took definite form in the works of François-René de Chateaubriand and Benjamin Constant and it found early expression also in the sentimental poetry of Alphonse de Lamartine. The major battles of romanticism in France was in the theater, the dramatic unities of time and place were abolished, tragic and comic elements appeared together and metrical freedom was won. Marked by the plays of Friedrich Schiller, the romantics often chose subjects from historic periods, victor Hugo was the outstanding genius of the Romantic School and its recognized leader. He was prolific alike in poetry, drama, and fiction, all three also wrote novels and short stories, and Musset won a belated success with his plays. Alexandre Dumas, père wrote The Three Musketeers and other novels in an historical setting. Prosper Mérimée and Charles Nodier were masters of shorter fiction, Romanticism is associated with a number of literary salons and groups, the Arsenal, the Cénacle, the salon of Louis Charles Delescluze, the salon of Antoine Deschamps, the salon of Madame de Staël. Romanticism in France defied political affiliation, one finds both liberal, conservative and socialist strains, the expression Realism, when applied to literature of the 19th century, implies the attempt to depict contemporary life and society. The growth of realism is linked to the development of science, history, honoré de Balzac is the most prominent representative of 19th century realism in fiction. His La Comédie humaine, a vast collection of nearly 100 novels, was the most ambitious scheme ever devised by a writer of fiction—nothing less than a contemporary history of his countrymen. Realism also appears in the works of Alexandre Dumas, fils, similar tendencies appeared in the theatrical melodramas of the period and, in an even more lurid and gruesome light, in the Grand Guignol at the end of the century. In addition to melodramas, popular and bourgeois theater in the mid-century turned to realism in the well-made bourgeois farces of Eugène Marin Labiche, from the 1860s on, critics increasingly speak of literary Naturalism
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Courtly love
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Courtly love was a medieval European literary conception of love that emphasized nobility and chivalry. Medieval literature is filled with examples of knights setting out on adventures and this kind of love is originally a literary fiction created for the entertainment of the nobility, but as time passed, these ideas about love changed and attracted a larger audience. In the high Middle Ages, a game of love developed around these ideas as a set of social practices, loving nobly was considered to be an enriching and improving practice. Courtly love began in the ducal and princely courts of Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne, ducal Burgundy, the term courtly love was first popularized by Gaston Paris and has since come under a wide variety of definitions and uses. Its interpretation, origins and influences continue to be a matter of critical debate, Paris said amour courtois was an idolization and ennobling discipline. Sexual satisfaction, Paris said, may not have been a goal or even end result, the term and Pariss definition were soon widely accepted and adopted. In addition, other terms and phrases associated with courtliness and love are common throughout the Middle Ages and this presents a clear problem in the understanding of courtliness. The practice of love was developed in the castle life of four regions, Aquitaine, Provence, Champagne and ducal Burgundy. Eleanor of Aquitaine brought ideals of love from Aquitaine first to the court of France, then to England. Her daughter Marie, Countess of Champagne brought courtly behavior to the Count of Champagnes court, Courtly love found its expression in the lyric poems written by troubadours, such as William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the first troubadour poets. The troubadours model of the lady was the wife of his employer or lord. When her husband was away on Crusade or other business she dominated the household and cultural affairs, the lady was rich and powerful and the poet gave voice to the aspirations of the courtier class, for only those who were noble could engage in courtly love. This new kind of love saw nobility not based on wealth and family history, lovers in the context of courtly love need not refer to sex, but rather the act of emotional loving. These lovers had short trysts in secret, which escalated mentally, the rules of courtly love were codified by the late 12th century in Andreas Capellanus highly influential work De Amore. De amore lists such rules as Marriage is no excuse for not loving, He who is not jealous cannot love, No one can be bound by a double love. Much of its structure and its sentiments were derived from Ovids Ars amatoria, given that practices similar to courtly love were already prevalent in Al-Andalus and elsewhere in the Islamic world, it is very likely that Islamic practices influenced the Christian Europeans. William of Aquitane, for example, was involved in the First Crusade, the notions of love for loves sake and exaltation of the beloved lady have been traced back to Arabic literature of the 9th and 10th centuries. The notion of the power of love was developed in the early 11th century by the Persian psychologist and philosopher, Ibn Sina
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Roman de la Rose
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The Roman de la Rose, is a medieval French poem styled as an allegorical dream vision. It is an instance of courtly literature. The works stated purpose is to entertain and to teach others about the Art of Love. At various times in the poem, the Rose of the title is seen as the name of the lady, likewise, the other characters names function both as regular names and as abstractions illustrating the various factors that are involved in a love affair. The poem was written in two stages, the first 4058 lines, written by Guillaume de Lorris circa 1230, describe the attempts of a courtier to woo his beloved. This part of the story is set in a garden or locus amoenus. Around 1275, Jean de Meun composed an additional 17,724 lines, in this enormous coda, allegorical personages hold forth on love. The work was popular and controversial—one of the most widely read works in France for three centuries, and possibly the most read book in Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries. Its emphasis on language and imagery provoked attacks by Jean Gerson, Christine de Pizan and many other writers. About 300 manuscripts are extant, one of the highest figures for a secular work, there are also seven incunabula printed editions before 1500, the first from Geneva in about 1481, followed by two from Lyons in the 1480s and four from Paris in the 1490s. An edition from Lyons in 1503 is illustrated with 140 woodcuts, Digital images of more than 140 of these manuscripts are available for study in the Roman de la Rose Digital Library. Part of the story was translated from its original Old French into Middle English as The Romaunt of the Rose, chaucer was familiar with the original French text, and a portion of the Middle English translation is thought to be his work. Critics suggest that the character of La Vieille acted as material for Chaucers Wife of Bath. There were several early translations into languages including Middle Dutch. Il Fiore is a reduction of the poem into 232 Italian sonnets by a ser Durante, sometimes thought to have been Dante, Dante never mentions the Roman, but is often said to have been highly conscious of it in his own work. In 1900, the pre-Raphaelite F. S. Ellis translated the whole of the poem into English verse, C. S. Lewiss 1936 study The Allegory of Love renewed interest in the poem. Ars Amatoria - the art of love Guillaume de Lorris et Jean de Meun, Le Roman de la Rose, lettres gothiques, Livre de Poche, Librairie Générale Française,1992. Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun, The Romance of the Rose, Oxford Worlds Classics, Oxford University Press,1999
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Allegory
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As a literary device, an allegory is a metaphor whose vehicle may be a character, place or event, representing real-world issues and occurrences. Many ancient religions are based on astrological allegories, that is, allegories of the movement of the sun, in classical literature two of the best-known allegories are the Cave in Platos Republic and the story of the stomach and its members in the speech of Menenius Agrippa. One of the examples of allegory, Platos Allegory of the Cave. In this allegory, Plato describes a group of people who have lived chained in an all of their lives. The people watch shadows projected on the wall by things passing in front of a fire behind them and begin to ascribe forms to these shadows, using language to identify their world. He tries to tell the people in the cave of his discovery, also allegorical is Ezekiel 16 and 17, wherein the capture of that same vine by the mighty Eagle represents Israels exile to Rome. Allegory has an ability to freeze the temporality of a story, Mediaeval thinking accepted allegory as having a reality underlying any rhetorical or fictional uses. The allegory was as true as the facts of surface appearances, if, then, the Greeks or others say that they were not committed to the care of Peter and his successors, they necessarily confess that they are not of the sheep of Christ. This text also demonstrates the frequent use of allegory in religious texts during the Mediaeval Period, following the tradition, since meaningful stories are nearly always applicable to larger issues, allegories may be read into many stories which the author may not have recognised. This is allegoresis, or the act of reading a story as an allegory. S, lewis and A Kingdom Far and Clear, The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin. The story of the apple falling onto Isaac Newtons head is another famous allegory and it simplified the idea of gravity by depicting a simple way it was supposedly discovered. It also made the scientific revelation well known by condensing the theory into a short tale. According to Henry Littlefields 1964 article, L. Yet, George MacDonald emphasised in 1893 that, A fairy tale is not an allegory, I much prefer history – true or feigned– with its varied applicability to the thought and experience of readers. I think that many confuse applicability with allegory, but the one resides in the freedom of the reader, and this further reinforces the idea of forced allegoresis, as allegory is often a matter of interpretation and only sometimes of original artistic intention. Like allegorical stories, allegorical poetry has two meanings – a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning, some unique specimens of allegory can be found in the following works, Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene, The several knights in the poem actually stand for several virtues. Nathaniel Hawthorne – Young Goodman Brown, The Devils Staff symbolises defiance of God, the characters names, such as Goodman and Faith, ironically serve as paradox in the conclusion of the story. Nathaniel Hawthorne – The Scarlet Letter, The scarlet letter symbolises many things, the characters, while developed with interiority, are allegorical in that they represent ways of seeing the world. George Orwell – Animal Farm, The pigs stand for political figures of the Russian Revolution, lászló Krasznahorkai - The Melancholy of Resistance and the film Werckmeister Harmonies, It uses a circus to describe an occupying dysfunctional government
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Peter I of Cyprus
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Peter I of Cyprus or Pierre I de Lusignan was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his fathers abdication on 24 November 1358 until his own death in 1369. He was also Latin King of Armenia from either 1361 or 1368 and he was the second son of Hugh IV of Cyprus, the first by his second wife Alice of Ibelin. He was also invested as titular Count of Tripoli when young and he was the greatest King of Cyprus on a military basis, where he had great success. He was unable to complete many plans, due to dispute that culminated in his assassination at the hands of three of his own knights. Soon after 28 June 1342 he married Eschive de Montfort, only daughter and heiress of Honfroy de Montfort, Constable of Cyprus and Titular Lord of Toron, eschiva died before 1350 while Peter was still a teenager and the marriage was childless. Hughs heir apparent was his first born son, Guy, who had married Marie of Bourbon, in 1349 he traveled secretly to Europe with his brother John. This upset their father who sent ships to find his sons, when they were brought back, he imprisoned them for leaving without his permission. Upon the expulsion of the Holy Roman Empire from Palestine a hundred years before, Peter understood the importance of his kingdom, and believed that his mission was to fight Islam. He had ambitions to retake the Kingdom of Jerusalem to which the house of Lusignan yet pretended, Peter was crowned as Titular King of Jerusalem in Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Famagusta on 5 April 1360, succeeding his father. Neighboring Muslim powers were potentially a threat to Cyprus, the last Christian Crusader strongholds on the mainland of the Near East having been wiped out in 1291. At the moment a new Islamic power had come to the fore. In addition, they were primarily a power, and for the moment the remaining Latin Christian entities in the region could hold their own on the seas. Along with the Knights of Saint John the kings Cyprus were the inheritors of Crusading tradition, Peter founded the Chivalric Order of the Sword in 1347, which was dedicated to the recovery of Jerusalem. The royal family were in fact the kings of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Reduced as they were, this Crusader heritage continued in the form of sea-born raids, unlike his father, Peter decided to embrace this tradition and began with in a raid on Korikos, a fortified harbour in the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. His primary focus of activity was along the coast of Asia Minor, in January 1360, the residents of Korikos sent their representatives to Cyprus to ask for protection, since their city was threatened by the Turks. Peter sent some of his men led by the knight Roberto de Luisignan, the Turks were unable to break the Cypriot siege of Korikos. The siege of Korikos, was seen as a threat by Muslim leaders of Asia Minor and they allied against Peter and they attacked Cyprus with many ships but Peter obtained aid from the Knights of Saint John from Rhodes
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