1.
Mondeuse noire
–
Mondeuse noire is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Savoy region of eastern France. The grape can also be found in Argentina, Australia, California, Switzerland, plantings of Mondeuse noire was hit hard during the phylloxera epidemic of the mid to late 19th century which nearly wiped out the vine from eastern France. While the grape recovered slightly in the 20th century, French plantations of Mondeuse noire fell sharply in the 1970s, in the early 21st century, it seems the variety has increased somewhat in popularity, as it can give good wines if the planting site is chosen carefully. It was previously suggested that Mondeuse noire was identical to the northern Italian wine grape variety Refosco dal Peduncolo Rosso due to the similarity of the wines, in California, many plantings of Mondeuse noire were called Refosco, further adding to the confusion. DNA analysis has shown that this is not the case, Mondeuse noire is very similar to Muscardin which is found in Southern Rhône where it is one of the thirteen grape varieties permitted in the wine Châteauneuf-du-Pape. One difference is that Muscardin has less sensitivity to downy mildew, references to Mondeuse usually are to Mondeuse noire rather than to Mondeuse blanche. In Savoie, Mondeuse noire is used in blending with Gamay, Pinot noir and Poulsard where it contributes its dark color, the grape is a permitted variety in the Appellation dorigine contrôlée wines of Bugey in the Ain department and Vin de Savoie. There are several theories on the origin of the name Mondeuse, to this day, the synonym Maldoux is still associated with Mondeuse noire in wine regions such as Jura in eastern France. Most ampelographers believe that Mondeuse noire is indigenous to the Dauphiné region of southeastern France in an area that is now part of the Drôme, Hautes-Alpes and Isère departments. The first mention of Mondeuse noire, under the synonym Maldoux, under the name Mondeuse noire, the grape was noted in records from 1845 growing in the valley of the Isère river. Mondeuse noire was once thought to be dark-berried color mutation of Mondeuse blanche and this relationship makes Mondeuse noire, which is also known under the synonym Grosse Syrah, either a grandparent or half-sibling to Syrah. When Mondeuse noire was first introduced to California in the 19th century, in 1990s ampelographers began suspecting that these cuttings were not Refosco but rather Mondeuse noire, a fact later confirmed by DNA profiling. In addition to the confusion with Refosco, some plantings of Mondeuse noire in the Russian River Valley were discovered to actually be an offspring of Mondeuse noire, Calzin. This crossing of Mondeuse noire and Zinfandel was created by UC-Davis viticulturist Harold Olmo in 1937, first described by ampelographer Victor Pulliat in the late 19th century, the vine was thought to be extinct until plantings were identified by Pierre Galet in the 1950s. From these plantings, cuttings were taken and the vine was planted at the Domaine de Vassal conservation vineyard in Montpellier ran by the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique. Today, outside of the plantings at the INRAs conservation vineyards, Mondeuse noire is a mid-ripening grape variety that tends to thrive on stony vineyard soils that have a high limestone and clay content. The vine can be vigorous and high yielding which requires the cordons to be pruned short during the winter to keep the vine in check. Among the viticultural hazards that Mondeuse noire is susceptible to chlorosis, mites, downy
Mondeuse noire
–
Mondeuse in Viala & Vermorel
Mondeuse noire
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Mondeuse noire is one of the grape varieties speculated to have been the Allobrogica grape described by
Pliny the Elder (pictured) and other ancient Roman writers.
Mondeuse noire
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Though the exact relationship has not yet been determined, DNA analysis has shown that Mondeuse noire has some connection to Douce noir (pictured) that is grown in Argentina (as Bonarda) and California (as Charbono).
Mondeuse noire
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Mondeuse growing in Arbin, Savoie.
2.
Occitan language
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Occitan, also known as lenga dòc by its native speakers, is a Romance language. It is spoken in southern France, Italys Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spains Val dAran, collectively, Occitan is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese. However, there is controversy about the unity of the language, others include Catalan in this family, as the distance between this language and some Occitan dialects is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. In fact, Catalan was considered an Occitan dialect until the end of the 19th century, today, Occitan is an official language in Catalonia, where a subdialect of Gascon known as Aranese is spoken in the Val dAran. Since September 2010, the Parliament of Catalonia has considered Aranese Occitan to be the preferred language for use in the Val dAran. Unlike other Romance languages such as French or Spanish, there is no written standard language called Occitan. Instead, there are competing norms for writing Occitan, some of which attempt to be pan-dialectal, There are also significant lexical differences, where some dialects have words cognate with French, and others have Catalan and Spanish cognates. Nonetheless, there is a significant amount of mutual intelligibility, the long-term survival of Occitan is in grave doubt. According to the UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages, four of the six dialects of Occitan are considered severely endangered. The name Occitan comes from lenga dòc, òc being the Occitan word for yes and this was not, of course, the only defining characteristic of each group. The word òc came from Vulgar Latin hoc, while oïl originated from Latin hoc illud, Old Catalan, and now the Catalan of Northern Catalonia also have hoc. Other Romance languages derive their word for yes from the Latin sic, thus, etc. such as Spanish sí, Eastern Lombard sé, Sicilian and Italian sì, or Portuguese sim. French uses si to answer yes in response to questions that are asked in the negative sense, the name Occitan is sometimes considered a neologism, however, it was attested around 1300 as occitanus, a crossing of oc and aquitanus. For many centuries, the Occitan dialects were referred to as Limousin or Provençal, after Frédéric Mistrals Félibrige movement in the 19th century, Provençal achieved the greatest literary recognition and so became the most popular term for Occitan. The term first came into fashion in Italy, currently, linguists use the terms Provençal and Limousin strictly to refer to specific varieties within Occitania, keeping the name Occitan for the language as a whole. Many non-specialists, however, continue to refer to the language as Provençal, NO·L LI TOLRÀ NO·L LI DEVEDARÀ NI NO LEN DECEBRÀ. Nec societatem non AURÀ, si per castellum recuperare NON O FA, et si recuperare potuerit in potestate Froterio et Raimundo LO TORNARÀ, carolingian litanies, both written and sung in Latin, were answered to in Old Occitan by the audience. Occitan was the vehicle for the poetry of the medieval troubadours and trobairises, At that time
Occitan language
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Main cities of Occitania, written in the Occitan language
Occitan language
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Occitan
Occitan language
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"Speak French, Be Clean" written across the wall of a Southern French school
Occitan language
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This bilingual street sign in
Toulouse, like many such signs found in historical parts of the city, is maintained primarily for its antique charm; it is typical of what little remains of the lenga d'òc in southern French cities.
3.
Provinces of France
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The Kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4,1790, when the establishment of the department system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the counties of England. In some cases, several regions or departments share names with the historic provinces. The list below shows the provinces of France at the time of their dissolution during the French Revolution. Capital cities are shown in parentheses, bold indicates a city that was also the seat of a judicial and quasi-legislative body called either a parlement or a conseil souverain. In some cases, this body met in a different city than the capital, comtat Venaissin, a Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37, montbéliard, a fief of Württemberg Partial display of historical provincial arms, Ancien Régime in France Gallery of French coats of arms Coat of arms Heraldry
Provinces of France
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Map showing former provinces (in colours), with modern department boundaries in black
4.
Gallia Aquitania
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Gallia Aquitania, also known as Aquitaine or Aquitaine Gaul, was a province of the Roman Empire. It lies in present-day southwest France, where it gives its name to the region of Aquitaine. It was bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, fourteen Celtic tribes and twenty Aquitanian tribes occupied the northern parts of the Pyrenees and, from the country of the Cemmenus to the ocean, bounded by two rivers, the Garumna and the Liger. The major tribes are listed at the end of this section, most of the Atlantic coast of the Aquitani was sandy and thin-soiled, it grew millet, but was unproductive with respect to other products. Along this coast was also the gulf held by the Tarbelli, in their land, large quantities of gold could be mined with a minimum of refinement. The interior and mountainous country in this region had better soil, the Petrocorii and the Bituriges Cubi had fine ironworks, the Cadurci had linen factories, the Ruteni and the Gabales had silver mines. According to Strabo, the Aquitani were a wealthy people, the Romans called the tribal groups pagi. These were organized into larger groups that the Romans called civitates. These administrative groupings were later taken over by the Romans in their system of local control, Gaul as a nation was not a natural unit. In order to protect the route to Spain, Rome helped Massalia against bordering tribes, following this intervention, the Romans conquered what they called Provincia, or the ‘Province’ in 121 BC. Provincia extended from the Mediterranean to Lake Geneva, and was known as Narbonensis with its capital at Narbo. Some of the falls into modern Provence, still recalling the Roman name. The main struggle against the Romans came against Julius Caesar under Vercingetorix at Battle of Gergovia, the Gaulish commander was captured at the siege of Alesia and the war ended. Caesar seized the remainder of Gaul, justifying his conquest by playing on Roman memories of savage attacks over the Alps by Celts, italy was now to be defended from the Rhine. Caesar named Aquitania the triangle shaped territory between the Ocean, the Pyrenees and the Garonne river and he fought and almost completely subdued them in 56 BC after Publius Crassuss military exploits assisted by Celtic allies. New rebellions ensued anyway up to 27-28 BC, with Agrippa gaining a victory over the Gauls of Aquitania in 38 BC. It was the smallest region of all three mentioned above, following that a land stretching to the Loire River was added by Augustus. This reorganization took place after the census conducted in 27 BC, based on Agrippas observations of language, race, at this point, Aquitania along with Narbonensis, Lugdunensis and Belgica now made up Gallia and became an imperial province
Gallia Aquitania
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Sestertius of
Hadrian found in the
Garonne near
Burdigala, from a shipwreck of 155/56 AD
Gallia Aquitania
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The province of Gallia Aquitania within the Roman Empire, c. 117 AD
5.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. The episcopal seat is located in Bordeaux, Aquitaine and it was established under the Concordat of 1802 by combining the ancient Diocese of Bordeaux with the greater part of the abolished Diocese of Bazas. The metropolitan diocese has a position to four suffragan dioceses in the archdiocese, Agen, Aire and Dax, Bayonne, Lescar, and Oloron. The metropolitan diocese itself comprises Gironde, Aquitaine, in 1850 were added the three Bishoprics of Fort-de-France, Guadeloupe and Basse-Terre, and Saint-Denis de la Réunion, later detached. Since 2002 the province of Bordeaux has been modified following the abolition of the province of Auch. The same legends represent St. Martial as having brought to the Soulac coast St, the first Bishop of Bordeaux known to history, Orientalis, is mentioned at the Council of Arles, in 314. This was during the episcopate of Delphinus of Bordeaux, who attended the Councils of Saragossa in 380 and maintained correspondence with St. Ambrose and with St. Paulinus of Nola. During this Merovingian period the church, founded in the fourth century, occupied the same site that it does today. This faubourg was thus like a city and the cemetery of St Seurin was full of tombs of the Merovingian period around which the popular imagination was to create legends. At the other extremity of the city, Benedictines drained and filled in the marshes of LEau-Bourde, during the whole 8th century and part of the 9th, no bishops are mentioned for Bordeaux among Vatican and local records. Frotharius was archbishop in 870, when he fled the city in the face of Viking raids, in 1027 the duke of Gascony, Sancho VI, and the duke of Aquitaine, William V, joined together to select Geoffrey II, an Aquitanian Frank, as archbishop. This represented a new ecumenical rôle for the archbishop spanning both regions, the reigns of William VIII and William IX, were noted for the splendid development of Romanesque architecture in Bordeaux. Parts of the churches of Sainte-Croix and Saint-Seurin belong to that time, in the Middle Ages, a struggle between the metropolitan sees of Bordeaux and Bourges was brought about by the claims of the latter to the primacy of Aquitaine. Aquitaine was lost to France by the annulment of the marriage between Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Bordeaux became the capital of the English possessions in France. Thereupon the struggle between the metropolitans of Bordeaux and Bourges assumed a character, the King of France necessarily upholding the claims of Bourges. Louis and Henry III, and defended Gascony against the tyranny of Simon de Montfort, during the episcopate of Gerard de Mallemort the old Romanesque church of Saint-André was transformed into a Gothic cathedral. Pope Clement V was unfavourable to the claims of Bourges and he was born in Villandraut near Bazas, where he had built a beautiful collegiate church, was Archbishop of Bordeaux from 1300 to 1305. When he became pope, in spite of sympathies to France proper, by the late fourteenth century, the archbishops, like Francesco Uguccione, were supporters of the English
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux
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Bordeaux Cathedral
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bordeaux
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Former cathedral of St. John the Baptist at
Bazas.
6.
Duchy of Gascony
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The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia, was a duchy in present southwestern France and northeastern Spain, part corresponding to the modern region of Gascony after 824. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed to sway over the Basques. In the Hundred Years War, Charles V of France conquered most of Gascony by 1380, the corresponding portion within Spain became part of the Basque Kingdom of Navarre. Gascony was the territory of Roman Gallia Aquitania. This province, by the 2nd century, was extended to much of western Roman Gaul. Thus, the name of the Aquitani came to be transferred to the territory of central-western France later known as the Duchy of Aquitaine, in 293, Diocletian re-created the original province of Caesars Aquitania under the name of Novempopulania or Aquitania Tertia. Around 580, both the Visigothic kingdom and the kingdom of the Franks launched major campaigns against the Basques, in 587 Basques are cited as raiding the plains of Aquitaine, maybe to the west of Toulouse. Chilperic I sent his duke Bladastes stationed in Toulouse, but was defeated and this military push from a stronger centralized authority in Toledo placed more pressure on the Basques to get off the Ebro rich farmland than those already stretching all the way to the Garonne. In this period, the count of Bordeaux Galactorius is cited as fighting the Basques, who are portrayed as hiding out in the mountains, in 602, the Merovingians created a frontier duchy to their southwest during the tripartite wars between Franks, Visigoths, and Basques. A certain Genial was then appointed dux wasconum as a way of handling their relations with the Basques. At the same time, the Visigoths created the Duchy of Cantabria as a buffer against the Basques inhabiting west of current Navarre, about this period duke Francio is reported to vow allegiance to the Franks in Cantabria, an area inhabited by the Basques, but c. 612, the Gothic king Sisebut seems to have conquered the territory, in the years 610 and 612 respectively, the Gothic kings Gundemar and Sisebut launched attacks against the Basques. After a Basque attack in the Ebro valley in the year 621, Swinthila defeated them, however, the Basques relish was short-lived since they were brought to heel by Dagobert. By 626, it is certain that the extended up to the Pyrenees. In 643, there was another rebellion to the north of the Pyrenees and in 642 and 654 they battled against the Visigoths to the south, in Saragossa. From 589 to 684, the Bishop of Pamplona was absent from the Visigothic Councils of Toledo, under Felix and his successors, Frankish overlordship over these lands became merely nominal, and Vasconia became a prominent regional power. Independent dukes Lupus, Odo, Hunald and Waifer succeeded him respectively and their ethnicity is not certain, since records and their names are not conclusive. But the Umayyad invasion of 711 effected a shift in trends
Duchy of Gascony
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Duchy of Vasconia after the Battle of Poitiers (734-743)
Duchy of Gascony
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The duchy of Gascony (green) in 1150
Duchy of Gascony
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Duchy of Vasconia and both sides of the Pyrenees (760)
7.
Duchy of Aquitaine
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It originated in the 7th century as a duchy of Francia, ultimately a recreation of the Roman provinces of Aquitania Prima and Secunda. It reappeared as a duchy, and in the High Middle Ages and their claims in France triggered the Hundred Years War, in which the kingdom of France emerged victorious in the 1450s, with many incorporated areas coming to be ruled directly by the French kings. Gallia Aquitania fell under Visigothic rule in the 5th century and it was conquered by the Franks under Clovis I in 507, as a result of the Battle of Vouillé. During the 6th and early 7th century, it was direct rule of Frankish kings. Under Chlothar II, Aquitaine was again part of Francia. This subkingdom, consisting of Gascony and the fringe of Aquitaine proper, is conventionally known as Aquitaine. Charibert campaigned successfully against the Basques, but after his death in 632, the duchy of Aquitaine as a quasi-independent realm within the Frankish empire established itself during the second half of the 7th century, certainly by 700 under Odo the Great. The first duke is on record under the name of Felix, as his successor Lupus, he probably owed allegiance to the Frankish kings. Odo succeeded Lupus in 700 and signed a treaty with Charles Martel. He inflicted on the Moors a crushing defeat at the Battle of Toulouse in 721, however, Charles Martel coveted the southern realm, crossed the Loire in 731 and looted much of Aquitaine. Odo engaged the Franks in battle, but lost and came out weakened, soon after this battle, in 732, the Moors raided Vasconia and Aquitaine as far north as Poitiers and defeated Odo twice near Bordeaux. Odo saw no option but to invoke the aid of Charles Martel, Odo was succeeded by his son Hunald, who reverted to former independence, so defying the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Charles Martels authority. The Carolingian leader attacked Hunald twice in 735 and 736, but was unable to subdue the duke. Eventually, Hunald retired to a monastery, leaving both the kingdom and the conflict to Waifer, or Guaifer. For some years Waifer strenuously carried on a struggle with the Franks. As a consequence, male-preference primogeniture was the succession law for the nobility. The autonomous and troublesome duchy of Aquitaine was conquered by the Franks in 769, in order to avoid a new demonstration of Aquitain particularism, Charlemagne decided to organize the land within his kingdom. In 781, he made his son, Louis then 3 years of age
Duchy of Aquitaine
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Aquitaine after the Battle of Poitiers (734-743)
Duchy of Aquitaine
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Flag
8.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Eleanor of Aquitaine was a Queen consort of France and England. As a member of the Ramnulfids rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the most powerful and she inherited the Duchy of Aquitaine from her father, William X, in 1137, and by successive marriages became Queen of France and then of England. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure and she led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade. As Duchess of Aquitaine, Eleanor was the most eligible bride in Europe, three months after she became duchess, she married King Louis VII of France, son of her guardian, King Louis VI. As Queen of France, she participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, soon afterwards, Eleanor sought an annulment of her marriage, but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III. However, after the birth of her second daughter Alix, Louis agreed to an annulment, the marriage was annulled on 11 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate and custody was awarded to Louis, as soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to the Duke of Normandy, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was her cousin and eleven years younger. The couple married on Whitsun,18 May 1152, eight weeks after the annulment of Eleanors first marriage, in a cathedral in Poitiers, over the next thirteen years, she bore Henry eight children, five sons, three of whom would become kings, and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged, Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting their son Henrys revolt against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when Henry died and their son, Richard the Lionheart. Now Queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade, on his return Richard was captured, Eleanor lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. She outlived all her children except for John and Eleanor, on the other hand, some chronicles mention a fidelity oath of some lords of Aquitaine on the occasion of Eleanors fourteenth birthday in 1136. This, and her age of 82 at her death. Her parents almost certainly married in 1121 and her birthplace may have been Poitiers, Bordeaux, or Nieul-sur-lAutise, where her mother and brother died when Eleanor was 6 or 8. It became Eléanor in the langues doïl of northern France and Eleanor in English, there was, however, another prominent Eleanor before her, Eleanor of Normandy, an aunt of William the Conqueror, who lived a century earlier than Eleanor of Aquitaine. In Paris as the Queen of France she was called Helienordis, by all accounts, Eleanors father ensured that she had the best possible education. Eleanor came to learn arithmetic, the constellations, and history and she also learned domestic skills such as household management and the needle arts of embroidery, needlepoint, sewing, spinning, and weaving
Eleanor of Aquitaine
–
Eleanor's effigy at
Fontevraud Abbey
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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At left, a 14th-century representation of the wedding of Louis and Eleanor; at right, Louis leaving on Crusade.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Eleanor's grandfather,
William IX of Aquitaine, gave her this rock crystal vase, which she gave to Louis as a wedding gift. He later donated it to the
Abbey of Saint-Denis. This is the only surviving artifact known to have belonged to Eleanor.
Eleanor of Aquitaine
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Second Crusade council:
Conrad III of Germany, Eleanor's husband
Louis VII of France, and
Baldwin III of Jerusalem
9.
Henry II of England
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Henry was the son of Geoffrey of Anjou and Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England. He became actively involved by the age of 14 in his mothers efforts to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois and he inherited Anjou in 1151 and shortly afterwards married Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII of France had recently been annulled. Stephen agreed to a treaty after Henrys military expedition to England in 1153. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his royal grandfather, Henrys desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Beckets murder in 1170, Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII and the two rulers fought what has been termed a cold war over several decades. By 1172, he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the half of Ireland and the western half of France. Henry and Eleanor had eight children, as they grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henrys heir apparent, Young Henry, rebelled in protest, he was joined by his brothers Richard and Geoffrey and by their mother, France, Scotland, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henrys vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them new men appointed for their loyalty, Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henrys death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John, Philip successfully played on Richards fears that Henry would make John king, and a final rebellion broke out in 1189. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from an ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon in Anjou. Henrys empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his youngest son John, many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule, however, had long-term consequences. Historical interpretations of Henrys reign have changed considerably over time, in the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, Henry was born in France at Le Mans on 5 March 1133 as the eldest child of the Empress Matilda and her second husband, Geoffrey the Fair, Count of Anjou. In theory, the county answered to the French king, but royal power over Anjou weakened during the 11th century, Henrys mother, firstly married to the Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, was the eldest daughter of Henry I, King of England and Duke of Normandy. She was born into a ruling class of Normans, who traditionally owned extensive estates in both England and Normandy. Geoffrey took advantage of the confusion to attack the Duchy of Normandy but played no role in the English conflict, leaving this to Matilda and her half-brother. The war, termed the Anarchy by Victorian historians, dragged on, Henry probably spent some of his earliest years in his mothers household, and accompanied Matilda to Normandy in the late 1130s
Henry II of England
–
Detail from Henry's effigy in
Fontevrault Abbey, Normandy
Henry II of England
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12th-century depiction of Henry and
Eleanor holding court
Henry II of England
–
Henry's eldest son, the
Young Henry
Henry II of England
–
Early 14th-century representation of Henry and
Thomas Becket
10.
Philip II of France
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Philip II, known as Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223, a member of the House of Capet. Philips predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné God-given because he was the first son of Louis VII. Philip was given the nickname Augustus by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably, the military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philip did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals, Philip transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniorial authority and he built a great wall around Paris, re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country. Philip was born in Gonesse on 21 August 1165 and he spent much of the following night attempting to find his way out, but to no avail. Exhausted by cold, hunger and fatigue, he was discovered by a peasant carrying a charcoal burner. His father went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket to pray for Philips recovery and was told that his son had indeed recovered, however, on his way back to Paris, he suffered a stroke. In declining health, Louis VII had his 14-year-old son crowned and anointed as king at Rheims on 1 November 1179 by the Archbishop Guillaume aux Blanches Mains. He was married on 28 April 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry. From the time of his coronation, all power was transferred to Philip. Eventually, Louis died on 18 September 1180, while the royal demesne had increased under Philip I and Louis VI, it had diminished slightly under Louis VII. In April 1182, partially to enrich the French crown, Philip expelled all Jews from the demesne, Philips eldest son Louis was born on 5 September 1187 and inherited the County of Artois in 1190, when his mother Isabelle died. The main source of funding for Philips army was from the royal demesne, in times of conflict, he could immediately call up 250 knights,250 horse sergeants,100 mounted crossbowmen,133 crossbowmen on foot,2,000 foot sergeants, and 300 mercenaries. Towards the end of his reign, the king could muster some 3,000 knights,9,000 sergeants,6,000 urban militiamen, using his increased revenues, Philip was the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. By 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men, within two years, his fleet included 10 large ships and many smaller ones. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip, Count of Flanders, over the Vermandois, which King Philip claimed as his wifes dowry, finally the Count of Flanders invaded France, ravaging the whole district between the Somme and the Oise before penetrating as far as Dammartin
Philip II of France
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Seal of Philip II
Philip II of France
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Isabelle, Philip's first wife.
Philip II of France
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The coronation of Philip II Augustus in the presence of Henry II of England
Philip II of France
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Remains of the
Wall of Philip II Augustus built around Paris before he went to the Crusades. The segment pictured here is found in the Rue des Jardins-Saint-Paul, Paris
11.
Louis VIII of France
–
Louis VIII the Lion was King of France from 1223 to 1226. He also claimed the title King of England from 1216 to 1217, Louis VIII was born in Paris, the son of King Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut, from whom he inherited the County of Artois. While Louis VIII only briefly reigned as king of France, he was a leader in his years as crown prince. During the First Barons War of 1215-17 against King John of England, after his victory at the Battle of Roche-au-Moine in 1214, he invaded southern England and was proclaimed King of England by rebellious barons in London on the 2 June 1216. He was never crowned, however, and renounced his claim after being excommunicated and repelled, in 1217, Louis started the conquest of Guyenne, leaving only a small region around Bordeaux to Henry III of England. Louiss short reign was marked by an intervention using royal forces into the Albigensian Crusade in southern France that decisively moved the conflict towards a conclusion and he died in 1226 and was succeeded by his son Louis IX. In summer 1195, a marriage between Louis and Eleanor of Brittany, niece of Richard I of England, was suggested for an alliance between Philip II and Richard, but it failed and this led to a sudden deterioration in relations between Richard and Philip. On 23 May 1200, at the age of 12, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, the marriage could only be concluded after prolonged negotiations between King Philip II of France and Blanches uncle John. In 1214, King John of England began his campaign to reclaim the Duchy of Normandy from Philip II. John was optimistic, as he had built up alliances with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, Count Renaud of Boulogne. Johns plan was to split Philips forces by pushing north-east from Poitou towards Paris, while Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by the Earl of Salisbury, marched south-west from Flanders. Whereas Philip II took personal command of the front against the emperor and his allies. The first part of the campaign went well for the English, with John outmanoeuvring the forces under the command of Prince Louis, John besieged the castle of Roche-au-Moine, a key stronghold, forcing Louis to give battle against Johns larger army. The local Angevin nobles refused to advance with the king, left at something of a disadvantage, shortly afterwards, Philip won the hard-fought Battle of Bouvines in the north against Otto and Johns other allies, bringing an end to Johns hopes of retaking Normandy. In 1215, the English barons rebelled against the unpopular King John in the First Barons War, the barons offered the throne to Prince Louis, who landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on 21 May 1216. There was little resistance when the prince entered London, and Louis was proclaimed king at Old St Pauls Cathedral with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Even though he was not crowned, many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland on behalf of his English possessions, on 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. But just when it seemed that England was his, King Johns death in October 1216 caused many of the barons to desert Louis in favour of Johns nine-year-old son
Louis VIII of France
–
Louis VIII's seal
Louis VIII of France
–
Fictional portrait of Louis VIII. From a series of medals issued by Louis XVIII (19th century).
Louis VIII of France
–
Coronation of Louis VIII and
Blanche of Castile at
Reims in 1223,
miniature from the
Grandes Chroniques de France, painted in the 1450s (
Bibliothèque nationale)
12.
Louis IX of France
–
Louis IX, commonly known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII the Lion, although his mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom until he reached maturity. During Louiss childhood, Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals, as an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of the most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England tried to restore his continental possessions and his reign saw the annexation of several provinces, notably Normandy, Maine and Provence. Louis IX was a reformer and developed French royal justice, in which the king is the judge to whom anyone is able to appeal to seek the amendment of a judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to prevent the private wars that were plaguing the country, to enforce the correct application of this new legal system, Louis IX created provosts and bailiffs. According to his vow made after an illness, and confirmed after a miraculous cure. He was succeeded by his son Philip III, Louiss actions were inspired by Christian values and Catholic devotion. He decided to punish blasphemy, gambling, interest-bearing loans and prostitution and he also expanded the scope of the Inquisition and ordered the burning of Talmuds. He is the only canonized king of France, and there are many places named after him. Much of what is known of Louiss life comes from Jean de Joinvilles famous Life of Saint Louis, two other important biographies were written by the kings confessor, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and his chaplain, William of Chartres. The fourth important source of information is William of Saint-Parthus biography, while several individuals wrote biographies in the decades following the kings death, only Jean of Joinville, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and William of Chartres wrote from personal knowledge of the king. Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Prince Louis the Lion and Princess Blanche, and baptised in La Collégiale Notre-Dame church. His grandfather on his fathers side was Philip II, king of France, while his grandfather on his mothers side was Alfonso VIII, tutors of Blanches choosing taught him most of what a king must know—Latin, public speaking, writing, military arts, and government. He was 9 years old when his grandfather Philip II died, a member of the House of Capet, Louis was twelve years old when his father died on 8 November 1226. He was crowned king within the month at Reims cathedral, because of Louiss youth, his mother ruled France as regent during his minority. Louis mother trained him to be a leader and a good Christian. She used to say, I love you, my son, as much as a mother can love her child
Louis IX of France
–
Representation of Saint Louis considered to be true to life, early 14th century. Statue from the church of
Mainneville, Eure, France.
Louis IX of France
–
Coin of Saint Louis,
Cabinet des Médailles. – The Latin inscription reads LVDOVICVS (i.e. "Louis") DEI GRACIA (i.e. "
by the Grace of God ", where Latin gratia was spelt gracia) FRANCOR REX (i.e. "
King of the Franks ", where Francor. is the abbreviation of Francorum).
Louis IX of France
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Equestrian statue of King Saint Louis at the
Sacré-Cœur
Louis IX of France
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Death of Saint Louis: On 25 August 1270, Saint Louis dies under his fleurdelisé tent before the city of Tunis. Illuminated by
Jean Fouquet,
Grandes Chroniques de France (1455–1460)
13.
Bordeaux
–
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France. The municipality of Bordeaux proper has a population of 243,626, together with its suburbs and satellite towns, Bordeaux is the centre of the Bordeaux Métropole. With 749,595 inhabitants and 1,178,335 in the area, it is the fifth largest in France, after Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Lille. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture of the Gironde department and its inhabitants are called Bordelais or Bordelaises. The term Bordelais may also refer to the city and its surrounding region, Bordeaux is the worlds major wine industry capital. It is home to the main wine fair, Vinexpo. Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century, the historic part of the city is on the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble of the 18th century. After Paris, Bordeaux has the highest number of preserved buildings of any city in France. In historical times, around 300 BC it was the settlement of a Celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, the name Bourde is still the name of a river south of the city. In 107 BC, the Battle of Burdigala was fought by the Romans who were defending the Allobroges, a Gallic tribe allied to Rome, the Romans were defeated and their commander, the consul Lucius Cassius Longinus, was killed in the action. The city fell under Roman rule around 60 BC, its importance lying in the commerce of tin, later it became capital of Roman Aquitaine, flourishing especially during the Severan dynasty. In 276 it was sacked by the Vandals, further ravage was brought by the same Vandals in 409, the Visigoths in 414 and the Franks in 498, beginning a period of obscurity for the city. In the late 6th century, the city re-emerged as the seat of a county and an archdiocese within the Merovingian kingdom of the Franks, the city started to play a regional role as a major urban center on the fringes of the newly founded Frankish Duchy of Vasconia. Around 585, a certain Gallactorius is cited as count of Bordeaux, the city was plundered by the troops of Abd er Rahman in 732 after storming the fortified city and overwhelming the Aquitanian garrison. After Duke Eudess defeat, the Aquitanian duke could still save part of its troops, the following year, the Frankish commander descended again over Aquitaine, but clashed in battle with the Aquitanians and left to take on hostile Burgundian authorities and magnates. In 745, Aquitaine faced yet another expedition by Charles sons Pepin and Carloman against Hunald, Hunald was defeated, and his son Waifer replaced him, who in turn confirmed Bordeaux as the capital city. During the last stage of the war against Aquitaine, it was one of Waifers last important strongholds to fall to King Pepin the Shorts troops. Next to Bordeaux, Charlemagne built the fortress of Fronsac on a hill across the border with the Basques, in 778, Seguin was appointed count of Bordeaux, probably undermining the power of the Duke Lupo, and possibly leading to the Battle of Roncevaux Pass that very year
Bordeaux
–
Clockwise from top:
Place de la Bourse by the
Garonne, Allees du Tourny and Maison de Vin,
Pierre Bridge on the Garonne, Meriadeck Commercial Centre, front of Palais Rohan Hotel, and
Saint-Andre Cathedral with
Bordeaux Tramway
Bordeaux
Bordeaux
–
Coins of the
Bituriges Vivisci, 5th–1st century BC, derived from the coin designs of
Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul.
Cabinet des Médailles.
Bordeaux
–
Merovingian tremisses minted in Bordeaux by the Church of Saint-Étienne, late 6th century.
British Museum.
14.
Bazadais
–
The Bazadaise is a French breed of beef cattle.124 A festival, the Fête des Boeufs Gras, is held each year in Bazas to present fattened Bazadaise stock. The Bazadaise is a draught breed of the Pyrénées and the Gironde. In the years after the Second World War, the mechanisation of agriculture and more extensive cultivation of crops in the region both contributed to a rapid decline in numbers. By 1970 only 700 cows remained, and efforts to recover, in 2013 there were about 3400 cows, in more than 140 farms.124 The Bazadaise has been exported to Australia, Chile, Spain and the United Kingdom. Exported stock has been both raised pure-bred, and used for cross-breeding.119 The Bazadaise is uni-coloured grey, with variations due to sex. The meat is heavily marbled and is renowned for its tenderness and flavour.118 It may be marketed under the Label Rouge denominations Boeuf de Bazas, carcass yield is high, in bullocks, it is some 63–65%.121
Bazadais
–
A bazadais cow in its countryside.
15.
Limousin
–
Limousin is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Nouvelle Aquitaine and it was composed of three departments, Corrèze, Creuse and Haute-Vienne. Situated largely in the Massif Central, as of January 1,2010, forming part of the southwest of France, Limousin is bordered by the regions of Centre to the north, Poitou-Charentes and Aquitaine to the west, Midi-Pyrénées to the south and Auvergne to the east. Limousin is also part of Occitania, the modern region of Limousin is essentially composed of two historical French provinces, Limousin, the department of Corrèze in its entirety and the central and southeastern part of Haute-Vienne. The entire old province of Limousin is contained within the modern Limousin, Marche, most of the department of Creuse and the north of Haute-Vienne. The old province of Marche is almost entirely contained within the region of Limousin. Limoges, the capital and largest city of the province of Limousin, is the capital of the Limousin administrative region. With a slowly rising population of just under 750,000, the population of Limousin is aging and, until 1999, was declining. The department of Creuse has the oldest population of any in France, between 1999 and 2004 the population of Limousin increased slightly, reversing a decline for the first time in decades. Brive-la-Gaillarde Guéret Limoges Panazol Saint-Junien Tulle Ussel Limousin is a rural region. Famed for some of the best beef farming in the world, the region is also a major timber producing area. It is a partnership that is over 100 years old, the regional capital, Limoges, was once an industrial power base, world-renowned for its porcelain and still a leader and innovator in electric equipment factories. However, large factories are now few in number, some of the rivers belonging to the Loire basin run through the north, west and east of the region, waterways belonging to that of the Dordogne through the south. The region is crossed by three rivers, the Vienne, the Dordogne and the Charente. The region is known for the high quality of its water. The Limousin region is almost entirely an upland area, the lowest land is in the northwest of the region and the highest land is roughly in the southeast. However, the part of the region is above 350 m. Limousin is one of the provinces of France
Limousin
–
Limoges, half-timbered house by the bridge Saint Martial
Limousin
–
Flag
Limousin
–
Small river in
Creuse, Limousin
16.
Quercy
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Quercy comprised the present-day department of Lot, the northern half of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, and a few communities in the departments of Dordogne, Corrèze, and Aveyron. The traditional capital of Quercy is Cahors, now prefecture of Lot, the largest town of Quercy is Montauban, prefecture of Tarn-et-Garonne. Also distinct from the rest of the region is the Quercy Blanc lying between Cahors and the boundary of Lot, characterised by its white limestone buildings. Like Périgord, the area is noted for its cuisine, more particularly the duck dishes, confit de canard and magret de canard, Quercy has a land area of 6,987 km². At the 1999 census there were 275,984 inhabitants on the territory of the province of Quercy. However, if Montauban is not included inside Quercy, then the population of Quercy in 1999 was 224,129 inhabitants. The province gave its name to cadurcum, a variety of light linen, under the Romans Quercy was part of Aquitania prima, and Christianity was introduced during the 4th century. Early in the 6th century it fell under the authority of the Franks, at the end of the 10th century its rulers were the powerful counts of Toulouse. During the wars between England and France in the reign of Henry II, the English placed garrisons in the county, and by the 1259 Treaty of Paris lower Quercy was ceded to England. The monarchs of both England and France confirmed and added to the privileges of the towns and the district, in 1360, by the Treaty of Bretigny, the whole county passed to England, but in 1440 the English were finally expelled. In the 16th century Quercy was a stronghold of the Protestants, the civil wars of the reign of Louis XIII largely took place around Montauban. net Quest-ce que le Quercy. Atlas historique du Quercy Portail régional du Quercy Le portail du tourisme en Quercy La Maison du Patrimoine et de l’Environnement Midi-Quercy
Quercy
–
Coat of arms of the lordship of Quercy
17.
Rouergue
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Rouergue is a former province of France, bounded on the north by Auvergne, on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by Gévaudan and on the west by Quercy. During the Middle Ages Rouergue changed hands a number of times, its rulers including England, Armagnac, Rouergue became a department in 1790, and was renamed Aveyron after the principal river flowing through it. Upon creation of the department of Tarn-et-Garonne in 1808, the canton of Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val was detached from the extremity of Aveyron. The province of Rouergue has an area of 9,007 km². At the 1999 census there were 269,774 inhabitants on the territory of the province of Rouergue, Counts of Rouergue Counts of Toulouse
Rouergue
–
Coat of arms of the county of Rouergue
18.
Philip III of France
–
It can also refer to Philippe III de Croÿ and Philippe III, Duke of Orléans. Philip III, called the Bold, was King of France from 1270 to 1285, Philip proved indecisive, soft in nature, and timid. The strong personalities of his parents apparently crushed him, and policies of his father dominated him, people called him the Bold on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback and not on the basis of his political or personal character. He was pious but not cultivated and he followed the suggestions of others, first of Pierre de La Broce and then of his uncle King Charles I of Naples, Sicily, and Albania. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade, Philip, who was accompanying him, came back to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271. Philip made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Peter III of Aragon against Philips uncle Charles I of Naples, Philip was forced to retreat and died from dysentry in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his son Philip the Fair, Philip was born in Poissy to King Saint Louis IX of France and Margaret of Provence, queen consort of France. As a younger son, Philip was not expected to rule a kingdom, at the death of his elder brother Louis in 1260, he became the heir to the throne. He was then 15 years old and has less skill than his brother, being of a character, submissive, timid and versatile. Pope Urban IV released Philip from his oath on June 6,1263, from 1268 Pierre de La Brosse became mentor. Saint Louis also provided him his own advice, writing in particular Enseignements and he also received a very faith-oriented education. Guillaume dErcuis was also his chaplain before being the tutor of his son, as Count of Orléans, he accompanied his father to the Eighth Crusade in Tunis,1270. After taking Carthage, the army was struck by an epidemic of dysentery and his brother John Tristan, Count of Valois died first, on August 3, and on August 25 the king died. To prevent putrefaction of the remains of the sovereign, they recoursed to Mos Teutonicus, Philip, then 25 years old, was proclaimed king in Tunis. With neither great personality or will, very pious, but a good rider and he was unable to command the troops at the death of his father. He left his uncle Charles I of Naples to negotiate with Muhammad I al-Mustansir, Hafsid Sultan of Tunis and he got the payment of tribute from the caliph of Tunis in exchange for the departure of the crusaders. A treaty was concluded October 28,1270 between the kings of France, Sicily and Navarre and the barons on one hand and the caliph of Tunis on the other
Philip III of France
–
Coronation of King Philip III
Philip III of France
–
Marriage of Philip and
Marie of Brabant, Queen of France
19.
Edward I of England
–
Edward I, also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. He spent much of his reign reforming royal administration and common law, through an extensive legal inquiry, Edward investigated the tenure of various feudal liberties, while the law was reformed through a series of statutes regulating criminal and property law. Increasingly, however, Edwards attention was drawn towards military affairs, the first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his fathers reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons. In 1259, he sided with a baronial reform movement. After reconciliation with his father, however, he remained throughout the subsequent armed conflict. After the Battle of Lewes, Edward was hostage to the rebellious barons, Montfort was defeated at the Battle of Evesham in 1265, and within two years the rebellion was extinguished. With England pacified, Edward joined the Ninth Crusade to the Holy Land, the crusade accomplished little, and Edward was on his way home in 1272 when he was informed that his father had died. Making a slow return, he reached England in 1274 and was crowned at Westminster on 19 August, after suppressing a minor rebellion in Wales in 1276–77, Edward responded to a second rebellion in 1282–83 with a full-scale war of conquest. After a successful campaign, Edward subjected Wales to English rule, built a series of castles and towns in the countryside, next, his efforts were directed towards Scotland. Initially invited to arbitrate a dispute, Edward claimed feudal suzerainty over the kingdom. In the war followed, the Scots persevered, even though the English seemed victorious at several points. At the same there were problems at home. In the mid-1290s, extensive military campaigns required high levels of taxation and these crises were initially averted, but issues remained unsettled. When the King died in 1307, he left to his son, Edward II, Edward I was a tall man for his era, hence the nickname Longshanks. He was temperamental, and this, along with his height, made him an intimidating man, nevertheless, he held the respect of his subjects for the way he embodied the medieval ideal of kingship, as a soldier, an administrator and a man of faith. The Edict remained in effect for the rest of the Middle Ages, Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster on the night of 17–18 June 1239, to King Henry III and Eleanor of Provence. Among his childhood friends was his cousin Henry of Almain, son of King Henrys brother Richard of Cornwall, Henry of Almain would remain a close companion of the prince, both through the civil war that followed, and later during the crusade. Edward was in the care of Hugh Giffard – father of the future Chancellor Godfrey Giffard – until Bartholomew Pecche took over at Giffards death in 1246, there were concerns about Edwards health as a child, and he fell ill in 1246,1247, and 1251
Edward I of England
–
Portrait in Westminster Abbey, thought to be of Edward I
Edward I of England
–
Early fourteenth-century manuscript
initial showing Edward and his wife Eleanor. The artist has perhaps tried to depict Edward's
blepharoptosis, a trait he inherited from his father.
Edward I of England
–
Medieval manuscript showing
Simon de Montfort 's mutilated body at the field of
Evesham
Edward I of England
–
Operations during the Crusade of Edward I
20.
Fief
–
The fees were often lands or revenue-producing real property held in feudal land tenure, these are typically known as fiefs or fiefdoms. However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including office, rights of exploitation such as hunting or fishing, monopolies in trade. In ancient Rome a benefice was a gift of land for life as a reward for services rendered, originally, in medieval Latin European documents, a land grant in exchange for service continued to be called a beneficium. Later, the term feudum, or feodum, began to replace beneficium in the documents, the first attested instance of this is from 984, although more primitive forms were seen up to one hundred years earlier. The origin of the feudum and why it replaced beneficium has not been well established, but there are multiple theories, described below. The most widely held theory is put forth by Marc Bloch that it is related to the Frankish term *fehu-ôd, in which means cattle and -ôd means goods. When land replaced currency as the store of value, the Germanic word *fehu-ôd replaced the Latin word beneficium. This Germanic origin theory was also shared by William Stubbs in the nineteenth century, a theory put forward by Archibald R. Lewis that the origin of fief is not feudum, but rather foderum, the earliest attested use being in Astronomuss Vita Hludovici. In that text is a passage about Louis the Pious which says annona militaris quas vulgo foderum vocant, a theory by Alauddin Samarrai suggests an Arabic origin, from fuyū. Samarrais theory is that early forms of fief include feo, feu, feuz, feuum and others, Samarrai, however, also advises medieval and early modern Muslim scribes often used etymologically fanciful roots in order to claim the most outlandish things to be of Arabian or Muslim origin. It lacked a precise meaning until the middle of the 12th century, in English usage, the word fee is first attested around 1250–1300, the word fief from around 1605–15. In French, the fief is found from the middle of the 13th century. In French, one also finds seigneurie, which rise to the expression seigneurial system to describe feudalism. Originally, vassalage did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings, by the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary. The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord, historically, the fees of the 11th and the 12th century derived from two separate sources. The first was land carved out of the estates of the upper nobility, the second source was allodial land transformed into dependent tenures. The process occurred later in Germany, and was going on in the 13th century. In England, Henry II transformed them into important sources of royal income, the discontent of barons with royal claims to arbitrarily assessed reliefs and other feudal payments under Henrys son King John resulted in Magna Carta of 1215
Fief
–
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (
Bayeux Tapestry)
Fief
–
Sigismund fees the
Margraviate of Brandenburg to
Frederik, April 30, 1415
21.
Homage (feudal)
–
Homage in the Middle Ages was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position. It was an acknowledgement to the lord that the vassal was, literally. The oath known as fealty implied lesser obligations than did homage, a similar concept is the bayah, a type of oath in Islam. There have been some conflicts about obligations of homage in history, for example, the Angevin monarchs of England were sovereign in England, i. e. they had no duty of homage regarding those holdings, but they were not sovereign regarding their French holdings. So Henry II was king of England, but he was merely Duke of the Normans and Angevins, the Capetian kings in Paris, though weak militarily, claimed a right of homage. The usual oath was therefore modified by Henry to add the qualification for the lands I hold overseas, the implication was that no knights service was owed for the conquered English lands. After King John was forced to surrender Normandy to France in 1204, John still expected to recover his ancestral lands, and those English lords who held lands in Normandy would have to choose sides. Many were forced to abandon their continental holdings, at first that seemed to satisfy John, but eventually, as a price for making peace with the French king to keep his lands, the Earl Marshall fell out of favour with John. The conflict between the French monarchs and the Angevin kings of England continued through the 13th century, when Edward I was asked to provide military service to Philip III in his war with Aragon in 1285, Edward made preparations to provide service from Gascony. A truce was arranged, however, before Edward had to decide what to do, but when Phillip III died, and his son Philip IV ascended the French throne in 1286, Edward dutifully but reluctantly performed homage for the sake of peace. In doing so, Edward added yet another qualification – that the duty owed was according to the terms of the peace made between our ancestors, allegiance Bayah Charge Duty Fealty Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire Honor
Homage (feudal)
–
Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci (
Bayeux Tapestry)
Homage (feudal)
–
Homage in the Middle Ages
22.
Edward III of England
–
Edward III transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe. Edward was crowned at age fourteen after his father was deposed by his mother, Isabella of France, at age seventeen he led a successful coup against Mortimer, the de facto ruler of the country, and began his personal reign. After a successful campaign in Scotland he declared himself heir to the French throne in 1337. This started what would become known as the Hundred Years War, following some initial setbacks the war went exceptionally well for England, victories at Crécy and Poitiers led to the highly favourable Treaty of Brétigny. Edwards later years, however, were marked by international failure and domestic strife, largely as a result of his inactivity, Edward III was a temperamental man but capable of unusual clemency. He was in ways a conventional king whose main interest was warfare. Admired in his own time and for centuries after, Edward was denounced as an adventurer by later Whig historians such as William Stubbs. This view has been challenged recently and modern historians credit him with some significant achievements, Edward was born at Windsor Castle on 13 November 1312, and was often referred to as Edward of Windsor in his early years. The reign of his father, Edward II, was a problematic period of English history. One source of contention was the inactivity, and repeated failure. Another controversial issue was the kings patronage of a small group of royal favourites. The birth of an heir in 1312 temporarily improved Edward IIs position in relation to the baronial opposition. To bolster further the independent prestige of the prince, the king had him created Earl of Chester at only twelve days of age. In 1325, Edward II was faced with a demand from his brother-in-law, Charles IV of France, Edward was reluctant to leave the country, as discontent was once again brewing domestically, particularly over his relationship with the favourite Hugh Despenser the Younger. Instead, he had his son Edward created Duke of Aquitaine in his place, the young Edward was accompanied by his mother Isabella, who was the sister of King Charles, and was meant to negotiate a peace treaty with the French. While in France, however, Isabella conspired with the exiled Roger Mortimer to have Edward deposed, to build up diplomatic and military support for the venture, Isabella had Prince Edward engaged to the twelve-year-old Philippa of Hainault. An invasion of England was launched and Edward IIs forces deserted him completely, the king was forced to relinquish the throne to his son on 25 January 1327. The new king was crowned as Edward III on 1 February 1327 and it was not long before the new reign also met with other problems caused by the central position at court of Roger Mortimer, who was now the de facto ruler of England
Edward III of England
–
Edward III, detail from his bronze effigy in
Westminster Abbey
Edward III of England
–
Drawing of effigy of King Edward III in
Westminster Abbey
Edward III of England
–
To mark his claim to the French crown, Edward's coat of arms showed the three lions of England quartered with the fleurs-de-lys of France. English
stained glass, c. 1350–1377
Edward III of England
–
Groat featuring Edward III
23.
Aunis
–
Aunis is a historical province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Castrum Allionis the historic capital which gives its name to the province and it was a fief of the Duchy of Aquitaine. It extended to Marais Poitevin in the north, Basse Saintonge in the east, Aunis had an influence approximately 20–25 km into the Isle of Ré. It was thus that Aunis legally became a separate province, Aunis was the smallest province in France, in terms of area. Nowadays it is a part of the Charente-Maritime département together with Saintonge, people from Aunis were called Aunisien or Aunisienne. Aunis is mostly a rolling plain, whose navigable rivers have always been important modes of communication, and from which came economic development. The region is coastal, with varied seafronts and offshore islands, nowadays tourism is of great importance. Aunis has two borders, those of the Sèvre Niortaise in the north, and the Charente River in the south. To the west is the Atlantic Ocean and two islands, the Île de Ré and the Île dAix, to the east it is bordered by the valley of the Mignon River, by the hills of Saintonge around Saint-Félix, and by the valleys of the Trézence and Boutonne. Aunis is a plain of the Jurassic period, characterised by gently rolling hills, where no valley is completely enclosed. The islands of Ré and Aix were made at the same time, the chalk table completes the triangular promontory which juts into the Atlantic, forming the northern extremity of the Aquitaine Basin. Large freshwater and seawater marshes have formed in places that have been drained, the seawater marshes correspond to ancient marine gulfs, made from marine or fluvial sediments. Since the Middle Ages they have been drained by man. In the north, the Marais Poitevin dries up, at the centre there are the valleys of the small river Curé and its tributary the Virson. In the south is the marshland of Little Flanders, drained since the 17th century, together these constitute an important reservoir of fresh water, essential for the agricultural and snail-farming activities of the north of the department. The geography of the plain was always very unfavourable for communications, the region was almost an enclave, and for a long time on the margins of the French kingdom politically as well as geographically. Huge efforts were made to break this geographical isolation, without doubt the most spectacular was the coming of the railway in 1857, running from La Rochelle and Rochefort to Paris. This line has been repeatedly modernised, the regional railways connecting Nantes to Bordeaux also serve Aunis, passing through La Rochelle, Châtelaillon-Plage and Rochefort
Aunis
–
Chalk cliffs to the north and south of La Rochelle date from the
Late Jurassic.
Aunis
–
Aunis (deep red), shown with Aquitaine (pink).
Aunis
–
The
Île de Ré Bridge has connected
La Rochelle to
Rivedoux-Plage since 1988
Aunis
–
The salt marshes and
French: ' (l'or blanc)' ("White Gold") salt are important natural resources of the Île de Ré
24.
Saintonge
–
Saintonge, historically spelled Xaintonge and Xainctonge, is a former province of France located on the west central Atlantic coast. Other principal towns include Saint-Jean-dAngély, Jonzac, Frontenay-Rohan-Rohan, Royan, Marennes, Pons, today, four fifths of the historical Saintonge province occupies the modern département of Charente-Maritime. Most of the fifth is in Charente, and a small section extends north into Deux-Sèvres. The province derives its name from the Santones, an ancient Gallic tribe that inhabited the area. During antiquity, Saintonge was part of the Roman province of Gallia Aquitania, the region fell under the control of the kings and dukes of Aquitaine, the counts of Anjou, then the counts of Poitiers, before becoming integrated for centuries in the new Duchy of Aquitaine. Saintonge was primarily attached to Anglo-Aquitaine until the mid-fourteenth century, Saintonge was the birthplace of French explorer Jean Allefonsce in 1484, and Samuel de Champlain in 1574, who explored the New World and founded Quebec. It also was one of the centers of French Huguenots, Protestants, the distinctive Saintongeais dialect was once spoken throughout Saintonge, as well as in the provinces of Aunis and Angoumois. The region is famous for its grapes, which are used to produce cognac and this area is famous for its medieval pottery, which was widely exported. Sherds of it have been found in quantities in medieval excavations throughout Ireland. These shards are from vessels made and exported as a by-product of the Bordeaux wine trade and this ware has been found on Irish excavations from the later 12th century but it is most commonly uncovered in 13th-century contexts. They consist of an off-white micaceous fabric with moderate amounts of quartz and they are glazed on the external surface only, with a clear lead glaze. In Saintonge Green wares, the addition of copper filings, or copper oxide to the lead glaze. Many forms of Saintonge wares were produced, including Saintonge Polychrome, Saintonge Green, slipped Saintonge is more consistent in colour and appearance than unslipped, having the benefit of an undercoating to regulate the process. The most common forms of vessel produced in this ware were wine jugs and these were characteristically tall, with slightly ovoid bodies, flat bases, parrot-beak spouts and strap handles. Saintonge was exported well through the 17th century, acadians and French colonists in Quebec and Eastern Canada imported many Saintonge ceramics, including bowls, plates, mugs and other types. Many Saintonge ceramic fragments have been found in context with 17th-century colonists and are used as evidence of pre-British occupation of these areas. Saintonge Regiment Derœux, D. & Dufournier, D.1991, réflexions sur la diffusion de la céramique très decorée d’origine française en Europe du nord-ouest XIII-XIVe siècles, Archéologie médiévale 21, p. 163–77
Saintonge
–
Saintonge jug (1275–1350) exported to London. Now in the
Tower of London.
Saintonge
Saintonge
–
Saintonge polychrome dish in the style of
Bernard Palissy, mid-1500s, excavated in London.
London Museum.
25.
Angoumois
–
Angoumois was a county and province of France. Its capital was Angoulême, and it corresponded to the Charente Department. Baynes, T. S. ed. Angoumois, Encyclopædia Britannica,2, New York, Charles Scribners Sons, chisholm, Hugh, ed. Angoumois, Encyclopædia Britannica,2, Cambridge University Press, p.42. Castaignes 1845 Essai dune bibliothèque historique de lAngoumois
Angoumois
–
Angoumois
26.
Poitou
–
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century, there is a marshland called the Poitevin Marsh on the Gulf of Poitou, on the west coast of France, just north of La Rochelle and west of Niort. By the Treaty of Paris of 1259, King Henry III of England recognized his loss of continental Plantaganet territory to France. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries Poitou was a hotbed of Huguenot activity among the nobility, many of the Acadians who settled in what is now Nova Scotia beginning in 1604, and later in New Brunswick, came from the region of Poitou. After the Acadians were deported by the British beginning in 1755, a large portion of these refugees were also deported to Louisiana in 1785 and eventually became known as Cajuns. The common thread connecting both phenomena is an assertion of a local identity and opposition to the central government in Paris, whatever its composition. Large parts of the Angelique series of novels are set in 17th century Poitou. Count of Poitiers for a list of the Comtes de Poitou, poitou-Charentes for the present-day région including Poitiers. Poitevin, the French regional language spoken in Poitou
Poitou
–
Poitou
27.
Bertrand du Guesclin
–
Bertrand du Guesclin, nicknamed The Eagle of Brittany or The Black Dog of Brocéliande, was a Breton knight and French military commander during the Hundred Years War. He was Constable of France from 1370 to his death, well known for his Fabian strategy, he took part in six pitched battles and won the four in which he held command. Bertrand du Guesclin was born at Motte-Broons near Dinan, in Brittany, first-born son of Robert du Guesclin and his date of birth is unknown but is thought to have been sometime in 1320. His family was of minor Breton nobility, the seigneurs of Broons and he initially served Charles of Blois in the Breton War of Succession. Charles was supported by the French crown, while his rival, Du Guesclin was knighted in 1354 while serving Arnoul dAudrehem, after countering a raid by Hugh Calveley on the Castle of Montmuran. In 1356–57, Du Guesclin successfully defended Rennes against an English siege by Henry of Grosmont, during the siege, he killed the English knight William Bamborough who had challenged him to a duel. The resistance of du Guesclin helped restore French morale after Poitiers, when he became King in 1364, Charles sent Du Guesclin to deal with Charles II of Navarre, who hoped to claim the Duchy of Burgundy, which Charles hoped to give to his brother, Philip. On 16 May, he met an Anglo-Navarrese army under the command of Jean de Grailly, Captal de Buch at Cocherel, the victory forced Charles II into a new peace with the French king, and secured Burgundy for Philip. On 29 September 1364, at the Battle of Auray, the army of Charles of Blois was heavily defeated by John IV, Duke of Brittany, de Blois was killed in action, ending the pretensions of the Penthievre faction in Brittany. After chivalric resistance, Du Guesclin broke his weapons to signify his surrender and he was captured and ransomed by Charles V for 100,000 francs. In 1366, du Guesclin, with Guillaume Boitel, his companion, leader of his vanguard. Bertrands elevation must have taken place at Burgos between 16 March and 5 April 1366, but Henrys army was defeated in 1367 by Pedros forces, now commanded by Edward, the Black Prince, at Nájera. Du Guesclin was again captured, and again ransomed by Charles V, however, the English army suffered badly in the battle as four English soldiers out of five died during the Castilian Campaign. The Black Prince, affected by dysentery, soon withdrew his support from Pedro, Du Guesclin and Henry of Trastámara renewed the attack, defeating him at the decisive Battle of Montiel. After the battle, Pedro fled to the castle at Montiel, from whence he made contact with du Guesclin, Pedro bribed du Guesclin to obtain escape. Du Guesclin agreed, but also told it to Henry who promised him more money, once there, after crossed accusations of bastardy the two half-brothers started a fight to death, using daggers because of the narrow space. At a moment when they fought on the floor, Pedro got the upper side and was about to finish Henry, but then Du Guesclin, who had stayed inactive for he was compromised to both, made his final choice. He grabbed Pedro´s ankle and turned him belly-up, thus allowing Henry to stab Pedro to death, Bertrand was made Duke of Molina, and the Franco-Castllian alliance was sealed
Bertrand du Guesclin
–
Statue of Bertrand du Guesclin in
Dinan
Bertrand du Guesclin
–
Bertrand du Guesclin's effigy at the
Saint-Denis Basilica, near Paris
Bertrand du Guesclin
–
Guesclin at the
Battle of Cocherel
Bertrand du Guesclin
–
Death of Bertrand du Guesclin, by
Jean Fouquet
28.
Gaston III, Count of Foix
–
Gaston Fébus was the eleventh count of Foix and viscount of Béarn from 1343 until his death. Gaston was born either in Orthez or Foix, the son of Gaston II/IX and his native language was Gascon, but he was also fluent in French. He wrote a treatise on hunting in French, and an Occitan song, one contemporary records that he very willingly spoke to me not in his native Gascon but in proper and elegant French. Béarn had passed to the county of Foix in 1290 and he was succeeded as count of Foix by Mathieu of Foix-Castelbon. The house of Béarn-Foix was engaged in a running feud with the family of DArmagnac. In 1362, a battle was fought between the two sides at Launac, Gaston Fébus was victorious and succeeded in capturing his chief rivals, whom he ransomed for a vast fortune of at least 600,000 florins. This money was stored in the Moncade tower in Orthez, where Fébus also created a gallery of portraits, in the 1380s, Jean Froissart visited the County of Foix. He recorded the splendor of the court of Orthez under Gaston Fébus in the half of the 14th century. Gaston recorded the three special delights of his life as arms, love and hunting, he wrote an important treatise on the latter entitled Livre de chasse. Gaston was one of the greatest huntsmen of his day, and his Livre de chasse was written between 1387 and 1388. It was dedicated to Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and it is the classic treatise on Medieval hunting, and noted for one manuscript which has exquisite miniatures, illustrating the hunt. Gaston Phoebus married Agnès of Navarre, daughter of Joan II of Navarre and they had a son, Gaston, married Béatrice dArmagnac, daughter of John II of Armagnac. As Jean Froissart recorded, Gaston Phoebuss son Gaston betrayed him, Gaston tried to poison his father using a powder that he got from King Charles II of Navarre. Gaston was caught and imprisoned by his father, later on, Gaston was accidentally stabbed and killed by his father during a quarrel. After Gaston died, Gaston Phoebus had no legitimate heir, the other performers died as well. This masquerade came to be known as the Bal des Ardents, castle of Foix Château de Mauvezin Barbara W. Tuchman. A Distant Mirror, The Calamitous 14th Century, published on May, by Wayne A. Smith ISBN9780345289308. Animals and Hunters in the Late Middle Ages, evidence from the BnF MS fr.616 of the Livre de chasse by Gaston Fébus
Gaston III, Count of Foix
–
Gaston Phoebus, from an early 15th-century copy of his Livre de chasse, made in
Paris and kept at the
National Library of France.
Gaston III, Count of Foix
–
Jean Froissart and Espaing de Lyon on their way; Gaston Phébus receiving them.
Gaston III, Count of Foix
–
Gaston III outside the
Château de Pau.
29.
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII, called the Victorious or the Well-Served, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1422 to his death. In the midst of the Hundred Years War, Charles VII inherited the throne of France under desperate circumstances, in addition, his father Charles VI had disinherited him in 1420 and recognized Henry V of England and his heirs as the legitimate successors to the French crown instead. At the same time, a war raged in France between the Armagnacs and the Burgundian party. However, his political and military position improved dramatically with the emergence of Joan of Arc as a leader in France. Joan of Arc and other charismatic figures led French troops to lift the siege of Orléans, as well as other cities on the Loire river. With the local English troops dispersed, the people of Reims switched allegiance and opened their gates and this long-awaited event boosted French morale as hostilities with England resumed. Following the battle of Castillon in 1453, the French had expelled the English from all their continental possessions except for the Pale of Calais, the last years of Charles VII were marked by conflicts with his turbulent son, the future Louis XI of France. Born at the Hôtel Saint-Pol, the residence in Paris. He was the child and fifth son of Charles VI of France. His four elder brothers, Charles, Charles, Louis and John had each held the title of Dauphin of France in turn, all died childless, leaving Charles with a rich inheritance of titles. By 1419, Charles had established his own court in Bourges and they also decided that a further meeting should take place the following 10 September. On that date, they met on the bridge at Montereau, the Duke assumed that the meeting would be entirely peaceful and diplomatic, thus he brought only a small escort with him. The Dauphins men reacted to the Dukes arrival by attacking and killing him, Charles level of involvement has remained uncertain to this day. Although he claimed to have been unaware of his mens intentions, the assassination marked the end of any attempt of a reconciliation between the two factions Armagnacs and Burgundians, thus playing into the hands of Henry V of England. Charles was later required by a treaty with Philip the Good, the son of John the Fearless, to pay penance for the murder, at the death of his father, Charles VI, the succession was cast into doubt. For those who did not recognize the treaty and believed the Dauphin Charles to be of legitimate birth, for those who did not recognize his legitimacy, the rightful heir was recognized as Charles, Duke of Orléans, cousin of the Dauphin, who was in English captivity. Only the supporters of Henry VI and the Dauphin Charles were able to enlist sufficient military force to press effectively for their candidates, the English, already in control of northern France, were able to enforce the claim of their king in the regions of France that they occupied. Northern France, including Paris, was ruled by an English regent, Henry Vs brother, John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
Charles VII of France
–
Portrait of Charles VII, by
Jean Fouquet,
tempera on wood,
Louvre Museum, Paris, c. 1445–1450
Charles VII of France
–
Dauphin Charles with
Yolande of Aragon, Duchess of Anjou
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII Royal d'or.
Charles VII of France
–
Charles VII Ecu neuf, 1436.
30.
Louis XI of France
–
Louis XI, called the Prudent, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father Charles VII. Louis was a devious, the king forgave his rebellious vassals, including Louis, to whom he entrusted the management of the Dauphiné, then a province in southeastern France. Louiss ceaseless intrigues, however, led his father to him from court. From the Dauphiné, Louis led his own political establishment and married Charlotte of Savoy, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, against the will of his father. Charles VII sent an army to compel his son to his will, but Louis fled to Burgundy, where he was hosted by Philip the Good, when Charles VII died in 1461, Louis left the Burgundian court to take possession of his kingdom. His taste for intrigue and his diplomatic activity earned him the nicknames the Cunning. In 1472, the subsequent Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, however, Louis was able to isolate Charles from his English allies by signing the Treaty of Picquigny with Edward IV of England. The treaty formally ended the Hundred Years War, with the death of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy died out. Louis took advantage of the situation to seize numerous Burgundian territories, including Burgundy proper, without direct foreign threats, Louis was able to eliminate his rebellious vassals, expand royal power, and strengthen the economic development of his country. He died in 1483 and was succeeded by his son Charles VIII, Louis was born in Bourges on 3 July 1423, the son of King Charles VII of France. At the time of the Hundred Years War, the English held northern France, including the city of Paris, and Charles VII was restricted to the centre and south of the country. Louis was the grandson of Yolande of Aragon, who was a force in the family for driving the English out of France. Just a few weeks after Louiss christening at the Cathedral of St. Étienne on 4 July 1423, shortly thereafter, a combined Anglo-Burgundian army threatened Bourges itself. Duke Philip II was the reigning Duke of Burgundy while he was king, phillip was an uncle of King Charles VI, and he actually served on a council of regents for King Charles. The Dukes of Anjou, Berry, and Bourbon, all uncles of Charles VI, all effective power in France actually lay with this council of dukes. In its position of independence from the French throne, Burgundy had grown in size, during the Hundred Years War, the Burgundians allied themselves with England against the French crown. Indeed, the Burgundians were responsible for the capture of Joan of Arc, Joan later led troops in other victories at the Battle of Jargeau and the Battle of Patay. Nevertheless, Louis grew up aware of the weakness of the French nation
Louis XI of France
–
Louis XI wearing his
Order of Saint Michael
Louis XI of France
–
Engraving of Louis XI of France
Louis XI of France
–
In this painting by
Jean Fouquet, Louis' father Charles VII is depicted as one of the
three magi and it is assumed that Louis, then Dauphin, is one of the other two.
Louis XI of France
–
Coin of Louis XI, struck ca. 1470
31.
Count of Champagne
–
The Count of Champagne was the ruler of the region of Champagne from 950 to 1316. Champagne evolved from the county of Troyes in the eleventh century. When Sancho VII of Navarre died childless in 1234, his nephew Count Theobald IV of Champagne became also King of Navarre, the latters greatgrandaughter Joan married King Philip IV of France. Upon Joans death in 1305, her son Louis became the last independent count of Champagne, the titular counts of Champagne also inherited the post of seneschal of France. In Merovingian and Carolingian times, several dukes of Champagne are known, the duchy appears to have been created by joining together the civitates of Rheims, Châlons-sur-Marne, Laon, and Troyes. In the late seventh and early centuries, Champagne was controlled by the Pippinids, first by Drogo, son of Pippin of Herstal. Feudal Society in the Baillage of Troyes under the Counts of Champagne, feudal Society in Medieval France, Documents from the County of Champagne. ISBN 0-8122-1441-2, ISBN 0-8122-3225-9 Evergates, Theodore, the Aristocracy of Champagne in the Mid-Thirteenth Century, A Quantitative Description. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, Vol.5, sánchez-Marco, Carlos, Casa de Champagne, La Historia Medieval del Reyno de Navarra, retrieved 24 August 2010
Count of Champagne
–
Original coat of arms of the county of Champagne.
32.
Crown lands of France
–
The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or domaine royal of France refers to the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. In the tenth and eleventh centuries, the first Capetians—while being the kings of France—were among the least powerful of the feudal lords of France in terms of territory possessed. Patiently, through the use of law, conquest, annexation, skillful marriages with heiresses of large fiefs, and even by purchase. However, the system of appanage alienated large territories from the royal domain. During the Wars of Religion, the alienation of lands and fiefs from the domain was frequently criticized. These lands were largely the inheritance of the Robertians, the ancestors of the Capetians. 988, Montreuil-sur-Mer, the first port held by the Capetians, is acquired though the marriage of the crown prince Robert with Rozala,1016, acquisition of the Duchy of Burgundy. The king was the nephew of Duke Henry of Burgundy, who died without heirs, other additions to the royal domain include, Montlhéry and Châteaufort, Chevreuse, Corbeil, Meung-sur-Loire, Châteaurenard and Saint-Brisson. 1137, marriage of Louis with Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess of Aquitaine and Gascony, by this marriage, Louis hopes to attach most of South-West France to the royal domain. 1137, Louis gives Dreux to his brother Robert,1151, separation of Louis VII and of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who in 1152 weds Henry Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine and Duke of Normandy, who becomes in 1154, King of England. Eleanors lands come to Henry in her dowry,1160, gives Norman Vexin to his daughter Margaret as a dowry. Margaret is later forced to surrender her dowry,1185, by the Treaty of Boves, gains Amiens and Montdidier, Roye, Choisy-au-Bac, and Thourotte and rights to the inheritance of Vermandois and Valois. 1187, seizes Tournai from the bishop, confiscates Meulan, Gisors, and other castles. 1191, at the death of Philip of Alsace, Count of Flanders, the County of Artois and its dependencies and these areas would not become integrated into the royal domain until 1223 when Louis becomes king. 1191, the County of Vermandois is acquired by the king, after the death of Elisabeth of Vermandois, confirmed in 1213, by Eléonore of Vermandois sister of Elisabeth. 1200, the Norman Vexin is annexed 1200 the County of Évreux and Issoudun are annexed,1204, confiscation of the Duchy of Normandy, the Touraine, Anjou, Saintonge and, temporarily, of the Poitou from John of England. 1208, La Ferté-Macé confiscated from Guillaume IV of Ferté-Macé1220,1223, Philip Hurepel, half-brother of the king, received in appanage the Counties of Boulogne, and of Clermont, as well as the fiefs of Domfront, Mortain and Aumale. Poitou, Saintonge, Angoumois, Périgord and a part of the Bordelais were confiscated from the king of England,1241, the king confirms the appanage grant of Poitou for his brother Alfonso, Count of Poitou
Crown lands of France
–
The Kingdom of France at the time of Hugh Capet. French royal domain in blue.
33.
French Revolution
–
Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
French Revolution
–
The
August Insurrection in 1792 precipitated the last days of the monarchy.
French Revolution
–
The French government faced a fiscal crisis in the 1780s, and King Louis XVI was blamed for mishandling these affairs.
French Revolution
–
Caricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back.
French Revolution
–
The meeting of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 at Versailles.
34.
Gironde
–
Gironde is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwest France. It is named for the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, the Bordeaux wine region is in the Gironde. Gironde is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 and it was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony. From 1793 to 1795, the name was changed to Bec-dAmbès to avoid the association with the revolutionary party. Gironde is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Charente-Maritime, with an area of 10,000 km², Gironde is the largest department in metropolitan France. If overseas departments are included, however, Girondes land area is dwarfed by the 83,846 km² of Guyane, Gironde is well known for the Côte dArgent beach which is Europes longest, attracting many surfers to Lacanau each year. It is also the birthplace of Jacques-Yves Cousteau who studied the sea, the Great Dune of Pyla in Arcachon Bay near Bordeaux is the tallest sand dune in Europe. The President of the General Council is Jean-Luc Gleyze of the Socialist Party
Gironde
–
Prefecture building of the Gironde department, in Bordeaux
Gironde
–
Bordeaux
Gironde
–
Bordeaux wine
Gironde
–
The Great Dune of Pyla
35.
Lot-et-Garonne
–
Lot-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot and Garonne rivers. Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original departments created on March 4,1790. It was created from part of the province of Guyenne and Gascony, several of the original southeastern cantons in the arrondissements of Agen and Villeneuve-sur-Lot were separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne. Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Gironde, the north of the department is composed by limestone hills. Between Lot and Garonne, there is a plateau carved by many valleys, in the west of the department, the Landes forest is planted in the sand. Between the forest and Agen, there is the Albret, a very hilly. Food-processing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department, the inhabitants of the department are called Lot-et-Garonnais
Lot-et-Garonne
–
Prefecture building of the Lot-et-Garonne department, in Agen
Lot-et-Garonne
–
Agen
Lot-et-Garonne
–
Marmande
Lot-et-Garonne
–
Villeneuve-sur-Lot
36.
Dordogne
–
Dordogne is a department in southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. The department is located in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, and is named after the great Dordogne river that runs through it and it roughly corresponds with the ancient county of Périgord. The county of Périgord dates back to when the area was inhabited by the Gauls and it was originally home to four tribes, the name for four tribes in the Gaulish language was Petrocore. The area eventually known as the county of Le Périgord. The Petrocores took part in the resistance against Rome, the earliest cluzeaux, artificial caves either above or below ground, can be found throughout the Dordogne. These subterranean refuges and lookout huts were large enough to shelter entire local populations, according to Julius Caesar the Gauls took refuge in these caves during the resistance. After Guienne province was transferred to the English Crown under the Plantagenets following the remarriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, the county had been torn apart and, as a consequence, that modeled its physiognomy. During the calmer periods of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the finest Gothic and Renaissance residences were built in Périgueux, Bergerac and Sarlat. In the countryside, the nobility had the majority of the more than 1200 chateaux, manors, at the time, Bergerac was one of the most powerful Huguenot strongholds, along with La Rochelle. and even Josephine Baker. A number of ruins have retained the memory of the tragedies took place within their walls. Several of the castles and châteaux are open to visitors and some of such as Bourdeilles and Mareuil. Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, Connezac, Saint-Jean-de-Côle, La Roque-Gageac and many others are real jewels of architecture, as for the old quarters of Périgueux or Bergerac, restored and developed into pedestrian areas, they have regained their former charm. A number of towns, such as Brantôme, Issigeac, Eymet. A special mention should be made in respect to Sarlat. Dordogne is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790 during the French Revolution and it was included from the former province of Périgord, the county of Périgord. Its borders would continue to change over the subsequent decades, in 1793 the communes of Boisseuilh, Coubjours, Génis, Payzac, Saint-Cyr-les-Champagnes, Saint-Mesmin, Salagnac, Savignac, Saint-Trié and Teillots were transferred from Corrèze to Dordogne. In 1794 Dordogne ceded Cavarc to Lot-et-Garonne, later in 1794 Dordogne gained Parcoul from Charente-Inférieure. Following the restoration, in 1819, the commune of Bonrepos was suppressed and merged with the adjacent commune of Souillac in Lot, but at some stage the victim died, and following a trial four individuals identified as culpable were in turn condemned to die by guillotine
Dordogne
–
Prefecture building of the Dordogne department, in
Périgueux
Dordogne
–
Dordogne River near
Castelnaud-la-Chapelle
Dordogne
–
Périgueux
Dordogne
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Château de Beynac
37.
Lot (department)
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Lot is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot River. Lot is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 and it was created from part of the province of Quercy. In 1808 some of the original southeastern cantons were separated from it to form the department of Tarn-et-Garonne and it originally extended much farther to the south and included the city of Montauban. Lot is part of the region of Occitanie and is surrounded by the departments of Corrèze, Cantal, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, for a full list, see Communes of the Lot department. Settlements in the Lot include, Cahors - The prefecture of the department and it lies in a wide loop of the Lot River and is famous for its medieval bridge, the Pont Valentre. Figeac - a medieval town where Champollion, the first translator of Egyptian hieroglyphics, was born, figeac is a sub-prefecture of the department. Gourdon - a medieval town with a well preserved centre. There are many painted caves nearby, notably the Grottes de Cougnac. Gourdon is also a sub-prefecture of te department, cantons of the Lot department Communes of the Lot department French singer-songwriter Léo Ferré lived in the Lot for a while
Lot (department)
–
Prefecture building of the Lot department, in Cahors
Lot (department)
–
Cahors
Lot (department)
–
Pont Valentré
Lot (department)
–
Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
38.
Aveyron
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Aveyron is a department located in the north of the Occitanie region of southern France named after the Aveyron River. The inhabitants of the department are known as Aveyronnais or Aveyronnaises, the inhabitants of Rodez are called Ruthénois, based on the first Celtic settlers, the rutenii. Aveyron is the centre of a formed by the cities of Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand. The department approximately follows the outline of the province of Rouergue. It is the 5th largest department in metropolitan France in terms of area, the department comes under the jurisdiction of the Academy of Toulouse and the Montpellier Court of Appeal. The INSEE and Post Code is 12, Aveyron is located in the south of the Massif Central. The highest point in the department is the summit of Le Signal de Mailhebiau at 1469m on the Plateau of Aubrac, the Aveyron department is divided into several natural regions such as the Grand Causses and Rougiers. Aveyron department consists of an ancient high plateau of great geological diversity. The Truyère, Lot, Aveyron, and Tarn rivers have carved a lot of deep gorges, the department is surrounded by the departments of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère, and Cantal. The Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat is used as a reservoir to provide drinking water supplies for the region, Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. During the medieval and early periods, and until the 1790s. In 1797, Victor of Aveyron was found wandering the woods in the area, the story of Victor is told in the film The Wild Child. In 1817, a local prosecutor Antoine Bernardin Fualdès was assassinated, the sordid circumstances of his death, following which his body was found floating in the Aveyron River, led to the matter becoming publicised as a cause célèbre. Recent studies have indicated that he met his end at the initiative of a right wing royalist organisation known as the Chevaliers de la Foi, in 2010, the department had 276,805 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the censuses conducted in the department since 1793. This table shows the towns of Aveyron including second homes. Source INSEE, data from 1 January 2008, the President of the General Council is Jean-Claude Luche of the Union for a Popular Movement. The regional sub-dialect spoken in Aveyron is a form of Languedoc Occitan called Rouergat, faced with the risk of disappearance of the language several associations asked the State and political communities for an ambitious language policy
Aveyron
–
Prefecture building of the Aveyron department, in Rodez
Aveyron
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Ruteni coin, 5th–1st century BCE.
Aveyron
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Victor of Aveyron in 1800
Aveyron
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Rodez Cathedral
39.
Tarn-et-Garonne
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Tarn-et-Garonne is a department in the southwest of France. It is traversed by the Rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name and this area was originally part of the former provinces of Quercy and Languedoc. The department was created in 1808 by Napoléon Bonaparte, with territory being taken from the departments of Lot, Haute-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, Gers and Aveyron. The department is mostly rural with fertile land in the broad river valley. The departmental prefecture is Montauban, and some of the large communes include Castelsarrasin, Molières, Caussade, Valence-dAgen. Quercy was part of Aquitania prima under the Romans, and Christianity was introduced during the 4th century, early in the 6th century the area fell under the authority of the Franks, and in the 7th century became part of the autonomous Duchy of Aquitaine. At the end of the 10th century its rulers were the counts of Toulouse. The kings of both England and France around this time tried to curry favour by adding to the privileges of the towns, in 1360, the Treaty of Brétigny was signed and the whole of Quercy passed to England. However, in the 1440s the English were finally expelled by the newly created army of Charles VII of France, in the 16th century Quercy was a stronghold of the Protestants, and the scene of fierce religious conflicts. The civil wars of the reign of Louis XIII largely took place around Montauban, before the departments formation in the nineteenth century, the northern half formed part of the old province of Quercy and the southern half, part of Languedoc. The department was created on 4 November 1808 during the First French Empire by a decision of Napoleon and he was impressed by their loyalty and granted their request. The department was formed out of territories that had previously been part of neighbouring areas, more than half of the territory was taken from the Department of Lot, over one-third was taken from Haute-Garonne, and the rest from the departments of Lot-et-Garonne, Gers, and Aveyron. The first Prefect was Félix Le Peletier dAunay, who was installed in his post on 31 December 1808, tarn-et-Garonne constitutes part of the Occitanie region in southern France. It borders on the departments of Lot to the north, Aveyron to the northeast, Tarn to the east, Haute-Garonne to the south, the capital of the department is Montauban which lies about 50 km north of Toulouse. Montauban is situated on the bank of the river Tarn at its confluence with the river Tescou. The second largest commune in the department is Castelsarrasin which stands near the confluence of the Tarn, Montauban is connected to the Garonne via the 11 km Canal de Montech. In the northeast of the department is higher land in the form of limestone known as the Causses. The highest point in the department, at 510 m, is the Pech Maurel, the economy of the department depends mainly on agriculture but there is also some industry, and it benefits from its proximity to Toulouse
Tarn-et-Garonne
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Prefecture building of the Tarn-et-Garonne department, in Montauban
Tarn-et-Garonne
–
National square in
Montauban
Tarn-et-Garonne
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Bruniquel, one of the formally listed
"Most Beautiful Villages of France"
Tarn-et-Garonne
–
Saint Barthelemy church in
Lauzerte
40.
Public domain
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The term public domain has two senses of meaning. Anything published is out in the domain in the sense that it is available to the public. Once published, news and information in books is in the public domain, in the sense of intellectual property, works in the public domain are those whose exclusive intellectual property rights have expired, have been forfeited, or are inapplicable. Examples for works not covered by copyright which are therefore in the domain, are the formulae of Newtonian physics, cooking recipes. Examples for works actively dedicated into public domain by their authors are reference implementations of algorithms, NIHs ImageJ. The term is not normally applied to situations where the creator of a work retains residual rights, as rights are country-based and vary, a work may be subject to rights in one country and be in the public domain in another. Some rights depend on registrations on a basis, and the absence of registration in a particular country, if required. Although the term public domain did not come into use until the mid-18th century, the Romans had a large proprietary rights system where they defined many things that cannot be privately owned as res nullius, res communes, res publicae and res universitatis. The term res nullius was defined as not yet appropriated. The term res communes was defined as things that could be enjoyed by mankind, such as air, sunlight. The term res publicae referred to things that were shared by all citizens, when the first early copyright law was first established in Britain with the Statute of Anne in 1710, public domain did not appear. However, similar concepts were developed by British and French jurists in the eighteenth century, instead of public domain they used terms such as publici juris or propriété publique to describe works that were not covered by copyright law. The phrase fall in the domain can be traced to mid-nineteenth century France to describe the end of copyright term. In this historical context Paul Torremans describes copyright as a coral reef of private right jutting up from the ocean of the public domain. Because copyright law is different from country to country, Pamela Samuelson has described the public domain as being different sizes at different times in different countries. According to James Boyle this definition underlines common usage of the public domain and equates the public domain to public property. However, the usage of the public domain can be more granular. Such a definition regards work in copyright as private property subject to fair use rights, the materials that compose our cultural heritage must be free for all living to use no less than matter necessary for biological survival
Public domain
–
Newton's own copy of his
Principia, with hand-written corrections for the second edition
Public domain
–
L.H.O.O.Q. (1919). Derivative work by the
Dadaist Marcel Duchamp based on the
Mona Lisa.
41.
Kingdom of France
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The Kingdom of France was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the Late Middle Ages and it was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world. France originated as West Francia, the half of the Carolingian Empire. A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, the territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum well into the High Middle Ages. The first king calling himself Roi de France was Philip II, France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines—the Valois and Bourbon—until the monarchy was overthrown in 1792 during the French Revolution. France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy, in Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France, during the Late Middle Ages, the Kings of England laid claim to the French throne, resulting in a series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years War. Subsequently, France sought to extend its influence into Italy, but was defeated by Spain in the ensuing Italian Wars, religiously France became divided between the Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots, which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion. France laid claim to large stretches of North America, known collectively as New France, Wars with Great Britain led to the loss of much of this territory by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped secure the independence of the new United States of America, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the later years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks, after Charlemagnes death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia, the nucleus of what would develop into the kingdom of France. Viking advances were allowed to increase, and their dreaded longboats were sailing up the Loire and Seine rivers and other waterways, wreaking havoc. During the reign of Charles the Simple, Normans under Rollo from Norway, were settled in an area on either side of the River Seine, downstream from Paris, that was to become Normandy. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon, it was to rule France for more than 800 years. Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou, and married Frances newly divorced ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, after the French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Guyenne. The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line, under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman, so the throne passed to Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois
Kingdom of France
–
The Kingdom of France in 1789.
Ancien Régime provinces in
1789.
Kingdom of France
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Royal Standarda
Kingdom of France
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Henry IV, by
Frans Pourbus the younger, 1610.
Kingdom of France
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Louis XIII, by
Philippe de Champaigne, 1647.
42.
Alsace
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Alsace is a cultural and historical region in eastern France now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Alsace is located on Frances eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany, from 1982 until January 2016, Alsace was the smallest of 22 administrative regions in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French legislature in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. The predominant historical language of Alsace is Alsatian, a Germanic dialect also spoken across the Rhine, but today most Alsatians primarily speak French, the political status of Alsace has been heavily influenced by historical decisions, wars, and strategic politics. The economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg, the city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies. The name Alsace can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, an alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning seated on the Ill, a river in Alsace. In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, by 1500 BC, Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. It should be noted that Alsace is a surrounded by the Vosges mountains. It creates Foehn winds which, along with irrigation, contributes to the fertility of the soil. In a world of agriculture, Alsace has always been a region which explains why it suffered so many invasions and annexations in its history. By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established Alsace as a center of viticulture, to protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day. While part of the Roman Empire, Alsace was part of Germania Superior, with the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine, Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized, Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the eldest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts, the part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothars son. The rest was shared between Lothars brothers Charles the Bald and Louis the German, the Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the duchy of Swabia. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors, Frederick I set up Alsace as a province to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants
Alsace
Alsace
Alsace
Alsace
43.
Anjou
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Anjou is an historical and cultural region of France, a former French county, duchy, and province. Its capital was the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley, the territory has no very clear geographical borders but instead owes its territory and prominence to the fortunes of its various rulers. Henry Curtmantle, count of Anjou, inherited the kingdom of England on October 25,1154, the resulting Angevin Empire would, at its peak, spread from Ulster to the Pyrenees. Count Arthur was taken prisoner by his uncle the king in 1203, in 1205, the county was seized by Philip II Augustus of France. Its status was elevated to that of a duchy for Prince Louis, Anjou corresponds largely to the present-day department of Maine-et-Loire. It occupied the part of what is now the department of Maine-et-Loire. Anjous political origin is traced to the ancient Gallic state of the Andes, after the conquest by Julius Caesar, the area was organized around the Roman civitas of the Andecavi. The Roman civitas was afterward preserved as a district under the Franks with the name first of pagus—then of comitatus or countship—of Anjou. At the beginning of the reign of Charles the Bald, the integrity of Anjou was seriously menaced by a danger, from Brittany to the west. Lambert, a count of Nantes, devastated Anjou in concert with Nominoé. By the end of the year 851, he had succeeded in occupying all the part as far as the Mayenne. The principality which he carved out for himself was occupied on his death by Erispoé. By him, it was handed down to his successors, in whose hands it remained until the beginning of the 10th century, the Normans raided the country continuously as well. A brave man was needed to defend it, the chroniclers of Anjou named a Tertullus as the first count, elevated from obscurity by Charles the Bald. A figure by that name seems to have been the father of the later count Ingelger but his dynasty seems to have preceded by Robert the Strong. Robert met his death in 866 in a battle at Brissarthe against the Normans, hugh the Abbot succeeded him in the countship of Anjou as in most of his other duties, on his death in 886, it passed to Odo, Roberts eldest son. His descendants continued to bear that rank for three centuries and he was succeeded by his son Fulk II the Good, author of the proverb that an unlettered king is a wise ass, in 938. He was succeeded in turn by his son Geoffrey I Grisegonelle around 958, Geoffrey Greytunic succeeded in making the Count of Nantes his vassal and in obtaining from the Duke of Aquitaine the concession in fief of the district of Loudun
Anjou
–
Remains of the fortress of Langeais, built by Fulk III
Anjou
–
Anjou
Anjou
–
Flag of Anjou in
Champtoceaux, facing
Brittany
Anjou
–
Graves of
Eleanor of Aquitaine and
Henry II of England in
Fontevraud-l'Abbaye
44.
Artois
–
Artois is a region of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4,000 km² and its principal cities are Arras, Saint-Omer, Lens and Béthune. Artois occupies the interior of the Pas-de-Calais département, the part of which constitutes the former Boulonnais. Artois roughly corresponds to the arrondissements of Arras, Béthune, Saint Omer, and Lens, and it occupies the western end of the coalfield which stretches eastward through the neighbouring Nord département and across central Belgium. Originally a feudal county itself, Artois was annexed by the county of Flanders and it came to France in 1180 as a dowry of a Flemish princess, Isabelle of Hainaut, and was again made a separate county in 1237 for Robert, a grandson of Isabelle. Through inheritance, Artois came under the rule of the dukes of Burgundy in 1384, at the death of the fourth duke, Charles the Bold, Artois was inherited by the Habsburgs and passed to the dynastys Spanish line. After the religious revolts of 1566 in the Netherlands, Artois briefly entered the Dutch Revolt in 1576, after the Union of Atrecht, Artois and Hainaut reached a separate agreement with Philip II. Artois remained with the Spanish Netherlands until it was conquered by the French during the Thirty Years War, the annexation was acknowledged during the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, and it became a French province. Artois had already been largely French-speaking, but it was part of the Southern Netherlands until the French annexation, Artois experienced rapid industrial development during the second half of the 19th century, fueled by its rich coal resources. During World War I, the front line between the opposing Entente and Allied armies in France ran through the province, resulting in physical damage. Since the second half of the 20th century, Artois has suffered along with nearby areas because of the decline of the coal industry, pierre-Charles Le Sueur, born in Artois, noted explorer and trader
Artois
–
Blaeu: Artesia Comitatus, 1645
Artois
–
Flag
45.
Lower Navarre
–
Lower Navarre is a traditional region of the present day Pyrénées Atlantiques département of France. It corresponds to the northernmost merindad of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle Ages, after the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre, this merindad was restored to the rule of the native king, Henry II. Its capitals were Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Palais, in the extreme north there was the little sovereign Principality of Bidache. Its extent is of 1,284 km2, and has a population of 44,450,25,356. Although this denomination is not completely correct from the point of view, it is also known as Merindad de Ultrapuertos by the southerners. Despite its lost administrative cohesion, the memory of its past heyday has left an imprint on its inhabitants, the Nafarroaren Eguna or Day of Navarre is a festival held in Baigorri every year to strengthen their bonds and celebrate their Basque identity. The territory is claimed by Basque nationalists to be one of the seven constituent regions making up the Basque Country. Lower Navarre is a collection of valleys in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the Irouléguy wines are produced in the area around the town of Irouléguy. The river Nive rises in Lower Navarre and flows through the province and on to Bayonne, beyond Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port itself, the Nive enters the Ossès valley, with many beautiful old houses with carved lintels in the villages of Ossès, Irissarry and Bidarray. A reserve for the pottok, the wild Basque Pyrenean pony, the Baigura massif towers over the western valleys and sets a natural boundary with the rolling valleys of Labourd. North of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the Mixe region around the town of Saint-Palais, although close to Béarn, Basque influence and traditions are strong. Lower Navarrese is a dialect of the Basque language spoken in the region, just south of Saint-Palais, the three principal routes to Santiago de Compostela on the Way of St James met at the hamlet of Ostabat, bringing much wealth and trade to the area in medieval times. The Way of St James headed south from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port towards the pass above Roncesvalles. Pilgrims travelled across the Cize region of Lower Navarre on their way to Navarre across the mountains, in these rolling hills, ewes milk cheese, pur brebis, is commonly made, including Ossau-Iraty cheese. Villages like Estérençuby and Lecumberry are popular for agro-tourism and the Iraty beech forest on the Spanish border is known for its views and history. Dolmens and other neolithic monuments dot the landscape, including the Tour dUrkulu high in the mountains at 1, 149m—a 2, Lower Navarre is well delimited by mountain ranges on the west, south and the east. The lands of the Lower Navarre were part of the Duchy of Vasconia turned into Gascony by the end of the first millennium. Moreover, the valleys of Baigorri, Ossès, Arberoa, Cize and Arberoa were attached to the latter, so establishing the first nucleus of the Navarrese grip on the lands north of the Pyrenees
Lower Navarre
46.
Beaujolais (province)
–
Beaujolais is a historical province and a wine-producing region in France. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rhône département, the region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, and more recently for the enormously popular Beaujolais nouveau. See History of France The historical capital of the province is Beaujeu, the Beaujolais Region is located south of Burgundy and its climate is warmer. Because of the difference in region, the Pinot Noir grape normally grown in Burgundy would not do well here, the best soils are mostly granite. Almost all the wine produced in the region is red wine from the Gamay grape, of which the heavily-marketed Beaujolais Nouveau is the most famous, the village crus the most prized
Beaujolais (province)
–
Beaujolais' location in France
Beaujolais (province)
–
Beaujolais landscape
47.
Berry (province)
–
Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a province of France until the provinces were replaced by départements on 4 March 1790, the Berry region now consists of the départements of Cher, Indre and parts of Creuse. The capital of Berry was Bourges, Berry is notable as the birthplace of several kings and other members of the French royal family. In the Middle Ages it was the centre of the Duchy of Berry and it is also known for an illuminated manuscript produced in the 14th–15th century called Les Très riches heures du Duc de Berry. by the monks of the local abbeys for pisciculture. Saint-Benoît-du-Sault Media related to Berry at Wikimedia Commons Pictures Accommodation Flag of Berry Columbia Encyclopedia article on Berry
Berry (province)
48.
Bourbonnais
–
Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern département of Allier, along with part of the département of Cher. The title of the ruler of Bourbonnais between 913 and 1327, was Sire de Bourbon, the first lord of Bourbonnais known by name was Adhémar. Aymons father was Aymar, sire of Souvigny, his son with Ermengarde. Aymar lived during the reign of Charles the Simple who, in 913 and he acquired the castle of Bourbon. Almost all early lords took the name dArchambaud, after the palace, the first House of Bourbon ended in 1196, with the death of Archambault VII, who had only one heir, Mathilde of Bourbon. She married Guy II of Dampierre, who added Montlucon to the possessions of the lords of Bourbon, the second house of Bourbon started in 1218, with Archambault VIII, son of Guy II and Mahaut, and brother of William II of Dampierre. He was followed by his son Archambaut IX, who died in Cyprus in 1249, the House of Burgundy then acquired Bourbonnais. In 1272, Beatrice of Burgundy, Lady of Bourbon, married Robert de France, Count of Clermont, thus began the long-lasting House of Bourbon, which would provide the kings of France from Henry IV to Louis-Phillipe in 1848, when France abolished its monarchy. The Bourbons had concluded an alliance with the royal power and they put their forces at the service of the king, thus benefitting from the geographic position of Bourbonnais, located between the royal fidemesne and the duchies of Aquitaine and Auvergne. This alliance, as well as the marriage of Béatrix de Bourgogne and Robert de France, aided the rise, in 1327, King Charles elevated Boubonnais to the status of a duchy. Sire de Bourbon MonBourbonnais, Site de découverte du patrimoine du Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais
49.
Brittany
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Brittany is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Brittany has also referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain. It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and its land area is 34,023 km². Since reorganisation in 1956, the administrative region of Brittany comprises only four of the five Breton departments. The remaining area of old Brittany, the Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, at the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71% lived in the region of Brittany, while 29% lived in the Loire-Atlantique department, in 2012, the largest metropolitan areas were Nantes, Rennes, and Brest. Brittany is the homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the French Republic, the word Brittany, along with its French, Breton and Gallo equivalents Bretagne, Breizh and Bertaèyn, derive from the Latin Britannia, which means Britons land. This word had been used by the Romans since the 1st century to refer to Great Britain and this word derives from a Greek word, Πρεττανικη or Βρεττανίαι, used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the British Islands around 320 BC. This term probably comes from a Gallic word, aremorica, which close to the sea. Another name, Letauia, was used until the 12th century and it possibly means wide and flat or to expand and it gave the Welsh name for Brittany, Llydaw. Later, authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor, breton-speaking people may pronounce the word Breizh in two different ways, according to their region of origin. Breton can be divided into two dialects, the KLT and the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers pronounce it and would write it Breiz, while the Vannetais speakers pronounce it, the official spelling is a compromise between both variants, with a z and an h together. In 1941, efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called Breton zh, on its side, Gallo language has never had a widely accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For instance, the name of the region in that language can be written Bertaèyn in ELG script, or Bertègn in MOGA, Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic. This population was scarce and very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western Europe and their only original feature was a distinct culture, called Colombanian. One of the oldest hearths in the world has found in Plouhinec
Brittany
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The
Carnac stones.
Brittany
Brittany
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The five Gallic tribes of Brittany.
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The temple of Mars in
Corseul.
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Burgundy
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Burgundy is a historical territory and a former administrative region of east-central France, entities that trace their name from the Burgundians, a Germanic people. Historically, Burgundy has referred to political entities, including kingdoms. The first known inhabitants of the area that became Burgundy were Celts, during the 4th century, the Burgundians, a Germanic people, who may have originated in Bornholm, settled in the western Alps. They founded the Kingdom of the Burgundians, which was conquered in the 6th century by another Germanic tribe, under Frankish dominion, the Kingdom of Burgundy continued for several centuries. Later, the region was divided between the Duchy of Burgundy and the Free County of Burgundy, burgundys modern existence is rooted in the dissolution of the Frankish Empire. In the 880s, there were four Burgundies, which were the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Burgundy, the duchy, during the Middle Ages, Burgundy was the seat of some of the most important Western churches and monasteries, among them Cluny, Cîteaux, and Vézelay. During the Hundred Years War, King John II of France gave the duchy to his youngest son, the duchy soon became a major rival to the crown. The court in Dijon outshone the French court both economically and culturally, in 1477, at the battle of Nancy during the Burgundian Wars, the last duke Charles the Bold was killed in battle, and the Duchy itself was annexed by France and became a province. However the northern part of the empire was taken by the Austrian Habsburgs, with the French Revolution in the end of the 18th century, the administrative units of the provinces disappeared, but were reconstituted as regions during the Fifth Republic in the 1970s. The modern-day administrative region comprises most of the former duchy, as of he region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the modern Netherlands to the border of Auvergne. Today, Burgundy is made up of the old provinces, Burgundy, Côte-dOr, Saône-et-Loire and this corresponds to the old duchy of Burgundy. However, the old county of Burgundy is not included inside the Burgundy region, also, a small part of the duchy of Burgundy is now inside the Champagne-Ardenne region. Nivernais, now the department of Nièvre, the climate of this region is essentially oceanic, with a continental influence. The regional council of Burgundy is the legislative assembly, the council has been chaired by the Socialist François Patriat since 2004. The councils seat is in the capital city Dijon, at 17 boulevard de la Trémouille, Burgundy is one of Frances main wine producing areas. The region is divided into the Côte-dOr, where the most expensive and prized Burgundies are found, and Beaujolais, Chablis, with regard to cuisine, the region is famous for the Burgundian dishes coq au vin, beef bourguignon, and époisses de Bourgogne cheese. Earlier, the part of Burgundy was heavily industrial, with coal mines near Montceau-les-Mines and iron foundries. These industries declined in the half of the twentieth century
Burgundy
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Arboretum de Pézanin
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Flag
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Dijon, Place du Bareuzai
Burgundy
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Le Creusot
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Guienne". Encyclopædia Britannica. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
