1.
Queen consort of France
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This is a list of the women who have been queens consort or empresses consort of the French monarchy. All monarchs of France were male, although some women have governed France as regents,53 women were married to French monarchs,49 queens and three empresses. Ingeborg of Denmark and Anne of Brittany were each more than once. Marie Josephine Louise of Savoy was queen de jure during the Republican and Imperial periods, thus, the wives of these three kings were queens consort of Navarre, as well as France. With the death of Charles IV, however, Navarre passed out of the hands of the French kings until 1589, upon Henrys succession, his wife, Margaret of France, who was already queen consort of Navarre, also became queen consort of France. The title King of Navarre was reassumed with the Restoration of 1814–15, and dropped with the Revolution of 1830, many French consorts acted as regents for their husbands or children, during their minorities. Joan the Lame, who governed for her husband Philip VI whilst he was fighting. Isabeau of Bavaria, during the insanity of her husband Charles VI, during which she vied for power with her husbands uncles, owing to the inequality of social status, she and the King did not marry openly. No written proof of the marriage is extant, but that it took place is nevertheless certain and it is important to remember that Madame de Maintenon was never queen of France, simply a royal consort. Some sources refer to Margaret of Anjou as Queen of France and she was briefly recognized only in English-controlled territories of France. Kings of France family tree List of French monarchs Joy Law, Fleur de lys, The kings, ISBN 978-0-07-036695-4 Rene de La Croix, duc de Castries, The Lives of the Kings & Queens of France. ISBN 0-394-50734-7 Elsie Thornton-Cook, Royal Line of France, The Story of the Kings and Queens of France
2.
Angers
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Angers is a city in western France, about 300 km southwest of Paris. It is chef-lieu of the Maine-et-Loire department and was, before the French Revolution, the inhabitants of both the city and the province are called Angevins. The commune of Angers proper, without the area, is the third most populous in northwestern France after Nantes and Rennes. Angers is the capital of Anjou and was for centuries an important stronghold in northwestern France. It is the cradle of the Plantagenet dynasty and was during the reign of René of Anjou one of the centers of Europe. Angers developed at the confluence of three rivers, the Mayenne, the Sarthe, and the Loir, all coming from the north and their confluence, just north of Angers, creates the Maine, a short but wide river that flows into the Loire several kilometers south. The Angers metropolitan area is an economic center in western France, particularly active in the industrial sector, horticulture. Angers proper covers 42.70 square kilometers and has a population of 147,305 inhabitants, the Angers Loire Métropole is made up of 33 communes covering 540 square kilometers with 287,000 inhabitants. Angers enjoys a cultural life, made possible by its universities. The old medieval center is dominated by the massive château of the Plantagenêts, home of the Apocalypse Tapestry. Angers is also both at the edge of the Val de Loire, a World Heritage Site, and the Loire-Anjou-Touraine regional natural park, the city is first mentioned by Ptolemy around AD150 in his Geography. It was then known as Juliomagus, a name by which it appears in the Tabula Peutingeriana. The name is a compound of the Latin name Julius and the Celtic magos, similar town dedications were common in Roman Gaul, and toponyms often kept a Gallic element. When the location needed to be distinguished from other Juliomagi, it was known as Juliomagus Andecavorum, in reference to the principal Gallic tribe in, around AD400, the city came to be referred to as the civitas Andecavorum. This was a change in Gaul, also seen in the names of Paris, Tours. During the Middle Ages, the late Latin name gradually developed into the modern one and it is successively mentioned as Andecava civitas, Andecavis, Andegavis, Angieus and Angeus. The form Angiers appeared during the 12th century and was corrupted to Angers. The Latin Andecavum gave also Anjou its name and this double formation is quite common in France and is also seen in Poitiers & Poitou and Bourges & Berry
3.
Basilica of St Denis
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The Basilica of Saint Denis is a large medieval abbey church in the city of Saint-Denis, now a northern suburb of Paris. The building is of unique importance historically and architecturally as its choir, completed in 1144, the site originated as a Gallo-Roman cemetery in late Roman times. The archeological remains still lie beneath the cathedral, the people buried there seem to have had a faith that was a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, around 475 St. Genevieve purchased some land and built Saint-Denys de la Chapelle. In 636 on the orders of Dagobert I the relics of Saint Denis, the relics of St-Denis, which had been transferred to the parish church of the town in 1795, were brought back again to the abbey in 1819. Saint-Denis soon became the church of a growing monastic complex. In the 12th century the Abbot Suger rebuilt portions of the church using innovative structural. In doing so, he is said to have created the first truly Gothic building, the abbey church became a cathedral in 1966 and is the seat of the Bishop of Saint-Denis, Pascal Michel Ghislain Delannoy. Although known as the Basilica of St Denis, the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican, Saint Denis, a patron saint of France, became the first bishop of Paris. A martyrium was erected on the site of his grave, which became a place of pilgrimage during the fifth and sixth centuries. Dagobert, the king of the Franks, refounded the church as the Abbey of Saint Denis, Dagobert also commissioned a new shrine to house the saints remains, which was created by his chief councillor, Eligius, a goldsmith by training. He composed a crest and a magnificent frontal and surrounded the throne of the altar with golden axes in a circle and he placed golden apples there, round and jeweled. He made a pulpit and a gate of silver and a roof for the throne of the altar on silver axes and he made a covering in the place before the tomb and fabricated an outside altar at the feet of the holy martyr. So much industry did he lavish there, at the kings request, the Basilica of St Denis ranks as an architectural landmark—as the first major structure of which a substantial part was designed and built in the Gothic style. Both stylistically and structurally, it heralded the change from Romanesque architecture to Gothic architecture, before the term Gothic came into common use, it was known as the French Style. As it now stands, the church is a cruciform building of basilica form. It has an aisle on the northern side formed of a row of chapels. The west front has three portals, a window and one tower, on the southern side. The eastern end, which is built over a crypt, is apsidal, surrounded by an ambulatory, the basilica retains stained glass of many periods, including exceptional modern glass, and a set of twelve misericords
4.
Charles VII of France
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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
5.
Louis XI of France
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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
6.
Yolande of Valois
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Yolande of France was a Duchess consort of Savoy. She was a daughter of King Charles VII of France, The Victorious and she married Duke Amadeus IX of Savoy in 1452. She was named after her grandmother, Yolande of Aragon and she is sometimes known as Yolande of France. Yolande acted as regent of Savoy in 1472-78 and her husbands retiring disposition and epilepsy left her in control of the state, to struggle with the Savoyard barons. After his death in March 1472, she became regent for her son Philibert until her own death, like her brother Charles, she was an ally to Charles, duke of Burgundy against her own brother Louis XI of France. After the humiliation of Burgundy at the Battle of Grandson in 1476, after her release, she made peace with her brother and remained on good terms with him until her death
7.
Magdalena of France
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She was a daughter of Charles VII of France and Marie of Anjou. Magdalena was betrothed to Ladislaus the Posthumous however he died suddenly in Prague on 23 November 1457 while preparing for his marriage. It was rumored at the time that his opponents in Bohemia had poisoned him. She married Gaston, Prince of Viana, son and heir of Gaston IV, Count of Foix and Eleanor of Navarre and they had two children, Francis Phoebus, King of Navarre Catherine, queen regnant of Navarre, married in 1484 John of Albret. Her husband died in 1470, predeceasing his father, accordingly, Francis became the heir of Navarre in 1479 upon the death of his great-grandfather, John II of Aragon and Navarre, who left Navarre to the rightful heir, Magdalenas mother-in-law, Eleanor. During this regency, she was forced to battle her brother-in-law, John of Foix, magdalena was taken hostage by Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1494. She died in the year, her death provoked fresh conflict. With the death of Charles VIII of France, the descendants of Charles VI of France ceased to occupy the French throne. By the death of Anne of France, Magdalenas descent, along with that of her elder sister Yolande, Duchess of Savoy, became the last surviving legitimate descents from Charles VII of France. Her descendant and heir, Henry III of Navarre, would become King of France in 1589, returning the descent and heirs of Charles VI and Charles VII to the French throne
