Kingdom of France
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 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 and replaced with the First French Republic. The monarchy was restored by the great powers in 1814. During the 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
Huguenots
Huguenots are the ethnoreligious group of French Protestants who follow the Reformed tradition. It was used frequently to members of the French Reformed Church until the beginning of the 19th century. The term has its origin in 16th-century France, Huguenot numbers peaked near an estimated two million by 1562, concentrated mainly in the southern and western parts of France. As Huguenots gained influence and more openly displayed their faith, Catholic hostility grew, in spite of political concessions, a series of religious conflicts followed, known as the French Wars of Religion, fought intermittently from 1562 to 1598. The Huguenots were led by Jeanne dAlbret, her son, the future Henry IV, the wars ended with the Edict of Nantes, which granted the Huguenots substantial religious and military autonomy. Huguenot rebellions in the 1620s prompted the abolishment of their political and they retained religious provisions of the Edict of Nantes until the rule of Louis XIV. Nevertheless, a minority of Huguenots remained and faced continued persecution under Louis XV.
By the death of Louis XV in 1774, French Calvinism was almost completely wiped out, persecution of Protestants officially ended with the Edict of Versailles, signed by Louis XVI in 1787. Two years later, with the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1789 and they spread to the Dutch Cape Colony in South Africa, the Dutch East Indies, the Caribbean, New Netherland, and several of the English colonies in North America. Small contingents of families went to Orthodox Russia and Catholic Quebec, a term used originally in derision, Huguenot has unclear origins. Geneva was John Calvins adopted home and the centre of the Calvinist movement, the label Huguenot was purportedly first applied in France to those conspirators involved in the Amboise plot of 1560, a foiled attempt to wrest power in France from the influential House of Guise. The move would have had the effect of fostering relations with the Swiss. Thus, Hugues plus Eidgenosse by way of Huisgenoten supposedly became Huguenot, a version of this complex hypothesis is promoted by O. I. A.
Roche, who writes in his book, The Days of the Upright, A History of the Huguenots, that Huguenot is, a combination of a Dutch and a German word. Gallicised into Huguenot, often used deprecatingly, the word became, Some disagree with such double or triple non-French linguistic origins, arguing that for the word to have spread into common use in France, it must have originated in the French language. The Hugues hypothesis argues that the name was derived by association with Hugues Capet, king of France and he was regarded by the Gallicans and Protestants as a noble man who respected peoples dignity and lives. Janet Gray and other supporters of the hypothesis suggest that the name huguenote would be equivalent to little Hugos. It was in place in Tours that the prétendus réformés habitually gathered at night
Theobald III, Count of Champagne
Theobald III was Count of Champagne from 1197 to his death. He was the son of Henry I, Count of Champagne and Marie. He succeeded as Count of Champagne in 1197 upon the death of his older brother Henry II and these laws were reinforced subsequently in charters that were signed between 1198 and 1231. In 1198, Pope Innocent III called the Fourth Crusade, there was little enthusiasm for the crusade at first, but on 28 November 1199 various nobles of France gathered at Theobalds court for a tournament, including the preacher Fulk of Neuilly. There, they took the cross, and elected Theobald their leader, Theobald married Blanche of Navarre on 1 July 1199 at Chartres. Following Theobalds death on May 24,1201, she was to rule as regent for the following 21 years, during which the succession was contested by Theobalds nieces, Theobald was buried beside his father, Henry, at the Church of Saint Stephen at Troyes
Adelaide of Maurienne
Adelaide of Savoy was the second spouse but first Queen consort of Louis VI of France. Adelaide was the daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callixtus II and she became the second wife of Louis VI of France, whom she married on 3 August 1113/14 in Paris, France. They had eight children, the second of whom became Louis VII of France, adelaide was one of the most politically active of all Frances medieval queens. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI, during her tenure as queen, royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king. Among many other religious benefactions and Louis founded the monastery of St Peters at Montmartre, after Louis VIs death, Adélaide did not immediately retire to conventual life, as did most widowed queens of the time. Instead she married Matthieu I of Montmorency, with whom she had one child and she remained active in the French court and in religious activities. Adélaide is one of two queens in a legend related by William Dugdale, as the story goes, Queen Adélaide of France became enamoured of a young knight, William dAlbini, at a joust.
But he was engaged to Adeliza of Louvain and refused to become her lover. The jealous Adélaide lured him into the clutches of a hungry lion and this story is almost without a doubt apocryphal. In 1153 she retired to the abbey of Montmartre, which she had founded with Louis VII and she died there on 18 November 1154. She was buried in the cemetery of the Church of St. Pierre at Montmartre, not to be confused with his elder brother. Peter, married Elizabeth, Lady of Courtenay Nolan, Kathleen D. Capetian Women Facinger, a Study of Medieval Queenship, Capetian France, 987–1237 Studies in Medieval and Renaissance History 5 (1968, 3–48
Meaux Cathedral
Meaux Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in the town of Meaux, France. It is located in the department of Seine-et-Marne, east of Paris, the cathedral is a national monument and is the seat of the Bishop of Meaux. Construction of the cathedral began between 1175 -1180, when a structure in Romanesque style was started, defects in the original design and construction had to be corrected in the 13th century, in which the architect Gautier de Vainfroy was much involved. He had to remove the previous cathedral almost totally and start a new structure in Gothic style, in the 13th century work was often interrupted due to lack of funds, a problem removed by the generosity of Charles IV in the early 14th century. Further progress was interrupted by the Hundred Years War and occupation by the English, the archives of the diocese were destroyed in 1793 –1794, thus deleting much knowledge about the early history of the church. The composer Pierre Moulu worked at the cathedral in the early 16th century, the design of the cathedral, because of its construction period, encompasses several periods of Gothic art.
The cathedral rises to a height of 48 meters, the interior ornamentation is noted for its smoothness, and the space for its overall luminosity. The cathedral contains an organ, built in the 17th century. Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet Bishop Louis Pierre Joseph Cornet Marie of France, Countess of Champagne Saint Fiacre Dictionnaire des églises de France, Luxembourg, rempart / Desclée de Brouwer, Paris. ISBN 2-904365-23-0 Location Villard de Honnecourt mentions this cathedral in this manuscript and actually has a drawing of it on Plate #48 he says This is the plan of the Church of ST
Baldwin I, Latin Emperor
He lost his final battle to Kaloyan, the emperor of Bulgaria, and spent his last days as his prisoner. Baldwin was the son of Baldwin V of Hainaut and Margaret I, when the childless Philip of Alsace left on the last of his personal crusades in 1177, he designated his brother-in-law Baldwin V his heir. One year later, Philip of Alsace had his protégé married to his niece, Isabelle of Hainaut, offering the County of Artois and other Flemish territories as dowry, much to the dismay of Baldwin V. Count Philips wife Elisabeth died in 1183, and Philip Augustus seized the province of Vermandois on behalf of Elisabeths sister, Philip remarried, to Matilda of Portugal. Philip gave Matilda a dower of a number of major Flemish towns, when Countess Margaret I died in 1194, Flanders descended to her eldest son Baldwin, who ruled as Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders. In 1186, the younger Baldwin had married Marie of Champagne, daughter of Count Henry I of Champagne, the chronicler Gislebert describes Baldwin as being infatuated with his young bride, who nevertheless preferred prayer to the marital bed.
Immediately after this arrangement, the count of Hainauts son Baldwin, thirteen years old, received as wife Marie and this Marie began sufficiently young to devote herself to divine obedience in prayers, vigils and alms. The solemn rejoicing of the wedding was celebrated at Valenciennes with an abundance of knights and ladies, through Marie, Baldwin had additional connections and obligations to the defenders of the Holy Land, her brother Henry II of Champagne had been King of Jerusalem in the 1190s. Maries uncles Richard I of England and Philip II of France had just been on the Third Crusade, Baldwins own family had been involved in the defence of Jerusalem, his uncle Philip had died on Crusade. Baldwins maternal grandmother was great-aunt of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem, Baldwin wanted to continue the tradition. Margaret died in 1194, and the younger Baldwin became Count of Flanders and his father died the next year, and he succeeded to Hainaut. Isabelle had died in 1190, but King Philip still retained her dowry, on behalf of Isabelles son, the eight years of Baldwins rule in Flanders were dominated by his attempts to recover some of this land.
After Philip II of France took Baldwins brother, Philippe of Namur, the Treaty of Péronne was signed in January 1200 on the condition that Baldwin receive the territories he had won during the war. Baldwin was made the vassal of Philip II, and the king returned portions of Artois to Baldwin. In this fight against the French king, Baldwin allied with others who had quarrels with Philip, including kings Richard I and John of England, and the German King Otto IV. A month after the treaty, on Ash Wednesday 1200 in the town of Bruges, Baldwin took the cross and he spent the next two years preparing, finally leaving on 14 April 1202. As part of his effort to leave his domains in good order, one detailed an extensive criminal code, and appears to be based on a now-lost charter of his father. The other laid down rules for inheritance
Bertha of Holland
Bertha of Holland, known as Berthe or Bertha of Frisia and erroneously as Berta or Bertrada, was queen consort of the Franks from 1072 until 1092, as the first wife of King Philip I. Berthas marriage to the king in 1072 was a result of negotiations between him and her stepfather, Count Robert the Frisian of Flanders. After nine years of childlessness, the couple had three children, including Philips successor, Louis the Fat. Philip, grew tired of his wife by 1090 and that marriage was a scandal since both Philip and Bertrada were already married to other people, at least until Queen Bertha died the next year. Bertha was the daughter of Count Floris I of Holland and his wife and she is erroneously referred to as Matilda by Chronologia Johannes de Beke. Bertha had six siblings and both of her parents came from large families and her father ruled a territory vaguely described as Friesland west of the Vlie, which is where Bertha spent her childhood. Count Floris I was assassinated in 1061, and two years her mother remarried to Robert of Flanders, now known as Robert the Frisian, became guardian of Bertha and her six siblings.
In 1070, Robert the Frisian became involved in a war with King Philip I of France over succession to the County of Flanders. Within two years and Philip concluded a treaty which was to be sealed by a marriage, Roberts own daughters were too young. Robert thus agreed to the marriage of his stepdaughter to King Philip, Bertha married Philip, thus becoming queen of the Franks, probably in 1072. Bertha had no kings among her ancestors and lacked even tenuous links with the Carolingian that her predecessors could claim. Consequently, contemporary chroniclers did not even try to present her lineage as more exalted than that of a counts daughter, the shortage of royal candidates made Bertha a suitable choice. Little is known about Berthas queenship and she co-signed only three donation charters. However, she plays a prominent role in the hagiography titled Vita Arnulfi, the hagiography describes how she used her regal power to expel Abbot Gerard of Saint-Médard and reinstate the former abbot, who had been removed due to his mismanagement of the abbey.
Saint Arnulf of Soissons warned her that doing so would incur the wrath of God and lead to her being out of the kingdom into exile. The queen furiously refused to listen to him, the hagiography, was written after Bertha died and during Bertradas queenship, which might explain the name confusion. For six years, King Philip and Queen Bertha were troubled by their childlessness and especially by the lack of male children, the birth of the long-awaited heir apparent had such a great impact that a story of a miracle developed around it. Reportedly, the couples fertility was only restored thanks to the prayers of a hermit, Arnulf informed Queen Bertha that she was expecting a son and that it would be appropriate to give him the Carolingian name of Louis
Marie-Gabrielle Capet
Marie-Gabrielle Capet was a French Neoclassical painter. She was born in Lyon on 6 September 1761, marie-Gabrielle came from a modest background and her previous background and artistic training is unknown, but in 1781 she became the pupil of the French painter Adelaide Labille-Guiard in Paris. She excelled as a painter, and her works include oil paintings, watercolours. Marie-Gabrielle Capet was born at Lyon in 1761, in eighteenth-century France, the Royal Academy of Art was responsible for training artists and exhibiting artworks at the Salon that glorified heroic values promoted by the Bourbon patriarchy. Until the French Revolution, the Royal Academy of Art in Paris was the institution for official artistic practice. In 1781, twenty-year-old Capet moved to Paris to become the student of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Capet showed her early work at the Exposition de la Jeunesse, and exhibited at the Salon when it was opened to all artists after the French Revolution. Her body of work included paintings, oil paintings, and pastels.
Many of her paintings were portraits, though by 1808 she was regarded as a history painter in her own right. She counted among other customers several members of the family, and other members of Paris society, such as the lawyer Pierre-Nicolas Berryer. Capet and Labille-Guiard not only enjoyed a relationship, but were close family friends. Capet would move in with her teacher at the Louvre until Labille-Guiards death, even after Adélaïde Labille-Guiard married the painter François Vincent in 1799, Capet continued to live in their home. Among her works the best known are those of Mesdames Adelaide and Victoire, Madame Vincent surrounded by her pupils, at that time the Academy had limited the members of women painters to only four woman members. She died in Paris in 1818
House of Capet
The House of Capet or the Direct Capetians, called the House of France, or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians, historians in the 19th century came to apply the name Capetian to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. It was not a contemporary practice and they were sometimes called the third race of kings, the Merovingians being the first, and the Carolingians being the second. The name is derived from the nickname of Hugh, the first Capetian King, the direct succession of French kings, father to son, from 987 to 1316, of thirteen generations in almost 330 years, was unparallelled in recorded history. The direct line of the House of Capet came to an end in 1328, with the death of Charles IV, the throne passed to the House of Valois, descended from a younger brother of Philip IV. He proceeded to make it hereditary in his family, by securing the election and coronation of his son, Robert II, the throne thus passed securely to Robert on his fathers death, who followed the same custom – as did many of his early successors.
Louis VIII – the eldest son and heir of Philip Augustus – married Blanche of Castile, a granddaughter of Aliénor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. In her name, he claimed the crown of England, invading at the invitation of the English Barons and these lands were added to the French crown, further empowering the Capetian family. Louis IX – Saint Louis – succeeded Louis VIII as a child, unable to rule for several years, the government of the realm was undertaken by his mother, at the death of Louis IX, France under the Capetians stood as the pre-eminent power in Western Europe. Unfortunately for the Capetians, the proved a failure. Philip IV had married Jeanne, the heiress of Navarre and Champagne, by this marriage, he added these domains to the French crown. More importantly to French history, he summoned the first Estates General – in 1302 – and in 1295 established the so-called Auld Alliance with the Scots and it was Philip IV who presided over the beginning of his Houses end. The first quarter of the century saw each of Philips sons reign in rapid succession, Louis X, Philip V, Louis – unwilling to release his wife and return to their marriage – needed to remarry.
He arranged a marriage with his cousin, Clementia of Hungary and this proved the case, but the boy – King John I, known as the Posthumous – died after only 5 days, leaving a succession crisis. Eventually, it was decided based on several reasons that Joan was ineligible to inherit the throne, which passed to the Count of Poitiers. Marie died in 1324, giving birth to a stillborn son, the last of the direct Capetians were the daughters of Philip IVs three sons, and Philip IVs daughter, Isabella. Since they were female, they could not transmit their Capetian status to their descendants, the wife of Edward II of England, Isabella overthrew her husband in favour of her son and her co-hort, only for Edward III to execute Mortimer and have Isabella removed from power. Joan, the daughter of Louis X, succeeded on the death of Charles IV to the throne of Navarre, she now being – questions of paternity aside – the unquestioned heiress
John, King of England
John, known as John Lackland, was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death in 1216. The baronial revolt at the end of Johns reign led to the sealing of Magna Carta, the youngest of five sons of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, was at first not expected to inherit significant lands. Following the failed rebellion of his brothers between 1173 and 1174, John became Henrys favourite child. He was appointed the Lord of Ireland in 1177 and given lands in England, Johns elder brothers William and Geoffrey died young, by the time Richard I became king in 1189, John was a potential heir to the throne. John unsuccessfully attempted a rebellion against Richards royal administrators whilst his brother was participating in the Third Crusade, John spent much of the next decade attempting to regain these lands, raising huge revenues, reforming his armed forces and rebuilding continental alliances. Johns judicial reforms had a impact on the English common law system. An argument with Pope Innocent III led to Johns excommunication in 1209, Johns attempt to defeat Philip in 1214 failed due to the French victory over Johns allies at the battle of Bouvines.
When he returned to England, John faced a rebellion by many of his barons, although both John and the barons agreed to the Magna Carta peace treaty in 1215, neither side complied with its conditions. Civil war broke out shortly afterwards, with the barons aided by Louis of France and it soon descended into a stalemate. John was born to Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on 24 December 1166, Henry had inherited significant territories along the Atlantic seaboard—Anjou and England—and expanded his empire by conquering Brittany. The result was the Angevin Empire, named after Henrys paternal title as Count of Anjou and, more specifically, its seat in Angers. The Empire, was fragile, although all the lands owed allegiance to Henry. As one moved south through Anjou and Aquitaine, the extent of Henrys power in the provinces diminished considerably, scarcely resembling the concept of an empire at all. Some of the ties between parts of the empire such as Normandy and England were slowly dissolving over time.
It was unclear what would happen to the empire on Henrys death, most believed that Henry would divide the empire, giving each son a substantial portion, and hoping that his children would continue to work together as allies after his death. To complicate matters, much of the Angevin empire was held by Henry only as a vassal of the King of France of the line of the House of Capet. Henry had often allied himself with the Holy Roman Emperor against France, shortly after his birth, John was passed from Eleanor into the care of a wet nurse, a traditional practice for medieval noble families. Eleanor left for Poitiers, the capital of Aquitaine, and sent John and this may have been done with the aim of steering her youngest son, with no obvious inheritance, towards a future ecclesiastical career
