1.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
2.
Baroque architecture
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It was characterized by new explorations of form, light and shadow, and dramatic intensity. Baroque architecture and its embellishments were on the one hand more accessible to the emotions and on the other hand, the new style manifested itself in particular in the context of the new religious orders, like the Theatines and the Jesuits who aimed to improve popular piety. The architecture of the High Roman Baroque can be assigned to the reigns of Urban VIII, Innocent X and Alexander VII. Dissemination of Baroque architecture to the south of Italy resulted in variations such as Sicilian Baroque architecture or that of Naples. To the north, the Theatine architect Camillo-Guarino Guarini, Bernardo Vittone and Sicilian born Filippo Juvarra contributed Baroque buildings to the city of Turin and the Piedmont region. A synthesis of Bernini, Borromini and Cortona’s architecture can be seen in the late Baroque architecture of northern Europe which paved the way for the more decorative Rococo style. During the 17th century, Baroque architecture spread through Europe and Latin America, michelangelos late Roman buildings, particularly St. Peters Basilica, may be considered precursors to Baroque architecture. Colonialism required the development of centralized and powerful governments with Spain and France, the initial mismanagement of colonial wealth by the Spaniards bankrupted them in the 16th century, recovering only slowly in the following century. While this was good for the industries and the arts, the new wealth created an inflation. Rome was known just as much for its new sumptuous churches as for its vagabonds, one of the first Roman structures to break with the Mannerist conventions exemplified in the Gesù, was the church of Santa Susanna, designed by Carlo Maderno. The dynamic rhythm of columns and pilasters, central massing, there is an incipient playfulness with the rules of classic design, but it still maintains rigor. These concerns are more evident in his reworking of Santa Maria della Pace. Probably the most well known example of such an approach is Saint Peters Square, the piazza, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is formed principally by two colonnades of free standing columns centred on an Egyptian obelisk. Berninis own favourite design was his church of SantAndrea al Quirinale decorated with polychome marbles. His secular architecture included the Palazzo Barberini based on plans by Maderno, Berninis rival, the architect Francesco Borromini, produced designs that deviated dramatically from the regular compositions of the ancient world and Renaissance. His building plans were based on geometric figures, his architectural forms were unusual and inventive. Borrominis architectural spaces seem to expand and contract when needed, showing some affinity with the style of Michelangelo. A later work, the church of SantIvo alla Sapienza, displays the same playful inventiveness and antipathy to the flat surface, following the death of Bernini in 1680, Carlo Fontana emerged as the most influential architect working in Rome
3.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
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Saint Roch
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Saint Roch or Rocco was a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August, he is specially invoked against the plague. He may also be called Rock in English, and has the designation of St Rollox in Glasgow, Scotland and he is a patron saint of dogs, falsely accused people, bachelors, and several other things. Saint Roch is given different names in various languages. According to his Acta and his vita in the Golden Legend, he was born at Montpellier, at time upon the border of France, as the Golden Legend has it. Even his birth was accounted a miracle, for his mother had been barren until she prayed to the Virgin Mary. At Rome, according to the Golden Legend he preserved the cardinal of Angleria in Lombardy by making the mark of the cross on his forehead, ministering at Piacenza he himself finally fell ill. Count Gothard, following his hunting dog that carried the bread, discovered Saint Roch and became his acolyte. On his return incognito to Montpellier he was arrested as a spy and thrown into prison, where he languished five years and died on 16 August 1327, without revealing his name, to avoid worldly glory. After his death, according to the Golden Legend, anon an angel brought from heaven a table divinely written with letters of gold into the prison, in contrast, however, St. Roch of Montpellier cannot be dismissed based on dates of a specific plague event. In medieval times, the plague was used to indicate a whole array of illnesses. The cult of Roch gained momentum during the plague that passed through northern Italy in 1477–79. According to the thesis of history student Pierre Bolle in 2001, Saint Roch is a hagiographical doublet of a more ancient saint, Racho of Autun. This also accords with the equilibrium of humours theory of medicine of Western Europe that held that illness could be caused by corruption of the air. This prisoner had, according to sources, attained a certain fame for sanctity in Piacenza. According to Vico, the 1391 calendar of Voghera records a midsummer festival in honor of Sancti Rochi and not Sancti Rochonis and this information strongly suggests that a local cult and feast of Roch of Montpellier existed at least as early as 1391, starting in Voghera before Montpellier. We also have documentation that the body of Roch of Montpellier was in Voghera in 1469, there are also indications of a feast in his honor being celebrated in 1483 in the presence of his remains. This information has led to the now common belief that Roch probably died in Voghera instead of Montpellier and we know for certain that the body of St. Roch was carried from Voghera, instead of Montpellier as previously thought, to Venice in 1485. Pope Alexander VI built a church and a hospital in his honor, Pope Paul III instituted a confraternity of St. Roch
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Chapel
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The term chapel usually refers to a place of prayer and worship that is attached to a larger, often nonreligious institution or that is considered an extension of a primary religious institution. Chapel has also referred to independent or nonconformist places of worship in Great Britain—outside of the established church, the earliest Christian places of worship are now often referred to as chapels, as they were not dedicated buildings but rather a dedicated chamber within a building. Most larger churches had one or more secondary altars, which if they occupied a distinct space, in Russian Orthodox tradition, the chapels were built underneath city gates, where most people could visit them. The most famous example is the Iberian Chapel, although chapels frequently refer to Christian places of worship, they are also commonly found in Jewish synagogues and do not necessarily connote a specific denomination. In England—where the Church of England is established by law—non-denominational or inter-faith chapels in such institutions may nonetheless be consecrated by the local Anglican bishop, non-denominational chapels are commonly encountered as part of a non-religious institution such as a hospital, airport, university or prison. Many military installations have chapels for the use of military personnel, the earliest Christian places of worship were not dedicated buildings but rather a dedicated chamber within a building, such as a room in an individuals home. Here one or two people could pray without being part of a communion/congregation, people who like to use chapels may find it peaceful and relaxing to be away from the stress of life, without other people moving around them. The word, chapel, like the word, chaplain, is ultimately derived from Latin. The other half he wore over his shoulders as a small cape, the beggar, the stories claim, was Christ in disguise, and Martin experienced a conversion of heart, becoming first a monk, then abbot, then bishop. This cape came into the possession of the Frankish kings, the tent which kept the cape was called the capella and the priests who said daily Mass in the tent were known as the capellani. From these words, via Old French, we get the names chapel, the word also appears in the Irish language in the Middle Ages, as Welsh people came with the Norman and Old English invaders to the island of Ireland. While the traditional Irish word for church was eaglais, a new word, séipéal, in British history, chapel or meeting house, was formerly the standard designation for church buildings belonging to independent or Nonconformist religious societies and their members. As a result, chapel is used as an adjective in the UK to describe the members of such churches. A proprietary chapel is one that belonged to a private person. In the 19th century they were common, often being built to cope with urbanisation, frequently they were set up by evangelical philanthropists with a vision of spreading Christianity in cities whose needs could no longer be met by the parishes. Some functioned more privately, with a wealthy person building a chapel so they could invite their favorite preachers and they are anomalies in the English ecclesiastical law, having no parish area, but being able to have an Anglican clergyman licensed there. Historically many Anglican Churches were Proprietary Chapels, over the years they have often been converted into normal Parishes. While the usage of the chapel is not exclusively limited to Christian terminology
6.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
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Anne of Austria
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Anne of Austria was queen consort of France and Navarre, regent for her son, Louis XIV of France, and a Spanish and Portuguese Infanta by birth. During her regency, Cardinal Mazarin served as Frances chief minister, born at Benavente Palace in Valladolid, Spain, and baptised Ana María Mauricia, she was the eldest daughter of King Philip III of Spain and his wife Margaret of Austria. She held the titles of Infanta of Spain and of Portugal, in spite of her birth in Spain, she was referred to as Anne of Austria because the rulers of Spain belonged to the House of Austria. Anne was raised mainly at the Royal Alcazar of Madrid, exceptionally for a royal princess, Anne grew up close to her parents, who were very religious. She was raised to be too, and was often taken to visit monasteries during her childhood. In 1611, she lost her mother, who died in childbirth, despite her grief, Anne did her best to take care of her younger siblings, who referred to her with affection as their mother. Anne was betrothed at age eleven to King Louis XIII of France and her father gave her a dowry of 500,000 crowns and many beautiful jewels. For fear that Louis XIII would die early, the Spanish court stipulated that she would return to Spain with her dowry, jewels, and wardrobe if he did die. On 24 November 1615, Louis and Anne were married by proxy in Burgos while Louiss sister, Elisabeth of France, Anne and Elisabeth were exchanged on the Isle of Pheasants between Hendaye and Fuenterrabía. She was lively and beautiful during her youth and she was also a noted equestrian, a taste her son, Louis, would inherit. At the time, Anne had many admirers, including the handsome Duke of Buckingham, Anne and Louis, both fourteen years old, were pressured to consummate their marriage in order to forestall any possibility of future annulment, but Louis ignored his bride. Louiss mother, Marie de Medici, continued to conduct herself as queen of France, Anne, surrounded by her entourage of high-born Spanish ladies-in-waiting, continued to live according to Spanish etiquette and failed to improve her French. During the years he was in the ascendancy, the Duke of Luynes attempted to remedy the formal distance between Louis and his queen, Anne began to dress in the French manner, and in 1619 Luynes pressed the king to bed his queen. Some affection developed, to the point where it was noted that Louis was distracted during an illness of the queen. A series of stillbirths disenchanted the king and served to chill their relations, on 14 March 1622, while playing with her ladies, Anne fell on a staircase and suffered her second stillbirth. Louis blamed her for the incident and was angry with the Duchess of Luynes for having encouraged the queen in what was seen as negligence. Henceforth, the king had less tolerance for the influence that the duchess had over Anne, Louis turned now to Cardinal Richelieu as his advisor. Under the influence of Marie de Rohan-Montbazon, the queen let herself be drawn into political opposition to Richelieu, in 1635, France declared war on Spain, placing the queen in an untenable position
8.
Jacques Lemercier
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Lemercier was born in Pontoise, the son of a master mason, one of a large interrelated tribe of professionals. As early as 1618 he appears as architecte du roy, with a salary of 1200 livres, in this manner Lemercier built the northern half of the west side and the famous Pavillon de lHorloge at the center of the west wing. Its high squared dome breaks the roofline and three arched openings provide access to the enclosed court. Two superposed orders of columns and rich sculptural decor in pediments and niches, on piers, the Hôtel de Liancourt stands out among Lemerciers Paris hôtels particuliers for aristocratic patrons. Lemercier built Richelieus Paris residence, the Palais-Cardinal, todays Palais Royal, Richelieus palace was destroyed by fire in 1763. Only one remnant survives, a fragment with a relief of ship anchors and prows, signs of the Cardinals role as Superintendent of the Navy. This remnant is located in the Galerie des Proues, on the east side of the second court, the lost château itself was an improvisation on the theme set by Brosses Luxembourg. Also for the Cardinal Lemercier rebuilt the Château de Rueil, not so far from Paris, the Château of Thouars, with its majestic long façade, is his also, and survives. Less known, because gardens are less permanent, are parterre gardens laid out to Lemerciers designs, at Montjeu, at Richelieu, at the Sorbonne, the college has been rebuilt, but its domed church is the acknowledged surviving masterpiece of Lemercier. The interior was intended to be frescoed, the square intersection is surrounded by cylindrical vaults and a semicircular choir apse. The north side consists of a portico, in the church Richelieu was interred in 1642. At the royal church of Val-de-Grâce Lemercier succeeded the elder Mansart who completed the structure to the cornice line. Lemercier completed it with a dome, one of his last commissions was the design of the Church of Saint-Roch, where the cornerstone was laid by Louis XIV in 1653. With a length of m. it is one of the largest churches of Paris, the deep choir emphasizes the extent of the interior, scarcely interrupted by the discreet low dome over the crossing, which is hidden on the exterior beneath the transept roof. Lemercier completed the choir and crossing and the rest of the interior was carried out to his plan, work was interrupted 1701–1740 save for a chapel inserted 1705–1710 designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart. The present façade is an 18th-century composition by Robert de Cotte, in a long career, the scrupulous Lemercier amassed no fortune. Other French architects of the first half of the 17th century, Salomon de Brosse Liberal Bruant Pierre Le Muet Louis Le Vau François Mansart Clément Métezeau Ballon, the Architecture of Cardinal Richelieu, pp. 246–259, in Richelieu, Art and Power, edited by Hilliard Todd Goldfarb. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Jacques Lemercier, architecte et ingénieur du roi ISBN 2-7351-1042-7 Review by Thierry Sarment
9.
Jules Hardouin-Mansart
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Jules Hardouin-Mansart was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex of French Baroque architecture, representing the power and grandeur of Louis XIV. Hardouin-Mansart was one of the most important European architects of the seventeenth century and he also learned from Libéral Bruant, architect of the royal veterans hospital in Paris known as Les Invalides. Hardouin-Mansart served as Louis XIVs chief architect, first enlarging the royal château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and he became the surintendant des Bâtiments du Roi. Outside the château proper, he built the Grand Trianon and the Orangerie, as well as subsidiary royal dwellings not far away, most of these works still set their stamp on the character of Paris and can be seen by a modern-day tourist. A traditional French touch is the modest pedimented entrance flanked by projecting pavilions. Behind, the axis is extended between the former parterres, now grass. The park with formally shaped water was out by André Le Nôtre. The small scale makes it easier to compare to the approximately contemporary Het Loo and he died at Marly-le-Roi in 1708. 17th-century French art Herbermann, Charles, ed. Jules Mansard
10.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
11.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
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