France, an Outline of History – DC. Meyer
France, an outline of history
Introduction: France’s identity as a nation
The birth of France (literally: the land of the Franks) as a nation is by no means easy to pinpoint and has been the focus of debate among social historians. One can argue for instance that France came into being in 496 AD, when Clovis, king of the Franks, converted to Christianity and realized under his reign a political and cultural unity never seen on this land since the early Gallo-Roman period (-52 BC to 476 AD).One can also suggest the year 843, when Charles the Bald became the king of Francia Occidentalis, after the collapse of the Frankish empire led by his grand-father the emperor Charlemagne.It could also be 987, date of the coronation of Hugh Capet, founder of the Capetian dynasty, which was to reign, through its various branches, for nine hundred years, right to the 19th century. One can also argue that the Kingdom of France was only truly constituted when the French realised their political unity under the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483), as the English were driven out of France and most of the provices joined the crown. Or, much closer to present days, France may have born in 1789, the year of the Revolution in which France declared itself a nation, as well as a State.
Indeed, these five stages in history are equally important in the process of building France’s identity. However, to add to the confusion, the French look at the Gauls (and not at the Germanic Franks) as their ancestors, that is a people of Celtic origin who arrived massively and lived on the territory from 500 BC onwards to be later subjected to Roman rule until the 5th century.
The difficulty of pointing a date for the birth of France reflects the long and complex process that took place to shape a land of thick forests inhabited by various Celtic tribes some 2,500 years ago. This territory underwent profound transformations due to external and internal pressures to eventually become a unified nation, with defined borders, a common language, organized by a constitution and rules, led by a government and institutions. This process involved countless wars, key events, for the country which is now called France developed gradually and absorbed many different influences into its identity.
1. Antiquity and Early Middle Ages (500 BC to 1000 AD)
The Gauls and the Pax Romana
The most ancient man found in France is Homo Erectus, who lived around 950,000 B.C. Much later, after the Neolithic period (4,000-2,500 BC) Celtic tribes started to settle in France, and around 400 BC, they were known as the Gauls by the Romans. The Gauls were agrarian people, iron workers and alsofeared warriors; in 390, led by their chief Brennos, the Gauls besieged the city of Rome and retreated only after receiving a large ransom from the city. Step by step, Rome organized their resistance against the Gauls and by 125 B.C., the Romans already dominated southern Gaul. In 51 BC, the Gauls were eventually defeated by the armies of Julius Caesar, in Alesia (Burgundy):after several years of combat, Vercingetorix, leader of the Gauls,had to surrender to better organized and equipped Romans. As a result of this surrender, the Romans were able to occupy the entire land.
The two-century long period of relative peace and prosperity that followed Caesar’s conquest of Gaul is known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace). The country was divided into three provinces and Lyon was elected as the capital. During the 2nd century, Romans brought Christianity into Gaul, roads and bridges were built, prosperous cities such as Lyon, Lutece (Paris), Marseille and Bordeaux attested a vibrant economy and a refined culture. From a composite mosaic of celtic tribes, the Gauls evolved into a sophisticated people – the Gallo-Romans – whose elite spoke Latin, served in the administration and adopted Roman culture. Throughout the country, vast agricultural domains were created controlled by powerful landlords who prefigured the ruling class which would dominate later throughout the Middle Ages. However, by the 3rd century, the Roman Empire had already begun its decline, the Roman control over the country loosened. Taking advantage of the increased weakness of its borders, Germanic tribesfrom Northern and Western Europe started frequent incursions in Gaul by the middle of the 4th century. These warriors were Franks, Vandals, Allamanni or Goths, they were known to the Romans as the Barbarians, since they did not speak Latin and were not Christian. The Gallo-Roman civilization, a long period of relative political, economic and cultural unity brought by the Pax Romana, was about to collapse.
The great Invasions and the Frankish Empire
By the beginning of the 5th century, huge movements of population began to pour into Gaul, coming from the East and North-East. These peoplewere pushed to the West by the advance of tribes of warriors coming from central Asia, such as the ferocious Huns led by Attila. Among them were the Franks, the Vandals and the Visigoths. These tribes settled in various parts of Gaul, the Franks in particular gathered in the North of the country, while the Visigoths ended in the South-West, and beyond the Pyrenees, in Spain. By the end of the 5th century, the Franks expanded their authority beyond the northern regions, winning decisive battles against their enemies in the Centre and West as well as along the Rhine corridor. The Franks elected Paris as the capital of their kingdom, and their king Clovis, founder of the Merovingian dynasty,converted to Christianity in 496, following his marriage to Clotilde, a Burgonde. In some ways,Clovis' reign (481-511) brought about a new stability and unity to France, by bringing together the old Gallo-Roman civilizationwith the Germanic cultures of the Franks and other Germanic peoples.After Clovis’ death however, the kingdom was subjected to partition by his successors, but despite the fragmentation of the Merovingian kingdom, from this point on, and for the next three centuries, the Franks would assert themselves as the dominating force in France.
A new dynasty - the Carolingians, emerged in the first half of the 8thcentury, led by Charles Martel, the chief of north-western province of Neustria, who managed to stop the Muslims advance invading from the South. Charles Martel defeated the Arabs in Poitiers in 732, and this victory had the effect of unifying various other provinces under his commandment. His son Pepin II the Short expanded this influence and was eventually crowned king of the Franks in 752, in the city of Soissons, in the presence of all the nobility of the kingdom. The new king also received the blessing of the bishops, adding much significance to the event. Three years later, Pepin II was sacred by the pope himself in Paris. From this period, the longlasting association between the royal dynasties and the church proved efficient to ascertain their power and influence on the French society and people.
Charlemagne, theson of Pepin II, expanded the kingdom of the Franks to form a vast empire encompassing most of Europe. His reign was marked by his close relationship with the papacy in Rome, to whom he offered protection against the Lombards, in Northern Italy. In exchange, the Catholic church gave him its blessing and Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne Imperator in Romein 800. The long reign of Charlemagne (768-814), an able military leader and administrator, brought significant reforms to the Frankish kingdom. The administration was severely streamlined, delegating provincial powers to barons and bishops faithful to their leader; throughout the provinces, religious schools were created, thus giving Charlemagne his reputation as promoter of the arts, education and culture. This period is known as the Carolingian renaissance, the brightest period of the early Middle-Ages.
Louis the Pious, the only son of Charlemagne who survived, inherited the kingdom and managed to keep it more or less intact for thirty more years. However, after Louis’ death, the kingdom was divided among his three sons. Following the treaty of Verdun in 843, Louis the German inherited the eastern part (Francia Orientalis), Charles the Bald the western part (Francia Occidentalis), while Lothar had to be content with the central part (Lothinragia), a composite land of various rebellious provinces which would soon become the terrain of repeated battles between Louis and Charlesas well as their successors. With the treaty of Mersen (870), the intermediate kingdom of Lothinragia was finally absorbed into the eastern and western kingdoms of the Frankish empire. Meanwhile, by the end of the 9th century, the Vikings, coming from Northern Europe and Scandinavia, had started their incursions in many parts of Europe, using their drakkars (longboats) to move quickly along the rivers, besieging cities like Paris, in 885. The Vikings finally settled in Northern France around the turn of the 10th century, their land became in 911 the Duchy of Normandy, whentheir chief Rollon signed a treaty with Charles III, king of Francia Occidentalis. Following the custom, Charles III offered his daughter to Rollon as a token of friendship and to consolidate the alliance. Rollon has an illustrious descendant, William of Normandy, who conquered England in 1066 at the battle of Hastings to become the first king of England.
The Carolingian empireended in 987, as the last Frankish king Louis V died. His successor inaugurated a new dynasty and a new era for the kingdom of France, still a very fragmented one, culturally, socially and politically.
2. Late Middle Ages (1000 AD to 1500 AD)
The early Capetians
The election and crowning by the nobles of their new king of France Hugh Capet marks the birth of the Capetian dynasty, a royal lineage which, through its various branches, will dominate France until the 19th century. Although the royal domain of Hughes Capet was small, located south of Paris and extending to the city of Orleans, the kingdom he supposedly ruled was more or less comparable to modern France. However, most of the feudal counties were fiercely independent and the king had only limited power over them. It is only very gradually that the Capetian monarchs, who were initially weaker than their vassals, extended their control over the great nobles who resisted centralization. One of the factors that strengthened the Capetian monarchs was that during the 300 years of their direct lineage, and with the help of the Church which supported the monarchy as a sacred office, they insured that the crown remained within the family, the eldest son inheriting the throne without failing. Also, the Capetian reinforced the system of lord-vassal relationship, already in use under the Carolingians, by which the lord offers protection to his vassal (subordinate), in exchange of his fealty (loyalty). This loyalty is rewarded by a fief (a piece of land) given to the vassal by the lord. This system, broadly defining social politics during the feudal period, placed the king on the top, and step by step asserted the prestige and power of the monarchy, assisted by the Church. The 10th and 11th centuries mark the development of romanic architecture across France and Europe, a style inspired by the ancient roman buildings and characterized by thick walls, round arches, vaults, large towers and decorative arcading. Throughout the country countless churches, abbeys and monasteries were built to reflect the rising influence of Christianity.
The First Crusade took place in 1095, at the end of the 11th century. This expedition to Jerusalem, and the seven other crusades to follow in the 12th and 13th centuries, initially aiming at “liberating” the city from the Muslim occupants, contributed to create a sense of Christian identity and an unprecedented feeling of unity among the Western world, thus reinforcing the papacy’s influence in Rome over the Christian lands. The Capetian rule hardened under Louis VI the Fat (1108-1137), who extended the royal domain by crushing neighboring vassals in Ile de France. Just before his death, he arranged with the duke of Aquitaine the marriage of his son Louis VII with Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was only 16. The marriage did not last however, it was nullified 15 years later (1152) on suspicion of Eleanor’s infidelity to Louis the Pious. Eleanor would have reportedly admitted that she “expected to marry a king, not a monk”. The beautiful and art loving Eleanor remarried almost immediately with Henri Plantagenet, a young and powerful vassal who controlled most of the western part of the kingdom. With the addition of Aquitaine (south-west), Henri was the master of almost half and France. Two years after his marriage to Eleanor, in 1154,and at the age of 22, Henri became king of England, controlling most of the kingdom of France. The Aquitaine, lost by France through a bad marriage, will remain under England’s domination for the next three centuries.
The growth of the French monarchy
The first great expansion of the royal domain came from the work of Philip II Augustus (1180-1223), during whose reign the French kingfor the first time became more powerful than any of his vassals. Philip took Normandy, Maine, Anjou, andTouraine from the Plantagenets, thereby tripling the size of the French royal domain. Philip also greatly strengthened the royal administrative system bydevising new methods to collect revenue from his vassals. He also created a parliament, asupreme court of justice and a royal treasury.
The great Capetian king of the 13th century is Philip Augustus’ grand son, Louis IX (1226-1270), better known as Saint Louis. His reign started as he was only 12, and lasted more than forty years. Saint Louis was both loved and feared by the people, he had a high sense of his duties as a king and wanted his reign to be marked by justice and integrity. He created for instance a system whereby each citizen had an opportunity to lodge a complaint against officials directly to the court of justice. Saint Louis was also a pious Christian, as his canonization in 1297 demonstrates. He saw himself as only responsible to God, who had put him on the throne to lead his subjects and to ensure their well-being and that their life was free of sins. In this way he contributed greatly to create the myth of the divine nature of the French kings, a myth that would culminate under king Louis XIV (1654-1715) and be challenged in the 18th century. Saint Louis ordered the creation of numerous hospitals and schools, among them a college in Paris, La Sorbonne, which was to become one of the great centres of knowledgein Europe. His reign is also marked by the Gothic flamboyance of new cathedrals flourishing in various parts of the kingdom, such as in Paris, Reims, Chartres and Amiens.
By lack of a male heir to the throne, the Capetians of direct lineage lapsed in 1328, following the death of their last king, Charles VI, one of the grand-grandsons of Saint Louis. The crown of Francewas thus passed to the Valois, a related family.
The Anglo-French War (1337–1453)
The change of dynasty coincides with the beginning of one of the darkest periods of France’s history. As Philippe VIattempted to drive the English out of France, the French registered humiliating defeats in Crecy (1346) and Calais (1347) which decimated the army elite and surrendered a number of cities of Normandy to the enemy. At the same time, an epidemic of black plague occurred in Marseille and spread soon all throughout the kingdom, killing millions of people, an estimated third of the population. The disease provoked irrational behavior from the population, such as the massacre of Jews of Strasbourg (1349), who were suspected to have started the outbreak. More epidemics will occur in the 14th century, triggering an economic and demographic catastrophe.
The Hundred Years’ War between France and Englandmaterialized into a series of conflicts between the French and the English monarchs and drained the treasuries of both countries.These wars were interrupted, now-and-again, by numerous truces and treaties over a period of 116 years. Under the reign of Charles V (1364–1380), the French seemed to regain the upper-hand against the enemy and the English were left only with a few possessions and cities, such as Bordeaux, Brest, Calais et Cherbourg, but by the time of his successor Charles VI (1380-1422), the situation deteriorated again. Two essential factors contributed to this situation : the mental illness of Charles VI which worsened by the end of his reign, leaving him unable to govern, and the alliance with the English of the powerful Burgundy region (south-east). This alliance cost dearly to the Valois, and a terrible defeat of the French army occurred in Azincourt (1415), where more than 5,000 French soldiers and officers perished. This defeat triggered more defeats and king of EnglandHenry V maneuvered to take advantage of the French weakness to assert the English claims on the French throne.In 1420, the treaty of Troyes was signed, by which Charles VI had to destitute his son and declare Henry V the heir to the French throne. He had also the obligation to marry his daughter Isabelle to the king of England. This Treaty meant that the kingdom of France was in effect surrendered to the English. However, Henry’s death occurred only two years later, in 1422, but by that time, he and his ally, the Duke of Burgundy, had conquered the entire northern half of France.The same year, Charles VI passed the way as well, but his son the dauphin Charles has no claim to the throne, the kingdom of the French Valois is on the brink of disintegration.