History of France
Survey copyright 2008, Th. Saint Paul.
Murray State University

Prehistory
Cave ART: Lascaux
(south-west France)

Celtic Gaul
From 8thC BC to 1stC BC

Roman Gaul
From 1st century BC to 3rd AD

Carcassonne (SW) Roman towers

Roman presence in Provence n
Roman arena in Arles

Asterix& Obelix

Gallo-Roman civilization

The Early Middle Ages
From 3rd/4thC AD to 10thC AD
Invasions: Germanic tribes,
Attila, the Sarrasins.
Christianization of Western Europe
The Age of “ saints ” and
Charlemagne

5thC: BAPTISM of CLOVIS
(Frankish king)

The Franks- 6thC

5thC-8thC Christianization of France under
Merovingian kings.
Foundation of abbays

8thC:BATTLE of POITIERS

800 AD: CHARLEMAGNE emperor

Song of Roland
11thc

Carolingian Empire in 843

9th C -VIKINGS/ NORMANS
Settling of Normandy

1066 William the Conqueror
Norman French king takes the throne of England
Bayeux tapestry

Beginnings of central monarchy
Capetian dynasty 10th-14thc
(987-996:Hugues Capet)
French kings
Fought the
Muslims in
Spain and in the middle east:
The
CRUSADES

Beginnings of Romanesque Art

10th-11thC
ROMANESQUE ART

910 AD-ABBAY of CLUNY

12thC-ABBEY of CLAIRVAUX

12thC Gothic architecture
CATHEDRAL of SAINT-DENIS

Abbey of
Fontfroide
Bourges cathedral

The Fleur de Lys: 13thc. emblem of French Kings
Philippe Auguste (1180-1223)
12-14thC Feudalism-organization
Period of relative peace and prosperity, economically & socially

Castles/farms:Fortresses
Castle of the Duke of Trazegnies,
Hainaut, Belgium 12 th c

Crusades 11thc-13thc
Development of trade with
Middle East.
New tastes
(spices), silk, refinement and luxury, arabian horses….

Chivalry, feudal times 12th-14thc

Courtly literature
Chivalric ideals towards a Lady
Development of
Arthurian legend
Glastonbury Abbey,
England

Medieval literature:Manuscripts
The Knight of the Cart
(Lancelot) 12thC
King Arthur- 12thC

Education of nobles

EPIDEMIC OF PLAGUE IN EUROPE
(1348)

14thc
The 100 years War between France and England
Joan of Arc
The Great Black Plague claimed 25 millions of victims in Europe alone

100 years War
English victory at CRECY 1346

French defeat at AZINCOURT 1415

Joan of Arc
(1412-1431)

14 th -15hc: Death… war and pestilence…
F. Villon, poet: death and anguish

GUTEMBERG INVENTS
PRINTING 1440

16thC
The Renaissance
François I ( Frances 1 st )
The Reformation & wars of religion
Catherine of Medicis and the Huguenots
Henri IV of Bourbon & Edict of Nantes
(1598) granting religious freedom to the
Protestants

MASSACRE of the Protestants
(St Bartholomew ’ s day 1572)
Catherine of Medicis
“ the catholic ”

France under the Bourbon Dynasty
16thC & 17thC expansion
Add map p. 55

Cardinal of Richelieu
1585-1642
Advisor to king Louis XIII

Castles (Loire Valley 16th-
17thC)
Chambord

Louis XIV( 1643-1715)

Versailles

SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN COLONISES
CANADA 1604

17thC:Glorious Gothic
Gild Houses-BRUSSELS

17thC
Age of Classicism in Art (Baroque) and
Literature
Cartesianism in thought:
R.Descartes philosopher/mathematician
18thC
End of “ Ancient Regime ”
Enlightenment
Age of Philosophers and the Revolution

The French Revolution 1789
Fall of the Bastille
-
Robespierre & Danton
French
Constitution:
Liberty
Equality
Fraternity

The Guillotine
The execution of Louis XVI & his family
(1792) and of the French nobility
1793-4 Terror
First Republic

Napoleon Ist & family
1799-1815
Emperor of the French (1804)
Legacy: legal code and administrative institutions.

NAPOLEON beats RUSSIA &
AUSTRIA

1815-Restauration of Constitutional monarchy
Industrialization-Economic prosperity-Colonization
1848 -Revolution: Second Republic first social laws

1852
Coup d ’ Etat -Napoleon III
Second Empire
Growth/ Reshaping of
Paris by architect Baron
Haussman
Colonial expansion
1870 Franco-Prussian wars--loss Alsace/Lorraine
Fall of Napoleon III

19thC: Colonies
LEOPOLD II of Belgium in Congo

The evolution of Paris over time

La Belle Epoque: Paris 1900
Period of euphoria
Third Republic:Parliamentary power
Trade Unions- Separation Church and
State (1905).
Arts/ Sciences/ industrial revolution/ techniques
Louis Pasteur (pasteurization & vaccine for rabies) Marie Curie (radiography and radium treatment)

Bourgeois
Paris,
“ Victorian
Paris ”

The Paris Subway: le Metro

Entertainment
Le Moulin Rouge
Opera Garnier
The Blue
Train
(Gare
de Lyon) restaurant www.le-train-bleu.com

Birth of Modernism:1905
LES DEMOISELLES D ’ AVIGNON, PABLO
PICASSO

FIRST WORLD WAR 1914-1918
Alsace /Lorraine returned to France

Battleground of WWI: Belgium & N. France

Post war reconstruction
Paris attracts artists (in between wars…)
Depression
Social legislation
Tensions in Europe

Second World War 1940-1945

General de Gaulle: leader of the
Resistance to the Nazis

1946-1957: Fourth Republic
Post war reconstruction
Economic growth
Marshall Plan (USA)
Decolonization
Founding of European Community
(Treaty of Rome 1957)

1958: Fifth Republic =
Modern France
General de Gaulle:President
Election of President by direct vote
1962: End of Algerian war
May 68 social revolution

Intellectuals and leaders of the Socialist and Communist Unions demonstrating together in Paris https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kEtiB_LTIk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NpCATYAVcU
Chris Marker

France today
Since May 1968:
Alternating governments Left/Right
Many social advances: legal protection for workers/children/women. SECU
Since 1992: France is part of the
EUROPEAN UNION (27 members states)
16 of which share the unique EURO currency
In 2016 Social democracy
President:François Hollande (PS)

For references:
Website Embassy of France in the
United States
John Ardagh, Cultural Atlas of France.
Michelin Guide to France.