Timeline of France to 1649
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CIA Factbook: http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fr.html
Hist. Documents: http://library.byu.edu/~rdh/eurodocs/france.html
History (in French): http://philae.sas.upenn.edu/French/french.html
HTA: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/9061/europe/france.html
ICL: http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/fr__indx.html
Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/dest/eur/fra.htm
USDS: http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/france_9906_bgn.html
France is about 2 times the size of Colorado.
(SSFC, 10/9/05, Par p.27)
At the foot of a cliff in Burgundy are about 2
1/2 acres of fossilized horse bones three feet deep. Pre-historic men
drove
horses over the cliff for food.
(SFEC,11/2/97, Z1 p.6)
150Mil BC In 2009 paleontologists in
eastern France reported the discovery of some of the largest dinosaur
footprints ever documented, measuring about 1.4 meters to 1.5 meters
(4.6 feet to 4.9 feet) in diameter. The well-preserved footprints
dating to about this time were found high in the Jura mountains, a
literal sauropod stomping ground.
(AP, 10/7/09)
40000BC The bones of a Neanderthal
baby from this time were found in southwestern France in 1914. The "Le
Moustier 2" bones were put away and re-discovered in 1996.
(SFC, 9/5/02, p.A16)
34000BC A Neanderthal skeleton from this time was
found near the village of St. Cesaire in 1979. It indicated survival
following a fractured skull.
(WSJ, 4/23/02, p.B1)
28000BC Homo sapiens (modern). Skull of adult male
found by French workmen (L. Lartet) at Cro-Magnon, France in 1868.
(NG, Nov. 1985, p. 573)
28,000BC The Cussac cave in France was found in 2000
to contain drawings from this time. Bones of 5 people from the
Neolithic era were also found.
(SFC, 7/5/01, p.A8)
26000BC-20000 BC This marks approximately the
Gravettian (see 30-22k) cultural period. It was named after the
southern French site of La Gravette.
(AM, 9/01, p.12)
25000BC In 2006 France took over ownership of a cave
in the Vilhonneur forest where a human skeleton that dated to this time
was found in a decorated room.
(SFC, 6/3/06, p.A2)
25000BC The earliest known atlatl dated to this time.
This example from France of the device, use to throw a spear, was made
of reindeer antler.
(Econ, 4/12/08, p.90)
15000BC The cave art of Paleolithic man of Lascaux,
France dates to this time. It was discovered in 1940 and contains some
600 paintings, 1,500 engravings, and innumerable mysterious dots and
geometric figures. The dots were named "claviforms" and their age was
estimated at 12,000 years.
(NG, Oct. 1988, p.434,485)(SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T4)
15000BC-12000BC Solutrean phase of the Upper
Paleolithic is named after the Roche de Solutre near Macon.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
12000BC The Niaux cave in Tarascon dated back to the
Ice Age.
(SFEC, 5/30/99, p.T1)
4500BC Neolithic burial mounds dating to this time
were later discovered at Carnac, northwest France.
(Arch, 5/05, p.32)
800-700BCE The Languedoc region of France has
produced wine since this time. Langue d’oc refers to the language of
Occitan spoken in the region. Greeks began planting vineyards in
Languedoc around 600BCE.
(WSJ, 2/09/99, p.A20)(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)(WSJ,
5/30/03, p.A3)
123BCE The Romans won a victory over the Gauls near a
3,000 foot peak that was named Mt. Sainte-Victoire in commemoration. It
established a marker between civilization and barbarism.
(WSJ, 2/13/04, p.A12)
c100BCE The community situated on an island in the
Seine River was known by the Romans in the first century BCE as
Lutetia. At the time, it was occupied by the Gallic tribe called
Parisii. As the city grew into a Roman trading center, it came to be
known as Paris.
(HNQ, 4/18/02)
59-52BCE Caesar’s legions battled the Gallo-Celtic
tribesmen of King Vercingetorix in northern Burgundy.
(SSFC, 12/5/04, p.F4)
52BCE Caesar climaxed his conquest
of Gaul at Alesia in northern Burgundy where he vanquished Celtic
forces under Vercingetorix.
(NGM, 5/77)(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
40-60CE The Pont du Gard was built to carry an
aqueduct serving Nimes, France. The 160-foot high structure is 900 feet
long with 3 tiers of stone arches.
(www.vers-pont-du-gard.fr/anglais/tpatrimoine11.php)
197 Feb 19, Lucius Septimius
Severus' army beat Clodius Albinus at Lyon. D Clodius Septimus Albinus,
Roman dignitary in England, died in the battle.
(MC, 2/19/02)
c300-400 The 1st French church dedicated to the
Virgin Mary was built in the 4th century on the hill site of the later
Chartres cathedral.
(Hem., 10/97, p.83)
390 Jul 16, Brennus and Gauls
defeated the Romans at Allia.
(MC, 7/16/02)
394 Sep 8, Arbogast, French
general, committed suicide.
(MC, 9/8/01)
397 Nov 8, Martin of Tours, [St
Martin], bishop of Tours, died. [see Nov 11]
(MC, 11/8/01)
397 Nov 11, Martinus (81), (St
Martin), Roman bishop of Tours, died. [see Nov 8]
(MC, 11/11/01)
451 Apr 7, Attila's Huns plundered
Metz.
(MC, 4/7/02)
451 Jun 20, Roman and Barbarian
warriors halted Attila’s army at the Catalaunian Plains (Catalarinische
Fields) in eastern France. Attila the Hun was defeated by a combined
Roman and Visigoth army. The Huns moved south into Italy but were
defeated again.
(V.D.-H.K.p.88)(HN, 6/20/98)(MC, 6/20/02)
451AD Sep 20, General Aetius
defeated Attila the Hun at Chalons-sur-Marne.
(MC 9/20/01)
455AD Jul 9, Avitus, the Roman
military commander in Gaul, became Emperor of the West.
(HN, 7/9/98)
496 Clovis, king of the Salian or
Merovingian Franks, became the first of the pagan barbarians to adopt
Catholicism.
(www.patmospapers.com/daniel/in508.htm)
508 The Franks, led by Clovis,
took Paris and made it their capital. Under Charlemagne, the capital
was moved to Aachen and Paris waned, raided repeatedly by Norsemen
during the 9th and 10th centuries.
(HNQ, 4/18/02)
508 Clovis, king of the Franks
(later France), defeated the Visigoths and pushed into Spain.
(www.patmospapers.com/daniel/in508.htm)
511 Nov 11, Clovis (45), king of
Salische France and founder of Merovingians, died. [see Nov 27]
(MC, 11/11/01)
511 Nov 27, Clovis, king of the
Franks, died and his kingdom was divided between his four sons. [see
Nov 11]
(HN, 11/27/98)
524 Jun 21, Battle at Vezerone:
Burgundy beat France.
(MC, 6/21/02)
538 Nov 30, St. Gregory of Tours,
chronicler and bishop, was born.
(MC, 11/30/01)
573 Aug 20, Gregory of Tours was
selected as the bishop of Tours.
(MC, 8/20/02)
636 Nov 1, Nicholas
Boileau-Despreaux, French poet, was born. He was also a critic and
official royal historian and wrote "Lutrin. "
(HN, 11/1/99)
708 In France Bishop Aubert of
Avranches had a dream in which Archangel Michael persuaded him to build
an oratory dedicated to the saint on the rock off the Normandy coast
known as Mont Tombe. Over the years it grew and became known as Mont
St. Michel.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
711 Apr 14, Childebert III (~27),
king of the French, died.
(MC, 4/14/02)
732 Oct 10, At Tours, France,
Charles Martel killed Yemenite general Abd el-Rahman and halted the
Muslim invasion of Europe. Islam's westward spread was stopped by the
Franks at the Battle of Tours (also known as the Battle of Poitiers).
(http://tinyurl.com/o1uj)(HN,10/10/98)
741 Oct 22, Charles Martel of Gaul
died at Quiezy. His mayoral power was divided between his two sons,
Pepin III and Carloman.
(HN, 10/22/98)
742 Apr 2, Charlemagne (d.814),
Charles I the Great, King of the Franks and first Holy Roman emperor
(800-14), was born. His capital was at Aachen (Acquisgrana in Latin).
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(SFEM, 10/12/97, p.46)(HN, 4/2/98)
743-1194 Five cathedrals were built on the site of
Chartres cathedral over this period.
(Hem., 10/97, p.83)
768 Sep 24, Pepin the Short (54)
of Gaul died. His dominions were divided between his sons Charles
(Charlemagne) and Carloman.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
768-814AD Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks and
emperor of the former Western Roman Empire.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(ATC, p.72)
771 Dec 4, With the death of his
brother Carloman, Charlemagne became sole ruler of the Frankish Empire.
(HN, 12/4/98)
771-814 Reign of Charlemagne.
(Jap. Enc., BLDM, p. 214)
774-814AD Charlemagne became king of the Lombards.
(V.D.-H.K.p.68)
778 Aug 15, At the Battle at
Roncesvalles the Basques beat Charlemagne.
(PC, 1992, p.67)
783 Jul 12, Bertha "with the great
feet", wife of French king Pippin III, died.
(MC, 7/12/02)
794 Aug 10, Fastrada (30), 3rd
wife of French king Charlemagne, died.
(MC, 8/10/02)
800 Dec 25, Pope Leo III crowned
Charlemagne emperor at the basilica of St. Peter's at Rome.
(V.D.-H.K.p.105)(HN, 12/25/98)
800-900 In France monks moved inland from the Loire
valley to escape the depredations of the Vikings and revived the making
of Chablis wine with Chardonnay grapes.
(SFC, 7/16/97, Z1 p.4)
814 Jan 28, Charlemagne (71),
German emperor, Holy Roman Emperor (800-814), died. In 1968 Jacques
Boussard authored “The Civilisation of Charlemagne.” In 2004 Alessandro
Barbero authored “Charlemagne: Father of a Continent.”
(www.tiscali.co.uk)(Econ, 1/3/04, p.39)(Econ,
9/18/04, p.87)
833 Jul 20, Ansegis (Ansegius,
63), French abbot of Fontenelle, author, died.
(MC, 7/20/02)
839 Charles III the Fat, sometimes
called Charles II of France, was born. He was the son of Louis the
German and grandson of Charlemagne. Charles III the Fat was a Frankish
king and emperor. His fall in 887 marked the final disintegration
of the empire of Charlemagne. He was the youngest son of Louis the
German and was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881 and became king
of all the East Franks in 882, succeeding his brother Louis the
Younger. Charles III the Fat died on January 13, 888.
(HNQ, 8/30/99)
840 Mar 14, Eginhard (69), French
nobleman, biographer (Vita Karoli Magni), died.
(MC, 3/14/02)
840 Jun 6, Agobard, archbishop of
Lyon (anti-Semite), died.
(MC, 6/6/02)
841 Jun 25, Charles the Bald and
Louis the German defeated Lothar at Fontenay.
(HN, 6/25/98)
843 Apr 19, Judith, French
empress, 2nd wife of Louis de Vrome, died.
(MC, 4/19/02)
843 Jun 24, Vikings destroyed
Nantes.
(MC, 6/24/02)
843 Aug 10, Treaty of Verdun:
Brothers Lotharius I, Louis the German and Charles the Bare divided
France.
(MC, 8/10/02)
846 Nov 1, Louis II, the
Stutterer, King of France (877-79), was born.
(MC, 11/1/01)
850-930 Hucbaldus Elnonensis, was a French monk and
composer, who became known for writing poetry about the hairless. He
wrote "Ecloga de Calvis," (In Praise of Bald Men) for Hatto, a bald
archbishop. All 150 lines of the Latin verse begin with the letter c
(calvus means bald in Latin).
(WSJ, 11/23/98, p.B1)
855 Sep 28, The Emperor Lothar
died in Gaul, and his kingdom was divided between his three sons.
(HN, 9/28/98)
869 Aug 8, Lotharius II, King of
Middle-France (Lotharingen) (855-869), died.
(MC, 8/8/02)
870 In the Treaty of Mersen Louis
II, the Holy Roman Emperor, forced the partition of Lorraine under King
Charles the Bald. The realm was divided on the basis of revenue.
(PC, 1992, p.71)
875 Aug 12, Louis II (~50), king
of Italy, emperor of France, died.
(MC, 8/12/02)
876 Oct 8, Charles the Bald was
defeated at the Battle of Andernach. Louis the Young beat Charles the
Bare.
(HN, 10/8/98)(MC, 10/8/01)
876 Charles the Bald donated a
relic, the Sancta Camisia, to the city of Chartres. The relic was
believed to the childbirth tunic of the Virgin Mary.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
877 Oct 6, Charles II the Kale,
King of France and Roman emperor (875-77), died at 54.
(MC, 10/6/01)
879 Apr 10, Louis II, the
Stutterer, King of France (877-79), died and Louis III was crowned King
of France.
(MC, 4/10/02)
879 Sep 17, Charles III, [The
Simple], king of France (893-923), was born.
(MC, 9/17/01)
882 Aug 25, Louis III (19), King
of France (879-82), died.
(MC, 8/25/02)
891 Sep 1, Norse defeated near
Louvaine, France.
(MC, 9/1/02)
896 Feb 22, Pope Formosa was
crowned king Arnulf of Carinthia, French emperor.
(MC, 2/22/02)
899 Dec 8, Arnulf of Carinthia,
last emperor of Austria-France, died.
(MC, 12/8/01)
900-1000 Alsace became part of Germany in the 10th
century.
(SFEC, 1/31/99, p.T4)
900-1000AD The French village of Prelenfrey dates
back to the 10th Century.
(SFC, 6/23/96, p.T8)
910 The abbey at Cluny was founded.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
911 A relic donated by Charles the
Bald, the Sancta Camisia, was displayed above the city walls of
Chartres and seemed to repel a Viking attack. The relic was believed to
be the Virgin Mary’s childbirth tunic.
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)
921 Nov 7, Treaty of Bonn: East
France and West France recognized each other.
(MC, 11/7/01)
922 Jun 9, French republic chose
Robert I as King of France.
(MC, 6/9/02)
948-994 St. Mayeul managed the abbey at Cluny.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
954 Nov 12, Lotharius became king
of France.
(MC, 11/12/01)
956 Jun 16, Hugo the Great, duke
of France, died.
(MC, 6/16/02)
985 Montpellier, France, was
founded at the intersection of 3 trade and pilgrimage routes.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
986 Mar 2, Lotharius (44), King of
France (954-86), died.
(SC, 3/2/02)
987 May 21, Louis V, last
Carolingian King of France (966-987), died. The Carolingian period of
Frankish rule from the dynasty of Pepin the Short ended in France with
the death of Louis V (20). [see May 22]
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(AHD, 1971, p.205)(MC, 5/21/02)
987 May 22, Louis V le Faineant
(20), the Lazy, king of France (986-87), was allegedly poisoned by his
mother. [see May 21]
(MC, 5/22/02)
987 Jul 3, The count of Paris,
Hugh Capet (49), became king of France. Paris soon emerged as the
center of French political, cultural and religious life, once again
becoming the capital.
(PCh, 1992, p.78)(HNQ, 4/18/02)(MC, 7/3/02)
987 Dec 30, French King Hugh Capet
crowned his son Robert the Compassionate.
(MC, 12/30/01)
994-1049 St. Odilon managed the abbey at Cluny.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
996 Oct 24, Hugh Capet, king of
France (987-96), died at 58.
(MC, 10/24/01)
1000 The Loire Valley vineyard
Chateau de Goulaine was founded. In 2004 it was considered to be
Europe’s oldest and continuous family business
(Econ, 12/18/04, p.104)
1003 May 12, Gerbert, French
scholar, died in Rome.
(SC, internet, 5/12/97)
1017-1144 A Romanesque nave was added to the abbey
Mont St. Michel off the coast of Normandy, France.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
1032 Feb 2, Conrad II claimed the
thrown of France.
(HN, 2/2/99)
1047 Construction began on the
Abbaye-aux-Dames near the town of Saintes.
(SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8)
1049-1109 St. Hughes managed the abbey at Cluny.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
1059 May 23, Henri I crowned his
son King Philip I of France.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1060 Aug 4, Henry I (52), King of
France (1027-60), died.
(MC, 8/4/02)
1065 Apr 16, The Norman Robert
Guiscard took Bari, ending five centuries of Byzantine rule in southern
Italy.
(HN, 4/16/98)
1070 Jun 4, Roquefort cheese was
accidentally discovered in a cave near Roquefort, France, when a
shepherd found a lunch he had forgotten several days before.
(HN, 6/4/01)
1072 Jan 10, Robert Guiscard and
his brother Roger took Palermo in Sicily.
(HN, 1/10/99)
1075 Feb 16, Ordericus Vitalis,
French monk, historian, poet, was born.
(MC, 2/16/02)
1076 Feb 22, Godfried III, with
the Hump, duke of Lower Lorraine, was murdered. [see Feb 26]
(MC, 2/22/02)
1076 Feb 26, Godfried III with the
Hump, duke of Netherlands-Lutheran, was murdered. [see Feb 24]
(SC, 2/26/02)
1079 Peter Abelard (d.1142) was
born in Brittany. He later became a great medieval scholar in Paris.
Around 1117 he secretly married Heloise, niece of the Canon Fulbert of
the Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Canon Fulbert hired gangsters who
waylaid and castrated Abelard. His most famous theological work, "Sic
et Non" (Yes and No), consisted of a collection of apparent
contradictions drawn from various sources, together with commentaries
showing how to resolve the contradictions and providing rules for
resolving others. He also wrote "Scito te Ipsum" (Know Thyself), which
advanced the notion that sin consists not in deeds, which in themselves
are neither good nor bad, but only in intentions. In 2005 James Barge
authored “Heloise and Abelard: A New Biography.”
(V.D.-H.K.p.116)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)(WSJ, 2/11/05,
p.W6)
1081-1151 Abbot Suger of St. Denis, France. He was
the 1st great patron of the arts in the current millennium.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R53)
1086 St. Bruno founded the austere
Carthusian order of monks in Grenoble. The silent order’s mother house
in La Grand Chartreuse, France, later maintained support by the sale of
its Chartreuse liqueur. Denys Rackley (d.1998 at 76), Carthusian monk,
helped build the only American monastery of the Carthusian order, the
Charterhouse of the Transfiguration in Arlington, Vt.
(WUD, 1994, p.227)(SFC, 2/24/98, p.A22)(SFC,
2/24/98, p.A22)
1087 Sep 9, William the Conqueror,
Duke of Normandy and King of England, died in Rouen while conducting a
war which began when the French king made fun of him for being fat.
(HN, 9/9/00)
1095 Nov 27, In Clermont, France,
Pope Urbana II made an appeal for warriors to relieve Jerusalem. He was
responding to false rumors of atrocities in the Holy Land. Pope Urban
II called for a Christian army to defeat the Turks and recapture the
Holy Sepulchre from the Muslims. The first Crusade sparked a renewal of
trade between Europe and Asia.
(V.D.-H.K.p.109)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)(HN, 11/27/99)
1096 Saint-Eutrope’s church was
consecrated in the town of Saintes, the ancient capital of the
Saintonge.
(SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8)
c1097 The pilgrimage routes of
France (chemins de pelerinage) were begun. Their 900th anniversary was
celebrated in 1997.
(SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8)
1100s Troubadour musicians
organized in southern France.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1100-1200 Chretien de Troyes in the 12th century
introduced Camelot into the Arthurian legend and placed Lancelot in the
saga along with the quest for the Holy Grail.
(WSJ, 3/27/98, p.W10)
1100-1200 In France the Abbot Suger was busy
embellishing the abbey of St. Denis.
(WSJ, 3/28/97, p.A16)
1100-1200 St. Martin Romanesque church was built in
Chapaize in southern Burgundy.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T5)
c1100-1200 Albigenses were members of the Catharistic
sect that arose in southern France in the 11th century. [see 1244]
(WUD, 1994 p.34)
1101 William IX, the Duke of
Aquitaine, returned from the Crusades and composed songs about his
adventures, thus becoming the first troubadour. He was excommunicated
for licentious acts, but his lyrics led to the "courtly love" genre.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1109 Apr 28, Hugo van Cluny, 6th
abbot of Cluny, saint, died.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1113 Aug 24, Geoffrey Plantagenet,
conquered Normandy, was born in France.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1114 Trade fairs were held at
Champagne, France, at the crossing of roads from Flanders, Germany,
Italy and Provence.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
c1117 Abelard (1079-1142), master
of a school in Paris, impregnated Heloise, his single female student.
[See 1079]
(WSJ, 2/11/05, p.W6)
1118 Apr 2, Boudouin I of Bologne
and Edessa, 1st crusader, king of Jerusalem, died.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1118 Dec 18, Afonso the Battler,
the Christian King of Aragon captured Saragossa, Spain, a major blow to
Muslim Spain.
(HN, 12/18/98)
1127 Mar 2, Charles the Good,
Count of Flanders, was murdered. Flemish towns (Ghent, Bruges and
Ypres) forced the selection of Thierry of Alsace as the new count
despite Louis VI’s choice of the son of Normandy’s Robert Curthose.
(PCh, 1992, p.92)(SC, 3/2/02)
1130 The church at the abbey at
Cluny was completed and measured over 400 feet long.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
1131 Oct 25, Louis VII the Young,
King of France, was crowned.
(MC, 10/25/01)
1135 The date of the Last
Judgement carved into the tympanum of the Romanesque basilica in
Conques.
(SFEC, 6/15/97, p.T8)
1142 Apr 21, Pierre Abelard (62),
French philosopher (priestly lover of Heloise), died.
(MC, 4/21/02)
1146 France’s warrior-abbot
Bernard of Clairvaux built the La Cordelle chapel in northern Burgundy.
(SFCM, 10/7/07, p.18)
1147 Oct 25, At the Battle at
Doryleum Arabs beat Konrad III's crusaders. Conrad III of Germany and
Louis VII of France had assembled 500,000 men for the 2nd Crusade. Most
of the men were lost to starvation, disease and battle wounds.
(PCh, 1992, p.94)(MC, 10/25/01)
1153 Aug 20, Bernard de Clairvaux,
French saint, died.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1160 Jul 21, Peterus Lombardus,
Italian theologian, bishop of Paris, died.
(MC, 7/21/02)
1160 Dec 6, Jean Bodel's "Jeu de
St Nicholas," premiered in Arras.
(MC, 12/6/01)
1165 Aug 21, Philip II Augustus,
1st great Capetian king of France (1179-1223), was born.
(SC, 8/21/02)
1180 Aug 11, Guillaume de Sens,
French master builder (Canterbury), died.
(MC, 8/11/02)
1180 In Montpellier a medical
school was founded.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
1187 Sep 5, Louis VIII,
[Coeur-de-Lion] king of France (1223-26), was born.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1189 Jan 21, Philip Augustus,
Henry II of England and Frederick Barbarossa assembled the troops for
the Third Crusade.
(V.D.-H.K.p.109)(HN, 1/21/99)
1190 The Louvre Museum in Paris
was built as a fortress.
(SFC, 6/16/96, T-5)
1194 The French cathedral at
Chartres was mostly destroyed by fire. The Sancta Camisia relic
survived intact and the cathedral was rebuilt in 29 years. In 2008 Leo
Hollis authored “Universe of Stone: Chartres Cathedral and the Triumph
of the Modern Mind.”
(Hem., 10/97, p.86)(Econ, 6/7/08, p.97)
1196 The Chateau Gaillard in
Normandy was built by Richard the Lionhearted, Duke of Normandy, to
protect his domain from Philip Augustus, King of France.
(AMNH, DT, 1998)
c1197 A stone labyrinth was laid
in the floor of the Chartres Cathedral by Benedictine monks. The
pattern of "sacred" geometry was copied and used for floor patterns in
San Francisco at Grace Cathedral (1995) and California Pacific Medical
Center.
(SFC, 6/6/97, p.A19)
1199 Apr 6, Richard I "the
Lion-hearted" (41), King of England (1189-99), died. Richard was killed
by an arrow at the siege of the castle of Chaluz in France.
(HN, 4/6/99)(MC, 4/6/02)
c1200-1300 The Abbey of Royaumont was established.
(SFC, 9/8/97, p.D5)
1200-1300 The abbey on Mont St. Michel was
established. In 1998 it was planned to remove the sand around the rocky
island off the Normandy coast and re-establish its maritime character.
(SFEC, 5/10/98, p.T3)
1201 Oct 9, Robert de Sorbon,
founder of Sorbonne University, Paris, was born.
(MC, 10/9/01)
1202 Apr 28, King Philip II threw
out John-without-Country, from France.
(MC, 4/28/02)
1204 Apr 12, The Fourth Crusade
sacked Constantinople. Constantinople fell to a combined force of
Franks and Venetians. The 4th Crusade failed to reach Palestine but
sacked the Byzantine Christian capital of Constantinople.
(AM, May/Jun 97 p.)(NH, 9/96, p.22)(HN, 4/12/98)
1204 France won back Normandy but
the people of the isle of Jersey chose to remain loyal to England. The
Chateau Gaillard of Richard the Lionhearted was defeated and partly
dismantled as punishment.
(Sky, 4/97, p.28)(AMNH, DT, 1998)
1204 Apr 1, Eleanor of Aquitaine
(81), wife of Louis VII and Henry II, died. In 1950 Amy Kelly authored
“Eleanor of Aquitaine and the Four Kings.”
(www.britannica.com/eb/article-9032256/Eleanor-of-Aquitaine)(WSJ,
5/12/07, p.P10)
1211-1228 Vaulted halls called “La Marveille” were
added to the abbey of Mont St. Michel off the coast of Normandy, France.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
1212 Stephen, a shepherd boy from
Cloyes-sur-le-Loir, France, had a vision of Jesus and set out to
deliver a letter to the King of France. He gathered 30,000 children who
went to Marseilles with plans to ship to the Holy Land and conquer the
Muslims with love instead of arms. They got shipped to North Africa and
were sold in the Muslim slave markets.
(V.D.-H.K.p.110)
1213 Sep 12, Simon de Montfort
defeated Raymond of Toulouse and Peter II of Aragon at Muret, France.
(HN, 9/12/98)
1214 Apr 25, Louis IX, king of
France (1226-1270), was born.
(HN, 4/25/02)
1214 Jul 27, At the Battle of
Bouvines in France, Philip Augustus of France defeated John of England.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1215 Aug 24, Pope Innocent III,
following a request from King John, declared the Magna Carta invalid.
The barons of England soon retaliated by inviting King Philip of France
to come to England. Philip accepted the offer.
(MC, 8/24/02)(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1216 Oct 28, Henry III of England
(9) was crowned. Regents led him to agree to the demands made by the
barons at Runnymede. Prince Louis, repudiated by the barons, returned
to France.
(HN, 10/28/98)(ON, 7/04, p.2)
1217 Aug 24, Eustace "the Monk",
French buccaneer, was killed in battle.
(MC, 8/24/02)
1218 Simon IV de Montfort
(b.1160), Norman knight and leader of the crusade against the
Albigenses (1202-1204), died at the siege of Toulouse.
(MC, 6/25/02)
1220 In France the main structure
of Chartres cathedral was completed. In 2008 Philip Ball authored
“Universe of Stone: A Biography of Chartres Cathedral.”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Chartres)(WSJ, 7/5/08, p.W9)
1221 In France the Chateau de
Bagnols castle was built. Guichard, Lord of Oingt, built the first
three of its 5 round towers. It was restored in the 1990s by English
publishing mogul Paul Hamlyn and his wife Helen.
(SFEM, 10/4/98, p.6)
1223 Jul 14, Philip II Augustus
(57), King of France (1180-1223), died. Louis VIII succeeded his father.
(HN, 7/14/98)(MC, 7/14/02)
1225-1274 Thomas Aquinas, Italian scholastic
philosopher and major theologian of the Roman Catholic Church. He
maintained that the question of the beginning of time could never be
resolved philosophically.
(WUD, 1994, p.75)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.W13)
1226 Nov 8, Louis VIII (39), the
Lion, King of France (1223-26), died. He was succeeded by Louis IX.
(HN, 11/6/98)(MC, 11/8/01)
1236 Dec 23, Philippus
Cancellarius, French theologian and poet (Summa Cum Laude), died.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1238 Sep 28, James of Aragon
retook Valencia, Spain, from the Arabs.
(HN, 9/28/98)
1242 Jun 6, 24 wagonloads of
Talmudic books were burned in Paris.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1244 Aug 23, Turks expelled the
crusaders under Frederick II from Jerusalem.
(HN, 8/23/98)
1244 Oct 17, The Sixth Crusade
ended when an Egyptian-Khwarismian force almost annihilated the
Frankish army at Gaza.
(HN, 10/17/98)
c1244 Pope Innocent III launched
the Albigensian Crusade, a forerunner of the Inquisition, that
systematically besieged and exterminated the Cathars.
(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)
1244 The Cathars, a group of
Catholic heretics, settled at Montsegur, France, in the Ariege region.
They were besieged for more than a year and chose to burn at the stake
rather than submit. Occitania was the ancient name for this region of
Languedoc, where the language of Occitan is spoken.
(SFEC, 12/8/96, p.T1)(SSFC, 6/17/01, p.T10)
1245 Jul 27, Frederick II of
France was deposed by a council at Lyons, which found him guilty of
sacrilege.
(HN, 7/27/98)
1246 May 22, Henry Raspe was
elected anti-king by the Rhenish prelates in France.
(HN, 5/22/98)
1248 Nov 23, Seville, France
surrendered to Ferdinand III of Castile after a two-year siege.
(HN, 11/23/98)
1250 Apr 30, King Louis IX of
France was ransomed for one million dollars. The Mamluk dynasty exacted
240 tons of silver for his release.
(HN, 4/30/98)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R4)
1253 Jul 23, Jews were expelled
from Vienne, France, by order of Pope Innocent III.
(MC, 7/23/02)
1256 France banned gambling with
dice.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R34)
1269 Jun 19, King Louis IX of
France decreed all Jews must wear a badge of shame.
(MC, 6/19/02)
1270 Aug 25, King Louis IX (56),
King of France (1226-70), died on The Eighth Crusade, which was
decimated by the Plague.
(PCh, 1992, p.114)(V.D.-H.K.p.110)(MC, 8/25/02)
1274 May 7, Second Council of
Lyons opened.
(HN, 5/7/98)
1274 Thomas Aquinas was summoned
before a council at Lyons to answer for his opinions. He was publicly
chastised but not condemned. He died in this year.
(V.D.-H.K.p.122)(WUD, 1994, p.75)
1275 May 23, King Edward I of
England ordered a cessation to the persecution of French Jews.
(MC, 5/23/02)
1280 St. Julien-le-Pauvre was
built in Paris. It became a barn during the French revolution and is
now a Greek Orthodox church.
(SFC, 9/1/96, T8)
1282 Mar 30, Furious inhabitants
of Palermo attacked French occupation force in the "Sicilian Vespers."
The Mafia appeared in Sicily to revolt against French rule after a
drunken soldier attacked a young woman on her wedding day.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R42)(MC, 3/30/02)
1282 Mar 31, The great massacre of
the French in Sicily, "The Sicilian Vespers," came to an end.
(HN, 3/31/99)
1282 Apr 28, Villagers in Palermo
led a revolt against French rule in Sicily.
(HN, 4/28/98)
1285 Oct 5, Philippe III, the
Stout, King of France (1270-85), died.
(MC, 10/5/01)
1288 Apr 24, Jews of Yroyes France
were accused of ritual murder.
(MC, 4/24/02)
1289 Oct 4, Louis X, the Stubborn,
king of France (1314-16), was born.
(MC, 10/4/01)
1290 Aug 16, Charles of Valois
married Margaret of Anjou.
(MC, 8/16/02)
c1290-1361 Philippe de Vitry, French music theorist,
composer and poet.
(WUD, 1994, p.1598)(SFC, 2/15/99, p.E7)
1300 Paris, with its population
between 200,000 and 300,000, was at this time the largest city in the
world.
(HNQ, 4/18/02)
1300-1377 Guillaume de Machaut, French poet and
composer.
(WUD, 1994, p.629)(SFC, 2/15/99, p.E7)
1302 Jul 11, An army of French
knights, led by the Count of Artois, was routed by Flemish pikemen.
(HN, 7/11/98)
1303 May 20, France returned
Gascony to England’s Edward I.
(HN, 5/20/98)(PC, 1992 ed, p121)
1303 Sep 8, Anagni: French king
Philip IV captured Pope Boniface VIII.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1306 Jul 22, King Phillip the Fair
ordered the expulsion of Jews from France. They returned to Montpellier
in 1319, having been recalled by King Sancho, who protected them in
1320 against the fury of the Pastoureaux.
(www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/expulsionfromfrance.shtml)
1307 Oct 13, French king Philip IV
convicted the Knights Templar of heresy. Members of the Knights of
Templar were arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the
order of the King Philip the Fair. Papal hearings convened after King
Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders under charges
of heresy and immorality.
(HN, 10/13/98)(AP, 10/12/07)
1308 The "Parchment of Chinon"
contained the decision by Pope Clement V to save the Templars and their
order. The document was misplaced for centuries in the archives and
found again by researchers in 2001. In 2007 it was published as part of
the Vatican’s secret archive documents about the trial of the Knights
Templar.
(AP, 10/12/07)
1310 May 12, Fifty-four Knights
Templar were burned at the stake as heretics in France. They had been
established during the Crusades to protect pilgrims traveling to the
Holy Land, but came into increasing conflict with Rome until Pope
Clement V officially dissolved them in 1312 at the Council of Vienna.
(SC, internet, 5/12/97)
1314 Mar 18, In France Jacques de
Molay (b.1244), Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake
along with his aides. Surviving monks fled, with some absorbed by other
orders.
(AP, 10/12/07)(www.templarhistory.com/demolay.html)
1314 Apr 20, Clement V, [Bertrand
Got], pope (1305-14) who moved papacy to Avignon, died.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1314 Nov 29, Philippe IV, the
Handsome, King of France (1285-1314), died.
(MC, 11/29/01)
1315 In France Parisian bakers
were found guilty of mixing flour with animal droppings during the
Great Famine.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1315 Louis X, Philip's brother and
successor, allowed Jews back into France for financial considerations.
Jews were often expelled because of pressure from the Church, economic
or political considerations, only to be readmitted at a later date.
(www.jewishhistory.org.il/history.php?startyear=1310&endyear=1319)
1315 Italian immigrants in France
began the Western silk industry.
(SFC, 3/11/00, p.B4)
1316 Jun 4, Louis X (26), King of
France (1314-16), died.
(MC, 6/4/02)
1316 Nov 15, Jean I became king of
France, and died 4 days later.
(MC, 11/15/01)
1319 Apr 26, Jean II, the Good,
king of France (1350-64), was born.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1322 Jun 24, Jews were expelled
from France for a 3rd time.
(MC, 6/24/02)
1326 Richard de Bas, a paper
manufacturer, was founded in Ambert d’Auvergne, France.
(SFC, 4/14/06, p.D1)
1327 Apr 6,
Petrarch met Laura de Sade in a church at Avignon, and was inspired for
the rest of his life. He wrote his finest poems about her beauty and
loveliness... and about his later recognition that he had loved her
wrongly, placing her person ahead of her spirit. This event has been
taken to mark the beginning of the Renaissance
(V.D.-H.K.p.131)(MC, 4/6/02)
1331 Bernard Gui, Inquisitor in
Toulouse, died. He authored “Practica Inquisitionis Heretice
Pravitatis” (Conduct of the Inquisition into Heretical Wickedness), a
manual for Inquisitors in which he listed heretics including Cathars,
Waldensians, Beghards, Jews and witches.
(WSJ, 1/18/08,
p.W10)(www.languedoc-france.info/121207_guicathars.htm)
1337 Jan 21, Charles V, the Wise,
king of France (1364-80), was born.
(MC, 1/21/02)
1328 Feb 1, Charles IV, the
Handsome, King of France (1322-28), died.
(MC, 2/1/02)
1328 May 27, French king Philip VI
Valois was crowned.
(MC, 5/27/02)
1340 Jun 24, The English fleet
defeated the French fleet at Sluys, off the Flemish coast.
(HN, 6/24/98)
1340 Nov 30, John, Duke de Berry,
captain of Paris and art collector, was born.
(MC, 11/30/01)
1346 Jul 12, Edward III of England
landed his army on the Normandy beaches unopposed.
(ON, 9/00, p.1)
1346 Jul 18, Edward III divided
his army into 3 groups and began a march on Paris.
(ON, 9/00, p.2)
1346 Aug 16, Philip VI offered
Edward III sovereignty over Aquitaine in return for peace. Edward
rejected the offer and learned that Philip had raised an army of 36,000
that included 15,000 Genoese crossbowmen. Edward marched toward
Flanders in order to meet with allies.
(ON, 9/00, p.2)
1346 Aug 25, Edward III of England
defeated Philip VI's army at the Battle of Crecy in France. The English
overcame the French at the Battle of Crecy. The longbow proved
instrumental in the victory as French knights on horseback outnumbered
the British 3 to 1. At the end of the battle 1,542 French lords and
knights were killed along with 20,000 soldiers. The English lost 2
knights and 80 men. [see Aug 26]
(WSJ, 8/3/98, p.A12)(HN, 8/25/98)
1346 Aug 26, During the Hundred
Years War, King Edward III's 9,000-man English army annihilated a
French force of 27,000 under King Philip VI at the Battle of Crecy in
Normandy. The battle is regarded as one of the most decisive in
history. [see Aug 25]
(PC, 1992, p.128)(WSJ, 11/4/04, p.D10)
1346 Sep 3, Edward III of England
began the siege of Calais, along the coast of France.
(HN, 9/3/98)
1346 Sep 28, Edward III and Philip
VI signed a temporary truce. Their hostilities marked the beginning of
the Hundred Years War, which only ended in 1453.
(ON, 9/00, p.2)
1347 Aug 3, Six burghers of the
surrounded French city of Calais surrendered to Edward III of England
in hopes of relieving the siege.
(HN, 8/3/98)
1347 Aug 4, English troops
conquered Ft. Calais. After an 11 month siege, French Calais fell to
England's King Edward III. English rule lasted for more than two
centuries.
(WSJ, 11/6/95, p. A-1)(MC, 8/4/02)
1347-1350 Oct, The Black Death: A Genoese trading
post in the Crimea was besieged by an army of Kipchaks from Hungary and
Mongols from the East. The latter brought with them a new form of
plague. Infected dead bodies were catapulted into the Genoese town. One
Genoese ship managed to escape and brought the disease to Messina, in
Sicily. From this time forth the disease became an epidemic. It moved
over the next few years to northern Italy, North Africa, France, Spain,
Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, the Low countries, England,
Scandinavia and the Baltic. There were lesser outbreaks in many cities
for the next twenty years. An estimated 25 million died in Europe and
economic depression followed.
(V.D.-H.K.p.151)(NG, 5/88, p.678)(WSJ, 1/11/99,
p.R42)
1348 Plague arrived at Montpellier
in the spring and killed an estimated two-thirds of the 50,000
inhabitants.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
1349-1830 The eldest son of the king of France was
referred to as the dauphine, as an honor to the Dauphine province after
its cession to France.
(WUD, 1994, p.369)
1350 Aug 22, Philips VI, of
Valois, King of France (1328-50), died.
(MC, 8/22/02)
1350 Aug 22, John II, also known
as John the Good, succeeded Philip VI as king of France.
(HN, 8/22/98)
1355 Nov 1, During the
Hundred Years’ War (1337-1457) an English invasion army under Black
Prince Edward (25) landed at Calais.
(DoW, 1999, p.213)(PC, 1992 ed, p.131)
1356 Sep 19, In a landmark battle
of the Hundred Years' War, English Prince Edward defeated the French at
Poitiers. Jean de Clermont, French marshal, died in battle.
(HN, 9/19/98)(MC, 9/19/01)
1357 Nov 25, Charles IV issued a
letter of protection of Jews of Strasbourg and Alsace.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1358 Jun 10, French Boer leader
Guillaume Cale was captured.
(MC, 6/10/02)
1360 Mar 15, French invasion army
landed on English south coast and conquered Winchel.
(MC, 3/15/02)
1360 Oct 25, Louis, founder of
house of Anjou, was born.
(MC, 10/25/01)
1364 King Charles V (1337-1381)
began his rule of France.
(HNQ, 7/14/01)(WUD, 1994 p.249)
1368 Feb 3, Charles VI, King of
France (1380-1422), was born.
(MC, 2/3/02)
1370 Apr 22, The first stone of
the Bastille was laid by order of King Charles V (1364-1380). The
original design of the Bastille was merely a fortified gate, but it was
later turned into a fortress by Charles VI. It began to be used as a
prison in the 17th century. Following the storming of the Bastille on
July 14, 1789, it was demolished.
(HNQ, 7/14/01)
1371 May 28, John, the Fearless,
Duke of Burgundy, warrior, was born in Burgundy, France.
(MC, 5/28/02)
1371 The queen of France sent the
Queen of England several dolls dressed in the latest French fashion.
The outfits were copied by English dressmakers and costumed dolls from
France went wherever French ships sailed. They were called mannequins.
(SFC, 6/28/97, p.E3)
1378 Mar 27, Gregory XI, [Pierre R
the Beaufort], last French Pope (1370-78), died.
(MC, 3/27/02)
1378 Dec 18, Charles V denounced
the treachery of John IV of Brittany and confiscated his duchy.
(HN, 12/18/98)
1380 Nov 14, King Charles VI of
France was crowned at age 12.
(MC, 11/14/01)
1380 Nov 16, French King Charles
VI declared no taxes forever.
(MC, 11/16/01)
1380 King Charles V (1337-1381)
ended his rule of France.
(HNQ, 7/14/01)(WUD, 1994 p.249)
1382 Mar 1, French Maillotin rose
up against taxes.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1382 Nov 27, The French nobility,
led by Olivier de Clisson, crushed the Flemish rebels at Flanders.
(HN, 11/27/98)
1383 Sep 4, Amadeus VIII, duke of
Savoye, and the last antipope (Felix V (1439-48), was born.
(MC, 9/4/01)
1384 Sep 2, Louis I, duke of Anjou
and king of Naples (Battle of Poitiers), died.
(MC, 9/2/01)
1387 Aug 9, Henry V, British king
famous for his victory at Agincourt, France, was born. [see Aug 29]
(HN, 8/9/98)
1387 Aug 29, Henry V, king
of England (1413-22) / France (1416-19), was born. [see Aug 9]
(MC, 8/29/01)
1390 Jul 1, A French and Genovese
armada sailed out against Barbary pirates.
(MC, 7/1/02)
c1392 Sir Jean Froissart authored
"The Chronicles of England, France and Scotland."
(ON, 4/00, p.6)
1394 Sep 17, In France King
Charles VI decreed as an irrevocable law and statute that thenceforth
no Jew should dwell in his domains. The decree was not immediately
enforced, a respite being granted to the Jews in order that they might
sell their property and pay their debts.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_France)
1394 Nov 3, Jews were expelled
from France by Charles VI. The order, signed on Yom Kippur, was
enforced on November 3. Jews continued to live in Lyons and papal
possessions such as Pugnon. [see Sep 17, 1394]
(www.wzo.org.il/doingzionism/resources/view.asp?id=261)
1395-1456 Jacques Coeur, financial adviser to Charles
VII of France. He ran a variety of businesses and sold luxury goods. He
bankrolled Charles' war in 1449 with nearly a ton of gold. His gothic
mansion at Bourges had the family motto etched in stone: "To valiant
hearts nothing is impossible."
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
1396 Apr 30, Crusaders and the
Earl of Nevers departed from Dijon.
(MC, 4/30/02)
1400-1500 A 15th century songwriter named Oliver
Bassel lived in the Vau de Vire, Valley of the Vire. His popular tunes
were identified with his home and gave us the word "vaudeville."
(SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)
1400-1600 Researchers in 1997 announced that sometime
in this period the Sauvignon Franc grape crossed with Sauvignon Blanc
grape to produce the Cabernet Sauvignon grape.
(SFC, 6/4/97, Z1 p.4)
1403 Feb 22, Charles VII, King of
France (1422-1461), was born.
(HN, 2/22/98)(MC, 2/22/02)
1409 Jan 9, Rene' d'Anjou (d.1480)
was born the son and 3rd child of Duke Louis II of Anjou and Yolande of
Aragon at Angers in the Maine-and-Loire region of western France. King
René, poet and wine lover, demonstrated how all our leaders
ought to be.
(http://www.guice.org/reneharr.html)(WSJ, 2/13/04,
p.A12)
c1410 The Book of the Chase
depicted hunting dogs and snares.
(SFEM, 4/6/97, p.16)
1412 Jan 6, According to
tradition, French heroine Joan of Arc was born Jeanette d'Arc, in the
French village of Domrémy. When she was 12 years old, she began
hearing what she believed were voices of saints, sending her messages
from God. When she was 17, the voices--which she believed to be of
Saints Margaret and Catherine (queens of France) and the Archangel
Michael-- told her to leave her village and save Orléans. Joan
convinced the dauphin that she could lead French troops in resistance
against their English invaders, and she was given a force of several
hundred men to command, whom she led to victory at Orléans in
1429. Wearing her white enameled armor suit, she continued to fight
against the English. Joan was captured by Burgundians and then burned
at the stake by the English on May 30, 1431, for the offenses of
witchcraft, heresy and wearing male clothing. The Roman Catholic Church
recognized Joan of Arc as a saint in 1920.
(CFA, '96,Vol 179, p.38)(AP, 1/6/98)(HNPD,
1/6/99)
1415 Aug 13, King Henry V of
England took his army across the English Channel and laid siege on the
French port of Harfleur.
(ON, 6/08, p.9)
1415 Oct 25, An English army under
Henry V defeated the French at Agincourt, France. The French had out
numbered Henry’s troops, but Welsh longbows turned the tide of the
battle. The French force was under the command of the constable Charles
I d’Albret. Charles I d’Albret, son of Arnaud-Amanieu d’Albret, came
from a line of nobles who were often celebrated warriors. His ancestors
had fought in the First Crusade (1096-99) and his father had fought in
the Hundred Years War himself--first for the English before joining the
side of France. Charles’ own exploits in the ongoing conflict came to
an end at the Battle of Agincourt. The decisive victory for the
outnumbered English saw the death of not only Charles, but a dozen
other high-ranking nobles as well. But Charles’ fate did not end the
Albrets as his descendants went on to become kings of Navarre, and
later, France. In 2005 Juliet Barker authored “Agincourt: The King, the
Campaign, and the Battle.”
(MH, 12/96)(HN, 10/25/98)(Econ, 10/22/05, p.88)(ON,
6/08, p.10)
1415 Oct 25, Edward (b.1373), duke
of York, died at the Battle of Agincourt.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_of_Norwich,_2nd_Duke_of_York)
1416 Apr 2, Ferdinand I (52) the
Justified, king of Aragon and Sicily, died.
(MC, 4/2/02)
1417-145 This period was covered by Juliet Barker in
her 2009 book: “Conquest: The English Kingdom of France 1417-1450.”
(Econ, 11/28/09, p.100)
1419 Sep 10, John the Fearless
(48), Burgundy and French warrior, was murdered at Montereau, France,
by supporters of the dauphine.
(HN, 9/10/98)(MC, 9/10/01)
1419 An English army under Henry V
captured the duchy of Normandy.
(ON, 6/08, p.11)
1420 May 21, King Charles VI of
France signed the Treaty of Troyes. It recognized all the territorial
gains of King Henry V, gave Henry the daughter of Charles, Catherine of
Valois, in marriage, and acknowledged Henry as the legitimate heir to
the French throne.
(ON, 6/08, p.11)
1420 Dec 1, Henry V, King of
England and de facto ruler of France, entered Paris.
(http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/famouspeople/a/personhenryveng_4.htm)
1422 Aug 31, Henry V (b.1387),
King of England (1413-22) and France (1416-19), died.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_V_of_England)
1422 Oct 21, Charles VI, King of
France (1380-1422), died at 54.
(MC, 10/21/01)
1429 Apr 29, Joan of Arc led
French troops to victory over the English at Orleans during the Hundred
Years’ War. Legend has it that King Charles VII of France had a suit of
armor made for Joan at a cost of 100 war horses. In 1996 a suit of
armor was found and proposed to be Joan’s armor.
(ATC, p.107)(SFC, 6/19/96, p.A10)(AP, 4/29/98)(HN,
4/29/98)
1429 May 7, English siege of
Orleans was broken by Joan of Arc.
(HN, 5/7/98)
1429 May 8, French troops under
Joan of Arc rescued Orleans.
(MC, 5/8/02)
1429 May 9, Joan of Arc defeated
the besieging English at Orleans.
(HN, 5/9/98)
1429 Jul 16, Joan of Arc led
French army in the Battle of Orleans. [see May 9]
(MC, 7/16/02)
1429 Jul 17, The dauphin, son of
Charles VI, was crowned as king of France.
(PCh, 1992, p.144)(MC, 7/17/02)
1429 Aug 26, Joan of Arc makes a
triumphant entry into Paris.
(HN, 8/26/99)
1430 May 23, Joan of Arc was
captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English.
(AP, 5/23/97)(HN, 5/23/98)
1430 Jul 14, Joan of Arc, taken
prisoner by the Burgundians in May, was handed over to Pierre Cauchon,
the bishop of Beauvais.
(HN, 7/14/98)
1431 Feb 21, The interrogation of
Joan of Arc (1412-1431) began France.
(Sm, 2/06, p.38)
1431 May 30, Joan of Arc
(19), condemned as a heretic [as a witch], was burned at the stake in
Rouen, France. A silent movie of her life was made in 1927 by Carl
Theodor Dreyer.
(CFA, '96, p.46)WSJ, 1/23/96, p.A-12)(AP,
5/30/97)(HN, 5/30/98)
1431 Dec 16, Henry VI of England
(10) was crowned King of France.
(HN, 12/16/98)(Econ, 11/28/09, p.100)
1431-1463? Francois Villon, French
poet. The 1938 film "If I Were King" starred Ronald
Colman and Basil Rathbone and was directed by Preston Sturges. It was
about the French poet and revolutionary Francois Villon.
(WUD, 1994, p.1593)(SFEC, 8/2/98, DB p.49)
1432 Zeeland became part of the
Low Countries possession of Phillip the Good (1396-1467) of Burgundy.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
1435 Sep 21, Treaty of Atrecht.
Philippe le Bon of Burgundy and French king Charles VII signed a treaty
at Arras. Philippe broke with the English and recognized Charles as
France’s only king.
(PCh, 1992, p.145)
1440 Oct 26, Gilles de Rais,
French marshal, depraved killer of 140 children, was hanged over slow
fire. A brilliant young French knight, he was believed to have cracked
over the torture and death of his true love, Jeanne d'Arc, the Maid of
Orleans (d.1431).
(MC, 10/26/01)
1443 Cardinal Beaufort (1375-1447)
lent the English monarchy funds to finance 300 ships to carry 6
knights, 592 men-at-arms, and 3,949 archers to keep the French at bay.
(Econ, 11/28/09,
p.100)(www.nashfordpublishing.co.uk/bishops/henry_beaufort.html)
1444 Aug 26, In the Battle of St.
Jakob an der Birs, fought near Basel in Switzerland, a Swiss force of
some 1,600 soldiers stopped some 30,000 French mercenaries on their way
to relieve a siege of Zurich.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._Jakob_an_der_Birs)
1446-1521 A Gothic choir with buttresses and
pinnacles was added to the abbey Mont St. Michel off the coast of
Normandy, France. It replaced one that had collapsed.
(WSJ, 10/7/06, p.P18)
1451 Jacques Coeur was charged
with poisoning Agnes Sorel, mistress to King Charles VII. Sorel had
died in childbirth. Charles confiscated Coeur's property and put him in
jail. Coeur escaped and fled to Rome. He died several years later
fighting the Turks.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R6)
1453 May 29, French banker Jacques
Coeurs had his possessions confiscated.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1453 Jul 17, France defeated
England at the 1st Battle at Castillon, France, ending the 100 Years'
War. [see Oct 19]
(HN, 7/17/98)
1453 Oct 19, In the 2nd Battle at
Castillon: France beat England, ending the hundred year war. [see
Jul 17]
(MC, 10/19/01)
1454 Feb 17, At a grand feast,
Philip the Good of Burgundy took the "vow of the pheasant," by which he
swore to fight the Turks.
(HN, 2/17/99)
1456 Jul 7, Joan of Arc was
acquitted, even though she had already been burnt at the stake on May
30, 1431.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1456 Nov 25, Jacques Coeur, French
merchant and banker, died in battle.
(MC, 11/25/01)
1462 Jun 27, Louis XII, King of
France (1498-1515), was born.
(HN, 6/27/02)
1463 Jan 5, French poet Francois
Villon was banished from Paris.
(MC, 1/5/02)
1464 Jun 19, French King Louis XI
formed a postal service.
(MC, 6/19/02)
1470 Jun 30, Charles VIII, King of
France (1483-98), invaded Italy, was born. One of his feet had 6 toes
which prompted his wearing broad, square tip shoes.
(HN, 6/30/98)(SFC, 3/13/99, p.E6)
1470 The first book printed in
France was an ornate ninth-century transcript produced for the grandson
of Charlemagne. It is held by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
(WSJ, 9/26/95, p.A-20)
1474 May 9, Peter van Hagenbach,
Elzasser (Alsatian) knight, land guardian, was beheaded.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1476 Aug 4, Jacob van
Armagnac-Pardiac, French duke of Nemours, was beheaded.
(MC, 8/4/02)
1476 Dec 24, Some 400 Burgundy
soldiers froze to death during the siege of Nancy.
(MC, 12/24/01)
1476 The Swiss overcame Burgundy’s
Charles the Bold at the Battle of Murten.
(SSFC, 5/26/02, p.C5)
1477 Jan 5, Swiss troops defeated
the forces under Charles the Bold of Burgundy at the Battle of Nancy.
(HN, 1/5/99)
1477 The Seventeen Provinces, a
personal union of states in the Low Countries in the 16th century,
became the property of the Habsburgs. They roughly covered the current
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, a good part of the North of France
(Artois, Nord) and a small part of Germany.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeeland)
1480-1520 The fortress at Bonaguil in the Quercy
province was built by a baron as a bulwark against his vassals.
(SFEC, 7/11/99, p.T4)
1487 Lorenzo the Magnificent
ordered a giraffe from Africa and a cardinal’s hat for his 13-year-old
son from Pope Innocent VIII. In return for the hat Lorenzo promised the
hand of his eldest daughter for the Pope’s illegitimate son along with
a nice loan. The giraffe was procured from Sultan Qaitbay, the Ottoman
ruler of Egypt. Pope Innocent promised to get Queen Anne of France to
hand over Djem, the exiled brother of Qaitbay, for use as a pawn.
Lorenzo promised to give the giraffe to Anne. In 2006 the story was
covered by Marina Belozerskaya in her book “The Medici Giraffe.”
(WSJ, 8/19/06, p.P9)
1490 Anne of Brittany married by
proxy the recently widowed Maximilian of Hapsburg who had inherited
Burgundy and Flanders from his first wife. Brittany was under siege by
France and Maximilian failed to send troops in its defense. Anne had
her marriage annulled and married the French Dauphin who had been
engaged to marry Margaret of Austria, the daughter of Maximilian and
Mary of Burgundy. Anne’s portrait was later painted by Jan Mostaert
(WSJ, 7/30/97, p.A13)
1490 Francois Rabelais (d.1553),
French physician, satirist and humorist, was born. [see 1494]
(WUD, 1994, p.1183)(V.D.-H.K.p.143)(SSFC, 2/10/02,
p.G5)
1494 Sep 12, Francois I of
Valois-Angoulome, king of France (1515-47), was born.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1494-1547 In France the time of King Francois I. The
stench along the Seine drove him from the Hotel des Tournelles.
Cesspools and the guild that emptied them, the Maitres Fy-Fy, developed
at this time.
(Hem., 3/97, p.132)
1494-1553 Francois Rabelais, French satirist: "If
you wish to avoid seeing a fool you must first break your mirror." [see
1490, 1553]
(AP, 2/23/98)
1495 Jan 28, Pope Alexander VI
gave his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France.
(MC, 1/28/02)
1498 Apr 8, Charles VIII (27),
King of France (1483-98), died while preparing a new expedition to
invade Italy. He was succeeded by his Valois cousin the Duc d’Orleans
(36), who reigned until 1515 as Louis XII.
(PC, 1992 ed, p.161)
1498 Aug 17, French King Louis XII
made Cesare Borgia (1475-1507) the Duke of Valentinois. Borgia resigned
his position as cardinal, which had been bestowed on him at age 18 by
his father, Pope Alexander VI.
(Econ, 8/16/08,
p.16)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesare_Borgia)
1499 Sep 10, The French marched on
Milan.
(Hem., 12/96, p.19)
1500 Apr 8, Battle at Novara: King
Louis XII beat duke Ludovico Sforza (Il Sforza del Destino).
(MC, 4/8/02)
1500 Apr 10, France captured duke
Ludovico Sforza ("Il Sforza del Destino") of Milan.
(MC, 4/10/02)
c1500-1600 Madame Virginie de Rieux, 16th-century
French writer: "Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty
and women their happiness."
(AP, 12/6/97)
c1500-1600 Clement Janequin was a 16th century
composer best known for his big pictorial secular songs that included:
"The Cries of Paris," "Bird Song," and "The Hunt." The French Ensemble
Clement Janequin was formed in 1978.
(SFC, 6/8/00, p.E3)
c1500-1600 The 16th century French text "The Rules of
Civility" was published.
(SFC, 7/4/02, p.D1)
1501 Mar 20, Jean Carondelet (72),
lawyer, chancellor of Burgundy (1480-96), died.
(MC, 3/20/02)
1503 Dec 14, Nostradamus [Michel
de Nostredame], prophet, was born in St. Remy, Provence, France. He
predicted correctly French king Henri II's manner of death. Nostradamus
was the author of a book of prophecies that many still believe foretold
the future. He was also physician, an astrologer and a
clairvoyant. He wrote in rhyming quatrains, accurately predicting
the Great London Fire in 1666, Spain’s Civil War, and a Hitler that
would lead Germany into war. He even correctly predicted his own death
on July 2, 1566.
(HN, 12/14/99)(MC, 12/14/01)
1503 Jean Poyet, Renaissance
artist, died. His work included "Vespers: Massacre of the Innocents and
Flight Into Egypt."
(WSJ, 2/22/00, p.A20)
1504 May 5, Anton of Burgundy
(~82), the Great Bastard, knight, died.
(MC, 5/5/02)
1505 Feb 4, Joan of Valois (40),
Queen of France, saint, died.
(MC, 2/4/02)
1505 Apr 20, Jews were expelled
from Orange, Burgundy, by Philibert of Luxembourg.
(MC, 4/20/02)
1506 Apr 7, Francis Xavier, saint,
Jesuit missionary to India, Malaya, and Japan, was born.
(MC, 4/7/02)
1507 Apr 25, Martin Waldseemuller,
a German geographer working at a small college in Eastern France,
labeled the New World "America," for the first time in his book
"Cosmographiae Introductio," and gave Amerigo Vespucci (d.1512) credit
for discovering it. Letters of 1504-1505 had circulated in Florence
claimed that Vespucci had discovered the new World. Vespucci was in
fact only a passenger or low officer on one of the ships captioned by
others. Vespucci was later believed to have been the brother of
Simonetta Vespucci, the model for Venus in the Botticelli painting. In
2000 the US Library of Congress planned to acquire the original map for
$14 million from the Prince Johannes Waldburg-wolfegg. A $10 million
purchase was completed in 2003.
(SFEC, 8/23/98, p.T10)(SFC, 10/27/00, p.C14)(WSJ,
7/25/03, p.W19)(AP, 4/25/07)
1507 Genoa was annexed by the
French.
(TL-MB, p.9)
1509 May 14, In the Battle of
Agnadello, the French defeated the Venetians in Northern Italy.
(HN, 5/14/98)
1509-1564 John Calvin, French theologian. He started
the Protestant Reformation in France in 1532.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(SFC, 7/21/97, p.A11)
1510 May 25, Georges d'Amboise
(49), French cardinal, viceroy in North Italy, died.
(SC, 5/25/02)
1510 Bernard Pallissy (d.1590),
French ceramicist, painter and writer, was born.
(www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artMakerDetails?maker=867&page=1)
1511 Sep 1, Council of Pisa
opened. Louis XII of France called the council to oppose the Holy
League of Pope Julius II.
(PTA, 1980, p.432)(MC, 9/1/02)
1512 Apr 11, The forces of the
Holy League were heavily defeated by the French at the Battle of
Ravenna. France under Gaston de Foix beat the Spanish Army. Gaston de
Foix, French pretender to Navarre throne, died in battle.
(HN, 4/11/99)(MC, 4/11/02)
1513 Jun 6, Battle at Novara:
Habsburgers vs. Valois.
(MC, 6/6/02)
1513 Aug 16, Henry VIII of England
and Emperor Maximilian defeated the French at Guinegatte, France, in
the Battle of the Spurs.
(HN, 8/16/98)
1513 Sep 9, King James IV of
Scotland was defeated and killed by English at the Battle of Flodden
Field. The Scottish navy was sold to France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.10)(HN, 9/9/98)
1514 England and France declared a
truce in their warfare. Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, married Louis
XII.
(TL-MB, p.10)
1515 Jan 1, King Louis XII
(b.1462) of France, died. He was succeeded by Francis I (1494-1547).
(Econ, 12/12/09,
p.93)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_I_of_France)
1515 Sep 13, King Francis of
France defeated the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthias Schiner at
Marignano, northern Italy. Switzerland was last involved in a war.
French armies defeated the Swiss and Venetians at the Battle of
Marignano and Milan fell to the French. Francis I conquered
Lombardy in northern Italy.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.11)(SFC, 6/7/96, p.A12)(HN, 9/13/98)
1515 The first nationalized French
factories were set up in the manufacture of tapestries and arms.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1516 The Treaty of Noyon brought
peace between France and Spain.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1518 Cardinal Wolsey arranged the
Peace of London between England, France, the Pope, Maximilian I and
Spain.
(TL-MB, p.11)
1518-1589 Catherine de Medicis, queen of Henry II of
France, mother of Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III.
(WUD, 1994 p.233)
1519 Feb 16, Gaspard de Coligny,
Huguenot leader, French admiral, was born.
(MC, 2/16/02)
1519 May 2, Artist Leonardo da
Vinci (67) died at Cloux, France. In 1994 A. Richard Turner wrote
"Inventing Leonardo," a history of Leonardo legends. In 2004 Bulent
Atalay authored “Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of
Leonardo da Vinci.” In 2004 Charles Nicholl authored “Leonard da Vinci:
The Flights of the Mind.”
http://library.thinkquest.org/13681/data/davin2.shtml?tqskip=1
(AP, 5/2/97)(NH, 5/97, p.58)(Econ, 5/15/04,
p.80)(Econ, 12/11/04, p.81)
1521 Apr 22, French king Francois
I declared war on Spain.
(MC, 4/22/02)
1521 Nov 19, Battle at Milan:
Emperor Charles V's Spanish, German, and papal troops beat France and
occupied Milan. An eight year war between France and the Holy Roman
Emp., Charles V, began after the French supported rebels in Spain.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.12)(MC, 11/19/01)
1521 The Chateau de Chenonceaux in
the Loire Valley of France was built for the royal tax collector,
Thomas Bohier. It took eight years to construct.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1521 The manufacture of silk cloth
was introduced to France. It had been made in Sicily since the 1100s.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1522 England declared war on
France and Scotland. Holy Roman Emp. Charles V visited Henry VIII and
signed the Treaty of Windsor. Both monarchs agreed to invade France.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1523 Oct 27, English troops
occupied Montalidier, France.
(MC, 10/27/01)
1524 Mar 19, Giovanni de Verrazano
of France sighted land around area of Carolinas.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1524 Aug 19, Emperor Charles V's
troops besieged Marseille.
(MC, 8/19/02)
1524 Chevalier Bayard, commander
of French forces in Lombardy, was killed and the French were driven out.
(TL-MB, p.12)
1525 Feb 24, In the first of the
Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captured the
French king Francis I at the battle of Pavia, in Italy. This was the
decisive engagement of the Italian War of 1521-26.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pavia)(Econ,
12/12/09, p.93)
1525 Mar 20, The Paris parliament
began the pursuit of Protestants (Papists proudly participated).
(MC, 3/20/02)
1526 Jan 14, Francis of France,
held captive by Charles V for a year, signed the Treaty of Madrid,
giving up most of his claims in France and Italy.
(HN, 1/14/99)
1526 Mar 26, King François
I returned Spanish captivity to France.
(SS, 3/26/02)
1527 Apr 30, Henry VIII and King
Francis of France signed the treaty of Westminster.
(HN, 4/30/98)
1528 Jan 22, England & France
declared war on Emperor Charles V of Spain. The French army was later
expelled from Naples and Genoa.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.13)(MC, 1/22/02)
1529 Apr 16, Louis de Berquin,
French humanist, reformer, heretic, was burned at stake.
(MC, 4/16/02)
1530 Apr 18, Francois Lambert
d'Avignon (~43), French church reformer, died.
(MC, 4/18/02)
1530 May 7, Louis I Conde, French
prince, leader of Huguenots, was born.
(MC, 5/7/02)
1530 The earliest know French
contract for comedia dell’arte players was drawn up.
(TL-MB, p.14)
1530 Etienne Briard introduced
round characters in musical engraving.
(TL-MB, p.14)
1532 Francois Rabelais, French
satirist, published "La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel," a grotesque
and humorous satire on almost every aspect of contemporary religion and
culture.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(SSFC, 2/10/02, p.G5)
1532 John Calvin (1509-1564),
French theologian, started the Protestant Reformation in France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.14)
1533 Feb 28, Michel de Montaigne
(d.1592), was born near Bordeaux, France. He was the French
moralist who created the personal essay. Montaigne was brought up by
his father under peasant guidance and a German tutor for Latin. He
spent a lifetime of political service under Henry IV, and then composed
his "Essays." This was the first book to reveal with utter honesty and
frankness the author's mind and heart. Montaigne sought to reach beyond
his own illusions, to see himself as he really was, which was not just
the way others saw him. "Nothing is so firmly believed as what we least
know."
(WUD, 1994, p.928)(V.D.-H.K.p.144)(HN, 2/28/99)
1533 Caterina de Medici (14)
married the future Henry II (14) of France.
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.98)
1534 Apr 20, Jacques Cartier
departed St. Malo on the 1st of his 3 expeditions to the New World.
(http://tinyurl.com/ddztr)
1534 May 10, Jacques Cartier
reached Newfoundland. He noted the presence of the Micmac Indians who
fished in the summer around the Magdalen Islands north of Nova Scotia.
(CFA, '96, p.46)(SFEC, 5/11/97, p.T15)
1534 Jun 9, Jacques Cartier became
the first man to sail into the mouth of the St. Lawrence River.
(http://tinyurl.com/ddztr)
1534 Jun 29, Jacques Cartier
discovered Canada’s Prince Edward Islands.
(MC, 6/29/02)
1534 Jul 24, Jacques Cartier
landed in Canada and claimed it for France. Jacques Cartier while
probing for a northern route to Asia visited Labrador and said: "Fit
only for wild beasts... This must be the land God gave to Cain." [see
May 10]
(NG, V184, No. 4, 10/1993, p. 4)(MC, 7/24/02)
1534 Aug 15, St. Ignatius of
Loyola, Spanish ecclesiastic, founded the Society of Jesus (the
Jesuits) in Paris with the aim of defending Catholicism against heresy
and undertaking missionary work. Ignatius converted to Christianity
while convalescing after a battle and wrote his Spiritual Exercises
meant as a guide for conversion. In Paris, Ignatius and a small group
of men took vows of poverty, chastity and papal obedience. Ignatius
formally organized the order in 1539 that was approved by the pope in
1540. The society‘s rapid growth and emphasis on scholarship aided in
the resurgence of Catholicism during the Counter-Reformation. The
Jesuits were also active in missionary work in Asia, Africa and the
Americas.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.14)(HNQ, 1/13/01)(MC, 8/15/02)
1534 Oct 18, A new pursuit of
French protestants began.
(MC, 10/18/01)
1535 May 19, French explorer
Jacques Cartier set sail for North America.
(HN, 5/19/98)
1535 Sep 1, French navigator
Jacques Cartier landed in Quebec. The site of the city of Quebec was
first visited by Jacques Cartier. It was an Indian village called
Stadacona. Quebec is the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in
what is now Canada.
(HNQ, 10/3/99)(MC, 9/1/02)
1535 Oct 2, Jacques Cartier first
saw the site of what is now Montreal and proclaimed "What a royal
mountain," hence the name of the city. [see 1536] Having landed in
Quebec a month ago, Jacques Cartier reached a town, which he names
Montreal.
(SFEC, 3/2/97, p.T7)(HN, 10/2/98)
1535 France became the first
country to have a permanent embassy at the Sublime Porte in Istanbul.
(Econ, 12/12/09, p.93)
1536 May, Jacques Cartier sailed
for France from Canada and carried with him the kidnapped local chief
Donnacona, who later died in France. Donnacona, prior to his death,
described a mythical kingdom with great riches called Saguenay.
(Canada, 1960, p.21)
1536 Jul 6, Jaques Cartier
returned to France after discovering the St. Lawrence River in Canada.
(HN, 7/6/98)
1536 Jul 9, French navigator
Jacques Cartier returned to Saint-Malo from Canada.
(MC, 7/9/02)
1536 Jul 14, France and Portugal
signed the naval treaty of Lyons aligning themselves against Spain.
(HN, 7/14/98)
1536 Oct 6, William Tyndale, the
English translator of the New Testament, was strangled and burned at
the stake for heresy at Vilvorde, France. William Tyndale was strangled
and burned outside Brussels as a heretic by the Holy Roman Empire.
(WSJ, 12/22/94, A-20)(WSJ, 11/19/96, p.A20)(HN,
10/6/98)
1538 Jun 18, Treaty of Nice ended
the war between Emperor Charles V and King Francois I. It only lasted
10 months.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.15)(PCh, 1992, p.180)(MC, 6/18/02)
1539 Aug 10, King Francis of
France declared that all official documents were to be written in
French, not Latin.
(HN, 8/10/98)
1539 In Lyon printers went on
strike against long hours, poor conditions and excessive profits by
masters.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R25)
1541 Aug 23, Jacques Cartier
landed near Quebec on his third voyage to North America.
(HN, 8/23/98)
1542 Bernard Palissy started
working in France. He produced dishes and plates with leaves, lizards,
snakes, insects and shells in high relief.
(SFC, 1/8/96, z-1 p.6)
1542 War was renewed between
the Holy Roman Empire and France.
(TL-MB, p.16)
1543 Aug 22, French and Ottoman
forces captured Nice following a siege of the city. Admiral Barbarossa
led the Ottoman fleet in the campaign.
(Econ, 12/12/09,
p.93)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Nice)
1544 Sep 14, Henry VIII's forces
took Boulogne, France.
(HN, 9/14/98)
1544 Sep 14, Henry VIII's forces
took Boulogne, France.
(HN, 9/14/98)
1544 Sep 19, Francis, the king of
France, and Charles V of Austria signed a peace treaty in Crespy,
France, ending a 20-year war. The Peace of Crespy ended the fighting
between Charles V and Francis I. Henry VIII was not consulted. France
surrendered much territory and Charles gave up his claim to Burgundy.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.16)(HN, 9/19/98)
1544 Henry VIII crossed the
Channel to Calais to campaign with Charles V against Francis I.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.16)
1544 Gustavus I of Sweden signed
an alliance with France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.16)
1545 Feb 13, William of Nassau
became prince of Orange.
(MC, 2/13/02)
1545 Apr 12, French king Francis I
ordered the Protestants of Vaudois killed.
(MC, 4/12/02)
1545 Apr 13, Elisabeth van Valois,
French queen of Spain, daughter of Henri II, was born.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1545 Jul 19, A French fleet
entered The Solent, the channel between the Isle of Wight and
Hampshire, England, and French troops landed on the Isle of Wight. King
Henry VIII of England watched his flagship, Mary Rose, capsize in
Portsmouth harbor as it left to battle the French. 73 people died
including Roger Grenville, English captain of Mary Rose. The Mary Rose
was raised in 1982.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN,
7/19/98)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Rose)
1546 Jun 7, The Peace of Ardes
ended the war between France and England.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 6/7/98)
1546 Aug 3, French printer Etienne
Dolet, accused of heresy, blasphemy and sedition, was hanged and burned
at the stake for printing reformist literature.
(HN, 8/3/98)
1546 Pierre Lescot, French
architect, began the building of the Louvre in Paris. Francois I,
needing more space for acquired works of art, started the construction
of 2 new wings to the 12th century Louvre fortress.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20)
1547 Mar 31, Francis I, King of
France (1515-1547), died and was succeeded by his son Henry II, who was
dominated by his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, during his 12 year reign.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 3/31/99)
1548 Aug 15, Mary Queen of the
Scots (6), who was engaged to the Dauphin, landed in France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(MC, 8/15/02)
1548 Tomas Luis de Victoria,
composer of spiritual miniatures, was born.
(PNM, 1/25/98, p.5)
1549 Aug 9, France declared war on
England. England declared war on France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.17)(HN, 8/9/98)
1549 Nov 5, Philippe du Plessis,
France, author, was born.
(MC, 11/5/01)
1550 Mar 24, France and England
signed the Peace of Boulogne. It ended the war of England with Scotland
and France. France bought back Boulogne for 400,000 crowns.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)(MC, 3/24/02)
1550 Jun 27, Charles IX, king of
France (1560-74), was born.
(SC, 6/27/02)
1551 Jun 27, France promulgated
the Edict of Chateaubriand, a crackdown on Protestantism in France. The
Edict of Chateaubriand placed severe restrictions on Protestants,
including loss of one-third of property to informers and confiscation
of all property of those who left France.
(www.pierrechastain.com/timeline.htm)
1552 Jan 15, France signed a
secret treaty with German Protestants.
(MC, 1/15/02)
1553 Aug 2, An invading French
army was destroyed at the Battle of Marciano in Italy by an imperial
army.
(HN, 8/2/98)
1553 Dec 13, Henry IV (d.1610),
Henry of Navarre, Henry the Great, 1st Bourbon king of Navarre, France,
(1572/89-1610), was born.
(WUD, 1994, p.662)(MC, 12/13/01)
1553 "Les Observations de
Plusieurs Singularitez et Choses Memorables" was written by Pierre
Belon, French naturalist and traveler. It included an account of
Turkish fruit sorbets.
(NH, 4/97, p.77)
1553 Francois Rabelais (b.1490),
French physician, satirist and humorist, died. He studied with the
Benedictines and received orders from the Franciscans. His work
included the multi-volume "La Vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel."
(WUD, 1994, p.1183)(V.D.-H.K.p.143)(SSFC, 2/10/02,
p.G5)
1554 Henry II of France invaded
the Netherlands.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)
1554 Fernelius, French physician,
codified the medicine of the Renaissance.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.18)
1554-1562 Pierre Eskrich (aka Pierre DuVase), a
French illustrator, produced a collection of 218 bird paintings. He had
fled Lyon to Geneva to escape the Edict of Chateaubriand (1551), a
crackdown on Protestantism in France.
(SFC, 3/17/06, p.E7)
1555 Balthazar de Beaujoyeoux,
violinist, introduced several fellow violinists to the court of
Catherine de Medici. Under his influence the lute was replaced by the
violin as France’s most popular instrument.
(SFC, 12/29/96, zone 1 p.2)
1556 Feb 5, Henry II of France and
Philip of Spain signed the truce of Vaucelles.
(HN, 2/5/99)
1556 The first tobacco seeds from
Brazil reached Europe, brought back by Andre Thevet, a Franciscan monk.
[see Mar 5, 1558, 1561]
(TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R49)
1557 Sep 1, Jacques Cartier,
French explorer, died in St. Malo, France.
(www.plpsd.mb.ca/amhs/history/cartier.html)
1557 Aug 10, Spanish and English
troops in alliance defeated the French at the Battle of St. Quentin
(San Quintino). French troops were defeated by Emanuele Filiberto's
Spanish army at St. Quentin, France. In 1559 Filiberto made Turin
capital of his Savoy state.
(HN,
8/10/98)(www.niaf.org/news/news_italy/news_italy_mar2003.asp)
1557 The influx of New World
silver caused bankruptcies in France and Spain.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.19)
1558 Jan 6, The French seized the
British held port of Calais.
(HN, 1/6/99)
1558 Jan 7, The French, under the
Duke of Guise, finally took the port of Calais from the English.
(HN, 1/7/99)
1558 Mar 5, Smoking tobacco was
introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes.
(MC, 3/5/02)
1558 Apr 24, Mary, Queen of
Scotland, married the French dauphin, Francis.
(HN, 4/24/98)
1558 Apr 26, Jean Francois Fernel,
French physician, died.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1558 Jun 22, The French took the
French town of Thioville from the English.
(HN, 6/22/98)
1558 Jul 13, Led by the court of
Egmont, the Spanish army defeated the French at Gravelines, France.
(HN, 7/13/98)
1558 Jul 23, Battle at
Grevelingen: Gen. Lamoral van Egmont beat France. [see Jul 13]
(MC, 7/23/02)
1559 Apr 3, Philip II of Spain and
Henry II of France signed the peace of Cateau-Cambresis, ending a long
series of wars between the Hapsburg and Valois dynasties.
(HN, 4/3/99)
1559 Jul 10, Henry II of France
died following a wound to the head by a tournament lance on June 30.
This allegedly fulfilled a prophecy by Nostradamus. Gabriel de Lorges
de Montgomery, captain of the Scottish Guards, accidentally killed
Henry II as they jousted in front of the Hotel Royal des Tournelles.
The widowed queen, Catherine de Medicis (d.1589), had the royal
residence demolished.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.19)(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.16)
1559 The first synod of Calvinist,
or Reformed, churches, met in Paris. The common name given to French
Protestants during the Reformation, Huguenots, came into use soon
thereafter. They formed a loose national organization as they won
converts among many French nobles. This led to a series of wars as
Roman Catholic nobles feared the growth of Huguenot power. The
Religious Wars were marked by the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of
1572 in which Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny and thousands of
Huguenots were killed at the behest of Catherine de" Medici.
Persecution of Huguenots persisted until the French Revolution in 1789
granted freedom of religion.
(HNQ, 10/8/00)
1560 Sep 16, Arnaud du Tilh, who
had confessed to impersonating Martin Guerre, was hanged in front of
Guerre’s house in Artigat, France. In 1941 Janet Lewis (1899-1998)
published "The Wife of Martin Guerre," a historical novel based on
Guerre. The story was turned into an opera in 1961 with music by
William Bergsma. In 1984 a French film version was released "The Return
of Martin Guere." An American version, "Somersby," was made in 1993 set
during the Civil War.
(SFC, 12/5/98,
p.C2)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Guerre)
1560 The Huguenot conspiracy of
Amboise attempted without success to overthrow the Guises, a powerful
French ducal line that championed the Catholic cause.
(TL-MB, p.20)
1561 Jan 28, The Edict of Orleans
suspended the persecution of French Huguenots.
(MC, 1/28/02)
1561 May, In Montpellier, a
Calvinist stronghold, the Catholics marched in protest against the
Calvinists chanting "We shall dance in spite of the Huguenots." Wars of
religion began to rip France apart and lasted for the next 6 decades.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R22)
1561 Sep 20, Queen Elizabeth of
England signed a treaty at Hamptan Court with French Huguenot leader
Louis de Bourbon, the Prince of Conde. The English would occupy Le
Havre in return for aiding Bourbon against the Catholics of France.
(HN, 9/20/98)
1561 Sep 23, Philip II of Spain
gave orders to halt colonizing efforts in Florida. The French took
advantage of the opportunity.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.20)(HN, 9/23/98)
1561 Jean Nicot, French ambassador
to Lisbon, sent tobacco seeds and powdered leaves back to France. The
word "nicotine" is derived from his name. French diplomat Jean Nicot
introduced the use of tobacco to the French court in the 1560s.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.20)(HNQ, 1/24/00)
1562 Jan 17, French Protestant
Huguenots were recognized under the Edict of St. Germain.
(AP, 1/17/98)
1562 Mar 1, Blood bath at Vassy;
General de Guise allowed the murder of 1200 Huguenots. The Guises
massacred more than 60 Huguenots at a Protestant service at Vassy and
sparked off The Wars of Religion in France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.20)(SC, 3/1/02)
1562 May 1, The 1st French
colonists in the US, a 5-vessel Huguenot expedition led by Jean Ribault
(1520-1565), landed in Florida. He continued north and established a
colony named Charlesfort at Parris Island, NC.
(Arch, 1/05,
p.47)(www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0841765.html)
1562 Dec 19, The French Wars of
Religion between the Huguenots and the Catholics began with the Battle
of Dreux.
(HN, 12/19/98)
1563 Feb 18, Huguenot Jean Poltrot
de Merde shot French Gen. Francois De Guise (44).
(MC, 2/18/02)
1563 Mar 19, The Peace of Amboise
granted Rights for Huguenots.
(MC, 3/19/02)
1563 Apr 30, Jews were expelled
from France by order of Charles VI.
(HN, 4/30/98)
1564 Jun 22, A 3-ship French
expedition under René de Laudonnière arrived in Florida
and built Fort Caroline. French artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues was
part of the expedition.
(Arch, 1/05,
p.47)(www.cla.sc.edu/sciaa/staff/depratterc/chas2.html)(WSJ, 7/18/08,
p.W8)
1564 Sep 4, A 10-ship Spanish
fleet under Pedro Menendez de Aviles made landfall in Florida. Menendez
was under orders from Phillip II to oust the French.
(Arch, 1/05, p.47)
1564 Sep 13, On the verge of
attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida,
Jean Ribault's French fleet was scattered by a devastating storm.
(HN, 9/13/98)
1564 France adopted the reformed
calendar and shifted the new year from April to Jan. Some didn't like
the change and were called April fools.
(SFEC, 1/10/99, Z1 p.8)
1565 Sep 20, A Spanish fleet under
Pedro Menendez de Aviles wiped out some 350 Frenchmen at Fort Caroline,
in Florida. Spanish forces under Pedro Menendez massacred a band of
French Huguenots that posed a potential threat to Spanish hegemony in
the area. They also took advantage of the local Timucuan Indian tribe.
Artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues managed to escape and return to
France, where he painted watercolors depicting the local botany. His
alleged paintings of Indians living nearby were later thrown into
question.
(WSJ, 8/3/95, p.A-8)(Arch, 1/05, p.47)(WSJ, 7/18/08,
p.W8)(Arch, 5/05, p.31)(Arch, 1/06, p.25)
1566 Jul 2, French astrologer,
physician and prophet Nostradamus died in Salon.
(AP, 7/2/97)
1567 Nov
10, In the Battle at St. Denis the French government army faced the
Huguenots. Catholic duke François I of Condé (1530-1569)
managed to sustain his position against a numerically larger force of
Huguenots (French Protestants). The Huguenots had started a second War
of Religion in France with the Conspiracy of Meaux led by Condé
and Duke Anne of Montmorency (1493?-1567). Montmorency lost his life at
St. Denis.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.21)(DoW, 1999, p.390)
1567 Samuel de Champlain, French
explorer (Lake Champlain), was born. Later evidence suggested that he
was more likely born about 1580.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_de_Champlain)
1568 Mar 23, Treaty of Longjumeau:
French Huguenots went on strike.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1568 May 3, French forces in
Florida slaughtered hundreds of Spanish.
(HN,
5/3/98)
1569 Mar 13, Count of Anjou
defeated the Huguenots at the Battle of Jarnac. Louis Conde, French
prince, co-leader of Huguenots, died in battle.
(MC, 3/13/02)
1569 Oct 3, Battle of Montcontour
the Duke of Anjou beat the Huguenots.
(MC, 10/3/01)
1570 Aug 8, Charles IX of France
signed the Treaty of St. Germain (Peace of St. Germain-en-Laye), ending
the third war of religion and giving religious freedom to the Huguenots.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 8/8/98)
1572 Aug 24, The slaughter of
French Protestants at the hands of Catholics began in Paris as Charles
IX of France attempted to rid the country of Huguenots. Charles, under
the sway of his mother Catherine de Medici, believed the Huguenot
Protestants were plotting a revolution. France’s fourth war of religion
started with the Massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day, in which 50,000
Huguenots and their leader, Admiral Gaspard de Chastillon, Count the
Coligny, were killed in and around Paris. Meyerbeer's 1836 opera "Les
Huguenots" was centered on the struggle. The House of Guise played a
leading role in the massacre. In 2009 Stuart Carroll authored “Martyrs
and Murderers: The Guise Family and the Making of Europe.”
(AP, 8/24/97)(HN, 8/24/98)(WSJ, 11/23/99,
p.A21)(Econ, 11/7/09, p.78)
1572 Michel de Montaigne, French
philosopher, observed that “there are men on whom the mere sight of
medicine is operative.”
(Econ, 11/1/08, p.92)
1573 Mar 14, Claude II of
Lotharingen, duke of Aumale, died. He murdered Huguenot leader Adm.
Coligny. (see Aug 24, 1572]
(MC, 3/14/02)
1573 Apr 26, Marie de'Medici,
Queen of France, was born.
(MC, 4/26/02)
1574 Feb 23, The 5th War of
Religion, against the Huguenots, broke out in France.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)(HN, 2/23/98)(MC, 2/23/02)
1574 In France Charles IX died and
was succeeded by his brother Henry of Valois, Henry III.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1575 Nov 8, French Catholics
and Huguenots signed a treaty.
(MC, 11/8/01)
1576 Feb 3, Henry of Navarre
(future Henry IV) escaped from Paris.
(MC, 2/3/02)
1576 Feb 5, Henry of Navarre
renounced Catholicism at Tours.
(MC, 2/5/02)
1576 May 6, The peace treaty of
Chastenoy ended the fifth war of religion.
(HN, 5/6/98)
1576 Jean Bodin, French political
theorist, published his Six Books of the Commonwealth, wherein he
argues that the basis of any society is the family.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1576 Carolus Clusius, French
botanist, published his treatise on the flowers of Spain and Portugal.
It was the first modern work on botany.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1576 The Fifth War of Religion in
France ends with the Peace of Monsieur. The Huguenots were granted
freedom of worship in all places except Paris.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1578 The Pont-Neuf was begun.
(SFEM, 3/12/00, p.50)
1578 Faience, a tin-glazed
earthenware, was manufactured at Nevers, France, by the Conrade
brothers.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.22)
1579 Jan 6, The Union of Atrecht
(French: Arras) was an accord signed in Atrecht (Arras), under which
the southern states of the Spanish Netherlands, today in Wallonia and
the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (and Picardy) regions in France, expressed their
loyalty to the Spanish king Philip II and recognized the landlord, Don
Juan de Austria. It is to be distinguished from the Union of Utrecht,
signed later in the same month. The Peace of Arras ensured that the
southern provinces of The Netherlands were reconciled to Philip II. It
joined the Low Country Walloons (Catholics) with those of Hainaut and
Artois.
(http://en.allexperts.com/e/u/un/union_of_atrecht.htm)(PCh, 1992, p.200)
1580 Mar 15, Spanish king Philip
II put 25,000 gold coins on head of Prince William of Orange.
(MC, 3/15/02)
1580 Nov 26, French Huguenots and
Catholics signed a peace treaty. France’s 7th War of Religion broke out
and ended with the Peace of Fleix.
(TL-MB, p.23)(PCh, 1992, p.200)(MC,
11/26/01)
1580 Michel de Montaigne, French
scholar and nobleman, wrote his personal essays entitled "Essais."
(TL-MB, p.23)
1580 The Roman fortress at Suin
burned down.
(SFEC, 11/21/99, p.T4)
1581 Guillaume Postel, French
intellectual, mathematician and Kabbalist, died. In 1957 William James
Bouwsma (d.2004) authored "The Career and Thought of Guillaume Postel
(1510-1581)."
(Internet)
1581 Oct 15, Commissioned by
Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine," was
staged in Paris.
(MC, 10/15/01)
1582 Oct 15, The Gregorian (or New
World) calendar was adopted in Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal; and
the preceding ten days were lost to history. This day followed Oct 4 to
bring the calendar into sync. by order of the Council of Trent. Oct
5-14 were dropped.
(K.I.-365D, p.97)(NG, March 1990, J. Boslough)(HN,
10/15/98)
1583 Nov, Francis Throckmorton,
who was born in 1554, was arrested. He made a full confession of the
Throckmorton Plot for the overthrow of Queen Elizabeth I and the
restoration of papal authority in England after being tortured on the
rack. He was tried and then executed on July 20, 1584. Throckmorton was
the central figure in the conspiracy involving France and Spain, which
called for a French invasion of England and the release from prison of
Mary, Queen of Scots.
(HNQ, 10/8/98)
1584 Jul 10, William of Orange
(1533-1584), Prince of Orange (1544-1584), Count of Nassau (1559-1584),
and first stadholder of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, was
assassinated by Burgundian Balthasar Gerard (25) with a handgun. Philip
II of Spain had called for a volunteer assassin due to William’s
reluctance take a public stand on religious issues. William was
succeeded by his 17-year-old son, Maurice of Nassau. In 2006 Lisa
Jardine authored “The Awful End of Prince William the Silent.”
(TL-MB, 1988, p.23)(WSJ, 4/5/06, p.D8)
1584 The oldest surviving
lighthouse (wave-swept) was begun at Cordonau, by the mouth of the
Gironde River in France.
(TL-MB, p.23)
1585 Jul 7, King Henri III &
Duke De Guise signed the Treaty of Nemours: French Huguenots lost all
freedoms.
(MC, 7/7/02)
1585 Sep 9, Duc Armand Jean du
Plessis de Richelieu (d.1642), French cardinal and statesman who helped
build France into a world power under the leadership of King Louis
XIII, was born. He was premier of France from 1624 to 1642.
(HN, 9/9/98)(MC, 9/9/01)
1585 Sep 9, Pope Sixtus V deprived
Henry of Navarre of his rights to the French crown.
(HN, 9/9/98)
1585 Dec 14, Henry IV, the first
Bourbon king of France, was born. He survived the massacre of St.
Bartholomew’s by proclaiming himself a Catholic.
(HN, 12/14/99)
1585 The War of the Three Henries
[Henry III, Henry of Guise, and Henry of Navarre] began when Henry of
Navarre, a Huguenot, became heir to the French throne.
(TL-MB, p.24)
1587 Oct 20, In France, Huguenot
Henri de Navarre routed Duke de Joyeuse's larger Catholic force at
Coutras.
(HN, 10/20/98)
1588 May 9, Duke Henri de Guise's
troops occupied Paris.
(MC, 5/9/02)
1588 May 12, King Henry II fled
Paris after Catholic League under duke Henry of Guise entered the city.
The people of Paris rose against Henry III, who fled to Chartres. Seven
months later he had Henry of Guise and his brother, Cardinal de Guise,
assassinated.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(HN, 5/12/98)(MC, 5/12/02)
1588 Dec 23, Henri de Guise (37),
French leader of Catholic League, was murdered.
(MC, 12/23/01)
1588 Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues
(b.~1533), French artist, died in England. He had painted watercolors
of the flora and fauna of Florida, which were lost during a Spanish
attack in 1565. Back in France he created new paintings, which were
also lost, but engravings made by a Flemish publisher survived. In 2008
Miles Harvey authored “Painter in a Savage Land.”
(WSJ, 7/18/08,
p.W8)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Le_Moyne_de_Morgues)
1589 Jan 5, Catherine de Medici
(b.1519), Queen Mother of France, died at age 69. In 2005 Leonie Frieda
authored “Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France.”
(TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(AP, 1/5/98)(WSJ, 8/10/05, p.D12)
1589 Aug 1, Monk Jacques Clement
attempted to murder French King Hendrik III. [see Aug 2]
(MC, 8/1/02)
1589 Aug 2, Henry III, King of
France, was assassinated by a Jacobin monk, Jacques Clement. Last of
the House of Valois, he named Henry (1553-1610), King of Navarre, to
succeed him. During France's religious war, a fanatical monk stabbed
King Henry II to death.
(TL-MB, 1988, p.24)(WUD, 1994, p.662)(HN, 8/2/98)
1589 Sep 21, The Duke of Mayenne
of France, head of the Catholic League, was defeated by Henry IV of
England at the Battle of Arques.
(HN, 9/21/98)(MC, 9/21/01)
1589 Bernard Palissey, a Huguenot,
expressed the opinion that fossils were the remains of living
creatures. He was locked up in the dungeons of the Bastille for his
opinions and died there.
(SFC, 9/20/97, p.E3)
1589-1610 Henry (1553-1610), King of Navarre, as
Henry IV became the first Bourbon King of France, Henry the Great. He
switched from Protestantism to Catholicism. "Paris is well worth a
Mass."
(TL-MB, p.24)(WUD, 1994, p.662)(Hem., 1/97, p.101)
1590 Dec 20, Ambroise Pare (80),
French surgeon, died.
(MC, 12/20/01)
1590 Bernard Pallissy (b.1510),
French ceramicist, painter and writer, died. Pallisy produced his
designs by attaching casts of dead lizards, snakes, and shellfish to
traditional ceramic forms such as basins, ewers, and plates. He then
painted these wares in blue, green, purple, and brown, and glazed them
with runny lead-based glaze to increase their watery realism. The style
became known as Pallisy ware.
(www.palissy.com/)
1591 Mar 1, Pope Gregory XIV
threatened to excommunicate French king Henri IV.
(SC, 3/1/02)
1591 Sep 21, French bishops
recognized Henri IV as king of France.
(MC, 9/21/01)
1592 Sep 13, Michel Eyquem de
Montaigne, French philosopher (L'Amiti), died at 59.
(MC, 9/13/01)
1593 Mar 19, Georges de la Tour
(d.1652), French painter, was born. His night painting "The Penitent
Magdelene" features a seated woman contemplating a flame with one hand
resting on a skull.
(NH, 10/96, p.39)(MC, 3/19/02)
1593 Jul 25, France's King Henry
IV converted from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
(AP, 7/25/97)
1594 Nicolas Poussin (d.1665),
known as the founder of French Classicism, was born.
(WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-10)(AAP, 1964)(SFC,11/22/97, p.D5)
1594 The first act of Henry of
Navarre, when he entered Paris as Henry IV, was to touch 600 scrofulous
[tuberculytic] persons.
(WP, 1951, p.7)
1594 Henry IV proposed his "Grande
Dessein" to join the Louvre with the nearby Tuileries palace, which had
been built under Catherine de Medici.
(WSJ, 10/7/98, p.A20)
1595 Jun 5, Henry IV’s army
defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise.
(HN, 6/5/98)
1596 Mar 31, Rene Descartes
(d.1650), French philosopher, was born in La Haye, France. He proposed
a numerical index that represented fundamental notions. He made
consciousness the defining feature of the self. Descartes died in
Sweden. In 1997 Paul Strathern published: "Descartes in 90 Minutes,"
and Keith Devlin published "Goodbye Descartes: The End of Logic and the
Search for a New Cosmology of the Mind." In 1998 the French biography
by Genevieve Rodis-Lewis was translated to English: "Descartes: His
Life and Thought."
(V.D.-H.K.p.203)(Wired, 8/96, p.86)(WSJ, 3/18/97,
p.A20)(AP, 3/30/97) (WSJ, 7/23/98, p.A14)(WSJ, 8/21/98, p.W13)
1598 Apr 13, King Henry IV of
France endorsed the Edict of Nantes, which granted political rights to
French Huguenots. (The edict was abrogated in 1685 by King Louis XIV,
who declared France entirely Catholic again.)
(AP, 4/13/98)(HN, 4/13/98)
1598-1666 Nicolas Francois Mansart, architect. The
mansard roof is named after him.
(WUD, 1994, p.873)(SFC, 8/25/99, Z1 p.7)
1600s The contractor
Jean-Christophe Marie built bridges on the Seine to the Ile St.-Louis
and laid out lots on straight streets for sale.
(SFEC, 6/22/97, p.T8)
c1600 French fishermen and their
families settled the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon off the coast
of Newfoundland. The 9-island was later made a French territory.
(WSJ, 6/30/00, p.B4)
1600-1700 Cognac 1st appeared when Dutch sea
merchants found that they could better preserve white wine shipped from
France to northern Europe by distilling it. They then learned the wine
got better as it aged in wooden barrels.
(WSJ, 7/14/03, p.A1)
1601 Jan 17, The Treaty of Lyons
ended a short war between France and Savoy. Savoy was ceded to France
in 1860.
(WUD, 1994, p.1272)(HN, 1/17/99)
1601 Aug 17, Pierre de Fermat
(d.1665), French mathematician, was born. [There is some dispute as to
his exact birthdate.]
(WSJ, 11/25/96, p.A16)(SFEC,12/797, BR p.5)(SC,
8/17/02)
1601 Aug 22, Georges de Scudery,
French writer (Observations sur le Cid), was born.
(MC, 8/22/02)
1601 Sep 27, Maria de Medicis
(1575-1642), the 2nd wife of King Henry IV of France, gave birth to
Louis XIII, who later became king of France (1610-43). Henry IV, in
honor of the birth, revived a tapestry scheme by poet Nicholas Houel
and artist Antoine Caron, that had been conceived in honor of Caterina
de Medici (1519-1589). Louis ascended to the throne at the age of nine
following the assassination of his father. At 17, he seized control of
the empire from his mother Marie de' Medici. Louis XIII proved to be a
strongly pro-Catholic ruler.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_de%27_Medici)(Econ, 11/1/08, p.98)
1602 Jul 14, Jules Mazarin, French
cardinal, French 1st Minister (1642-61), was born.
(MC, 7/14/02)
1602 Jul 29, The Duke of Biron was
executed in Paris for conspiring with Spain and Savoy against King
Henry IV of France.
(HN, 7/29/98)
1604 Jun 26, French explorer
Samuel de Champlain, Pierre Dugua and 77 others landed on the island of
St. Croix and made friends with the native Passamaquoddy Indians. It
later became part of Maine on the US-Canadian border.
(PacDis, Spring/'94, p. 43)(SSFC, 6/20/04, p.D10)
1604 Claude Lorrain (b.1682),
French painter (also known as Claude Gelée), was born.
(WSJ, 11/6/02, p.D8)
1605 Henry IV and his minister,
Duc de Sully, decided to build a square over the former site of the
Hotel Royal des Tournelles. The new square was named the Place Royale
until the Revolution when it was renamed the Place des Vosges after the
first administrative department, Les Vosges, that paid taxes.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.16)
1605 French King Henry IV
established a building code that set architectural themes and specified
that pavilions had to owned by a single family.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.35)
1605-1610 French King Henry IV and his minister, the
Duc de Sully, built the Place des Vosges, originally called the Place
Royale, in the Marais district of Paris.
(SSFC, 9/11/05, p.E6)
1605-1704 Marc-Antoine Charpentier, French composer.
His work included "Antiennes "O" de l’Avent."
(WSJ, 11/27/01, p.A20)
1606 Jun 6, Pierre Corneille
(d.1684), French dramatist, poet and writer of Le Cid, was born:
"Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare."
(AP, 3/28/98)(HN, 6/6/98)
1606 The order of the Sisters of
Ursula was founded in France. Like their Jesuit brethren they try to
fuse contemplative withdrawal with worldly engagement.
(WSJ, 12/3/98, p.W17)
1607 Sep 28, Samuel de Champlain
and his colonists returned to France from Port Royal Nova Scotia.
(HN, 9/28/98)
1608 Jul 3, The city of Quebec was
founded by Samuel de Champlain. The French adventurer Etienne Brule
accompanied Champlain to North America and was reportedly eaten by the
Huron Indians.
(AP, 7/3/97)(SFEC, 6/7/98, Z1 p.8)
1610 May 14, King Henri IV, Henri
de Navarre (56), Bourbon King of France (1572, 89-1610) was
assassinated by a fanatical monk, François Ravillac. Henri IV
was succeeded by 11-year-old Louis XIII, under the eye of Cardinal
Richelieu. Henry’s legacy included straight roads flanked by arbres
d’alignement on both sides.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.17)(HN, 5/14/99)(MC,
5/14/02)(Econ, 2/14/04, p.48)
1610 May 15, Parliament of Paris
appointed Louis XIII (8) as French king.
(MC, 5/15/02)
1610-1643 Louis XIII (1601-1643) was King of France.
He was the son of Henry IV of Navarre. He started the fashion of men’s
wigs do to loss of hair.
(WUD, 1994, p.524)(SFC, 12/29/96, zone 1 p.2)
1612 "Le Carrousel du Roi," an
equestrian ballet, was choreographed by Antoine de Pluvinel and scored
by Robert Ballard. It was performed as part of an engagement ceremony
for Louis XIII of France to Anne of Austria, princess of Spain. An
estimated 200,000 people viewed the performance in Paris’ Place Royale
(later the Place des Vosges).
(SFEC, 6/4/00, DB p.38)(SFEC, 6/11/00, p.D9)
1612 The Pavillon du Roi, begun
under Henri IV, was completed. It was occupied by the king’s court and
then the Duc de Sully, after which it was called the Hotel de Sully.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.17)
1613 Sep 15, Francois, duc de la
Rochefoucauld (d.1680), writer (Memoires), was born in Paris, France.
"When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it
elsewhere."
(AP, 12/2/98)(www.bookrags.com)
1613-1700 Andre Le Notre, architect and landscape
designer. He shaped the gardens at Vaux-le-Vicomte, Versailles, Marly,
Chantilly, Saint Germain-en-Laye, Les Tuileries, saint cloud, Sceaux
and Courances.
(WUD, 1994, p.820)(SFEM, 5/18/97, p.26)
1614 May 15, An aristocratic
uprising in France ended with the treaty of St. Menehould.
(HN, 5/15/98)
1614 King Louis XIII (13) gave
Christophe Marie and his partners the go-ahead to build the Pont Marie
linking Paris’ Right Bank to the Ile Saint Louis.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.33)
1615 Feb 23, The Estates-General
in Paris was dissolved, having been in session since October 1614.
(HN, 2/23/99)
1615 Jul 28, French explorer
Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Huron on his seventh voyage to the
New World.
(HN, 7/28/98)
1615-1680 Nicolas Fouquet, treasurer to Louis XIV of
France. He used embezzled funds to build his chateau Vaux le Vicomte.
[see 1661]
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R8)
1616 Nov 20, Bishop Richelieu
became French minister of Foreign affairs and War.
(MC, 11/20/01)
1617 Baron de Vitry murdered
Marechal d’Ancre in a pavilion on the Place des Vosges.
(SFEM, 3/15/98, p.50)
1618 In France one of the first
manuals of conversation was published: “Maximes de la Bienséance
en la Conversation.”
(Econ, 12/23/06, p.80)
1619 Feb 24, Charles Le Brun,
painter, designer, was born in Paris.
(MC, 2/24/02)
1619 Mar 6, Cyrano de Bergerac
(d.1655), French poet, playwright (Voyage to the Moon), swordsman, was
born. His radical writings prefigured Voltaire and Diderot. His noted
nose was an invention of the poet Theophile Gautier introduced in an
1844 book. Edmond Rostand’s play on Cyrano was unveiled in 1897.
(SFEC, 4/27/97, DB p.3)(MC, 3/6/02)
1620 Feb 10, Supporters of Marie
de Medici, the queen mother, who had been exiled to Blois, were
defeated by the king’s troops at Ponts de Ce, France.
(AP, 2/10/99)
1620 Feb 15, Francois Charpentier,
French scholar, archaeologist, was born.
(MC, 2/15/02)
1620 Jul 21, Jean Picard, French
astronomer, was born.
(MC, 7/21/02)
1620 Aug 7, French king Louis XIII
beat his mother Marie de Medici at the Battle at Ponts-the-Ca, Poitou.
(MC, 8/7/02)
1620 Dec 23, French Huguenots
declared war on King Louis XIII.
(MC, 12/23/01)
c1620-1630 Marquisa de Rambouillet began inviting
acquaintances to her Paris townhouse for weekly conversations giving
birth to the Paris salon culture. In 2002 Benedetta Craveri authored
“The Age of Conversation.” An English translation came out in 2005.
(WSJ, 5/13/05, p.W6)
1621 Jul 8, Jean La Fontaine, poet
and author of Fables, was born.
(HN, 7/8/98)
1621 Sep 8, Louis II Conde, [Great
Conde], duke of Bourbon (Rocroy), was born.
(MC, 9/8/01)
1622 Jan 15, Moliere (d.1673)
[Jean Baptiste Poquelin], French actor and comic dramatist, was born.
He was the author of "Tartuffe" and "The Misanthrope" (1666). He also
did the bilingual experiment "L’Impromptu du Versailles." His last play
was "The Imaginary Invalid." "It is a stupidity second to none, to busy
oneself with the correction of the world."
(WUD, 1994, p.923)(WSJ, 4/5/96, p.A-6)(LSA, Spg/97,
p.14)(WSJ, 4/2/98, p.A20)(AP, 11/10/98)(HN, 1/15/99)
1622 Sep 5, Richelieu became
Cardinal.
(MC, 9/5/01)
1622 Oct 18, French King Louis
XIII and the Huguenots signed the treaty of Montpellier.
(MC, 10/18/01)
1622 Dec 28, Francois de Sales
(55), French bishop of Geneva, writer and saint, died.
(MC, 12/28/01)
1623 Jun 19, Blaise Pascal
(d.1662), French mathematician, physicist, religious writer, was born.
He affirmed that the heart has its reasons, that reason does not
comprehend. The French mathematician invented the roulette wheel in an
effort to create a perpetual motion machine. He formulated the first
laws of atmospheric pressure, equilibrium of liquids and probability."
All the troubles of man come from his not knowing how to sit still."
(V.D.-H.K.p.123)(SFEC, 3/23/97, z1 p.7)(AP,
6/19/98)(AP, 5/28/99)(HN, 6/19/99)
1624 Apr 29, Louis XIII appointed
Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of the Royal Council.
(HN, 4/29/98)
1624 Aug 13, French King Louis
XIII named Cardinal Richelieu his first minister.
(AP, 8/13/97)
1624 Nicolas Poussin, French
painter, left France and went to Rome.
(WSJ, 2/26/96, p.A-10)
1624 Artisans of Louis XIII
completed the 1st generation of the Louvre.
(SFC, 7/15/00, p.B3)
1625 Aug 20, Thomas Corneille,
French playwright, was born.
(MC, 8/20/02)
1625 The Marais district house at
62 Rue Saint Antoine, later known as the Hotel de Sully, was built.
(SFEC, 1/4/98, p.T7)
1626 Feb 6, Huguenot rebels and
the French signed the Peace of La Rochelle.
(HN, 2/6/99)
1626-1636 Francois Mansart, French royal architect,
built the Chateau de Balleroy in Normandy.
(SSFC, 6/6/04, D6)
1627 May 29, Anne of
Orléans, duchess of Montpensier (Grand Mademoiselle), was born.
(SC, 5/29/02)
1627 Jul 10, English fleet under
George Villiers reached La Rochelle, France, a Huguenot stronghold.
(MC, 7/10/02)(WUD, 1994, p.808)
1627 Jul 20, English fleet under
George Villiers reached La Rochelle. [see Jul 10]
(MC, 7/20/02)
1627 Aug 10, Cardinal Richelieu
began a siege of La Rochelle.
(MC, 8/10/02)
1628 Jan 13, Charles Perrault,
lawyer, writer (Mother Goose), was born in France.
(MC, 1/13/02)
1628 Oct 28, After a fifteen-month
siege, the Huguenot town of La Rochelle surrendered to Cardinal
Richelieu's Catholic forces. John Tradescant, an English gardener who
accompanied Duke George Villiers to rescue the Huguenots, had designed
siege trenches prior to the surrender.
(HN, 10/28/98)(MC, 10/28/01)(WSJ, 4/3/08, p.B19)
1630 Mar 23, French troops
occupied Pinerolo, Piedmont.
(SS, 3/23/02)
1630 Nov 10, In France there was a
failed palace revolution against Richelieu government.
(MC, 11/10/01)
1631 Oct 10, A Saxon army occupied
Prague.
(MC, 10/10/01)
1632 Apr 20, Nicolas Antione,
converted to Judaism, was burned at the stake. [see Dec 20]
(MC, 4/20/02)
1632 Oct 30, Henri de Montmorency,
French duke and plotter, was beheaded.
(MC, 10/30/01)
1632 Dec 20, Nicolas Antoine,
French Catholic pastor who converted to Judaism, was executed. [see Apr
20]
(MC, 12/20/01)
1633 May 1, Sebastien le Prestre
de Vauban, French fortress architect, was born.
(MC, 5/1/02)
1634 Mar 13, Academie Francaise
was established. Its task was to preserve the purity of the French
language, which included maintaining a dictionary. Members came to be
known as the "immortals" and by 1998 they were struggling with
masculine nouns of positions held by women who desired feminine endings.
(SFC, 1/17/98, p.A12)(MC, 3/13/02)
1634 Jul 14, Pasquier Quesnel,
French theologian, Jansenist (Jesus-Christ Penitent), was born.
(MC, 7/14/02)
1634-1644 Hugo Grotius (d.1645) of Holland, father of
international law, served the Swedish government as ambassador to
France.
(HN, 4/10/98)(HNQ, 3/15/00)
1635 May 19, Cardinal Richelieu of
France intervened in the great conflict in Europe by declaring war on
the Hapsburgs in Spain.
(DTnet, 5/19/97)(HN, 5/19/99)
1635 Jun 3, xxxx, French dramatist
whose popular librettos included Amadis, Roland and Armida, was born.
(HN, 6/3/99)
1635 Feb 22, King Louis XIII at
the urging of Cardinal Richelieu granted letters patent to formally
establish the Academie Francaise in Paris. The Académie
française was responsible for the regulation of French grammar,
orthography, and literature.
(http://tinyurl.com/4nq46)
1635 May 5, Philippe Quinault,
French playwright (L'amant indiscret), was born.
(MC, 5/5/02)
1635 Jun 28, The French colony of
Guadeloupe was established in the Caribbean.
(HN, 6/28/98)
1635 Dec 25, Samuel de Champlain,
French explorer of North America, died. In 2008 David Hackett Fischer
authored “Champlain’s Dream.”
(CFA, '96, p.60)(WSJ, 10/11/08, p.W8)
1636 Aug 8, The invading armies of
Spain, Austria and Bavaria were stopped at the village of
St.-Jean-de-Losne, only 50 miles from France.
(HN, 8/8/98)
1637 May 13, Cardinal Richelieu of
France created the table knife.
(MC, 5/13/02)
1638 Feb 28, Henri duc de Rohan,
French soldier, Huguenot leader, died.
(MC, 2/28/02)
1638 Apr 13, Duke Henri II (58),
French Huguenot leader, died.
(MC, 4/13/02)
1638 Sep 5, Louis XIV, "The Sun
King" (1643-1715) of France, was born. He built the palace at
Versailles. [see Sep 16]
(HN, 9/5/98)
1638 Sep 16, France's King Louis
XIV, the Sun King, was born. He ruled from 1643-1715 and died in 1715.
[see Sep 5]
(WUD, 1994, p.848)(AP, 9/16/97)
1638-1715 Dom Perignon, a French monk. He introduced
blending, vineyard and cellaring practices that made champagne a better
wine.
(Hem., 10/97, p.104)
1639 Feb 7, Academie Francaise
began its Dictionary of French Language.
(MC, 2/7/02)
1639 The Hugel company began
producing wine in the Alsatian village of Riquewihr.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R46)(SFC, 6/12/09, p.B3)
1639-1699 Racine, French dramatist. His plays
included "Phedre" and "Ariadne’s Thread" based on Greek myths.
(WUD, 1994, p.1184)(WSJ, 10/8/02, p.D8)
1640 Mar 9, Pierre Corneille’s
"Horace," premiered in Paris.
(MC, 3/9/02)
1642 May 18, The Canadian city of
Montreal was founded by French colonists.
(AP, 5/18/08)
1642 Jul 3, Maria de' Medici
(~69), French queen-mother, died.
(MC, 7/3/02)
1642 Sep 12, Cinq Mars, French
plotter, was executed.
(MC, 9/12/01)
1642 Dec 4, Cardinal Armand-Jean
Duplessis Richelieu (57), French statesman and bishop of Luzon, died.
"If you give me six lines written by the most honest man, I will find
something in them to hang him." "He did too much harm to be praised,
and too much good to be damned."
(MC, 12/4/01)(WSJ, 9/24/02, p.D8)(Econ, 1/24/04,
p.75)
1642 Le Vau, the royal architect,
built the Hotel Lambert on the Ile of Saint Louis.
(SFCM, 10/14/01, p.32)
1642 Blaise Pascal invented a
calculating machine to ease the drudgery of his tax-collector father.
It was considered too complicated.
(WSJ, 1/11/99, p.R14)
1642 A diamond, said to be stolen
from a Hindu statue, was acquired in India by Jean Baptiste Tavernier,
a noted French traveler. The 45.52 carat steel blue diamond was found
in India back in remote times as a rough crystal weighing 112 carats.
Tavernier later sold to King Louis XIV of France. The diamond, known as
the French Blue or the Tavernier Blue, disappeared. For many years it
was not heard from at all. In 1830, a large steel blue diamond of a
different shape, and weighing only 44.50 carats appeared on the market
in England and was purchased by Henry Thomas Hope, an English banker.
It changed hands a number of times and in 1911 it was sold to Evelyn
Walsh McLean of Washington, DC, who had it placed in a Cartier setting.
(http://famousdiamonds.tripod.com/hopediamond.html)(SSFC, 12/20/09,
p.N7)
1643 May 14, Louis XIV became King
of France at age 4 upon the death of his father, Louis XIII.
(AP, 5/14/97)
1643 May 18, Queen Anne, the widow
of Louis XIII, was granted sole and absolute power as regent by the
Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will.
(HN, 5/18/99)
1643 May 19, A French army
destroyed Spanish army at the Battle at Rocroi - Allersheim in France
(DTnet, 5/19/97)(HN, 5/19/98)
1643 Nov 22, Rene R. Cavelier,
sieur de La Salle, French explorer, was born. [see Dec 22]
(MC, 11/22/01)
1643 Dec 22, Rene-Robert Cavelier
La Salle, French explorer (Louisiana), was born. [see Nov 22]
(MC, 12/22/01)
1643-1715 Louis XIV was King of France. "L'etat c'est
moi" (I am the state). Francois Michelle Le Tellier, the Marquis de
Louvois, was his secretary of state for war. A portrait of the Marquis
was painted by Herault.
(WUD, 1994, p.848)(SFC,10/23/97, p.E1)
1645 Aug 16, Jean de la Bruyere,
French writer and moralist famous for his work "Characters of
Theophratus," was born.
(HN, 8/16/98)
1645 The construction of Saint
Sulpice in Paris, France, began over a Romanesque church and graveyard.
(SSFC, 1/25/04, p.C12)
1645 The San Marcoul Hospital was
established in Rheims, France, by a devout woman for the care of
scrofulous [tubercular] patients.
(WP, 1951, p.7)
1646-1707 Jules Hardouin Mansart, architect. He
became the chief architectural director for Louis XIV.
(WUD, 1994, p.873)
1647 Mar 14, The 1647 Treaty of
Ulm was reached between the French and the Bavarians during the Thirty
Years' War. In negotiations with the French, Maximilian I of Bavaria
abandoned his alliance with the Holy Roman emperor Ferdinand III
through the Treaty of Ulm. In 1648 Bavaria returned to the side of the
emperor.
(HNQ, 11/7/98)
1647 Nov 8, Pierre Bayle (d.1706),
French-Dutch theologian, philosopher, and writer, was born. He authored
the "Historical and Critical Dictionary." "If an historian were to
relate truthfully all the crimes, weaknesses and disorders of mankind,
his readers would take his work for satire rather than for history."
(WUD, 1994, p.128)(AP, 11/19/97)(WSJ, 12/2/97,
p.A20)(MC, 11/8/01)
1647 "L’Orfeo" was produced in
France. It was composed by Luigi Rossi who was imported by Cardinal
Mazarin who sought to bring the Italian operatic tradition to France
and mate it with the court orchestra, Les Vingt-Quatre Vuiolons du Roi.
(WSJ, 6/19/97, p.A16)
1648 Aug 26, There was a people's
uprising, the Fronde, against Anna of Austria, regent for Louis XIV of
France, and Cardinal Mazarin (d.1661), the effective ruler.
(PC, 1992, p.241)(MC, 8/26/02)
1648 Sep 1, Marin Mersenne (59),
French mathematician, died.
(SC, 9/1/02)
1648 The painting "Holy Family on
the Steps," later acquired by the US National Gallery of Art, was
initially attributed to Nicolas Poussin. The original turned out to be
at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the National Gallery changed the
authorship to a "follower of Poussin."
(WSJ, 4/9/99, p.W16)
1648 The French Royal Academy of
Painting and Sculpture was founded.
(AM, 7/05, p.54)
1649 Mar 11, The peace of Rueil
was signed between the Frondeurs (rebels) and the French government.
(HN, 3/11/99)
1649 Poussin created his painting
"Moses Striking the Rock."
(WSJ, 1/04/00, p.A16)
1649-1743 Hyacinthe Rigaud, painter. Painted the
"Portrait of Louis XIV."
(AAP, 1964)
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