FRANCE

Search for Liberty, Equality, Fraternity

GEOGRAPHICAL
SETTING
Notice on the map that
France is roughly six-
sided. On five sides,
boundaries are formed
by seas and mountains:
the English Channel on
the north, the Bay of
Biscay on the west, the
Pyrenees Mountains
on the southwest, the
Mediterranean Sea on
the south, and the Alps
on the East
Four great rivers of France: (1) the Loire; (2) the Seine;
(3) the Garonne; and (4) the Rhone

THE LOIRE THE SEINE

The most important French ports are Le Havre,
Bordeaux and Marseilles found at or near the mouths
of the rivers.
While a number of industrial towns have grown up near the
mines in the northeast, agriculture remains the backbone of
the French economy. In the rich soil of the great plain that
stretches from the Bay of Biscay to Germany, farmers raise
wheat, potatoes, apples, and sugar beets.

Grapes for wine are grown in the vineyards of Burgundy,

Bordeaux, and champagne. Famous cheeses are made from
the milk of cows, goats and sheep. Northern France has a
mild, damp marine climate, but winds from Africa give the
south the hot, dry summers and mild winters of a
Mediterranean climate
FRANCE BECAME UNITED UNDER POWERFUL KINGS

Roman, Frank, and Norman invaders shaped the story of

France
Hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, the Celts
lived in the region that is now France. They belonged to
the same group of people as the Celtic invaders of the
British Isles.
About a half-century before the birth of Christ, the
Romans invaded the territory and conquered the Celtic
tribes. They began to rule this region, which they called
GAUL.
The Romans built immense buildings, roads, bridges,
and aqueducts, many of which were so well
constructed that they are still standing.
During the centuries of Roman rule, Latin became the
common language of Gaul, so that the Celtics
language almost disappeared except in the remote
western section now called Brittany.
In spite of the German and Celtic influence, however,
the French language chiefly based on Latin.
Here are some examples:
Father: pater,pere Sister: soror, soeur
Mother: mater, mere Brother: fraters, frère
When Rome weakened, barbarian tribes came into Gaul

Three different barbarian peoples settled in Gaul

Visigoths- south near the Pyrenees
Burgundian- settled in the beautiful valley of the Rhone
River
The Franks- began to spread westward from the Rhine valley

The French of modern times are descendants of four

peoples. The Romanized Gauls and the Germanic
Visigoths, Burgundians, and Franks.
Gaul came to be known as France, or the land of the
Franks. An outstanding king of the Franks was Clovis.
This name, which later was changed in form to Louis,
is one, that many kings of France have had. Clovis
made his headquarters in Paris whose wife Clotilda
was a Christian.

When Clovis died early in the 6th century, his kingdom

was divided among his sons. The first successors of
Clovis continued to conquer new lands until the
territory of the Franks extended far into what is now
central Germany.
The chief offices of the government were the counts,
who represented the king in the various local
territories into which the kingdom was divided. The
territories became known as countries because the
local rulers were counts.
Finally, in the middle of the 8th century the king’s
minister, Pepin grew so powerful that he was able to
sweep away the old line of kings begun by Clovis.
The Pope agreed that Pepin should become king of
France with an agreement that he would at least in
theory a representative of the Pope and the church.
Here we see the beginning of the “divine right” idea.
Pepin , as the new king of the Franks strengthened
his kingdom and passed it on to his famous son,
Charlemagne.

Under the Feudalism system, he established schools,

encouraged the arts, and strengthened the church.
To keep the local governments of the country firmly
under his power he sent officials into the countries. It
was their job to hold counts, to hear appeals, and to
see that justice was done throughout the kingdom.
The people in France benefited by the peace and order
Charlemagne brought to the country. But when
Charlemagne died in the early years of the 9th century,
his empire began to go to pieces.

In the last part of the 9th century, about twenty thousand

Norsemen, in 700 ships landed on the northern shores
of France and began to take possession of the country.
In a few years the Norsemen, or Normans, had become
so strong in northern France that the French king,
Charles the Fat (884-7), decided it would be better to
make the Normans his friends.
He made the Norman leader, Rollo, one his vassals and
gave him rich farming lands in northern France as a
fief. That land is still called Normandy. To strengthen
Rollo’s loyalty, Charles gave him a French princess in
marriage.

When the nobles decided to get rid of the king who was
descended from Charlemagne, they chose Capet to
be king.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the Crusades
provided an excellent opportunity for the French
kings to strengthen their position.

In the later Middle Ages, trade increased in France as it

did in many other parts of Europe. Money came into
circulation. The cities and towns gained greater
freedom. A new middle class made up of tradesmen,
bankers, and other businessmen appeared. They
wanted peace and security.
CAPETIAN KINGS
Louis VI (the Fat) 1108-37- to enlarge his kingdom he arrange
a marriage between his eldest son, who became Louis VII,
and Eleanor of Aquitaine, the heiress to a vast feudal
estates in southwestern France.

Philip II 1180-1223- When Eleanor of Aquitaine, who had

been divorced from Louis VII married the English king
Henry II, her lands became part of England’s territory in
France. So more than half of France came under the English
control. After Henry died, and while his successor Richard
the Lionhearted was fighting in the Holy land, Philip
recovered most of the English lands in France. Thus, leader
Philip II France emerged as a major European power
Louis IX 1226-707- pious, unselfish, and just ruler. He made the
monarchy popular with the French people. After he was killed
while leading a crusade in the Holy land, he was declared a
saint.

Philip the Fair 1285-1314- tried to strengthen the French

monarchy by introducing a number of new taxes. But when
he tried to tax the clergy he came into conflict with the Pope.
To win the support of the people in his quarrel with the Pope
Philip met with the Estates-General, a kind of Congress made
up of representatives from the nobility, the clergy, and the
townsmen. The Estates-General supported him, and Philip
succeeded in setting the seat of papal authority moved to
Avignon in southern France.
Louis X died without leaving a son to inherit the throne. He
left a daughter, but the nobles did not want her as a
ruler. They decided to obey an old law of one of the
early tribes, known as the Salic law. It said no woman
could inherit the throne of France.

So Philip V, brother of Louis X, declared himself king of

France in 1317. In the meantime the English king,
Edward III (whose mother had been a French princess),
decided to press his own slight claim to the throne of
France. He hoped to win for himself the support of
some of the French nobles and to annex to England
additional lands in France.
HUNDRED YEAR’S WAR ( 1337-1453)

1. The French and the English each wanted to have all

the fishing rights in the English Channel and North
Sea.
2. The two nations were trade rivals as well. Flanders
was at that time the greatest manufacturing center
of woolen cloth, and the weaving industry
depended on the importation of English wool.
When the French interfered with the Flemish wool
trade, the laborers and manufacturers of Flanders
united with the English against the French.
JOAN OF ARC
It was Joan of Arc, a simple peasant girl. Though still in
her teens, Joan felt sure that she could aid the cause of
France. She believed that she had the power to help
the French dauphin or heir become king.

She begged the dauphin to let her lead a force against

the English, who were trying to capture the city of
Orleans just south of Paris. Orleans was saved but the
English looked at her as a witch. Joan standing by him,
the dauphin was crowned Charles VII, king of France.
But since the king was weak Joan continued to resist
the English and was taken as a prisoner.
The English turned Joan over to the church to be tried
for heresy, or violating church teachings. The trial
took place in the city of Rowen on the River Seine.
Joan was condemned to death in the old market
place of Rowen. She was chained to a stake. Fuel was
piled high about her and the torch applied. According
to legend, one of the English soldiers who had come
to rejoice at the death of an enemy was heard to cry
out, “we are lost- we have burned a saint!”
During the crisis in the early part of the 100 years’ war the
Estates-General gained considerable power in the French
government. Because the king needed its support so
desperately, the Estates-General was able to demand the
right to levy all taxes and to get a full accounting of how
the money was spent. But by the end of the war the
assembly had lost all of its power. For the next three
centuries it had almost no influence in government.
In the reign of Louis XIII early in the seventeenth century
there was a brilliant and ruthless royal minister named
Richelieu. He finished the job of making the king all-
powerful by taking ones the local government of all the
provinces of France.
He left the governors with no power except in
unimportant local affairs. He cut down the power of
the nobles. It was Richelieu who started the policy of
getting the nobles to stay at the count. There it was
easy to keep an eye on them and to stop any ideas of
rebellion.

Louis XIV
About the middle of 17th c., a five year old lad inherited
the French throne. His reign of seventy-two years is
the longest of any monarch in European history.
Like James I of England, Louis XIV believed in the divine
right to rule. He said “ I am the state”. The nobles
who had once spent most of their time fighting the
king were now content to live at the palace in his
favor. Thus, the French king had become powerful
and had united the nation. But the extravagance and
selfishness of divine-right monarchs were bound
finally to lead to dissatisfaction and rebellion in
France just as they had in England. Louis XIV came to
be known as the Grand Monarch, the Sun King.
KING LOUIS XIV
PALACE OF VERSAILLES