Ancient History

Earliest archaeological evidence places Celtic tribes in France and western Germany around 1200 BC. In the early Iron Age they are associated with the Hallstatt culture (8th-6th century BC), named for an archaeological site in Austria. In the 5th century BC, the La Tene culture, characterized by finely crafted jewelry, weapons and pottery, spread from eastern Gaul and by the 5th-1st centuries, this influence had spread from Hispania to the shores of the Black Sea.

The Gauls subjugated northern Italy and for a time, occupied Rome and seized land as far as Turkey. The Gaulois included Celtic tribes as the Helvetii, Sequani and the Aedui along the Rhone and Saone rivers; the Arveni in the mountains to the west of the Rhone and the Allobroges along the Isere River. Rome conquered Gaul and while the western Roman Empire flourished, the Gaulois enjoyed close relations with Gaul. The fortunes of Gaul became analogous to the fortunes of Rome. The Celtic language of the Gauls was replaced as Roman influence grew until only a few hundred words of the Gaulois survive.

When Julius Caesar invaded Gaul in 58 BC, he found a territory reaching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea and from the Pyrenees to the Atlantic to the Rhine and Alps filled with a people numbering about ten million of which had neither homogenous roots nor unified rule. Several centuries earlier the Celts had surged from their Danubian homeland into the valleys of the Rhine and Rhone as far as current Belgium, England and Ireland. Mingling with the Ligurians of the Alps, Iberians of the Pyrenees as well as other peoples of Phoenician, Greek or Roman roots.

Celtic rule was decentralized and were basically grouped as members of clans that sometimes functioned separately and sometimes formed into one of over four hundred tribes, which in turn often joined into one of the seventy or so nations. The Gauls had neither single leader, nor authority and except for Marseille and Nice, had neither cities nor towns. Most lived in scattered mud huts surrounded by a stockade and employing fishing and pastoral pursuits for their basic needs. They traded surpluses and craftwork in wood or leather as well as ornate metal work. Evidence exists which shows that the Celtic trade with the Mediterranean world was flourishing. Their religion was druidic, centered in Brittany.

As the Romans marched on Gaul, the Gauls contributed to their own subjugation by their tribal rivalries and inability to form a united defense from either the Romans nor the Rhenish barbarians and the Swiss Helvetti. Caesar quickly suppressed the Rhenish and Helvetti and in the process conquered the land of Gaul. Even the heroism of the Gallic prince, Vercingetorix, failed to halt the Roman occupation of Gaul.

Under Roman occupation, France developed a sense of national identity, while Roman security in controlling barbarians and brigands allowed the Gauls to clear more land and place more land under production in agricultural pursuits. Towns and villages appeared to replace the mud huts while better roads, bridges and communications fostered increased trade. In cities such as Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyons, rudimentary educational institutions developed. They continued to practice Druidism in spite of the spread of Christianity.

In the fifth century, the decline of Rome affected Gaul's political unity and social development. Barbarian incursion increased as Franks, Goths and Burgundians made their way into Gaul.

The name of France derives from a Germanic tribe of earlier Nordic origin, the Salian Franks whose leader, (C)hlodwig ruled 481-511, the first notable ruler of the Merovingian dynasty. His name, Latinized is Louis, the C being silent, while in English he is known as Clovis. It was this Clovis who first established his capital in Paris.

The Dynasties

The Carolingian Dynasty began with Charles Martell (688-741). A dynasty dependent upon the support of the nobles, the Carolingians were able to fight wars and suppress rebellions through recognition of the Carolingian king as their overlord. In return, the king rewarded the nobles with land and booty. Charles Martel successfully saved Europe from the Moors at Tours in 732.

Charlemagne, grandson of Charles Martel, had four wives and children by five mistresses, though he was a devout Christian. He believed that he ruled by divine right. He subdued the Saxons and the Lombards, united Europe to the east as the Elbe River, southwest across the Pyrenees to the Ebro River in Spain and as far into Italy as Rome. Much of Charlemagne's rule was marked by continuous warfare. He held great influence with the Pope and in 800 was crowned emperor of the Romans.

The Europe over which Charlemagne held sway was a thinly populated, rural area. Charlemagne encouraged trade and improved agriculture by the introduction of the three-field system in which one field would lay fallow for a year in order to produce larger harvests. A wheeled plow had been introduced that could cut more deeply into the earth, which was often a rich, wet and often sticky soil. The horse collar was improved allowing a horse to pull loads three or four times as great as it had in the past. During Charlemagne's reign, the people learned to use the river water to power their mills and provide power. He invited scholars from England and Ireland to teach the illiterate Gauls and founded a school for the nobles of his court. He standardized weights and measures and coinage and replaced local court judges with professional judges who had an understanding of the law. He reformed the clergy, requiring an examination to be ordained, while requiring strict observance of the celibacy oath.

Franks were a part of a confederation of Germanic peoples that attacked the Roman Empire in the second century AD. They were divided into two groups, the Salians and the Ripuarians with the Salians settling in the Low Countries on the lower Rhine, near the North Sea, while the Ripurians settled into the area of the middle Rhine.
Clovis, king of the Salien Franks began a massive invasion of Gaul in 486, defeating the Gauls, Romans, Visigoths and others to create a kingdom stretching from east of the Rhine River to the Pyrenees Mountains. Clovis adopted Christianity and died in 511 with the Franks outnumbering their Gallo-Roman neighbors by twenty to one.

During the period of 500-1000, a new form of government appeared in Europe. Germanic in origin, rather than an emperor with an elaborate administrative bureaucracy as the Romans had employed, the Germans preferred a conglomerate of kingdoms in which the king was required to prove himself to his subjects. As the Franks were developing their government, the Church became a power of the elite, preserving Roman culture. The Franks changed the Church to incorporate it into their own society. As the Franks moved further west into Gaul, they became less Germanized, changing their customs and institutions. Feudalism grew from the combination of the Frankish custom and Roman law.

Frankish history is divided into two periods, the Merovingian (481-751) and the Carolingian (751-814). The Merovingian Dynasty began the dynasty for what would eventually become France. The Merovingians claimed to possess magical powers derived from long hair. It was also said that they had the power to heal by the laying on of hands or by touching the tassels of their garments. They ruled an empire, which consisted of much of modern France and a considerable portion of Germany. The Merovingians are known for their law codes and they helped to establish the Catholic Church throughout the Western Christian Empire. The Merovingians maintained an uninterrupted and unquestioned reign over Gaul and West Germany.

The Merovingians

The Merovingians claimed descent from the Spartans of Greece and the Trojans. Merovee claimed descent from Odin, the Teutonic god. The Spartans lived in Laconia, near Arcadia, in the southern Greek peninsula of Peloponnesus. A group of Spartans crossed the Aegean Sea to found Troy. According to Homer, Paris, the Trojan prince fell in love with Helen, wife of the Spartan king and kidnapped her, taking her to Troy. It is this Paris that the city of Paris is named after. Also in France, is a city by the name of Troyes, after the city of Troy. Aeneas, a Trojan prince escaped the Spartan's defeat of Troy and made his way to Italy, where his sons, Romulus and Remus founded Rome. Over the centuries, the Spartans moved into southern France and the surviving Trojans into the present sites of Germany, Belgium and northern France by following the Danube River, eventually settling in Austrasia in the province of modern Lorraine. It is interesting to note that the Spartans wore their hair long as a symbol of their power. Alexander the Great also wore his hair long.

The descendants of the Salian Franks take their name from Merovech. The power of the first Merovingians was limited originally to the kingdoms of Cambrai, ruled by Clodio and Tournai governed by Childeric. The Merovingian control was not extended to include all of Gaul until the time of Clovis, son of Childeric.

The Merovingian Dynasty began with Meroveus II, also known as Merovech or Merowig and was crowned King of the Franks in 448 at the age of fifteen. It is from him that the Merovingians derive their name. His father, Clodion VI was the first to introduce the Salic Laws. His son, Childeric I is actually credited with the founding of the dynasty. Childeric, sometimes a Roman ally, seems to have had some standing in the Roman army, indicating a position in the Roman nobility. In the tomb of Childeric was found three hundred bees made of solid gold. These bees were later sewn into the coronation robe for Napoleon. The bees were then sewn into a royal robe for Marie-Louise Habsburg of Austria when she married Napoleon.

His son, Clovis I under whom the Merovingians ruled over a kingdom, which stretched from the Pyrenees to the Rhine, succeeded Childeric. The Frankish religion was a practice called Arianism. Converting to Catholicism in 496,Clovis became the first kingly barbarian convert, under the influence of his wife, Burgundian princess Clotilda. In spite of the Church's objections, Clovis continued to commit bigamy, assassinate rivals and conquer his in-laws. Clovis consolidated the Salian and Ripuarian Franks and was crowned emperor of the Western Roman Empire following the death of Constantine in 496. Clovis died in 511 and was buried at the church of St.Genevieve. In the tomb of Clovis, was buried a severed horse's head. Clovis, in spite of the Franks being outnumbered by Gallo-Roman neighbors by twenty to one, had established such a firm grip upon Gaul that the region was named France. His kingdom was divided among his sons. This law of inheritance in which the land was divided into equal parts among the surviving sons set the stage for conflict. The law did not allow ownership but rather a usage of the land. Even the royal power was regarded as a larger state, which could be divided for administrative purposes.

Gregory of Tours wrote the history of the Franks about a century after the death of Clovis.

Under the sons of Clovis, the expansion of France continued and was united again under Clotaire I (558-561). His sons in turn subdivided the legacy but two of them, Chilperic I, king of Neustria married Fredegund while Sigibert I, king of Austrasia, married Brunhild, which led to a long and savage conflict that lasted until Clotaire II (613-629).

Dagobert I, son of Clotaire II, ascended the throne in 630. The last truly effective Merovingian king, Dagobert reformed the Frankish economy, exchanging gold coins for silver. Dagobert's scholars wrote the legal codes adopted by the Ripurian Franks, the Alemanni and the Bavarians. Dagobert's royal treasurer, Saint Eligius, established numerous religious houses and charitable institutions in his diocese of Noyon.

By the end of the seventh century, the king's power was increasingly usurped by the Mayors of the Palace, which became an hereditary office. These were the ancestors of Charlemagne. The Frankish Mayor of the Palace developed into a new aristocracy, a class of warriors, which derived their wealth from land. The last Merovingian kings were impoverished and debauched figureheads known as rois fainéants "do-nothing kings" who were gradually replaced by the Carolingians.

Dagobert II has been romantically mythologized through attributions of saintliness and magical powers (derived from his long red hair). Dagobert's father had been assassinated when Dagobert was only five years old. The Palace Mayor, Grimoald, who attempted to put his own son on the throne, kidnapped Dagobert and convinced everyone that Dagobert had died. Dagobert was exiled to Ireland, where he plotted to recover the throne. In 671, he married Giselle de Razes, daughter of the count of Razes and niece of the king of the Visigoths, thereby allying the Merovingian house with the Visigothic royal house. This marriage took place at the Church of St.Madeleine. Dagobert then worked to reclaim his throne and consolidate his authority. In order to do this, he had to re-conquer Aquitaine and the Frankish throne.

The Merovingian kings, since Clovis I, had a pact with the Church, pledging their allegiance to the Church in exchange for the Church's support of their empire. However, the Church entered into a conspiracy with Palace Mayor, Pepin the Fat. On 23 December, while on a hunting trip in the Forest of the Woevres, near the royal Merovingian residence at Stenay, Dagobert, who was resting against a tree, was lanced through the left eye by his godson, supposedly upon Pepin's orders. It was the end of the Merovingian kingdom as all subsequent kings were essentially powerless. Two Hundred years later, the Church recognized Dagobert as a Saint and as one of the most beloved kings of France.

The Carolingians

Childeric III, grandson of Dagobert II, was the last Merovingian king and served as a puppet to the Mayor of the Palace, which had for some one hundred years, been accumulating power at the king's expense. The Mayor of the Palace, Pepin III, known as Pepin the Short, deposed Childeric In 751. He was imprisoned and given a haircut, devolving him of any mystical powers. Childeric died four years later. Pepin the Short had seized the power from the throne with the support of the Pope, St. Boniface, who crowned him in Soissons in 752 AD. Thus began a close relationship between Rome and the French throne. In 755 AD, Pope Stephen II's call for help to expel the Lombards was answered by Pepin the Short.

It was under Charlemagne that the transition from classical to medieval civilization was made. As Charlemagne ruled for forty years, it is the stability that marks his reign. Charlemagne would blend the Roman past, the Germanic culture and Christianity, which became the basis for government throughout Europe. Initially, Charlemagne shared the power with his brother Carloman, but the latter died in 771 and Charlemagne inherited a disparate collection of land holdings in which his authority was yet to be asserted.

Frankish society consisted of three classes: the peasants, the nobility and the clergy. Life was brutal for the peasant and many died of malnourishment due to their poor diet. Most were illiterate and unable to understand Latin. The nobility, though they had a better diet, were still poorly nourished due to their non-nutritional diet. They lived in cold and humid castles, not any warmer than the peasant's hut. Most of the nobility were illiterate an crude and spent most of their time fighting. At the upper level were the clergy who were the most educated and perhaps the only people who truly understood Christianity, as they were the only people with access to the Bible. The clergy held a monopoly on knowledge, religious beliefs and practices.

Charlemagne's first policy was one of expansion, uniting all the Germanic peoples into one kingdom. His second policy was to convert all the Franks to Christianity. Charlemagne's policy was to give his warriors land in order to enable them to support themselves and equip their own military needs. In this manner, Charlemagne was able to insure a devoted and loyal fighting force for himself. (Please see the page on Charlemagne for information.)

The Frankish Empire continued to be threatened by the many divisions within it and by the inheritance laws, which divided the inheritance among the surviving sons. Charlemagne divided his empire among his three sons but Pepin's death in 810 AD, followed by the death of Charles in 813, left Louis I "the Pious" as sole heir to the throne. Louis then left his inheritance to Charles the Bald, which went against the Ordinatio Imperii of 817 AD, which acknowledged Lothair to be the sole heir. In 843 the Treaty of Verdun formalized the breakup of the empire through the division among the sons of Louis the Pious. Lothair retained possession of Italy and Lotharingia (Lorraine), a strip of land from Provence to Frisia; Louis received all of Germany while Charles the Bald (823-877), youngest son born of a second marriage, was allotted Franconia occidentalis (western France). When Lothair died in 855, his middle kingdom was divided among his three sons creating the three kingdoms of Italy, Burgundy and Lotharingia. This constant partitioning of the Empire ended Frankish imperial unity and drew the outlines of the future nations of Germany, France and Italy.

This internal fragmentation of authority and the emergence of ambitious local magnates occurred simultaneously with invasions of the Empire from every direction with the most serious threat being the Scandinavian Normans or Vikings. These Norsemen would raid the coasts and penetrate up the rivers throughout the ninth century. Eventually, these Normans, at the invitation of a local noble, settled in the lands they invaded and adopted Christianity, establishing the French province of Normandy. These Normans adopted the French language and swore allegiance to the Frankish ruler, becoming magnates of the French nobility themselves. The Muslims from the South and the Maygars or Hungarians from the east also attacked the Empire. Throughout the tenth century Frankish royal authority in each of the Carolingian kingdoms steadily declined in the growing independence of local aristocracy.

The Capetians

The Capetians ruled France from 987-1328 first as direct line Capetians and later through branch families such as Valois and Bourbon. The Capetian line was born with the election of Hugh Capet over the last pretender to the Carolingian line, Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine. Kingship did not become hereditary among the Capetians until 1179. Between Hugh Capet's coronation in 987 and the succession of Valois in 1328 or the inception of the Hundred Years War in 1338, the feudal system was crystallized along with the idea of French kingships. The cities and towns were revived with the rise of bourgeois citizens who were engaged in a resurgent trade of agricultural and craft products. The Crusades absorbed the energy of the kings, nobility and clergy as well as the commoners. The Norman conquest established the connection and rivalry with that island kingdom. Feudalism ws developed as a contractual arrangement between lord and king and manorialism became the determinant relationship between lord and peasant.

The Capetian direct line included fourteen monarchs including Saint Louis (1226-1270). The last Capetian direct king was Charles IV "the Fair", (1323-1328). They were succeeded by the Valois branch, which included Charles V. The Valois line endured until the death of Henry III in 1589 who was succeeded by Henry IV (1589-1614), the first Capetian king of the Bourbon line.

The relative strength of lords and kings often depended not upon title but upon personal traits and capabilities, extent of land holdings, resources available, alliances possible and church support. The local lords' power was demonstrated in the election of Hugh Capet to the kingship in 987. His ancestors were the counts of Anjou and Blois; his supporters included the duke of Normandy.

As kings, the Capetians actually only possessed their hereditary lands in central France, the Isle-de-France, situated around Paris and Orleans. However, due to shrewd and persistent annexation, their jurisdiction grew to include Artois, Vermandois and Auvergne, which were incorporated into the kingdom under Philip Augustus (1180-1223). This Philip Augustus also confiscated the territories of John Lackland, king of England, including Anjou, Maine, Normandy, Poitou, Saintonge and Touraine. Capetian dominions were later expanded to include Toulouse under Philip III "the Bold" (1270-1285) and later Champagne, Angoumis and the county of Lyons under Philip IV "the Fair"(1285-1314).

It is interesting to note that the dukes of Normandy, with the conquest of England in 1066, as well as the Norman aristocracy put into place in England under William I of Normandy, owed their allegiance to the king of France as their feudal overlord. The power of the dukes of Normandy threatened the French Capetian kings, a threat which increased with the marriage of Henry I to Eleanor of Aquitaine and their son, Henry II of England.

To counter this balance of power, the Capetian kings often encouraged and linked with the new middle class, who were often at odds with their feudal overlords. This relationship was encouraged through special royal charters and privileges to the Bourgeoisie. The Crown also wooed the churchmen through patronage to cathedrals, schools and crusades. The French participation in the Crusades stimulated a spirit of national pride over local pride and tied the church more closely with the monarchy while creating contacts in Italy and the Middle East for French merchants.

The Valois branch of the Capetians 1328-1589 drove the English from France, consolidated the kingdom while asserting royal power, launched expeditions into Italy and ushered in a cultural Renaissance. The expulsion of the English in the Hundred Years War (1338-1453), involved the French in an intermittent war. Please see this site for an explanation and further information concerning the Hundred Years War.

Two strong kings mark sixteenth century France: Francis I and Henry II while the rule of three weak kings, the sons of Henry II by Catherine De Medici define sixteenth century France with a lack of prosperity and solidarity and tby the wars of Religion in which Catholics battled Calvinist Huguenots with each faction attempting to control the monarchy. The assassination of Catherine de Medici's son, Henry III in 1589 marks the end of the reign of the Valois line and introduces the reign of the Bourbons, Henry IV, leader of the Huguenots.

The early rulers of the House of Capet saw the king as only primus inter pares, or the first among equals being no more illustrious than his peers. The other nobles were his companions. Dukes of Normandy, Brittany, Burgundy, and Aquitaine, Flanders, Champagne and Vermandois thought of themselves as equal to the king.

By 1000 AD, France emerged with a combination of Celts, Gauls, Romans, Franks, Teutons, Visigoths, Burgundians, Vandals, Vikings as well as other groups. The Celts remained the majority in the areas of Brittany.

England and France maintained a history, which intertwined with one another through the marriages of royals and nobles. This inter-marriage led to the Battle of Hastings and the assumption of the throne by Norman, William of Normandy in 1066.

The Province of Anjou

Located in the western French area of Maine-et-Loire , organized in the Gallo-Roman period as the Civitas Andegavensis, it later became the countship of Anjou and from 1360, the duchy of Anjou. Under a son of Robert the Strong, Ingelger became the founder of the first Angevin dynasty. Ingelger's son, Fulk I "the Red", rid the country of the Normans and enlarged his domains by taking Touraine. He died in 942, succeeded by Fulk II "the Good". Geoffrey I Grisegonelle succeeded Fulk II in about 960 and began a policy of expansion, which would characterize this feudal dynasty. He aided Hugh Capet in seizing the French throne but died soon thereafter. Successor, Fulk III "Nerra", one of the most powerful members of this dynasty ruled 987-1040, finally driving the encroaching neighbors back beyond the frontiers of Anjou while building strongly fortified castles along his frontier. His son, Geoffrey II Martel 1040-1060 annexed Vendomois and a part of Maine to Anjou. Leaving no sons he was succeeded by his two nephews: Geoffrey III "the Bearded" and Fulk IV "le Rechin". These two brothers soon came into armed conflict and Geoffrey was defeated in 1068. He was forced to give up most of the lands that Fulk "Nerra" had acquired to the claims of the Duke of Normandy. Fulk V succeeded in 1109 and attempted to regain the lands lost by the various wars. He married his son, Geoffrey Plantagenet to Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England and widow of the emperor Henry V.

By this marriage, Geoffrey IV Plantagenet acquired a claim to Normandy and England. In 1151 he left to his son, Henry (later Henry II of England), Count of Anjou and Maine and Duke of Normandy, who married Eleanor of Aquitaine following the annulment of her marriage to Louis VII of France and thus establishing the Plantagenet dynasty, which extended from England to the Pyrenees.

At the beginning of the 13th century, Philip II Augustus of France, conquered Anjou from John of England. An attempt by the English to retake Anjou failed in their defeat at La Roche-aux-Moines in 1214 when Anjou was ceded to France by the Treaty of Paris 1259.

In 1246, Louis IX of France gave Anjou to his brother Charles, future king of Naples and Sicily. Later, Charles III of Valois, under whose rule the economic and social conditions of Anjou saw great improvement.. Son of Charles III, Philip VI became king of France in 1328. Once more, Anjou was united to the Crown and benefited from royal attention.

In 1351 John II of France gave Anjou to his son Louis beginning the third Angevin dynasty, which was raised to ducal rank in 1360. Bands of English soldiers under the command of Sir Robert Knollys were causing great destruction in Anjou as Louis II spent most of his life away from Anjou. Following his death, Yolande of Aragon attempted to protect Anjou from the English attacks.

The last ruler of Anjou was Rene I and following his death in 1480, Anjou was returned to the Crown where it remained.

The Province of Brittany

A region and former province in northwestern France, Brittany is bordered on the north by the English Channel and on the south by the Bay of Biscayne. Brittany is unique due to its Celtic heritage. One quarter of the current population speak Breton, a Celtic language similar to Cornish and Welsh. The language, customs and costumes are preserved primarily in the west.

Between 3500 and 1800 BC early inhabitants built stone monuments at Carnac and other sites. Celts later settled in the area, which were conquered by Julius Caesar in 56 BC. Anglo-Saxon invasions in the fifth and sixth centuries of Britain brought Celtic refugees to settle in Brittany. Under Nomenoe, Brittany was united and won independence from the rule of the Carolingians. In the tenth century, Brittany became a duchy and for the next four centuries sought to regain its independence. The marriage of Anne of Brittany to two successive kings of France in the fifteenth century solidified the duchy with France. In 1532, Brittany was formally incorporated into France.