Millennium History

History of Europe

  • Robert the Magnificent, Duke of Normandy (1027-1035)

    “A violent and difficult personality”. It is in these terms that the historian Lucien Musset defines Robert the Magnificent ,6th Duke of Normandy (1). Violent, quick to draw his sword, the son of Duke Richard II was like all the great lords of his time. An ambiguous personality like that of Robert ,

  • Robert the Strong, heroic ancestor of the Capetians

    Robert the Strong (820-866), Count of Anjou and Blois and Marquis of Neustria, is considered the ancestor of the Capetians. Established in the Pays de la Loire and Vieille France, he distinguished himself by defending these regions against Norman incursions and carved out a reputation that would be

  • Richard I the Fearless, Duke of Normandy (943-996)

    Duke Richard I of Normandy (932-996), to whom his contemporaries gave the nickname without Fear is relegated to popular memory in favor of other personalities from the same dynasty, his grandfather Rollo or his great-grandson Guillaume the Conqueror... And yet, Richard I, master of Normandy from 943

  • Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the West

    Charlemagne (742-814) is a Frankish king then an Emperor of the West who reigned from 768 to 814 and gave his name to the Carolingian dynasty. Eldest son of Pepin the Short, he reigned alone after the death of his brother Carloman in 771 over an area which then covered Gaul and part of Germania. In

  • The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229)

    The Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) is a war started by the papacy to fight the Cathar heresy. Increasingly powerful in Languedoc, the latter considered that the Church governed by the Pope was corrupt and incapable of combating the Evil that reigns over the terrestrial world. Responding to the call

  • The city in the Middle Ages in France

    Following the Norman invasions and urban insecurity, the first medieval cities were of little importance in France, exceeding rarely the 5,000 inhabitants. But with the progressive establishment of peace, from the 11th century onwards, towns and cities multiplied around cathedrals and trade fairs. T

  • The Burgundians and the forgotten kingdom of Burgundia

    Made famous by Richard Wagner through the epic of the Nibelungs, the Burgundy kingdom and its people, however, appear no less in history as a discreet neighbor in the face of the main barbarian kingdoms. We have few sources on them. Without a chronicler such as Gregory of Tours to relate their facts

  • The Salic Law of the Franks

    The Salic Law , or law of the Salian Franks, is a civil and penal code whose mythical origin goes back to the legendary Frankish king Pharamond. Written between the 6th and 7th centuries, the Salic law has been, except in certain monastic centers, forgotten. A provision of this law, excluding women

  • The kingdoms of Burgundy (6th - 10th century)

    During the High Middle Ages, several states were known as the Kingdom of Burgundy . In the second quarter of the VIe century, if the Burgundian kings were definitively defeated by the Franks, the Burgundian people did not disappear. Its laws and its aristocracy, allied to the Gallo-Roman nobility su

  • Baptism of Clovis (498?)

    The Baptism of Clovis in Reims on December 25 498 (1 ), followed by 3,000 of his Frankish warriors, is a major event in early medieval history. With this conversion to Christianity, he secured not only the support of the Church, but also that of his Latin subjects - mostly Christians - and thus met

  • The Merovingians, the first dynasty of Frankish kings

    Dynasty of Frankish kings descended from Merovée, the Merovingians reigned over Gaul until 751. This matrix dynasty of French royalty was for a long time the victim of a black legend, maintained from the 6th century by Grégoire de Tours, then by their successors, the Carolingians, under the pen of E

  • Clovis I, King of the Franks (482-511)

    Clovis I , king of the Franks from 482 to 511 , is the most illustrious Merovingian . At the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries, this grandson of the legendary king Mérovée seized almost all of Roman Gaul. To consolidate his authority over his immense domain, he cleverly made an alliance with the Rom

  • Romanization of Gaul and integration of Gallic elites

    The conquest of Gaul by Caesar in 51 BC. J-C leads to their provincialization, and thus to their integration into the Empire, in particular with Auguste who created Lyonnaise, Aquitaine and Belgium, while Transalpine became Narbonnaise. However, what about the Gallic elites ? Did the notables also s

  • The Aedui, first Gallo-Romans

    The evocation of our ancestors the Gauls today certainly triggers a controversy, and the teaching of their history (and through them, of ours) is often caricatured. However, we know today that the Gauls were plural, both in their structures and in their relations with Rome, but also among themselves

  • Pax Romana in Roman Gaul

    After the conquest by Julius Caesar, the Pax Romana prevailed in Roman Gaul , which quickly became one of the most prosperous provinces of the Empire. Despite a few recent revolts, the Roman peace settles from the principate of Augustus and in two centuries, the landscape of Gaul is transformed. The

  • The Celts:origins and history

    The Celts are Indo-European peoples originating from the Danube valley, who settled in much of Europe from antiquity. These tribes speak the same language, with variations, and have certain religious beliefs in common. They are the spreaders of the iron civilization in Western Europe. Most historian

  • The Arverni, the Gallic people who resisted Caesar

    At the time of Celtic Gaul, the Arverni were a prosperous and influential people occupying the current region of Auvergne. They are mainly known by the general public through the figure of Vercingetorix and the famous Asterix comic strip in which the eponymous hero goes in search of the shield of th

  • The oppidums, the first Gallic towns

    Oppidum is a Latin term which designates the fortified places of the Gauls. Originally used only in case of danger, an oppidum corresponds to a simple fortified refuge:it can be protected by favorable hydrography (Lutèce, on the current site of Paris), by swamps (Alesia) or by a relief in overhang (

  • Marseille, from Massalia the Greek to Massilia the Roman

    Massalia (now Marseille) was founded around 600 BC by Greeks from Phocaea, in Asia Minor. It is for this reason that Marseille is called the “city of Marseille”. This prosperous colony, which then bears the name of Massalia, had a special destiny and a special place in the history of Gaul and the we

  • The First Ladies of France since 1959

    Since the Fifth Republic, the President has been the central figure in French political life. But what about the First Lady of France ? This is the title usually worn by the wife of the happy resident of the Elysée Palace. However, these ladies have no official title or status. Before the Fifth Repu

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