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Learn about the history, geography, politics and culture of the Kingdom of France, a medieval and early modern state that was one of the most powerful in Europe. Explore its origins, dynasties, wars, colonies and revolutions from 843 to 1848.
3 days ago · Learn about the history of France from the Frankish realm to the modern republic, with facts, maps, and articles. Explore the origins, development, and challenges of the French monarchy, from Hugh Capet to Louis XIV.
Learn about the history and evolution of the Kingdom of France, from its origins in the 5th century to its end in the 19th century. Find out about its kings, wars, religions, languages, and political systems.
1 day ago · Learn about France, a country of northwestern Europe with a rich and influential history and culture. Explore its geography, population, capital, regions, government, economy, and more.
- Overview
- Geographic-historical scope
- People
- Roman conquest
- The end of Roman Gaul (c. 400–c. 500)
- Merovingian and Carolingian age
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history of France, a survey of important events and people in the history of France from ancient times to the present.
Gaul, in this context, signifies only what the Romans, from their perspective, termed Transalpine Gaul (Gallia Transalpina, or “Gaul Across the Alps”). Broadly, it comprised all lands from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean coast of modern France to the English Channel and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rhine River and the western Alps. The Romans ...
Gaul was predominantly a Celtic land, but it also contained pre-Celtic Ligurians and Iberians in the south and southwest and more recent Germanic immigrants in the northeast. Neighbouring Celtic communities on the Danube and in northern Italy, however, were not included. The south, in addition, had been heavily influenced by the Greek colony of Mas...
In the 2nd century bce Rome intervened on the side of Massilia in its struggle against the tribes of the hinterland, its main aim being the protection of the route from Italy to its new possessions in Spain. The result was the formation, in 121 bce, of “the Province” (Provincia, now Provence), an area spanning from the Mediterranean to Lake Geneva,...
From 395 the division of the Roman Empire into an eastern and a western half reinforced acute internal political stresses that encouraged barbarian penetration of the Danube region and even Italy. The Rhine frontier was again neglected, and the seat of the Gallic prefecture was moved to Arelate. The result was Germanic invasion, most dramatically the mass crossing of the Rhine in 405–406, and civil war. By 418 Franks and Burgundians were established west of the Rhine, and the Visigoths settled in Aquitania (Aquitaine). These Germans, however, were nominally allies of the empire, and, mainly because of the energy of the Roman general Flavius Aetius, they were kept in check. The death of Aetius in 454 and the growing debility of a western imperial government hamstrung by the loss of Africa to the Vandals created a power vacuum in Gaul. It was filled by the Visigoths, at first indirectly through the nomination of the emperor Avitus (reigned 455–456) and then directly by their own kings, the most important being King Euric (466–484). Between 460 and 480 there was steady Visigothic encroachment on Roman territory to the east; the Burgundians followed suit, expanding westward from Sapaudia (now Savoy). In 476 the last imperial possessions in Provence were formally ceded to the Visigoths.
Gaul suffered badly from these developments. Communities near the Rhine were destroyed by war. Refugees fled south, to Roman territory, only to find themselves burdened by crippling taxation and administrative corruption. As is evident from the works of the writer Sidonius Apollinaris (c. 430–c. 490), however, the economic power and with it the lifestyle of the Gallo-Roman aristocracy remained remarkably resilient, whether under Roman emperors or barbarian kings. Many aristocrats, such as, for example, Sidonius himself, also confirmed their standing in their communities by becoming bishops. Until the middle of the 5th century, the leaders of Gallic society, lay and clerical, while learning to live with the barbarian newcomers, still looked to Rome for high office and protection. Thereafter they increasingly cooperated with the German rulers as generals and counselors. Thus, at least in the centre and south of the country, the Gallo-Roman cultural legacy was bequeathed intact to the successor-kingdoms.
The period of the Merovingian and Carolingian Frankish dynasties (450–987) encompasses the early Middle Ages. After the 4th and 5th centuries, when Germanic peoples entered the Roman Empire in substantial numbers and brought the existence of that Mediterranean state to an end, the Franks played a key role in Gaul, unifying it under their rule. Mero...
Learn about the history of France from ancient times to the present, covering its geography, culture, politics, and people. Explore the Roman conquest, the medieval kingdoms, the French Revolution, and more.
France became a truly centralised kingdom under Louis IX (reigned 1226–70). The kingdom was vulnerable: war was still going on in the County of Toulouse, and the royal army was occupied fighting resistance in Languedoc.
France is a Western European country with a long history of monarchies, republics and empires. It has a diverse geography, culture and economy, and is a major global power and influence.
