Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In
AD
800, Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman
Emperor, and though the realm disintegrated after his
death, France remained thereafter a blending of Celtic,
Roman and Frankish peoples. For the many wonderful topics
on the history of France, please refer to the
Further Reading
section at the back of this topic. Meanwhile, suffi ce it to say that
for another 700 years, squabbling among themselves and with
the British, the French were defi ned as much by geography
and their local leaders as by the Church and the King.
The 16th century brought the discovery of the New
World, the rediscovery and proliferation of the sciences,
and Gutenberg's printing press to spread the news. With this
explosion in intellectual energy, King of Francois the First
gathered Europe's artists and scientists to his capitol, Paris,
making France a centre of the Renaissance.
Louis XIV reigned for over 70 years, during which time France
became the model of culture in Europe. While England was in
civil war, French expeditions spread out across the high seas,
gaining great wealth and civilising, they thought, the world.
By the time of the French Revolution, at the end of the 18th
century, France led the world, in the arts and in philosophy.
Her people had a strong desire for self-determination, but no
clue yet as to how to govern themselves. Half of the population
still didn't speak French, though the Académie Française, to
protect and promote French, had been established in 1635.
By 1790, they had their tricolor fl ag, but it would be
another century before France had a functional democracy.
Napoleon came to power in 1799 with monarchy as his
model. His nephew, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, made a
bigger stretch, declaring himself the second Augustus Caesar.
He set his sights on making Paris the new Rome.
Thanks to a huge budget and his architect, Baron Georges-
Eugéne Haussmann, Paris was recreated between 1853
and 1870 into the city we see today. While there are plenty
of critics lamenting what he destroyed in the process,
one cannot argue that Paris now enjoys the architectural
admiration of the world. “The City of Light” she is called,
and today, day or night, she is an elegant lady to behold, rich
with her long history and elegant in her period style.
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