Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For 300 years, France and England would struggle over control of Aquitaine. Any enemy
of the French king would find a natural ally in the English king.
In 1328, the French king Charles IV died without a son. The English king (Edward
III), Charles IV's nephew, was interested in the throne, but the French resisted. This
quandary pitted France, the biggest and richest country in Europe, against England, which
had the biggest army. They fought from 1337 to 1453 in what was modestly called the
Hundred Years' War.
Regional powers from within France actually sided with England. Burgundy took
Paris, captured the royal family, and recognized the English king as heir to the French
throne. England controlled France from the Loire north, and things looked bleak for the
French king.
Enter Joan of Arc, a 16-year-old peasant girl driven by religious voices. France's na-
tional heroine left home tosupport Charles VII,the dauphin (boyprince, heir tothe throne
but too young to rule). Joan rallied the French, ultimately inspiring them to throw out the
English. In 1430 Joan was captured by the Burgundians, who sold her to the English, who
convicted her of heresy and burned her at the stake in Rouen. But the inspiration of Joan
of Arc lived on, and by 1453 English holdings on the Continent had dwindled to the port
By 1500, a strong, centralized France had emerged, with borders similar to today's.
Its kings (from the Renaissance François I through the Henrys and all those Louises) were
model divine monarchs, setting the standards for absolute rule in Europe.
Outrage over the power plays and spending sprees of the kings—coupled with the
modern thinking of the Enlightenment (whose leaders were the French
philosophes
)—led
to the French Revolution (1789). In France, it was the end of the
ancien régime,
as well as
its notion that some are born to rule, while others are born to be ruled.
The excesses of the Revolution in turn led to the rise of Napoleon, who ruled the
French empire as a dictator. Eventually,
his
excesses ushered him into a South Atlantic
exile,andafteranotherhalf-centuryofmonarchyandempire,theFrenchsettledonacom-
promise role for their leader. The modern French “king” is ruled by a constitution. Rather
than dress in leotards and powdered wigs, France's president goes to work in a suit and
carries a briefcase.
The 20th century spelled the end of France's reign as a military and political super-
power. Devastating wars with Germany in 1870, 1914, and 1940—and the loss of her co-
lonial holdings—left France with not quite enough land, people, or production to be a top
player on a global scale. But the 21st century may see France rise again: Paris is a cul-
tural capital of Europe, and France—under the EU banner—is a key player in integrating
