Paris France History

A Brief History of Paris

When I was living in Paris France history was not something I was particularly interested in, I’m sorry to say. I was more impressed by her beauty, the culture and the wonderful life I was leading [I’m only human].

In an effort to learn more – and bear in mind I’m no historian – I’ve searched the internet and gathered bits of information from different websites to compile a simple timeline of the history of Paris.

Paris France History : B.C. – the history of Paris in the Iron Age

Paris France History Summary

The city was founded around the end of the third century B.C. on an isle in the middle of what is now called the river Seine [where the city is now called Paris] by a Celtic Gaul tribe.

Eventually, Julius Caesar’s army took over the city in 52 B.C. and the Roman influence lingered well into the fifth century A.D. when the Frankish king Clovis I once again united his kingdom, and made Paris its capital.

In 987 A.D. when Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, became the King of France, Paris’ position as the hub of French government was secured.

ca. 250 B.C. : second Iron Age

The Parisii settle in an area they call Loukteih (which is Celtic for “a marsh”)

53 B.C.

Julius Caesar accounts of the Gallic Wars in De Bello Gallico mention Loukteih (the name becomes a Latin version – “Lutetia”). Extensive river trading helps the settlement to flourish, and the city spreads to the left bank.

Paris France History : A.D.

A.D. 250

Christianity is introduced by St. Denis [who was later executed by the Romans at Montmartre].

ca. 280

The Parisii take refuge on the island when the city is raided by barbarians.

360 – the city is named PARIS!

Julian the Apostate is proclaimed as Emperor of Rome. The name of Paris instead of Lutetia is accepted (Civitas Parisiorum, City of the Parisians).

451

After pillaging Metz and Reims, Attila the Hun sweeps northward toward Paris. Geneviève [a young girl], exhorts panicked Parisians to hold their ground and pray. Attila and his half a million Huns amazingly avoid Paris, and ultimately are defeated at Châlons. Geneviève later becomes the patron saint of Paris.

Paris France History in the 6th Century

508

Geneviève converts Clovis [King of the Franks] to Christianity. He is baptized at Reims, and chooses Paris as his capital city. Clovis defeats the Roman Governor of Gaul, founds the Merovingian Dynasty.

Paris France History in the 8th Century

786

In 786, Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks. Carolingians move their capital to Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, in present-day Germany). Paris slowly declines.

Paris France History in the 9th Century

800

Charlemagne is crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope in Rome. The French kingdom is expanded far beyond its present borders by Charlemagne.

885-86

Comte Eudes defends Paris when 30,000 Norman pirates sail up the River Seine in 700 ships.

Paris France History in the 10th Century

987

Hugues Capet, grand-nephew of Eudes, is proclaimed King and the Coronation is held at Noyon. Hereditary rule is established for his descendants, the Capetians.

Paris France History in the 11th Century

1066

England is invaded by William the Conqueror.

Paris France History in the 13th Century

Paris France History Summary

The Middle Ages were a time of both prosperity and discontent.

Work on Notre Dame Cathedral started in the 12th century (and was completed 200 years later).

The Sorbonne, such a bastion of learning, welcomed its first visitors in 1253; the Louvre Art Museum started out as a riverside fortress at the beginning of the 13th century.

The North side of the River Seine River, around the Marais district, was drained and made habitable; today we know this area as the Right Bank.

Around this time, Scandinavian Vikings[also known as the Normans of England] had been constantly battering the coastal regions of France, and by the 1200’s, were looking towards Paris.

1140

Gothic architecture becomes the style at the Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens, and Paris’ Notre-Dame. The first Gothic cathedral – St. Denis – is built just outside Paris to the north.

1163

The Bishop of Paris – Maurice de Sully – designs and directs the construction of Notre-Dame [‘Our Lady’].

1180

Philippe Auguste ise throned and builds a fortified castle outside Paris’ ramparts (later to become the Louvre).

Paris France History in the 13th Century

1215

The University of Paris founded. Enlists scholars like Guillaume de Champeaux and Abélard. Latin Quarter is born on the Left Bank.

1253

Foundation of the Sorbonne.

Paris France History in the 14th Century

1357

Revolt by Etienne Marcel.

Paris France History in the 15th Century

Paris France History Summary

Ongoing conflict eventually led to the Hundred Years’ War between England and France. In 1420 this resulted in English forces seizing Paris. In 1429 the French banded together and removed the English from most of France, in part because of Joan of Arc.

The independent French people had much spirit and were not about to lay down under Royal rule to simply take what came along.

1420

Paris occupied by English forces led by Henry V at height of Hundred Years’ War. Joan of Arc besieges Paris in 1429 — fails to remove the English.

1430

Henry VI of England is crowned king of France. In 1431 JOan of Arc burned at the stake in Rouen by the English.

1436

English occupation is over. City recaptured by Charles VII.

Paris France History in the 16th Century

1515-47

Reign of François I. The Louvre is rebuilt in the new Renaissance style imported from Italy.

1517

Leonardo da Vinci arrives in Paris, the Mona Lisa is part of his baggage.

1530

Foundation of the Collège de France, the kingdom’s first secular educational institution. Age of Rabelais, Montaigne, Robert Estienne, Marguerite de Navarre, Diane de Poitiers.

1562-98

The Wars of Religion, a period dominated by Catherine de Médecis, mother of the last three Valois kings (François II, Charles IX, Henri III).

1572

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre — 3,000 Protestants strangled and knifed, corpses thrown into the River Seine.

1593

“Paris is well worth a mass,” uttered by Henri IV, the first Bourbon king, abjuring his Protestant faith and converting to Catholicism at St. Denis. Henri enters Paris in 1594, reorganises the city with new squares, bridges and a hospital.

1598

Henry IV signs the Edict of Nantes, defining the rights of French Protestants (Huguenots) to public worship and liberty of conscience. (Edict revoked in 1685 following Louis IV’s anti-Protestant measures.)

Paris France History in the 17th Century

1604

The Pont Neuf completed, quickly becomes one of Paris’ most popular promenades. Beautiful still, the Pont Neuf is the oldest bridge in Paris.

1605

The Place Royale built (now called the place des Vosges}.

1606

The Hospital of St. Louis built to treat victims of the plague. The oldest hospital in Paris is still in use.

1610

Henri IV is assassinated by a deranged Jesuit, Ravaillac, en route from the Louvre to the Arsenal in his open coach.

1635

Cardinal Richelieu, Chief Minister to Louis XIII, founded the Académie Française, a venerable and protectionist institution overseeing the standards of the French language.

1643-1715

Reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who lives to the age of 77. The king’s philosophy “L’état, c’est moi” (I am the state) aptly reflects his insistence on overseeing every miniscule aspect of his monarchy, governing as he did without a prime minister. He relies on the dour, workaholic Colbert to implement many grandiose architectural projects. Louis turns France into the most powerful nation-state in Europe, persecutes the Huguenots, who emigrate in great numbers, nearly ruining the French economy.

1682

Louis installs his court at Versailles, constructed over 20 years by 30,000 men. Palace furnishings are supplied by the “Royal Manufactory of Crown Furniture and Tapestries”, better known as Les Gobelins.

Paris France History in the 18th Century

1718

An elegant Faubourg St-Honoré town house built for the Count of Evreux, later purchased by Madame de Pompadour and bequeathed to the King. Known today as the Elysée Palace, home to French presidents.

ca. 1760

Louis XV commissions the building of the Ecole Militaire, the Panthéon and a square which would become the Place de la Concorde.

1789 : Storming of the Bastille

July 13: exhorted “to arms” by a young lawyer, Camille Desmoulins, a mob of Parisians storms the Bastille. Surrendered to the citizens the following day — July 14 — marking the beginning of the French Revolution and commemorated every year to this day. Le Quatorze Juillet.

1790

Festival of the Federation.

1792

The monarchy falls — the First Republic proclaimed.

1793

Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette guillotined [now known as the Place de la Concorde]. The Louvre becomes a public museum.

1794

Not before 2,800 heads are severed in a 13-month reign of terror, Robespierre and all members of the revolutionary tribunal are themselves guillotined. The accusers stand accused, the executioners executed.

1799

Napoléon enters Paris. Wanting to replicate the imperial style of ancient Rome, he orders the triumphal arches of the Carrousel and the Etoile, and the Vendôme Column.

Brief details of Napoléon Bonaparte (1769 – 1821)
Born: 15th August 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsia
Married (Josephine): 9th March 1796 in Paris, France
Married (Marie-Louise): 2nd April 1810 in Paris, France
Died: 5th May 1821 on St. Helena
First Consul of France: 1799 – 1804
Emperor of the French: 1804 – 1814, 1815

Paris France History in the 19th Century

1804

December 2 — the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Napoléon snatches the crown from the Pope, puts it on his own head, declares himself Emperor and his wife Josephine, Empress of the French.

1815

Napoléon’s army defeated by Wellington at Waterloo on June 18. Napoléon abdicates June 22, is exiled to St-Helena in the south Atlantic. The Bourbons are briefly restored to the throne of France.

1830

Adolphe Thiers’ journal “Le National” helps to bring about the July Revolution. Charles X is overthrown and replaced by Louis-Philippe, the Citizen King.

1832

A cholera epidemic kills 19,000 people.

1833

A gift from Mohammed Ali Pasha, Viceroy of Egypt, the 230-ton Obelisk of Luxor arrives. The 3300-year-old stone needle bears hieroglyphics extolling the great deeds of Ramses II. It is installed at the Place de la Concorde, in the spot where Louis XV’s equestrian statue had been removed during the Revolution.

1837

Opening of the first French railway line between Paris and St-Germain-en-Laye.

1840

Although Napoléon Bonaparte died in 1821 and was buried on the isle of St Helena, thousands witness the funeral cortege as Napoléon’s body is returned to Paris, an occasion of deep civic emotion.

Paris France History Summary

Napoleon’s nephew Louis Napoleon Bonaparte pulled off a coup d’état in the mid 1800s and became Napoleon III.

During this 17-year rule, Paris flourished once more, and there were several aesthetically pleasing additions to the city which included wide boulevards, sculptured parks, and a much-needed sewerage system.

1841-45

The ‘Thiers’ fortifications are built.

1848

Barricades erected during 3-day civil strife mark another revolution and the proclamation of the Second Republic. France has its first legislative assembly. Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte wins the presidency by 5 million votes.

1851-52

In his own coup d’état, Louis Napoléon seizes power, has himself proclaimed Emperor of the French under the title of Napoléon III. During the ensuing twenty years of this Second Empire, Paris is transformed by the brilliant and ruthless administrator, Baron Haussman, Prefect of the Seine.

1863

The revolutionary impressionist exhibit at the Salon des Refusés, featuring works by Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, and Paul Cézanne.

1870-71

Franco-Prussian War. The Emperor and 83,000 of his troops are taken prisoner at Sedan. Parisians revolt, invade the National Assembly and proclaim the Third Republic. Prussian army lays siege to Paris.

1871

A revolutionary Socialist government [Paris Commune] takes over the city. Communards burn the Palace of the Tuilleries and pull down Napoleon’s column. 20,000 die in a “week of blood” as the Commune is suppressed by the French army under General MacMahon.

1875

Construction of the Opéra Garnier completed.

1885

Death of Victor Hugo.

1889

Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) held in Paris. The Eiffel Tower is erected, amidst vociferous protests from artists and literati.

Paris France History in the 20th Century

1900

First Métro line opens. (Line 1, as it is still called, runs from Porte de Vincennes to Porte Maillot.) Paris becomes an international centre of fashion and entertainment. Montmartre witnesses the birth of modern art.

1914-18

World War I, German invasion. Two million American soldiers in France. French casualties exceed 5 million. Paris saved from the Germans by the Battle of the Marne. Sarah Bernhardt tours army camps in Camille. In the Treaty of Versailles (1919), France attempts to exact economic reparations from Germany.

1918-39

Postwar era sees American writers (Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway) and other expatriates fleeing Prohibition at home to settle in Paris. Major artistic and philosophical movements arise: Constructivism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Existentialism.

1920

The Unknown Soldier is buried under the Arc de Triomphe.

1929

Construction of the Maginot Line, a system of fortifications extending from Swiss to Belgian borders. (Proved useless as Germans flanked it in 1940.)

1937

The Palais de Chaillot and Tokyo are built for the Exposition Universelle.

1940

Germany invades France. Armistice between Hitler and aging French president Marshal Pétain allows Germans to occupy Paris; free France keeps 40% of the country, with its government based in Vichy. General Charles de Gaulle goes to London, broadcasts rallying cry to French, forms the Maquis (French Resistance).

1942

13,000 Jews are rounded up at a sports stadium before being deported to concentration camps.

1944

Allies land at Normandy beach. Hitler orders General von Choltitz to level Paris, but the General stalls, sparing the city. Paris liberated on August 24 as General Leclerc enters the city, followed two days later by General de Gaulle.

1946

France adopts a new constitution. French women gain the right to vote.

1946-54

In the French-Indochina War, France is unable to regain control of its colonies in Southeast Asia. The 1954 Geneva Agreement establishes two governments in Vietnam: north and south. U.S. involvement leads to French withdrawal.

1958

The Fifth Republic proclaimed; Charles de Gaulle elected president. Work starts on La Défense.

1960

Most of France’s African colonies gain independence.

1961

A peaceful demonstration by French Algerians against police-imposed curfews on North Africans results in a “secret massacre”. Police kill between 70-200 civil rights protesters, throwing their bodies into the Seine river. French media remains silent, censored for another 30 years.

1962

Algeria gains independence. Some 700,000 embittered colonists return to France. The population of Paris swells to 1.2 million.

1968

Strikes by 9 million workers (“les grèves”) protesting big business, and student demonstrations against antiquated university structures, mark “les évènements de Mai 1968”. De Gaulle’s attempt at reform by referendum fails, and he resigns from the presidency.

1969

The old central food market at Les Halles is moved to Rungis, outside Paris.

1969

Georges Pompidou becomes president.

1970

The Réseau Express Régional (RER, express train through Paris) is inaugurated.

1973

The boulevard périphérique (ring-road) is completed.

1977

The first mayor of Paris since 1871 is elected. The architecturally controversial Centre Pompidou is inaugurated in the old Beaubourg neighborhood.

1981

François Mitterrand is elected president, initiating a series of futuristic grands projets. As France’s first Socialist president, Mitterand is re-elected in 1988.

1986

The Orsay Museum and the Cité des Sciences at La Villette are inaugurated.

1989

A series of impressive celebrations commemorate the bi-centennial of the French Revolution, and centennial of the Eiffel Tower. The controversial Louvre pyramids, the Grande Arche at La Défense, and the Opéra Bastille are inaugurated.

1991

Edith Cresson becomes France’s first woman prime minister.

1992

Disneyland Paris, one of the most lavish theme parks in the world, opens on 5000 acres in the suburbs, incorporating elements of its Disney predecessors but with a European flair.

1995

Jacques Chirac, former mayor of Paris, becomes president of France. Paris is the focus of extremist terrorist bomb attacks. Transit workers’ strike paralyzes the city.

1996

Bibliothèque National de France opens in southeast Paris.

1997

Lionel Jospin takes office as prime minister.

1998

France hosts the Soccer World Cup, with finals on July 12 held at giant new stadium, the Stade de France, in St-Denis near Paris.

Paris France History in the 21st Century

Paris is still one of the most cosmopolitan centres in Europe today, hosting millions of tourists every year. The city is well-known for the arts, culture, fashion, the wine, and the ambiance of the City of Lights.

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Welcome to Paris France! History is rich and colourful, and well worth a read to learn just a little about the city you’re going to visit.

 


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