Page 66 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

DISCOVER A Brief History

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Medieval France
Clovis, baptized in 496, was the first Frankish ruler to convert
to Christianity. As the Frankish realm evolved into a medieval
nation-state, great abbeys like Cluny (p332) and Fontenay (p316)
became wealthy and influential. The French fought the
Angevin–Plantagenet rulers of England during the Hundred
Years’ War (1337–1453), while also battling to subdue Occitanie
and the ambitious dukes of Burgundy, who sought to create a
kingdom of their own between France and Germany.
Renaissance France
Following the French invasion of Italy in 1494, the ideals and
aesthetic of the Italian Renaissance spread to France, reaching
its height during the reign of François I, who invited artists such
as Leonardo da Vinci and Cellini to his court. Catherine de Medici,
widow of François’s son Henri II, virtually ruled France through
her sons, François II, Charles IX and Henri III. During their reigns,
the Wars of Religion between Catholic and Protestant factions Catherine de Medici of
tore France apart, until a compromise was reached with the Edict Italy, who ruled France
of Nantes (1598) by Henri IV, first of the Bourbon line of kings. by proxy for years

Timeline of events
1337 1415 1593
The start of Hundred French defeated by Henri IV converts to
Years’ War, which Henry V of England at Catholicism, ending
finally ends in 1453, the Battle of Agincourt. the 30-year Wars
with only Calais still of Religion.
in English hands.

1154
Henry Plantagenet, count of 1348–52
Anjou and (as Henry II) king of The Black Death kills
England, creates the Angevin half the population
realm, straddling France. in some cities.
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