french history unit

10th grade french

vercingetorix

- 1st french national hero
- from Gaul
- fought césar in gergorvie
- sacrificed himself to save his soldiers from dying of hunger
- césar chains him for 6 years then executes him
- symbolism (ex:patriotism)

clovis

- huns tries to invade during his time in power
- came from the francs part of france
- almost lost a battle, but prays to clotilde's god
- 3,000 soldiers follows his baptizing
- created the 1st dynasty (mérovingienne)

order of kings

clovis -\> clovis sons -\> lazy kings -\> charles -\> pepin (charles' son) -\> charlemagne (pepin's son)

charlemagne

- strong, white hair, big nose, 7ft tall
- parents: pepin the short and big foot bertha
- created schools
- surrounded himself with scholars
- can't write
- had monks transcribe books
- lived in central point of empire

guillaume

- northman (from normandy)
- conquered england through the defeat of the king of england, harold, in the battle of hastings
- buried in normandy
- famous tapestry with his history

saint louis/ louis IX

- charitable king: gave food and money to the poor
- organized crusades to take back jerusalem for christians
- 1st crusade: prisonner in egypt
- 2nd crusade: died in africa from a sickness

jeanne d'arc

- heard voices to tell the king to fight/drive out the english
- charles VII appoints her as leader of the war
- inspires the army
- forces english to give up
- battle of compiègne: prisonner to burgunidans and sold to the english
- "witch" -\> burned

francois

- succeeds uncle, louis XII
- becomes prisoner by the spaniards
- pays lots of money to be released, but starts war again
- king of france wants to conquer kingdom of naples and duchy of milan (italian war- 60 years)
- not successful, but leads to the french renaissance
- invited italian architects to beautify france
- built castle of chambord and château fontainbleau
- lives a lavish life
- 12,000 hourses for hunting
- interested in education and literature

louis XIII and richelieu

- richelieu was his prime minister
- richelieu makes him an absolute king
- richelieu puts an end to protestants revolting
- lords hate richelieu because he forces them to obey the king
- richelieu killed those who plotted against him including the king's cousin
- richelieu weakened the lords and prevented resistance of the king's authority
- richelieu forbids castles and duels
- richelieu founded the french academy

louis XIV

- "sun king"
- believed he was the best
- "the state is me"
- built palace of versailles
- lived in louvre then the palace of versailles
- had parties at the palace with his court of 10,000
- disliked protestants, so he revokes the edict of nantes
- as a result, 200,000 protestants leave france since they can't practice their religion
- wages war to expand kingdom
- encouraged arts, music, literature, and theater
- increases taxes to fund war and court
- hundred of thousand peasants die of hunger and cold

louis XV

- extravagant taste and loves war
- "all this great will last as long as i do... after me, the flood"
- his 2 wars were expensive
- nicknamed "well-beloved" to "badly beloved"
- buried at night in secret

louis XVI

- wife was marie-anioette
- king during the french revolution
- declared war on england and sent troops to america
- france ruined by war expenses
- conflicts in the country forced him to convene the general states
- him and his wife were guillotined

napoleon bonaparte

- born in ajaccio
- served in king's army before revolution
- commanded artillery of republican army at age 24
- became general at age 26
- considered greatest general and national hero
- peace of campoformio
- brought pope to crown him emperor
- great army
- defeated by russia setting fire
- louis XVIII becomes king and monarchy is restored
- battle of waterloo (june 18, 1815) marks his ultimate downfall
- france lost conquered lands
- created napoleon code and schools

napoleon III

- crowns himself emperor (coup d'était)
- wife, empress eugenie, is famous for beauty and had a great influence on him
- wants peace but also military success
- gave workers right to strike and right to stop work
- modernized paris by constructing railroads
- tries to make maxmillene emperor of mexico, but is unsuccessful
- he abandons maxmillene who then becomes a prisoner and is shot
- france forced to surrender and pay war compensation to germany (franco-german war)