French History
Page 1 of 3 - One of the most fascinating civilizations during the span of 1500 to 1800 was France. France was engaged in almost every war fought before 1700, but it wasn't until about 1700 that France gained the spotlight. Rulers like Louis XIV, the Sun King, Henry IV, Cardinal Richelieu, and Napoleon Bonaparte controlled the French people and their domains. Familiar to most are the palace at Versailles, the Louvre, and most famously, the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon. The Revolution of 1789 was more than a political revolution, it was a social and cultural revolution as well. What happened in France during and after 1789 changed the entire world, for ever.
By 1500, the French had managed to regain possession of nearly all of France. It had taken several wars, the shedding of much blood, and a great deal of time, but France had finally won back its domains from England, who had ruled parts of France for centuries. The stories of Joan of Arc, Agincourt, and the Hundred Years' War are familiar to all. King Louis XII ended the fifteenth century with his invasion of Italy (his father, Charles VIII had previously campaigned there in the mid-1490s), setting off a series of conflicts and campaigns into and around Italy that lasted until the mid-sixteenth century. These campaigns in Italy--for the most part--proved to be dismal failures.
During the 1500s, France was plagued by financial difficulties. Taxes were an especially difficult task for the government. Taxes were actually collected by citizens, called "tax farmers", who would pay for their job as tax farmer, and were hired to collect the taxes for the government. Multiple taxes (much like those levied on the American colonials in the 1770s) had to be levied to gather sufficient revenue for the operation and maintenance of the Empire. The wars in Italy and abroad proved a great strain on the Empire. The upper middle-class citizens helped raise large sums of money to aid the King and his wars, of course, they paid little or nothing in taxes to the Crown for their support.
Religious strife between the French Protestants and the French Catholics, was also a potent force behind the history and shaping of France. By the early 1500s, many people began reading the teachings of Luther and his many works. In the 1530s, the ideas of John Calvin took hold of many of the lower class people in France. Huguenotism began, that is, French Calvinism. The tension between the Huguenots and Roman Catholics continued to mount until it erupted in March of 1562, when a congregation of Huguenots was slaughtered at Vassy. The Calvinist and Catholic forces clashed at the Battle of Dreux in December of that same year. Peace was concluded in 1563. This peace was short-lived, however. A second war broke out between September and November of 1567, ending with another battle and another peace in March 1568. In September of 1568, a third war began. Several more battles were fought, but no major gains for either party, and another peace was signed in August of 1570. The final war came about in 1572, after the massacre of three thousand Huguenots at a wedding festival. This war was concluded in 1576, after further bloodshed.
A fresh struggle occurred in 1585. Several Henries of various factions began a struggle for the throne of France. Henry III was assassinated. The Henry of Navarre, became King of France in 1589 upon Henry III's death, ending the war. The conflicts between 1585 and 1589 became known as the War of the Three Henrys. With this war's conclusion, the Wars of Religion, between the French Protestants and French Catholics, came to a close. Continued ...
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