Nation+Building+-+France

=Nation Building - France =

Nation building in France is important in the Middle Ages because it was the start of France’s national identity. During this time period, France stabilized their national border and unified the nation. France accomplished this with leaders like Hugh Capet, Louis VI, Philip Augustus, Louis IX and Joan of Arc. The most significant event in the Middle Ages for France was the Hundred Years War, which separated France from Britain. [|Image Courtesy] = //__**Key People**__// =


 * The Franks **

The Franks lived in northern Germany until the Roman Empire started to weaken to which they conquered Rome. In relation to the Visigoths, Ostrogoths and the Vandals, they were late to arrive to the Roman Empire. They moved to northern France and Belgium. Later, under King Clovis, they converted to Catholicism* and began traveling south. The Franks wanted to settle in Southern France because they thought it would be easier to live there and they wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea so they could participate in trade. After the Franks’ victory at the Battle of Vouille against the Visigoths, the Franks controlled all of Europe except for Burgundy. After Clovis died, the Frankish Empire was divided among his sons. Image Courtesy


 * Charlemagne **

Charlemagne's name is actually Charles le Magne, which translates to Charles the Great. He received the Frankish empire when Pippin, his father, died in 768 A.D. Charles the Great made the Franks stronger than they were during Pippin's rule. How did he do this? He organized a centralized system of counts (governors) through the Frankish kingdom. He sent out men to sustain order in the kingdom and then sent men to check on those men. In addition, he expanded the Frankish Kingdom by conquering France down to the Pyrenees Mts., Germany, Switerland, Belgium, Austria, the Lombards (northern Italy) and modern- day Hungary. Charles the Great helped out the popes. As a result, Pope Leo III gave him the title Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne constructed a court at palace in Aachen, a palace school, and new buildings throughout the kingdom. [|Image Courtesy]


 * Hugh Capet **

In 987 AD. When the Carolingians died out, the French lords had to pick a new king. Hugh Capet was chosen because he was known for being meek*. The lords chose Hugh Capet because the lords wanted to have control over the king without him having power to do anything about it. Because of this lords in some cases controlled just as much, or even more land than what the king did, which made them more powerful. The descendants of Hugh Capet or knows as the Capetians had much success in keeping the throne because they each lived for a long time, and had sons to carry on the throne. This made it not possible for other kings to take the throne. [|Image Courtesy]


 * Louis VI **

Louis VI was also referred to as Louis the Fat. He was the king of France and was the son of Philip I. He established and enforced his authority by punishing people who did wrong. Louis cared for the poor, which helped him gain the support from the church. Louis also helped defeat the joint attack from Emperor Henry V and from England. What helped lead to his success were the vassals, and their quick actions: they organized large groups of men to go against the threat. To increase the amount of land his family could own he arranged the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to the future Louis VII, his son. Shortly after the marriage, Louis pasted away, and was succeeded by Louis, his son. [|Image Courtesy]


 * Philip Augustus **

Philip Augustus took the throne in 1180 AD when he was fourteen. Philip granted many charters to new cities and announced a national tax. He weakened England by persuading Richard and John of England to fight against their father, Henry II. He conquered the English territories of Normandy and Aquitaine. Philip Augustus then went on the Third Crusade to fight against Salah al-din in Jerusalem. On the way to Jerusalem, Philip conquered Acre which was a major seaport in the area. After, the victory in Acre, Philip decided he would return home to France. [|Image Courtesy]


 * Louis IX **

Louis IX was called to the throne at age 12. Since he was too young to rule France,his mother, Blanch of Castile, ruled while he grew up. She was a good ruler but many people did not like her because she was originally from Spain. Louis eliminated feuding between French nobles and vassals by protecting them from oppression and making the nobles complete their responsibilities. He also reformed the courts by allowing any French citizen to have a fair trial, which is not based on social status. To make sure that his reforms were kept he had all laws recorded, so that the laws were not confused and that the jurors had to make a fair, final verdict. [|Image Courtesy]


 * Estate Generals **

Estates-Generals were also referred to as the States General. It was the representative assembly of the “estates”, or what maintained order in France; which were the clergy and nobility (privileged minorities) and a Third Estate, which consisted of people that spoke for the majority of the public. The Estates-General originated in the custom of counsel and representation during the 13th century. The primary national assembly of representatives of the three estates got together to help Philip IV the Fair against Pope Boniface VIII in 1302. They met several times to get political or financial support during the beginning of the 14th century. However, during the Hundred Years War, it became obvious that the Estates General were too inflexible to be a part of the government. After the war, the Estates-General were brought together sometimes but for the most part, provincial estates were created to overlook the provinces. Francis I, who was king during the years of 1515 till 1547, didn't ever ask for the Estates-General's assistance. The Estates Generals solely met during times of crisis. [|Image Courtesy]
 * Joan of Arc **

Joan of Arc was born in 1412, in the village of Domrémy, and died in 1431. Although she lived for a short time, she impacted France greatly. She lived during the long wars between France and England. At the time, France was largely in the possession of England. After hearing strange voices and having dreams, Joan of Arc was determined to save France because she believed that God had sent her that mission. All her loved ones tried to stop her but she was adamant in her beliefs. Soon, people believed in her mission. Joan of Arc traveled to meet the French king, Charles VII, at Chinon in 1429. After telling him about her mission, the king agreed to give her an army of 5,000 men to defeat the English at Orleans. Joan motivated the soldiers with her visions of France being freed from the English. The French soldiers were able to end the siege at Orleans. As a result of her conquest of New Orleans, she was given the name “Maid of Orleans.” Joan of Arc was known by nearly everyone in France and went on to win in several battles against the English. Finally, the English’s control was moved to the very northern part of France. Charles VIII was crowned king in Rheims. After that, Joan of Arc was ready to go home to her parents but due to the king's urging (France was not entirely freed from the English), she stayed. Joan of Arc was captured by the Duke of Burgundy, after leading an attack against him, and was then sold to the English as a prisoner. She was put in a prison in Rouen. She was charged with sorcery and brought to trial, where she received a sentence to be burned at the stake. Joan of Arc was courageous, determined, and had an unwavering faith in God. If it wasn't for her encouraging the French to fight the English during the Hundred Years War, France might still be part of England today! [|Image Courtesy]

= **//__Key Events__//** =


 * Albigensian Crusade **

Albigensian Crusade or also called the Carthar Crusade was initiated by Pope backed up by the Roman Catholic Church, and was a war against the people of the Languedoc region in Southern France. The religious movement lasted for 20 years, from 1209-1229. The Albigensian Crusade is the larger term used to categorize a series of smaller, more formal crusades. The Carthars believed that the Catholic Church had corrupted the original message sent from God given to the church. The Carthars believed in living lives that were very simplistic and frugal; which was very different from the elaborate sacraments and ceremonials from the Catholic Church. Another conflict they had was that they believed in the God of the Old Testament, which was different from the New Testament.  In 1209, The March on Beziers is one of the best examples to show the degree of violence that happened during the crusade. As the crusading army went into the city, the people of Béziers started to attack the crusaders. The people of the town who weren’t hidden didn’t have time to hide and were immediately killed. Even the women, children and priests who fled to the churches were killed. An estimated amount of 7,000-20,000 people were killed and there were no survivors. After the massacre, the whole town was set on fire.  There were many other notable acts of violence during the crusade. The Albigensian Crusade went far beyond the normal conventions of warfare for its time, in the scale of slaughter, prisoners and in the humiliation and shaming done to the defeated.   [|Image Courtesy]  ** One Hundred Years War **

 Ironic but true, the One Hundred Years War took place from 1337 to 1453, in reality lasting for 116 years. It was fought between France and England and later Burgundy. There were many causes for this horrific war that claimed many lives. The king of England, Edward VIII, claimed that he had the right to the throne as a result of his mother being Phillip the Fair’s daughter. The other cause was that the French monarchy attempted to take taxes from affluent towns in northern Europe. These towns however heavily relied on the English for wool and supported Edward III. Factions developed during the 14th century. Many people could become noble through their wealth. In the meantime, the old nobles were losing their money as a consequence of decreasing rents. Buying and selling of royal seats occurred. Nobles formed factions that were united with other factions. These factions were small states within the states and contributed greatly to the violence of the 14th century. In addition, these factions forced the monarchs to keep a close watch on the nobles.  More problems arose. Mercenaries were needed by most governments because they were professionally trained but they were expensive and lacked loyalty for the county they were serving. In order to finance the cost of the war, France had to impose even more taxes on the people.A major issue that contributed to the start of the war was the status of Aquitaine, which was a big piece of land in the south of France. Edward III's fiefdom included Aquitaine, however Phillip VI claimed the territory as his and attacked it. In response, Edward III joined forces with the Flemish in 1337, which basically instigated the war.  The battles during the war were completely fought on French soil. There were French victories and then English ones and then there would be a stalemate until fighting would continue. During the stalemates, the English and French mercenaries would kill and steal on French lands. The English won the battle of Agincourt in 1415, under Henry VI, and therefore getting northern France completely under English control. By that time, it was very likely that England would have beaten France and later have ruled it. Fortunately, Joan of Arc led the French to victory. The Battle of the War of Roses weakened England greatly and therefore, England had to surrender to France. The development of new siege engines and the use of a longbow as an English weapon resulted from the huge amount of sieges that took place during the Hundred Years War. In addition, the mounted knight's power declined due to the technology that developed.  [[image:themedievalera/-plp-[gfnjygrfn.jpg]]  [|Image Courtesy]  ** The Great Schism **

 From 1378 to 1417, a major event called the Great Schism took place in the Western Christendom. In Rome at this time, Pope Urban VI, an Italian man, had just been elected pope. The cardinals* in the French favor believed that his election was void and they didn’t accept him as the pope. They decided to appoint Clement VII as pope because of their strong feelings against Pope Urban VI. However, both popes did not stay in Rome. Urban VI resided in Rome and Clement VII strayed to Avignon. Since there were two popes, the people of the Western Christendom were clueless about which pope to abide by. The papacy was more damaged then it had ever been because of the rivalry between the two popes. In 1409, the church council in Pisa was asked to choose a new pope. A new pope was chosen in hopes that the rivalry between Urban VI and Clement VII would end. However, the exact opposite happened when both popes refused to give up their power. After about forty years, the Great Schism finally came to an end with the help of the Council of Constance. There were three popes at the time who were all removed because the people became fond of a new man, Martin V. He had authority over the church for about fourteen years. At last, the Catholic World had only one pope.   Image Courtesy

<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> __<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">**Vocabulary** __ <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Catholicism// - the faith, doctrine, system, and practice of a Catholic church, especially the Roman Catholic Church <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Meek// – the action of showing patience, humility and gentle <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Sorcery// - use of supernatural powers over others through the assistance of the spirits; witchcraft <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Factions// – consisted of a great family, their servants, and knights. It also included workers and peasants on the manor. Each faction possessed small armies, loyalties and symbols of allegiance <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Stalemate// - any position or situation in which no action can be taken or progress made <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> //Noble ­//– a person possessing hereditary rank in a political system or social class derived from a feudalistic stage of a country's development <span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">//Cardinals// - a high ecclesiastic appointed by the pope to the College of Cardinals and ranking above every other ecclesiastic but the pope