France Folder, its rivers and mountains.kmz

France Folder, its rivers and mountains

France (Paris)
France; The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord at Moscow, Commemorated on July 10; NATHAN SO–DERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated July 12 ; IGNATIUS LOYOLA, MYSTIC, EDUCATOR, PREACHER, AND FOUNDER OF THE JESUITS (31 JULY 1556); St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31; Hieromartyr Antherus (Antheros) Pope of Rome, Commemorated on August 5; St Barses the Confessor, Commemorated on August 25; Hieromartyr Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage, Commemorated August 31 ; HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179); Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia, Commemorated November 23 ; St Stephen Urosh, King of Serbia, Commemorated on December 2 ; THOMAS MERTON, MONK, POET, SPIRITUAL WRITER, 1968, Commemrated December 10 ; St Euthymius (Takaishvili), Commemorated on January 3 ; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367) ; Venerable John Calabytes "the Hut-Dweller", Commemorated January 15 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17 ; Venerable Maximus the Greek, Commemorated January 21 ; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated January 23 ; Hieromartyr Hippolytus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on January 30 ; ST BRIDGET OF KILDARE, ABBESS (1 FEB 523) ; Venerable Brigid (Bridget) of Ireland, Commemorated February 1 ; ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865); Icon of the Mother of God "the Seeker of the Lost", Commemorated February 5 ; CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, BISHOP OF TENNESSEE, 1898, Commemorated February 16 ; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD COOPER, Educator (1964), Commemorated Febraury 28 ; St Germanus of Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea), Commemorated on February 28 ; Venerable John Cassian the Roman, Commemorated on February 28; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; St Gregory Dialogus, the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on March 12; PATRICK OF IRELAND, (17 MAR c461); St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17 ; Monkmartyr Euthymius of Prodromou of Mt Athos, Commemorated on March 22; RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253); PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ; DAMIEN of MOLOKAI, PRIEST AND LEPER, 1889, Commemorated April 15 ; ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, 21 April 1109 ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380); St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan; JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ; Martyr Christopher of Lycia, Commemorated on May 9; Venerable Comgall of Bangor, Commemorated on May 10; St Germanus the Patriarch of Constantinople, Commemorated on May 12 ; ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804); Glorification of the Venerable Zebulon, the father of St Nino Enlightener of Georgia, Commemorated on May 20; Equal of the Apostles and Emperor Constantine with his Mother Helen, Commemorated on May 21; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 26 ; JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564, Commemorated May 28 ; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS) (2 JUNE 177); Martyr Frontasius of Gaul, Commemorated on June 4; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754); JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

France (center of France)
France; Gaul; THOMAS MERTON; France; Venerable Comgall of Bangor, Commemorated on May 10; Hieromartyr Cyprian the Bishop of Carthage; Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia; St Ambrose the Bishop of Milan; Martyr Frontasius of Gaul, Commemorated on June 4;

Lutetia Parisiorum (ancient name for Paris)
Lutetia Parisiorum (ancient name for Paris); Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite the Bishop of Athens, Commemorated on October 3;

Angevin Empire, 1154-1214, Half oFrance, All oEngland, Wales, Parts oIreland
Angevin Empire, Half oFrance, All oEngland, Wales, Parts oIreland, 1152 Henry II married Eleanor oAquitaine, 1154 inherited England fMother Matilda, Court in Anjou&Touraine, Conflicted wFrench Capet kings, H's son John defeated by Philip II oFrance Anglo-French War 1213-1214, he lost all continental possessions but Gascony iSouthern Aquitaine, that led to 100 Yrs War; Angevin Empire; term Angevin Empire describes the possessions of the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, they ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy.[3] empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou (from which the term Angevins is derived). married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, at Chinon in Touraine. influence and power of the House of Anjou brought them into conflict with the kings of France of the House of Capet, whom they also owed feudal homage for their French possessions, bringing in a period of rivalry between the dynasties. the extent of Angevin rule, Henry's son John was defeated in the Anglo-French War (1213–1214) by Philip II of France following the Battle of Bouvines. lost control of most of his continental possessions, apart from Gascony in southern Aquitaine. defeat set the scene for further conflicts between England and France, leading up to the Hundred Years' War.

France, 150-202, Iraneus, Bishop of Lugdunum, Gaul, Lyons, France
Gaul, 150-202, Iraneus, Bishop of Lugdunum, Gaul, Lyons, France ; Lugdunum (Lyons in France); Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, Commemorated on August 23; Hieromartyr Hippolytus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated January 30 ; IRENAEUS, BISHOP OF LYONS, THEOLOGIAN (28 JUN 202) ;

France, 481-843, Frankish Empire, from Paris 508-768
Frankish Empire, 481-843, from Paris 508-768; Glorification of the Venerable Zebulon, the father of St Nino Enlightener of Georgia, Commemorated on May 20;

France, 800-924, Carolingian Empire, Holy Roman Empire
France, 800-924, Carolingian Empire, Holy Roman Empire;

France, 987-1848, Capetian France, HRE, direct and indirect decendants of Hugh Capet
France, 987-1848, Capetian France; House of Capet (French: Maison capétienne) or the Direct Capetians (Capétiens directs), also called the House of France (la maison de France), or simply the Capets, the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. in the 19th century came to apply the name "Capetian" to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet (c. 939 – 996). did not use the name "Capetian" (see House of France). The Capets were sometimes called "the third race of kings" (following the Merovingians and the Carolingians). The name "Capet" derives from the nickname (of uncertain meaning) given to Hugh, the first Capetian king.[1] direct line of the House of Capet came to an end in 1328, when the three sons of Philip IV (reigned 1285–1314) all failed to produce surviving male heirs to the French throne. the death of Charles IV (reigned 1322–1328), the throne passed to the House of Valois, descended from a younger brother of Philip IV. power would later pass (1589) to another Capetian branch, the House of Bourbon, descended from the youngest son of Louis IX (reigned 1226–1270), (from 1830) to a Bourbon cadet branch, the House of Orléans, always remaining in the hands of agnatic descendants of Hugh Capet, except for the 10-year reign of Emperor Napoleon.

France, 1309-1377, Avignon Papacy
France, 1309-1377, Avignon Papacy; Avignon; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

France, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with England to control France
France, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with England to control France;

France, 1517, Ninety Five Theses, Martin Luther, Protestant
Germany, 1517, Ninety Five Theses, Martin Luther, Protestant; Germany, 1503-1546, Martin Luther, Protestant ; Wittenberg, Germany ; Lutherhaus; MARTIN LUTHER, EDUCATOR, TRANSLATOR (18 FEB 1546); JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

France, 16th Century, Protestant Reformation throughout Europe
France, 16th Century, Protestant Reformation throughout Europe; JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564, commemorated May 28;

France, 16th Century, Hugenots, the French Reformed Church
France: original Land of the French Reformed Church: the Hugenots; CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, BISHOP OF TENNESSEE, 1898, Commemorated February 16 ;

France, 1529-1564, John Calvin
France, 1529-1564, John Calvin ; France, 16th Century, Protestant Reformation throughout Europe; JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564, commemorated May 28;

France, 1600-1660, Saint Vincent DePaul
France, 1600-1660, Saint Vincent DePaul; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660;

France, 1754-1763, French and Indian War
France, 1754-1763, French and Indian War; MARY (MOLLY) BRANT, WITNESS TO THE FAITH AMONG THE MOHAWKS, 1796, Commemorated April 16;

France, 1789-1799, French Revolution
France, 1789-1799, French Revolution; Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12;

France, 1792-1804, French First Republic
France, 1792-1804, French First Republic; France, 1789-1799, French Revolution; Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12;

France, 1804-1815, Napolionic Era, First French Empire
France, 1804-1815, Napolionic Era, First French Empire; Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12; St Peter of Cetinje, Commemorated on October 18;

France, 1814-1830, Bourbon Restoration
France, 1814-1830, Bourbon Restoration; St Peter of Cetinje, Commemorated on October 18;

France, 1830-1848, July Monarchy, Orleans Monarchy
France, 1830-1848, July Monarchy, Orleans Monarchy ;

France, 1848, French Revolution of 1848
France, 1848, French Revolution of 1848;

France, 1848-1852, French Second Republic
France, 1848-1852, French Second Republic;

France, 1852-1870, Second French Empire
Second French Empire 1852-1870; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ;

France, 1870-1940, French Third Republic
France, 1870-1940, French Third Republic;

France, 1940-1944, Vichy France
France, 1940-1944, Vichy France;

France, 1944-1946, Provisional Government of the French Republic
France, 1944-1946, Provisional Government of the French Republic;

France, 1946-1958, French Fourth Republic
France, 1946-1958, French Fourth Republic;

French History Folder

France, 40-99, 1st Century Folder, Dionysis the Aeropygite, Lucian of Beauvais

France, 40-96, Hieromartyr Lucian, sent to Gaul, then to Belgium, c all Belgium, heavenly light, picked up head
France, 40-96, Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais, France (Avalon River Mouth, Therain River 4), converted by Peter, preached in Italy, Clement sent him to Gaul, then to Belgium, very successful, by words and life example, strict ascetic, c all Belgium, beheaded, heavenly light, picked up head and carried to his grave; Beauvais; Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3; Hieromartyr Lucian lived in Rome, and his pagan name was Lucius. was converted to Christ by the Apostle Peter, and was baptized. Saint Peter’s death, Saint Lucian preached the Gospel in Italy. Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), a disciple of Saint Paul, arrived in Rome at this time. the request of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome (November 25), he agreed to preach the Gospel in the West, and gathered companions and helpers for this task. Clement consecrated Saint Lucian a bishop, then sent him off with Saint Dionysius, Saints Marcellinus and Saturninus, the Presbyter Maximian, and the Deacon Julian. holy preachers sailed from Italy to Gaul (modern France). Marcellinus and those accompanying him continued on to Spain. Saturninus went to Gaul, Saint Dionysius and the others went to the region of Paris. there Saint Lucian went to Belgium with Maximian and Julian. Lucian’s preaching was very successful. By the power of his words and the example of his life, he converted a large number of pagans to Christianity. Lucian was a strict ascetic, and all day long he ate only a morsel of bread and some water. the converted he was kindly, always joyful and cheerful of face. almost all the settlements of Belgium were converted to Christ. this period, the Roman emperor Dometian (81-96) initiated a second persecution against Christians (after that of Nero, 54-68), and he issued an edict prescribing torture and execution for anyone who refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. officials were sent to Belgium to carry out the edict. Lord revealed to Saint Lucian the ordeal facing him. He gathered the flock together, urging them not to fear threats, tortures or death, and then he gave thanks to God for granting him the possibility of joining the company of the holy martyrs. After praying, Saint Lucian and the priest Maximian and Deacon Julian withdrew to the summit of a hill, where he continued to teach the people who came with him. the soldiers of the emperor came upon the saints and led them away for trial. Saints Maximian and Julian were urged to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to idols, but both refused and were beheaded. the judge began to interrogate Saint Lucian, accusing him of sorcery and disobedience to the emperor and Senate. The saint replied that he was not a sorcerer, but rather a servant of the true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he refused to offer sacrifice to idols made by human hands. saint was subjected to fierce beatings, during which he repeated, “Never will I cease to praise Christ, the Son of God, in my heart, and with my lips.” Then the holy martyr was beheaded. heavenly light shone over his body, and the Voice of the Savior was heard, summoning the valiant sufferer into the heavenly Kingdom to receive the martyr’s crown. the power of God the saint stood up, picked up his severed head, and crossed over the river. Reaching the burial spot he had chosen, he lay down upon the ground and reposed in peace. of this great miracle about 500 pagans were converted to Christ. Later, a church was built over Saint Lucian’s grave, to which the relics of the martyrs Maximian and Julian were transferred.

France, 40-96, Dionysis the Aeropygite, sent to Gaul w Lucian and others by Clement
Areopagus Council, Athens (Athenian high court, Hill of Ares); Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite the Bishop of Athens, Commemorated on October 3; Dionysius lived originally in the city of Athens. He was raised there and received a classical Greek education. He then went to Egypt, where he studied astronomy at the city of Heliopolis. It was in Heliopolis, along with his friend Apollophonos where he witnessed the solar eclipse that occurred at the moment of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ by Crucifixion. “Either the Creator of all the world now suffers, or this visible world is coming to an end,” Dionysius said. Upon his return to Athens from Egypt, he was chosen to be a member of the Areopagus Council (Athenian high court). When the holy Apostle Paul preached at the place on the Hill of Ares (Acts 17:16-34), Dionysius accepted his salvific proclamation and became a Christian. For three years Saint Dionysius remained a companion of the holy Apostle Paul in preaching the Word of God. Later on, the Apostle Paul selected him as bishop of the city of Athens. And in the year 57 Saint Dionysius was present at the repose of the Most Holy Theotokos. the lifetime of the Mother of God, Saint Dionysius had journeyed from Athens to Jerusalem to meet Her. He wrote to his teacher the Apostle Paul: “I witness by God, that besides the very God Himself, there is nothing else filled with such divine power and grace. No one can fully comprehend what I saw. I confess before God: when I was with John, who shone among the Apostles like the sun in the sky, when I was brought before the countenance of the Most Holy Virgin, I experienced an inexpressible sensation. Before me gleamed a sort of divine radiance which transfixed my spirit. I perceived the fragrance of indescribable aromas and was filled with such delight that my very body became faint, and my spirit could hardly endure these signs and marks of eternal majesty and heavenly power. The grace from her overwhelmed my heart and shook my very spirit. If I did not have in mind your instruction, I should have mistaken Her for the very God. It is impossible to stand before greater blessedness than this which I beheld.” the death of the Apostle Paul, Saint Dionysius wanted to continue with his work, and therefore went off preaching in the West, accompanied by the Presbyter Rusticus and Deacon Eleutherius. They converted many to Christ at Rome, and then in Germany, and then in Spain. In Gaul, during a persecution against Christians by the pagan authorities, all three confessors were arrested and thrown into prison. By night Saint Dionysius celebrated the Divine Liturgy with angels of the Lord. In the morning the martyrs were beheaded. According to an old tradition, Saint Dionysius took up his head, proceeded with it to the church and fell down dead there. A pious woman named Catulla buried the relics of the saint. writings of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite hold great significance for the Orthodox Church. Four books of his have survived to the present day: On the Celestial Hierarchy On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy On the Names of God On Mystical Theology In additional, there are ten letters to various people. book On the Celestial Hierarchies was written actually in one of the countries of Western Europe, where Saint Dionysius was preaching. In it he speaks of the Christian teaching about the angelic world. The angelic (or Celestial-Heavenly) hierarchy comprises the nine angelic Ranks: Seraphim Cherubim Thrones Dominions Powers Authorities Principalities Archangels Angels The account of the Synaxis of the Bodiless Powers of Heaven is located under November 8. purpose of the divinely-established Angelic Hierarchy is the ascent towards godliness through purification, enlightenment and perfection. The highest ranks are bearers of divine light and divine life for the lower ranks. And not only are the sentient, bodiless angelic hosts included in the spiritual light-bearing hierarchy, but also the human race, created anew and sanctified in the Church of Christ. book of Saint Dionysius On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchies is a continuation of his book On the Celestial Hierarchies. The Church of Christ, like the Angelic ranks, in its universal service is set upon the foundation of priestly principles established by God. the earthly world, for the children of the Church, divine grace comes down indescribably in the holy Mysteries of the Church, which are spiritual in nature, though perceptible to the senses in form. Few, even among the holy ascetics, were able to behold with their earthly eyes the fiery vision of the Holy Mysteries of God. But outside of the Church’s sacraments, outside of Baptism and the Eucharist, the light-bearing saving grace of God is not found, neither is divine knowledge nor theosis (deification). book On the Names of God expounds upon the way of divine knowledge through a progression of the Divine Names. Dionysius’ book On Mystical Theology also sets forth the teaching about divine knowledge. The theology of the Orthodox Church is totally based upon experience of divine knowledge. In order to know God it is necessary to be in proximity to Him, to have come near to Him in some measure, so as to attain communion with God and deification (theosis). This condition is accomplished through prayer. This is not because prayer in itself brings us close to the incomprehensible God, but rather that the purity of heart in true prayer brings us closer to God. written works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite are of extraordinary significance in the theology of the Orthodox Church, and also for late Medieval Western theology. For almost four centuries, until the beginning of the sixth century, the works of this holy Father of the Church were preserved in an obscure manuscript tradition, primarily by theologians of the Alexandrian Church. The concepts in these works were known and utilized by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Dionysius the Great, pre-eminent figures of the catechetical school in Alexandria, and also by Saint Gregory the Theologian. Saint Dionysius of Alexandria wrote to Saint Gregory the Theologian a Commentary on the “Areopagitum.” The works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite received general Church recognition during the sixth-seventh centuries. relevant are the Commentaries written by Saint Maximus the Confessor (January 21). (trans. note: although many scholars suggest that the “Areopagitum” was actually written by an anonymous sixth century figure who employed the common ancient device of piously borrowing an illustrious name, this in no way diminishes the profound theological significance of the works.) the Russian Orthodox Church the teachings of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite about the spiritual principles and deification were at first known through the writings of Saint John of Damascus (December 4). The first Slavonic translation of the “Areopagitum” was done on Mt. Athos in about the year 1371 by a monk named Isaiah. Copies of it were widely distributed in Russia. Many of them have been preserved to the present day in historic manuscript collections, among which is a parchment manuscript “Works of Saint Dionysius the Areopagite” belonging to Saint Cyprian, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus (September 16) in his own handwriting. to one tradition, he was killed at Lutetia (ancient name of Paris, France) in the year 96 during the persecution under the Roman emperor Dometian (81-96). Today most scholars and theologians believe that Saint Dionysius the Areopagite did not die in Gaul, and that Saint Dionysius (or Denys) of Paris is a different saint with the same name. Demetrius of Rostov says that the Hieromartyr Dionysius was beheaded in Athens, and that many miracles were worked at his grave. Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3; Hieromartyr Lucian lived in Rome, and his pagan name was Lucius. was converted to Christ by the Apostle Peter, and was baptized. Saint Peter’s death, Saint Lucian preached the Gospel in Italy. Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3), a disciple of Saint Paul, arrived in Rome at this time. the request of Saint Clement, Pope of Rome (November 25), he agreed to preach the Gospel in the West, and gathered companions and helpers for this task. Clement consecrated Saint Lucian a bishop, then sent him off with Saint Dionysius, Saints Marcellinus and Saturninus, the Presbyter Maximian, and the Deacon Julian. holy preachers sailed from Italy to Gaul (modern France). Marcellinus and those accompanying him continued on to Spain. Saturninus went to Gaul, Saint Dionysius and the others went to the region of Paris. there Saint Lucian went to Belgium with Maximian and Julian. Lucian’s preaching was very successful. By the power of his words and the example of his life, he converted a large number of pagans to Christianity. Lucian was a strict ascetic, and all day long he ate only a morsel of bread and some water. the converted he was kindly, always joyful and cheerful of face. almost all the settlements of Belgium were converted to Christ. this period, the Roman emperor Dometian (81-96) initiated a second persecution against Christians (after that of Nero, 54-68), and he issued an edict prescribing torture and execution for anyone who refused to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. officials were sent to Belgium to carry out the edict. Lord revealed to Saint Lucian the ordeal facing him. He gathered the flock together, urging them not to fear threats, tortures or death, and then he gave thanks to God for granting him the possibility of joining the company of the holy martyrs. After praying, Saint Lucian and the priest Maximian and Deacon Julian withdrew to the summit of a hill, where he continued to teach the people who came with him. the soldiers of the emperor came upon the saints and led them away for trial. Saints Maximian and Julian were urged to renounce Christ and offer sacrifice to idols, but both refused and were beheaded. the judge began to interrogate Saint Lucian, accusing him of sorcery and disobedience to the emperor and Senate. The saint replied that he was not a sorcerer, but rather a servant of the true God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and he refused to offer sacrifice to idols made by human hands. saint was subjected to fierce beatings, during which he repeated, “Never will I cease to praise Christ, the Son of God, in my heart, and with my lips.” Then the holy martyr was beheaded. heavenly light shone over his body, and the Voice of the Savior was heard, summoning the valiant sufferer into the heavenly Kingdom to receive the martyr’s crown. the power of God the saint stood up, picked up his severed head, and crossed over the river. Reaching the burial spot he had chosen, he lay down upon the ground and reposed in peace. of this great miracle about 500 pagans were converted to Christ. Later, a church was built over Saint Lucian’s grave, to which the relics of the martyrs Maximian and Julian were transferred.

France, 96, Death of Dionysius the Areopagite in Lutetai (Paris)
Lutetia (ancient name for Paris); Hieromartyr Dionysius the Areopagite the Bishop of Athens, Commemorated on October 3;

France, 100-491, Early Church Folder, Gaul and Western Roman Empire

France, 100, 2nd Century History Folder, Iraneus in Lyon, Gaul

France, 150-202, Iraneus, Bishop of Lugdunum, Gaul, Lyons, France, from Smyrna and Polycarp, anti Gnostic writer
Gaul, 150-202, Iraneus, Bishop of Lugdunum, Gaul, Lyons, France ; Lugdunum (Lyons in France); Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, Commemorated on August 23; Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was born in the year 130 in the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor). He received there the finest education, studying poetics, philosophy, rhetoric, and the rest of the classical sciences considered necessary for a young man of the world. guide in the truths of the Christian Faith was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). Saint Polycarp baptized the youth, and afterwards ordained him presbyter and sent him to a city in Gaul then named Lugdunum [the present day Lyons in France] to the dying bishop Pothinus. commission was soon entrusted to Saint Irenaeus. He was to deliver a letter from the confessors of Lugdunum to the holy Bishop Eleutherius of Rome (177-190). While he was away, all the known Christians were thrown into prison. After the martyric death of Bishop Pothinus, Saint Irenaeus was chosen a year later (in 178) as Bishop of Lugdunum. “During this time,” Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17) writes concerning him, “by his preaching he transformed all Lugdunum into a Christian city!” the persecution against Christians quieted down, the saint expounded upon the Orthodox teachings of faith in one of his fundamental works under the title: Detection and Refutation of the Pretended but False Gnosis. It is usually called Five Books against Heresy (Adversus Haereses). that time there appeared a series of religious-philosophical gnostic teachings. The Gnostics [from the Greek word “gnosis” meaning “knowledge”] taught that God cannot be incarnate [i.e. born in human flesh], since matter is imperfect and manifests itself as the bearer of evil. They taught also that the Son of God is only an outflowing (“emanation”) of Divinity. Together with Him from the Divinity issues forth a hierarchical series of powers (“aeons”), the unity of which comprise the “Pleroma”, i.e. “Fullness.” The world is not made by God Himself, but by the aeons or the “Demiourgos,” which is below the “Pleroma.” refuting this heresy, championed by Valentinus, Saint Irenaeus presents the Orthodox teaching of salvation. “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, through His inexplicable blessedness caused it to be, that we also, should be made that which He is ... ,” taught Saint Irenaeus. “Jesus Christ the Son of God, through exceedingly great love for His creation, condescended to be born of a Virgin, having united mankind with God in His own Self.” Through the Incarnation of God, creation becomes co-imaged and co-bodied to the Son of God. Salvation consists in the “Sonship” and “Theosis” (“Divinization”) of mankind. the refutation of another heretic, Marcian, who denied the divine origin of the Old Testament, the saint affirms the same divine inspiration of the Old and the New Testaments: “It is one and the same Spirit of God Who proclaimed through the prophets the precise manner of the Lord’s coming,” wrote the saint. “Through the apostles, He preached that the fulness of time of the filiation had arrived, and that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.” successors of the Apostles have received from God the certain gift of truth, which Saint Irenaeus links to the succession of the episcopate (Adv. Haer. 4, 26, 2). “Anyone who desires to know the truth ought to turn to the Church, since through Her alone did the apostles expound the Divine Truth. She is the door to life.” Irenaeus also exerted a beneficial influence in a dispute about the celebration of Pascha. In the Church of Asia Minor, there was an old tradition of celebrating Holy Pascha on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it happened to be. The Roman bishop Victor (190-202) forcefully demanded uniformity, and his harsh demands fomented a schism. In the name of the Christians of Gaul, Saint Irenaeus wrote to Bishop Victor and others, urging them to make peace. this incident, Saint Irenaeus drops out of sight, and we do not even know the exact year of his death. Saint Gregory of Tours, in his Historia Francorum, suggests that Saint Irenaeus was beheaded by the sword for his confession of faith in the year 202, during the reign of Severus. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, and Saint Irenaeus of Lyons are three links in an unbroken chain of the grace of succession, which goes back to the Original Pastor, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. his old age, Saint Irenaeus wrote to his old friend the priest Florinus: “When I was still a boy, I knew you... in Polycarp’s house.... I remember what happened in those days more clearly than what happens now.... I can describe for you the place where blessed Polycarp usually sat and conversed, the character of his life, the appearance of his body, and the discourses which he spoke to the people, how he spoke of the conversations which he had with John and others who had seen the Lord, how he remembered their words, and what he heard from them about the Lord ... I listened eagerly to these things, by the mercy of God, and wrote them, not on paper, but in my heart.” Hieromartyr Hippolytus the Pope of Rome, Commemorated January 30 ; IRENAEUS, BISHOP OF LYONS, THEOLOGIAN (28 JUN 202) ;

France, 150-202, Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, from Smyrna near Ephesus, under Polycarp, preaching transformed Lyons
France, 150-202, Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, France (Saone River Mouth, Rhone River 4), from Smyrna near Ephesus, under Polycarp, preaching transformed Lyons, wrote of Orthodox faith against gnosis; Lyons; Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, Commemorated on August 23; Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, was born in the year 130 in the city of Smyrna (Asia Minor). received there the finest education, studying poetics, philosophy, rhetoric, and the rest of the classical sciences considered necessary for a young man of the world. guide in the truths of the Christian Faith was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (February 23). Polycarp baptized the youth, and afterwards ordained him presbyter and sent him to a city in Gaul then named Lugdunum [the present day Lyons in France] to the dying bishop Pothinus. commission was soon entrusted to Saint Irenaeus. was to deliver a letter from the confessors of Lugdunum to the holy Bishop Eleutherius of Rome (177-190). he was away, all the known Christians were thrown into prison. the martyric death of Bishop Pothinus, Saint Irenaeus was chosen a year later (in 178) as Bishop of Lugdunum. “During this time,” Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17) writes concerning him, “by his preaching he transformed all Lugdunum into a Christian city!” the persecution against Christians quieted down, the saint expounded upon the Orthodox teachings of faith in one of his fundamental works under the title: Detection and Refutation of the Pretended but False Gnosis. It is usually called Five Books against Heresy (Adversus Haereses). that time there appeared a series of religious-philosophical gnostic teachings. The Gnostics [from the Greek word “gnosis” meaning “knowledge”] taught that God cannot be incarnate [i.e. born in human flesh], since matter is imperfect and manifests itself as the bearer of evil. They taught also that the Son of God is only an outflowing (“emanation”) of Divinity. Together with Him from the Divinity issues forth a hierarchical series of powers (“aeons”), the unity of which comprise the “Pleroma”, i.e. “Fullness.” The world is not made by God Himself, but by the aeons or the “Demiourgos,” which is below the “Pleroma.” refuting this heresy, championed by Valentinus, Saint Irenaeus presents the Orthodox teaching of salvation. “The Word of God, Jesus Christ, through His inexplicable blessedness caused it to be, that we also, should be made that which He is ... ,” taught Saint Irenaeus. “Jesus Christ the Son of God, through exceedingly great love for His creation, condescended to be born of a Virgin, having united mankind with God in His own Self.” Through the Incarnation of God, creation becomes co-imaged and co-bodied to the Son of God. Salvation consists in the “Sonship” and “Theosis” (“Divinization”) of mankind. the refutation of another heretic, Marcian, who denied the divine origin of the Old Testament, the saint affirms the same divine inspiration of the Old and the New Testaments: “It is one and the same Spirit of God Who proclaimed through the prophets the precise manner of the Lord’s coming,” wrote the saint. “Through the apostles, He preached that the fulness of time of the filiation had arrived, and that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.” successors of the Apostles have received from God the certain gift of truth, which Saint Irenaeus links to the succession of the episcopate (Adv. Haer. 4, 26, 2). “Anyone who desires to know the truth ought to turn to the Church, since through Her alone did the apostles expound the Divine Truth. She is the door to life.” Irenaeus also exerted a beneficial influence in a dispute about the celebration of Pascha. In the Church of Asia Minor, there was an old tradition of celebrating Holy Pascha on the fourteenth day of the month of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it happened to be. The Roman bishop Victor (190-202) forcefully demanded uniformity, and his harsh demands fomented a schism. In the name of the Christians of Gaul, Saint Irenaeus wrote to Bishop Victor and others, urging them to make peace. this incident, Saint Irenaeus drops out of sight, and we do not even know the exact year of his death. Saint Gregory of Tours, in his Historia Francorum, suggests that Saint Irenaeus was beheaded by the sword for his confession of faith in the year 202, during the reign of Severus. Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian, Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, and Saint Irenaeus of Lyons are three links in an unbroken chain of the grace of succession, which goes back to the Original Pastor, our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. his old age, Saint Irenaeus wrote to his old friend the priest Florinus: “When I was still a boy, I knew you... in Polycarp’s house.... I remember what happened in those days more clearly than what happens now.... I can describe for you the place where blessed Polycarp usually sat and conversed, the character of his life, the appearance of his body, and the discourses which he spoke to the people, how he spoke of the conversations which he had with John and others who had seen the Lord, how he remembered their words, and what he heard from them about the Lord ... I listened eagerly to these things, by the mercy of God, and wrote them, not on paper, but in my heart.”

France, 161-180, Zealot Seusippus oTriplet martyrs, converted by grandmother iGaul, burnt but bodies not destroyed
Gaul, 161-180, Martyr Seusippus, his brothers, grandmother iGaul (France, Western Germany, and Northwest Italy) before the year 486, GM Leonilla baptized old age bPolycarp disciples, converted triplet grandsons, these zealot brothers pulled down idols&reproached pagans, judge ordered Leonilla go prison convert gsons, but she praised them, flogged fire but bodies not destroyed by flames, L beheaded, others witnessed, converted, martyred or recorded story; Gaul and Roman Gaul; Martyred brothers Speusippus, Eleusippus, Meleusippus, and those with them, in Gaul, Commemorated on January 16; Holy Martyrs Speusippus, Eleusippus, Meleusippus, and their grandmother Leonilla together with Neon, Turbo and Jonilla suffered in Gaul (by another account, in Cappadocia) in the second century, during the persecution under Marcus Aurelius (161-180). received Baptism in her old age from one of the disciples of Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, she afterwards converted her three grandsons (who were triplets) to Christ. brothers, in their zeal for the Lord, pulled down idols and reproached the pagans for their folly. judge ordered Leonilla to go to the prison and tell her grandchildren to renounce Christ and worship the idols. she praised them for their bravery and their firm confession of faith. three were hanged on a tree, then flogged. Finally, the martyrs were thrown into a fire, but their bodies were undamaged by the flames. the torture and death of her grandchildren, Saint Leonilla was beheaded with a sword. Jonilla also suffered with her. She saw the steadfast faith of the holy martyrs and said that she too was a Christian. The torturers hung her up by the hair, lacerated her body, then beheaded her. left behind her husband and young son. Neon witnessed the exploits of the holy brothers, and wrote an account of their sufferings. gave his manuscript to Turbo, and openly confessed himself a Christian, for which he was fiercely beaten and died from his beating. Turbo, after he copied out the exploits of the passion-bearers, also ended his life by martyrdom. martyrs are particularly revered in Spain, where many churches are dedicated to them. relics of the holy martyrs were given by the Byzantine emperor Zeno to a French nobleman from the city of Langres, where they now rest.

France, 177, BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS), slaves tortured for confessions & lies
France, 177, BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS), France (Saone River Mouth, Rhone River 4), slaves tortured for confessions and lies of cannibalism and incest, these charges aroused city, put to death in arena; Lyons; BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS), (2 JUNE 177); Lyons and Vienne, in Gaul, there were missionary centers which had drawn many Christians from Asia and Greece. Persecution began in 177. Martyrs of Lyons, by JL Gerome painting by JL Gérôme first, Christians were excluded from the public baths, the market place, and from social and public life. They were subject to attack when they appeared in public, many Christian homes were vandalized. this point the government became involved, and began to take Christians into custody for questioning. slaves from Christian households were tortured to obtain confessions, and were induced to say that Christians practiced cannibalism and incest. charges were used to arouse the whole city against the Christians, particularly against Pothinus, the aged bishop of Lyons; Sanctus, a deacon; Attalus; Maturus, a recent convert; and Blandina, a slave. was beaten and then released, to die of his wounds a few days later. Sanctus was tormented with red-hot irons. Blandina, tortured all day long, would say nothing except, "I am a Christian, and nothing vile is done among us." Finally, the survivors were put to death in the public arena. by James Kiefer

France, 200, 3rd Century History Folder, Denis in Paris, Gaul

France, 220-258, Denis or Dionysius, patron saint of France
Paris, 220-258, Denis or Dionysius, patron saint of France Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, Bishop. Commemorated on October 9; Dionysius (or Denis) has, for many centuries, been regarded as the patron saint of France. is believed that Saint Dionysius was sent to preach the Gospel at Lutetia Parisiorum (modern Paris) in Gaul around 250. He was beheaded in 258 with the priest Rusticus and the deacon Eleutherius at Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs). A later legend claims that Saint Dionysius carried his severed head from Montmartre to his burial place at Vicus Catulliacus, now known as Saint Denis. The abbey of Saint-Denis, where French kings were interred, was built on the site of their martyrdom. identification of this Saint Dionysius with Saint Dionysius the Areopagite (October 3) appears to be an error made by a ninth century writer.

France, 300, 4th Century History Folder, St Hilliary and St Martin, Black Plague

France, 335-367, HILARY of Poitiers, Gaul, the Athanasius of the West, exiled, wrote essays, sent back, persuaded Arian bishop
Gaul, 335-367, HILARY of Poitiers, Gaul (Clain River 3) the Athanasius of the West. He was bishop of Poitiers, exiled to Phrygia 357, wrote essays, sent back to Gaul, to Milan persuaded Arian bishop ; Poitiers; St Hilary the Bishop of Poitiers, Commemorated January 13 ; Hilary, the great opponent of Arianism, was born around 320. was raised as a pagan, but converted to Christianity as an adult. became Bishop of Poitiers in 350. When the emperor Constantius II attempted to impose Arianism on the western Church, Saint Hilary led a vigorous opposition to his efforts. Because of his outspoken criticism, he was exiled to Phrygia in 356. There he became such a defender and champion of Orthodoxy that the emperor decided it would be less trouble to allow him to return to his diocese. Hilary continued to fight against Arianism until his death in 368. His holy relics still rest in the cathedral bearing his name at Poitiers in France. has lent his name to the “Hilary term” of English law courts and universities, which begin on or near his Feast Day. HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367) ; of Poitiers (315-367) lived during the great controversy between Athanasius, who taught that the Son is fully God, equally with the Father, and Arius, who denied this. is sometimes called "the Athanasius of the West." He was bishop of Poitiers, when he refused to sign a condemnation of Athanasius, the Arian emperor Constantius (one of the sons of Constantine) banished him to Phrygia in 357. His exile lasted three years, during which time he wrote several essays, including On the Trinity. Finally the Emperor was forced to send him back to Gaul because he was causing such difficulties for the Arians in the East. In 364, he journeyed to Milan, where he engaged in public debate with the Arian bishop Auxentius, and persuaded him of the error of his ways.

France, 336-397, St Martin of Tours, Martin the Merciful, Arien opponent wHiliary, against Priscillian or any heretic execution
France, 336-397, St Martin of Tours, Martin the Merciful, served army unwillingly, at Amiens gave half cloak cold beggar, Jesus appeared wearing his cloak, Heard Jesus say only catechumen, but clothed me, baptized, barbarians invaded Gaul, asked permission resign commission, cowardice charce, offered stand front line, protected by cross, cross caused barbarians surrender without fight, allowed to leave, time as hermit and travels, Hiliary's friend, Poitiers, exorcist, bishop Tours 371, still ascetic, monastery, French monasticism founder, conversed wAngels, Peter Paul visions, died 397, many western churches dedicated middle ages, most his relics lost French Revolution, MARTIN with Hiliary an opponent of the Ariens, from Illyricum publicly scourged&exiled, driven fMilan, returned Gaul, converted pagans wFir Tree story, intervened release prisoners, heretic Priscillian guilty bishops court, excommunication adequate, state no power to punish, but executed, he Ex bishops, took them back for pardons, concession botherd him; France, 336-397, St Martin of Tours, Martin the Merciful; Tours; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on October 12 ; MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397) ; was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: "Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ." was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed. became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief opponent in the West of the Arians, who denied the full deity of Christ, and who had the favor of the emperor Constantius. to his parents' home in Illyricum (Yugoslavia, approximately), he opposed the Arians with such effectiveness that he was publicly scourged and exiled. was subsequently driven from Milan, and eventually returned to Gaul. he founded the first monastary in Gaul, which lasted until the French Revolution. 371 he was elected bishop of Tours. His was a mainly pagan diocese, but his instruction and personal manner of life prevailed. one instance, the pagan priests agreed to fell their idol, a large fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it missed him very narrowly. an officer of the Imperial Guard arrived with a batch of prisoners who were to be tortured and executed the next day, Martin intervened and secured their release. of ToursIn the year 384, the heretic (Gnostic) Priscillian and six companions had been condemned to death by the emperor Maximus. bishops who had found them guilty in the ecclesiastical court pressed for their execution. Martin contended that the secular power had no authority to punish heresy, and that the excommunication by the bishops was an adequate sentence. this he was upheld by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. He refused to leave Treves until the emperor promised to reprieve them. No sooner was his back turned than the bishops persuaded the emperor to break his promise; Priscillian and his followers were executed. This was the first time that heresy was punished by death. was furious, and excommunicated the bishops responsible. But afterwards, he took them back into communion in exchange for a pardon from Maximus for certain men condemned to death, and for the emperor's promise to end the persecution of the remaining Priscillianists. never felt easy in his mind about this concession, and thereafter avoided assmblies of bishops where he might encounter some of those concerned in this affair. died on or about 11 November 397 (my sources differ) and his shrine at Tours became a sanctuary for those seeking justice. Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then elisted in the service of Christ, also the day of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. On it we remember those who have risked or lost their lives in what they perceived as the pursuit of justice and peace. by James Kiefer St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on November 11 ; Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours, was born at Sabaria in Pannonia (modern Hungary) in 316. his father was a Roman officer, he also was obliged to serve in the army. did so unwillingly, for he considered himself a soldier of Christ, though he was still a catechumen. the gates of Amiens, he saw a beggar shivering in the severe winter cold, so he cut his cloak in two and gave half to the beggar. night, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the saint wearing Martin’s cloak. He heard the Savior say to the angels surrounding Him, “Martin is only a catechumen, but he has clothed Me with this garment.” The saint was baptized soon after this, and reluctantly remained in the army. years later, the barbarians invaded Gaul and Martin asked permission to resign his commission for religious reasons. The commander charged him with cowardice. Saint Martin demonstrated his courage by offering to stand unarmed in the front line of battle, trusting in the power of the Cross to protect him. The next day, the barbarians surrendered without a fight, and Martin was allowed to leave the army. traveled to various places during the next few years, spending some time as a hermit on an island off Italy. became friendly with Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (January 14), who made Martin an exorcist. several years of the ascetic life, Saint Martin was chosen to be Bishop of Tours in 371. As bishop, Saint Martin did not give up his monastic life, and the place where he settled outside Tours became a monastery. fact, he is regarded as the founder of monasticism in France. conversed with angels, and had visions of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) and of other saints. is called the Merciful because of his generosity and care for the poor, and he received the grace to work miracles. a life of devoted service to Christ and His Church, the saint fell ill at Candes, a village in his diocese, where he died on November 8, 397. was buried three days later (his present Feast) at Tours. the Middle Ages, many Western churches were dedicated to Saint Martin, including Saint Martin’s in Canterbury, and Saint Martin-in-the-Fields in London. 1008, a cathedral was built at Tours over the relics of Saint Martin. This cathedral was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution, together with the relics of Saint Martin and Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17). new cathedral was built on the site many years later. Some fragments of the relics of Saint Martin were recovered and placed in the cathedral, but nothing remains of Saint Gregory’s relics. Martin’s name appears on many Greek and Russian calendars. His commemoration on October 12 in the Russian calendar appears to be an error, since ancient sources give the November date.

France, 336-397, Martin of Tours, cold beggar cloak story, Jesus appeared, front line cross story, conversed wAngels&saints
France, 336-397, St Martin of Tours, Martin the Merciful, served army unwillingly, at Amiens gave half cloak cold beggar, Jesus appeared wearing his cloak, Heard Jesus say only catechumen, but clothed me, baptized, barbarians invaded Gaul, asked permission resign commission, cowardice charce, offered stand front line, protected by cross, cross caused barbarians surrender without fight, allowed to leave, time as hermit and travels, Hiliary's friend, Poitiers, exorcist, bishop Tours 371, still ascetic, monastery, French monasticism founder, conversed wAngels, Peter Paul visions, died 397, many western churches dedicated middle ages, most his relics lost French Revolution, MARTIN with Hiliary an opponent of the Ariens, from Illyricum publicly scourged&exiled, driven fMilan, returned Gaul, converted pagans wFir Tree story, intervened release prisoners, heretic Priscillian guilty bishops court, excommunication adequate, state no power to punish, but executed, he Ex bishops, took them back for pardons, concession botherd him; France, 336-397, St Martin of Tours, Martin the Merciful; Tours; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on October 12 ; MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397) ; was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: "Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ." was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed. became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief opponent in the West of the Arians, who denied the full deity of Christ, and who had the favor of the emperor Constantius. to his parents' home in Illyricum (Yugoslavia, approximately), he opposed the Arians with such effectiveness that he was publicly scourged and exiled. was subsequently driven from Milan, and eventually returned to Gaul. he founded the first monastary in Gaul, which lasted until the French Revolution. 371 he was elected bishop of Tours. His was a mainly pagan diocese, but his instruction and personal manner of life prevailed. one instance, the pagan priests agreed to fell their idol, a large fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it missed him very narrowly. an officer of the Imperial Guard arrived with a batch of prisoners who were to be tortured and executed the next day, Martin intervened and secured their release. of ToursIn the year 384, the heretic (Gnostic) Priscillian and six companions had been condemned to death by the emperor Maximus. bishops who had found them guilty in the ecclesiastical court pressed for their execution. Martin contended that the secular power had no authority to punish heresy, and that the excommunication by the bishops was an adequate sentence. this he was upheld by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. He refused to leave Treves until the emperor promised to reprieve them. No sooner was his back turned than the bishops persuaded the emperor to break his promise; Priscillian and his followers were executed. This was the first time that heresy was punished by death. was furious, and excommunicated the bishops responsible. But afterwards, he took them back into communion in exchange for a pardon from Maximus for certain men condemned to death, and for the emperor's promise to end the persecution of the remaining Priscillianists. never felt easy in his mind about this concession, and thereafter avoided assmblies of bishops where he might encounter some of those concerned in this affair. died on or about 11 November 397 (my sources differ) and his shrine at Tours became a sanctuary for those seeking justice. Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then elisted in the service of Christ, also the day of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. On it we remember those who have risked or lost their lives in what they perceived as the pursuit of justice and peace. by James Kiefer St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on November 11 ; Martin the Merciful, Bishop of Tours, was born at Sabaria in Pannonia (modern Hungary) in 316. his father was a Roman officer, he also was obliged to serve in the army. did so unwillingly, for he considered himself a soldier of Christ, though he was still a catechumen. the gates of Amiens, he saw a beggar shivering in the severe winter cold, so he cut his cloak in two and gave half to the beggar. night, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the saint wearing Martin’s cloak. He heard the Savior say to the angels surrounding Him, “Martin is only a catechumen, but he has clothed Me with this garment.” The saint was baptized soon after this, and reluctantly remained in the army. years later, the barbarians invaded Gaul and Martin asked permission to resign his commission for religious reasons. The commander charged him with cowardice. Saint Martin demonstrated his courage by offering to stand unarmed in the front line of battle, trusting in the power of the Cross to protect him. The next day, the barbarians surrendered without a fight, and Martin was allowed to leave the army. traveled to various places during the next few years, spending some time as a hermit on an island off Italy. became friendly with Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers (January 14), who made Martin an exorcist. several years of the ascetic life, Saint Martin was chosen to be Bishop of Tours in 371. As bishop, Saint Martin did not give up his monastic life, and the place where he settled outside Tours became a monastery. fact, he is regarded as the founder of monasticism in France. conversed with angels, and had visions of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) and of other saints. is called the Merciful because of his generosity and care for the poor, and he received the grace to work miracles. a life of devoted service to Christ and His Church, the saint fell ill at Candes, a village in his diocese, where he died on November 8, 397. was buried three days later (his present Feast) at Tours. the Middle Ages, many Western churches were dedicated to Saint Martin, including Saint Martin’s in Canterbury, and Saint Martin-in-the-Fields in London. 1008, a cathedral was built at Tours over the relics of Saint Martin. This cathedral was destroyed in 1793 during the French Revolution, together with the relics of Saint Martin and Saint Gregory of Tours (November 17). new cathedral was built on the site many years later. Some fragments of the relics of Saint Martin were recovered and placed in the cathedral, but nothing remains of Saint Gregory’s relics. Martin’s name appears on many Greek and Russian calendars. His commemoration on October 12 in the Russian calendar appears to be an error, since ancient sources give the November date.

France, 340 - 368, Saint Hilliary oPoitiers, great arianism oponnent, exiled tPhrygia, orthodox champion there
France, 340 - 368, Saint Hilliary of Poitiers, great arianism oponnent, raised pagan, adult conversion, bishop i350, opposed Constantius II's arianism, 356 exiled tPhrygia, great orthodox champion there, so returned to his diocese, continued fight till death 368, relics in Hiliary Cathedral Poitiers, Hiliary term in courts & universities begin near his feast day; France, 330 - 367, Saint Hilliary of Poitiers; Saint Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, Commemorated on January 13; Hilary, the great opponent of Arianism, was born around 320. was raised as a pagan, but converted to Christianity as an adult. became Bishop of Poitiers in 350. the emperor Constantius II attempted to impose Arianism on the western Church, Hilary led a vigorous opposition to his efforts. of his outspoken criticism, he was exiled to Phrygia in 356. he became such a defender and champion of Orthodoxy that the emperor decided it would be less trouble to allow him to return to his diocese. Hilary continued to fight against Arianism until his death in 368. holy relics still rest in the cathedral bearing his name at Poitiers in France. has lent his name to the “Hilary term” of English law courts and universities, which begin on or near his Feast Day. HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367); of Poitiers (315-367) lived during the great controversy between Athanasius, who taught that the Son is fully God, equally with the Father, and Arius, who denied this. is sometimes called "the Athanasius of the West." was bishop of Poitiers, and when he refused to sign a condemnation of Athanasius, Arian emperor Constantius (one of the sons of Constantine) banished him to Phrygia in 357. exile lasted three years, during which time he wrote several essays, including On the Trinity. the Emperor was forced to send him back to Gaul because he was causing such difficulties for the Arians in the East. 364, he journeyed to Milan, where he engaged in public debate with the Arian bishop Auxentius, and persuaded him of the error of his ways. by James Kiefer

France, 348, Black Plague in France
France, 348, Black Plague in France; REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530);

France, 370-429, Honoratus oArles, Gaul (Rhone River 8), founded Lerins Monastery (French Rivierra) Deliverance&Clairvoyance
Gaul, 370-429, Honoratus oArles, Gaul (Rhone River 8), founded Lerins Monastery (French Rivierra), fDistinquished Roman Family, pilgrimage Greece&Rome, then Hermit Ise oLerins, Joined by 3 Saints&Others, Sts Lupus oTroyes, Eucherius oLyons, Hilary oArles, depleted youthful vigor wFasting&asceticism, so body made way for spirit, same as those younger&stronger, visitng sick when sicker, treated spiritual diseases, freeing vice enslavement, clairvoyant insight into character, for appropriate remedies, consecrated bishop and died 429; Arles (Rhone River 8); St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated January 16 ; Honoratus was born in Gaul (modern France) about 350, came from a distinguished Roman family. a pilgrimage to Greece and Rome, he became a hermit on the isle of Lerins, he was joined by Saints Lupus of Troyes (July 29), Eucherius of Lyons (November 16), and Hilary of Arles (May 5), among others. saint depleted his youthful vigor through fasting and asceticism, so “the powers of the body made way for the power of the spirit.” in poor health, he managed to follow the same rule of fasting and keeping vigil as those who were younger and stronger than he. would visit the sick when he was even sicker than they were, offering consolation for body and soul. fearing he had not done enough for them, he would review each case in his mind to determine how he could ease their suffering. with virtues, Saint Honoratus treated a variety of spiritual diseases, many from their enslavement to vice. insight into each person’s character him to apply the appropriate remedies for restoring souls to spiritual health. Honoratus died in 429 after being consecrated as Bishop of Arles. Hilary, his relative and successor, delivered a eulogy which still survives.

France, 400-481, 5th Century History Folder, Atilla the Hun, Remi of Rheims Gaul

France, 404-456, Vincent oLerins, Soldier, Monk, Author, true faith held everywhere, always, & by all, defended term Theotokos
France, 404-456, Vincent of Lerins Abbey (French Rivierra) Soldier, Monk, Author, Commonitorium (anti heresy), follow true faith held everywhere, always, & by all, defended term Theotokos; Lerins monestary; Saint Vincent of Lerins, Commemorated on May 24; in the late fourth century in Toulouse in Gaul, Vincent initially served in the military, later left the world to become a monk at the renowned Lérins Monastery, he was ordained to the priesthood. is widely known for his work, Commonitorium, which he wrote around the year 434 AD, which he differentiated between the Church's teachings and the heresies of his time. is remembered for writing that Christians must follow the true faith that has been held “everywhere, always, and by all.” also defended the term “Theotokos” with regard to the Mother of God in opposition to the teachings of Nestorius that were condemned at the Third Ecumenical Council. Vincent died peacefully in 456 AD. His relics are preserved at Lérins.

France, 410-455, Prosper oAquitaine, Heresies Eradicator, renowned lay theolog, writings echoed Augustine, science joined virtue
France, 410-455, Prosper of Aquitaine (Garonne River 3.7), Eradicator of Heresies, renowned lay theologian, many his writings echoed Augustine on grace, science joined virtue, math, astronomy, chronology, one soul wHis wife, convinced her Num, entered monastery ; Aquitaine (Garonne River 3.7); Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, Commemorated on July 7; Prosper (Prosper Tiro), Eradicator of Heresies," as Saint Photios (February 6) calls him, born in the Aquitaine around the year 390. was a renowned lay theologian, although few details of his life are known. know Saint Prosper chiefly from his writings. A contemporary writer described him as "a holy and venerable man. Many of Saint Prosper's writings echo the teaching of Saint Augustine (June 15) on grace. Saint Augustine, Saint Prosper was also an opponent of the Pelagian heresy. This wise man seems to have spent his life embroiled in controversies with heretics. For the semi-Pelagians in particular, Prosper was one of their most fearsome adversaries. Saint Prosper, science was joined to virtue. It is evident that he applied himself to literature, and especially to acquiring knowledge of Holy Scripture. He was no less an expert in human sciences than he was in theology. He excelled particularly in mathematics, astronomy, and chronology. His great learning and holiness made him well known throughout the entire Church. Prosper has sometimes been identified, mistakenly, with Saint Paulinus of Reggio (June 25), who was a bishop. Everything we know about him leads us to believe that Saint Prosper was not a bishop, nor even a priest. a poem to his wife he wrote: "Lift me up again if I fall; correct yourself if I point out some fault. Let it never be sufficient for us to be one body, let us also be one soul." 428, Saint Prosper persuaded his wife to become a nun, and he entered a monastery at Marseilles. Saint Leo the Great was chosen as the Bishop of Rome in 440, he sent for Prosper to become his secretary. Many historians believe that the admirable treatise "On the Incarnation of the Word," which is ascribed to Saint Leo, is actually the work of Saint Prosper. is possible, however, that Saint Leo may have reworked it in his own style. Prosper reposed in Rome, sometime after 455. icon of Saint Prosper depicts him holding a scroll which reads: "The Orthodox Faith subdues the monster of heresy."

France, 442-512, Genevieve oParis, Germanus noticed her a7 aProphecied she lead many tSalvatn, clairvoyant &M gifts, eSat Vigil
France, 442-512, Genevieve oParis, fNanterre, Gaul (Seine River 5, Paris Area), tended sheep Mt Valerien, Germanus noticed her a7, he placed his hand on her head aProphecied she lead many tSalvation, she wished tDedicate, he gave brass medal oCross, he told never wear bracelets etc, 417 tParis monastery a15, fasting prayer, clairvoyance&Miracles gifts, people recognized holy vessel, years later 451 Atilla tHun approched, she & nuns prayed, Atilla left, she emphasized Saturday Virgil because it symbolizes the Lord wFind us ready, one stormy saturday night her light went out on way, she made Cross sign, it burned wBright flame, relics destroyed French Revolution, Wine Maker Saint; Nanterre (Seine River 5) ; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ; Genevieve (Geneviève) was born of wealthy parents in Gaul (modern France) in the village of Nanterre, near Paris, around 422. father’s name was Severus, and her mother was called Gerontia. to the custom of the time, she often tended her father’s sheep on Mount Valerien. the child was about seven years old, Saint Germanus of Auxerre (July 31) noticed her as he was passing through Nanterre. the Service that night the Bishop placed his hand on her head and told her parents that she would become great in the sight of God, and would lead many to salvation. Genevieve told him that she wished to dedicate herself to Christ, he gave her a brass medal with the image of the Cross to wear around her neck. Germanus told her never to wear bracelets, or necklaces made with pearls, gold, or silver, and to avoid wearing any other ornaments around her neck, or on her fingers. she was fifteen, Genevieve was taken to Paris to enter the monastic life. fasting,vigil and prayer, she progressed in monasticism, received from God the gifts of clairvoyance and of working miracles. the people of Paris and the surrounding area regarded Genevieve as a holy vessel (2 Timothy 2:21). later, Saint Genevieve was told that Attila the Hun was approaching Paris, and the other nuns prayed and fasted, entreating God to spare the city. the barbarians turned away from Paris and went off in another direction. Genevieve considered the Saturday night Vigil service to be very important, since it symbolizes how our entire life should be. “We must keep vigil in prayer and fasting so that the Lord will find us ready when He comes,” she said. was on her way to church with her nuns one stormy Saturday night when the wind extinguished her lantern. nuns could not find their way without a light, since it was dark and stormy, and the road was rough and muddy. Genevieve made the Sign of the Cross over the lantern, and the candle within burned with a bright flame. In this manner they were able to make their way to the church for the service. is a tradition that the church which Saint Genevieve suggested King Clovis should build in honor of Saints Peter and Paul, would become her own resting place when she fell asleep in the Lord around 512 at the age of eighty-nine. holy relics were later transferred to the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Mont in Paris. of her relics, and those of other saints, were destroyed at the time of the French Revolution. the Middle Ages, Saint Genevieve was regarded as the patron Saint of wine makers.

France, 451, Attila the approaching Paris - Orleans, Atilla in Gaul 451
Attila the approaching Paris - Orleans; Atilla in Gaul 451 Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ;

France, 451, Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 451 (Atilla vs Gaul)
Battle of the Catalaunian Plains 451 ; Attila the Hun defeated; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ;

France, 457-752, Frankish Mergovian Dynasty
France, 457-752, Frankish Mergovian Dynasty; France, 558-567, Frankish King, Charibert I; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27l

France, 458-530, Saint Remigius of Rheims, Remi, baptized Clovis of the Franks and 4,000 in 496
France, 458-530, Saint Remigius of Rheims, Remi; REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530); (Latin Remigius) was born about 438 and became bishop of Rheims about 460, at the remarkably young age of 22. (Both he and the city were named for his tribe, the Remi.) his time, the Roman Empire and the Christian church were jointly faced with a serious practical problem -- the barbarian invasions. series of droughts in central Asia had driven its inhabitants out in all directions in search of more livable territory. brought the Goths, for example, across the Danube in the early 300's. the Emperor Constantine had died in 337, and during his lifetime the Church had debated the question of whether the Logos, the Word who was made flesh for our salvation in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, was (as Arius taught) the first and greatest of the beings created by God, but nevertheless not eternal, and not God; or was (as Athanasius taught) fully God, co-eternal and co-equal with the Father. the Council of Nicea in 325, the Athanasian position had been endorsed by an overwhelming majority of the bishops assembled from throughout the Christian world. the Arians refused to accept the decision, and there were attempts to re-negotiate and find a compromise that would make everyone happy. Constantine died, and his Empire was divided among his sons, with Constantius Emperor of the East, and eventually of the whole Empire. And Constantius was an Arian, and made a serious attempt to stamp out the Athanasian position by banishing its leaders and pressuring churches into electing or accepting Arian bishops. his reign, missionaries, led by one Bishop Ulfilas, were sent to convert the Goths. And naturally, Ulfilas was an Arian. He preached with great vigor and eloquence among the Goths, and translated the Bible into their language (omitting, we are told, the wars of the Hebrews, on the grounds that the Goths were quite warlike enough without further encouragement). In fact, the portions of his translation that have survived are the only material we have in the Gothic language, and as such are highly valued by students of the history of languages. the Goths became Arian Christians, and so did the Vandals. And these two highly warlike peoples were most of the time either making war on the settled peoples of the Empire or hiring out as mercenaries to defend the borders of the Empire from the next wave of invaders. may remember that Ambrose, bishop of Milan (died 397, remembered 7 December), was commanded by the Empress Mother to hand over a church for the use of her soldiers, who were Goths and Arians, and that Ambrose refused, and filled the church with members of his congregation, who sang hymns composed by Ambrose for the occasion, and the soldiers did not attack. may also remember that when Augustine lay on his deathbed in his town of Hippo in North Africa (near Carthage or modern Tunis), the city was under attack by Vandal troops, who had come into Africa out of Spain, and who captured and vandalized (that is where we get the term) the cities of North Africa, and Sicily and Sardinia and Corsica (which they made into bases for piracy) and the southern part of Italy. Long after Arianism had died out elsewhere, it was the religion of the Goths and Vandals and related peoples, and being an Arian was the mark of a good Army man. a new people appeared on the scene, a pagan warrior tribe called the Franks. In the late 400's, they were led by a chief called Clovis, a pagan but married to a Christian wife, Clotilda. His wife and Bishop Remi (remember him?) spoke to him about the Christian faith, but he showed no particular signs of interest until one day when he was fighting a battle against the Alemanni, and was badly outnumbered and apparently about to lose the battle. He took a vow that if he won, he would turn Christian. tide of battle turned, and he won. Two years later, he kept his vow and was baptized by Remi at Rheims on Christmas Day, 496, together with about 3000 of his followers. became the traditional and "proper" place for a French king to be crowned, as we learn from the story of Joan of Arc. It remained so until the French Revolution.) Clovis was converted to the Athanasian (or orthodox, or catholic) faith rather than the Arian, and this fact changed the religious history of Europe. The clergy he brought to his court were catholic, and when the Franks as a whole became Christians, which did not happen overnight, they became catholic Christians, meaning in this context that they were Athanasian rather than Arian, and accepted the belief that it was God himself, and not a particularly prominent angel, who came down from heaven and suffered for our salvation. the preceding century, the Arians had had a near-monopoly on military power, and now this was no longer true. The conversion of the Franks brought about the conversion of the Visigoths, and eventually (about 300 years later) the empire of Charlemagne and the beginning of the recovery of Western Europe from the earlier collapse of government and of city life under the impact of plague, lead poisoning, currency inflation, confiscatory taxation, multiple invasions, and the assorted troubles of the Dark Ages. Remigius and the demons noted above, Clot(h)ilda, a Christian princess of Burgundy, married the pagan Clovis, King of the Franks, thus preparing the way for his baptism by Remi in 496, and for the conversion of the Franks. Their great-grandaughter, Bertha, married the pagan Ethelbert, King of Kent, thus preparing the way for his baptism by Augustine of Canterbury in 601, and for the eventual conversion of southeast England. Bertha and Ethelbert's daughter, Ethelburga, married the pagan Edwin, King of Northumbria, thereby preparing the way for his baptism by Paulinus in 627, and for the eventual conversion of many in the North of England. James Kiefer

France, 481-843, Frankish Empire Folder, Dark Ages, Charles Martel, 718-41

France, 481-499, 5th Century History Folder, Frankish Empire, Clovis 1, Clotilde

France, 481-511, Frankish King, Clovis I, the beginning of France after Gaul, Orthodox
Belgium,486-511, Frankish King, Clovis I; (Latin: Chlodovechus; reconstructed Frankish: *Hlodowig; c. 466 – 27 November 511)[1] was the first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of royal chieftains to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs.[2] He is considered to have been the founder of the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish kingdom for the next two centuries. succeeded his father, Childeric I, as a king of Salian Franks in 481, and eventually came to rule an area extending from what is now the southern Netherlands to northern France, corresponding in Roman terms to Gallia Belgica (northern Gaul). At the Battle of Soissons (486) he established his military dominance of the rump state of the fragmenting Western Roman Empire which was then under the command of Syagrius. By the time of his death in either 511 or 513, Clovis had conquered several smaller Frankish tribes in the northeast of Gaul or modern day France. Clovis also conquered the Alemanni tribes in eastern Gaul, and the Visigothic kingdom of Aquitania in the southwest. These campaigns had added significantly to Clovis's domains, and established his dynasty as a major political and military presence in western Europe. is important in the historiography of France as "the first king of what would become France".[3] is also significant due to his conversion to Catholicism in 496, largely at the behest of his wife, Clotilde, who would later be venerated as a saint for this act, celebrated today in both the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. Clovis was baptized on Christmas Day in 508.[4] The adoption by Clovis of Catholicism (as opposed to the Arianism of most other Germanic tribes) led to widespread conversion among the Frankish peoples; to religious unification across what is now modern-day France, Belgium and Germany; three centuries later, to Charlemagne's alliance with the Bishop of Rome; and in the middle of the 10th century under Otto I the Great, to the consequent birth of the early Holy Roman Empire. Frankish Empire, 481-843, Belgium (Francia or Frankland): the Frankish Empire, the capital later (508) moved to Paris; Franks;

France, 495-545, Saint, Clotilde (Clovis' wife)
France, 495-545, Saint, Clotilde (Clovis' wife); Venerable Cloud (Clodoald) the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Near Paris, Commemorated on September 7;

France, 500-599, 6th Century History Folder, Childebert 1, Mergovian Dynasty

France, 511-558, Frankish King, Childebert I, Mergovian Dynasty, English Queen Bertha's father
Frankish King, 511-558, Childebert I ; Venerable Cloud (Clodoald) the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Near Paris, Commemorated September 7 ; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28 ;

France, 540-560, Venerable Cloud the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Abby (near Paris), raised by gmother Clotilde
France, 540-560, Venerable Cloud (Clodoald) the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Abby (near Paris, Seine River 4), Clotilde gmother, brothers murdered by Childebert and Clotaire to prevent succession, Cloud renounced calim & lived as hermit, later priest; Nogent-Sur-Seine, France (near Paris, Seine River 4); abbey of Nogent-sur-Seine was destroyed during the French Revolution. Venerable Cloud (Clodoald) the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Near Paris, Commemorated September 7 ; Cloud was born in 520. his father was killed in battle in 524 he and his brothers were brought up by their grandmother Saint Clotilde (June 3). brothers were murdered by their uncles Childebert and Clotaire to prevent them from succeeding to the Frankish throne. Cloud escaped and lived as a hermit, renouncing any claim to the throne. Saint Cloud was ordained to the holy priesthood, and lived a life of virtue and good works. died around 560.

France, 700-799, 8th Century Folder, Martel, Charlemagne, Alcuin of York

France, 701-754, Boniface, Sacred Oak at Geismar, from Cornwall, evangelized Netherlands, France, and West Germany
BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754); nicknamed Boniface ("good deeds"), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father's house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. Although his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son's entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated. illumination showing Bonface baptizing, and his martyrdom thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), whence he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. It is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. He asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching. felling the oak, from an old German book of Saints did not confine his attentions to Germany. He worked to establish cooperation between the Pope and others in Italy on the one hand and Charles and his successors in France on the other. He persuaded Carloman and Pepin, the sons of Charles, to call synods for the reform of the church in their territories, where under previous rulers bishoprics had often been sold to the highest bidder. never forgot his initial failure in Friesland, and in old age resigned his bishopric and returned to work there. Many Frisians had been converted earlier by Willibrord (another Saxon missionary from England--see 7 Nov), but had lapsed after his death. Boniface preached among them with considerable success. On June 5, the eve of Pentecost, 754, he was preparing a group of Frisians for confirmation when they were attacked and killed by heathen warriors. historian Christopher Dawson estimates that he has had a greater influence on the history of Europe than any other Englishman. Sacred Oak of Thor at Geismar;

France, 701-754, BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR, Crediton, Devon, Cornwall, greatest English influence in Europe
England, 700-754, BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR, Crediton, Devon, Cornwall (a crossroads in Creedy River Valley), at 5 resolved to convert pagans on Continent, monastery school at 7, director Nursing school, first Latin grammar, lecturers, to Friesland at 30, F war w Christian Charles Martel, to Hesse and Bavaria in 710, supported by Pope and CM, cut Oak of Geismar in Hesse, bishop of Germany, synods in France for Church reform, not hightest bidder for bishop, back to Friesland, greatest English influence in Europe; Crediton, Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about 7 miles (11 km) north west of Exeter. It has a population of 6,837.[1] The town is situated in the narrow vale of the River Creedy, between two steep hills and is divided into two parts, the east or old town and the west or new town. ; BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754); nicknamed Boniface ("good deeds"), was born around 680 near Crediton in Devonshire, England. he was five, he listened to some monks who were staying at his father's house. They had returned from a mission to the pagans on the continent, and Boniface was so impressed by them that he resolved to follow their example. his father had intended him for a secular career, he gave way to his son's entreaties and sent him at the age of seven to a monastery school. eventually became director of the school at Nursling, in Winchester, where he wrote the first Latin grammar in England, and gave lectures that were widely copied and circulated. Manuscript illumination showing Bonface baptizing, and his martyrdom thirty, he was ordained and set out to preach in Friesland (overlaps with modern Holland), he was soon expelled because of war between its heathen king and Charles Martel of France. after a brief withdrawal, went into Hesse and Bavaria, having secured the support of the Pope and of Charles Martel for his work there. Hesse, in the presence of a large crowd of pagans, he cut down the Sacred Oak of Geismar, a tree of immense age and girth, sacred to the god Thor. is said that after only a few blows of his axe, the tree tottered and crashed to the ground, breaking into four pieces and revealing itself to be rotted away within. was the beginning of a highly successful missionary effort, and the planting of a vigorous Christian church in Germany, where Boniface was eventually consecrated bishop. asked the Christian Saxons of England to support his work among their kinsmen on the continent, and they responded with money, books, supplies, and above all, with a steady supply of monks to assist him in teaching and preaching. Boiniface felling the oak, from an old German book of Saints did not confine his attentions to Germany. He worked to establish cooperation between the Pope and others in Italy on the one hand and Charles and his successors in France on the other. persuaded Carloman and Pepin, the sons of Charles, to call synods for the reform of the church in their territories, where under previous rulers bishoprics had often been sold to the highest bidder. never forgot his initial failure in Friesland, and in old age resigned his bishopric and returned to work there. Frisians had been converted earlier by Willibrord (another Saxon missionary from England--see 7 Nov), but had lapsed after his death. Boniface preached among them with considerable success. June 5, the eve of Pentecost, 754, he was preparing a group of Frisians for confirmation when they were attacked and killed by heathen warriors. historian Christopher Dawson estimates that he has had a greater influence on the history of Europe than any other Englishman. by James Kiefer

France, 718-741, Charles Martel, Frankish Statesman, the Hammer, reestablished Franks in Gaul, d Moslems at Tours, Aquitaine
France, 718-741, Charles Martel, Frankish Statesman, Military Leader, the Hammer, reestablished Franks in Gaul, d Moslems at Tours, Aquitaine; Martel (c. 688 - 22 October 741)[3] was a Frankish statesman and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death.[4][5][6] was a son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and Pepin's mistress, a noblewoman named Alpaida. Charles, also known as “The Hammerâ€ (in old French, Martel), successfully asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the power behind the throne in Frankish politics. and building on his father's work, he restored centralized government in Francia and began the series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul. According to a near-contemporary source, the Liber Historiae Francorum, Charles was "a warrior who was uncommonly [...] effective in battle".[7] defeated an Umayyad invasion of Aquitaine at the Battle of Tours. The Umayyad Caliphate controlled most of the Iberian Peninsula. his military endeavours, Charles has been traditionally credited with a seminal role in the development of the Frankish system of feudalism.[8][9] the end of his reign, Charles divided Francia between his sons, Carloman and Pepin. The latter became the first king of the Carolingian dynasty. grandson, Charlemagne, extended the Frankish realms, and became the first emperor in the West since the fall of Rome.[10] BONIFACE, BISHOP, MISSIONARY, MARTYR (5 JUNE 754), Commemorated June 5;

France, 750-804, Alcuin, Theologian for Charlemagne, York Deacon, scriptoria, cursive, rev Latin liturgy, plainchant, Filioque
England, 750-804, Alcuin, Scholar and Theologian for Charlemagne, York Deacon, scriptoria, cursive, revised Latin liturgy, plainchant, Filioque; England, 755-804, Alcuin, Scholar and Theologian for Charlemagne; York; ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804); was an Englishman from York, born into a noble family about 730, and educated by a pupil of Bede. become a deacon, he was made head of the cathedral school at York around 770. 781 he was asked by the Emperor Charlemagne to become his minister of education. He accepted, and established schools at many cathedrals and monasteries, and promoted learning in every way he could. the preceding years of constant wars and invasions, many ancient writings had been lost. Alcuin established scriptoria, dedicated to the copying and preservation of ancient manuscripts, both pagan and Christian. we have as much as we do of the writings of classical Roman authors is largely due to Alcuin and his scribes. is credited with the invention of cursive script, in which the letters are connected for greater speed of writing.) Alcuin, backed by Charlemagne, belongs much of the credit for the revision and organization of the Latin liturgy, the preservation of many of the ancient prayers, and the development of plainchant. and his fellow theologians at Charlemagne's capital of Aachen (or Aix-le-Chappelle) were important advocates of the doctrine that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son jointly. the East, which regarded the Emperor at Byzantium as the sole Emperor, resented Charlemagne's assumption of the title of Holy Roman Emperor, and this hardened their opposition to the aforesaid doctrine, thus contributing to the rift between East and West. by James Kiefer Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

France, 768-814, Charlemagne, Frankish King
Frankish King, 768-814, Charlemagne; ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865) ; ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804);

France, 780-804, Alcuin of York, England, called to Carolingian France by Charlemagne, intellectual
France, 780-804, Alcuin of York; of York (c. 735 - 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was an English scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York. the invitation of Charlemagne, he became a leading scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court, where he remained a figure in the 780s and 790s. "The most learned man anywhere to be found", according to Einhard's Life of Charlemagne[2] (c. 817-833), is considered among the most important intellectual architects of the Carolingian Renaissance. Among his pupils were many of the dominant intellectuals of the Carolingian era. this period, he perfected Carolingian minuscule, an easily read manuscript hand using a mixture of upper- and lower-case letters.[3] Latin paleography in the eighth century leaves little room for a single origin of the script, and sources contradict his importance as no proof has been found of his direct involvement in the creation of the script.[4] Carolingian minuscule was already in use before Alcuin arrived in Francia.[5] Most likely he was responsible for copying and preserving the script[6] while at the same time restoring the purity of the form.[7] wrote many theological and dogmatic treatises, as well as a few grammatical works and a number of poems. In 796, he was made abbot of Marmoutier Abbey, in Tours, where he remained until his death. ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804);

France, 800-1789, Folder, Holy Roman Empire to French Revolution

France, 800, 9th Century Folder, Middle Ages begin, HRE begins, Carolingian Empire

Frankish King, 768-814, Charlemagne
Frankish King, 768-814, Charlemagne; ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865) ;

France, 800-924, Carolingian Empire, HRE, Francia, between Loire and Rhine rivers, first phase of HRE
France, 800-924, Carolingian Empire, Holy Roman Empire; Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the early Middle Ages. was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from east to west. Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. a civil war (840–843) following the death of Emperor Louis the Pious, the empire was divided into autonomous kingdoms, with one king still recognised as emperor, but with little authority outside his own kingdom. The unity of the empire and the hereditary right of the Carolingians continued to be acknowledged. 884, Charles the Fat reunited all the Carolingian kingdoms for the last time, but he died in 888 and the empire immediately split up. With the only remaining legitimate male of the dynasty a child, the nobility elected regional kings from outside the dynasty or, in the case of the eastern kingdom, an illegitimate Carolingian. The illegitimate line continued to rule in the east until 911, while in the western kingdom the legitimate Carolingian dynasty was restored in 898 and ruled until 987 with an interruption from 922 to 936. size of the empire at its inception was around 1,112,000 square kilometres (429,000 sq mi), with a population of between 10 and 20 million people.[2] heartland was Francia, the land between the Loire and the Rhine, where its symbolic capital, Aachen, was located. In the south it crossed the Pyrenees and bordered the Emirate of Córdoba and, after 824, the Kingdom of Pamplona; to the north it bordered the kingdom of the Danes; to the west it had a short land border with Brittany, which was later reduced to a tributary; and to the east it had a long border with the Slavs and the Avars, who were eventually defeated and their land incorporated into the empire. southern Italy, the Carolingians' claims to authority were disputed by the Byzantines (eastern Romans) and the vestiges of the Lombard kingdom in the Principality of Benevento. term "Carolingian Empire" is a modern convention and was not used by its contemporaries. The language of official acts in the empire was Latin. The empire was referred to variously as universum regnum ("the whole kingdom", as opposed to the regional kingdoms), Romanorum sive Francorum imperium[a] ("empire of the Romans and Franks"), Romanum imperium ("Roman empire"), or even imperium christianum ("Christian empire").[3]

France, 814-840, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Pious, civil war after his death
France, 814-840, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis the Pious; ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865) ;

France, 821-865, ANSKAR, Corbie, France (Somme River 4) Apostle to the North, encouraged by visions, Sweden, Denmark, Norway
France, 821-865, ANSKAR, Corbie, France (Somme River 4) Apostle to the North, encouraged by visions, Saxony (north Germany), Westphalia, Jutland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway (8 September 801 – 3 February 865), also known as Anskar,[3] Saint Ansgar, Saint Anschar or Oscar, was Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen in the northern part of the Kingdom of the East Franks. Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North" because of his travels and the See of Hamburg received the missionary mandate to bring Christianity to Northern Europe.[4][5] was the son of a noble Frankish family, born near Amiens (present day France).[5][6] After his mother's early death, Ansgar was brought up in Benedictine monastery of Corbie in Picardy.[5] According to the Vita Ansgarii ("Life of Ansgar"), when the little boy learned in a vision that his mother was in the company of Mary, mother of Jesus, his careless attitude toward spiritual matters changed to seriousness.[7] His pupil, successor, and eventual biographer Rimbert considered the visions (of which this was the first) to have been Ansgar's main life motivator. acted in the context of the phase of Christianization of Saxony (present day Northern Germany) begun by Charlemagne and continued by Charlemagne's son and successor, Louis the Pious. 822 Ansgar became one of many missionaries sent to found the abbey of Corvey (New Corbie) in Westphalia, where he became a teacher and preacher. group of monks including Ansgar were sent further north to Jutland with the king Harald Klak, who had received baptism during his exile. Harald's downfall in 827 and Ansgar's companion Autbert having died, their school for the sons of courtiers closed and Ansgar returned to Germany. in 829, after the Swedish king Björn at Hauge requested missionaries for his Swedes, King Louis sent Ansgar, now accompanied by friar Witmar from New Corbie as his assistant. preached and made converts, particularly during six months at Birka, on Lake Mälaren, where the wealthy widow Mor Frideborg extended hospitality. Ansgar organized a small congregation with her and the king's steward, Hergeir, as its most prominent members. 831 Ansgar returned to Louis' court at Worms and was appointed to the Archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen. This was a new archbishopric, incorporating the bishoprics of Bremen and Verden and with the right to send missions into all the northern lands, as well as to consecrate bishops for them. received the mission of evangelizing pagan Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The King of Sweden decided to cast lots as to whether to admit the Christian missionaries into his kingdom. Ansgar recommended the issue to the care of God, and the lot was favorable.[5] was consecrated as a bishop in November 831, with the approval of Gregory IV. Before traveling north once again, Ansgar traveled to Rome to receive the pallium directly from the pope's hands, and was formally named legate for the northern lands. Archbishop of Reims had previously received a similar commission, but would be deposed twice before his death in 851, and never actually traveled so far north, so the jurisdiction was divided by agreement, with Ebbo retaining Sweden for himself. a time Ansgar devoted himself to the needs of his own diocese, which was still a missionary territory and had few churches. He founded a monastery and a school in Hamburg. Although intended to serve the Danish mission further north, it accomplished little. Louis the Pious died in 840, his empire was divided and Ansgar lost the abbey of Turholt, which Louis had given to endow Ansgar's work. in 845, the Danes unexpectedly raided Hamburg, destroying all the church's treasures and books. Ansgar now had neither see nor revenue, and many helpers deserted him. The new king, Louis' third son, Louis the German, did not re-endow Turholt to Ansgar, but in 847 he named the missionary to the vacant diocese of Bremen, where Ansgar moved in 848. However, since Bremen had been suffragan to the Bishop of Cologne, combining the sees of Bremen and Hamburg presented canonical difficulties. After prolonged negotiations, Pope Nicholas I would approve the union of the two dioceses in 864. this political turmoil, Ansgar continued his northern mission. The Danish civil war compelled him to establish good relations with two kings, Horik the Elder and his son, Horik II. Both assisted him until his death; Ansgar was able to secure permission to build a church in Sleswick north of Hamburg and recognition of Christianity as a tolerated religion.[8] did not forget the Swedish mission, and spent two years there in person (848–850), averting a threatened pagan reaction. In 854, Ansgar returned to Sweden when king Olof ruled in Birka. According to Rimbert, he was well disposed to Christianity. On a Viking raid to Apuole (current village in Lithuania) in Courland, the Swedes plundered the Curonians. and legacy[edit] was buried in Bremen in 865. His successor as archbishop, Rimbert, wrote the Vita Ansgarii. He noted that Ansgar wore a rough hair shirt, lived on bread and water, and showed great charity to the poor. Adam of Bremen attributed the Vita et miracula of Willehad (first bishop of Bremen) to Ansgar in Gesta Hammenburgensis ecclesiæ; Ansgar is also the reputed author of a collection of brief prayers Pigmenta (ed. J. M. Lappenberg, Hamburg, 1844).[9] Pope Nicholas I declared Ansgar a saint shortly after the missionary's death. The first actual missionary in Sweden and the Nordic countries (and organizer of the Catholic church therein), Ansgar was later declared "Patron of Scandinavia".[5] are located in Hamburg in two places: St. Mary's Cathedral (Ger.: Domkirche St. Marien) and St. Ansgar's and St. Bernard's Church (Ger.: St. Ansgar und St. Bernhard Kirche).[10] Statues of Bishop Ansgar stand in Hamburg, Copenhagen and Ribe, as well as a stone cross at Birka. His feast day (Lesser Festival) is 3 February, as it is in the Church of England.[11] Saint Ansgar statue in Hamburg a historical document and primary source written by a man whose existence can be proven historically, the Vita Ansgarii ("The Life of Ansgar") aims above all to demonstrate Ansgar's sanctity. It is partly concerned with Ansgar's visions, which, according to the author Rimbert, encouraged and assisted Ansgar's remarkable missionary feats. the course of this work, Ansgar repeatedly embarks on a new stage in his career following a vision. According to Rimbert, his early studies and ensuing devotion to the ascetic life of a monk were inspired by a vision of his mother in the presence of Mary, mother of Jesus. Again, when the Swedish people were left without a priest for some time, he begged King Horik to help him with this problem; then after receiving his consent, consulted with Bishop Gautbert to find a suitable man. The two together sought the approval of King Louis, which he granted when he learned that they were in agreement on the issue. Ansgar was convinced he was commanded by heaven to undertake this mission and was influenced by a vision he received when he was concerned about the journey, in which he met a man who reassured him of his purpose and informed him of a prophet that he would meet, the abbot Adalhard, who would instruct him in what was to happen. In the vision, he searched for and found Adalhard, who commanded, "Islands, listen to me, pay attention, remotest peoples", which Ansgar interpreted as God's will that he go to the Scandinavian countries as "most of that country consisted of islands, and also, when 'I will make you the light of the nations so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth' was added, since the end of the world in the north was in Swedish territory".[12] Corbie (Somme River 4); ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865); (in Latin, Ansgarius) was a monk of Saxon family, born in Corbie, France, in 801 (the year after the crowning of Charlemagne). In 826, when King Harald of Denmark asked Charlemagne's successors for missionaries, Anskar led a group to Denmark, and a few years later to Sweden. Because of unsettled political conditions, his work ran into difficulties, and Anskar withdrew into Germany, where he served as first Archbishop of Hamburg. Later, however, he helped to consecrate Gotbert, the first bishop of Sweden. The Church of Sweden honors him as its apostle, and he serves as symbol of the historic friendship and present-day connection between the Anglican Churches and the Church of Sweden. by James Kiefer the north of Germany, in Denmark, and in Sweden, Anskar, who had been a monk at Corbey, on the Weser, laboured for thirty-nine years with earnest devotion and with great success (AD 826-865). In addition to preaching the Gospel of salvation, he did much in such charitable works as the building of hospitals and the redemption of captives; and he persuaded the chief men of the country north of the Elbe to give up their trade in slaves, which had been a source of great profit to them, but which Anskar taught them to regard as contrary to the Christian religion. Anskar was made archbishop of Hamburg and Bremen, and is styled "The Apostle of the North." But he had to suffer many dangers and reverses in his endeavours to do good. At one time, when Hamburg was burnt by the Northmen, he lost his church, his monastery, his library, and other property; but he only said, with the patriarch Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" Then he set to work again, without being discouraged by what had befallen him, and he even made a friend of the heathen king who had led the attack on Hamburg. Anskar died in the year 865. It is told that when some of his friends were talking of miracles which he was supposed to have done, he said, "If I were worthy in my Lord's sight, I would ask of Him to grant me one miracle--that He would make me a good man." Sketches of Church History, by J. C. Robertson, publ. 1904 by SPCK, London available, "Saint Anschar", from The Catholic Encyclopedia, and The Life of Anskar, by his successor, Rimbert (also available from the Internet Archive).

France, 840-877, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Bald
France, 840-877, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles the Bald; ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865) ;

France, 881-887, Charles the Fat, Charles III, HRE Emperor, Lst Carolingian, L Frank
Germany, 881-887, Charles the Fat, Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor; St. Clement the Bishop of Ochrid and Enlightener of the Bulgarians, Commemorated on November 25;

France, 900, 10th Century Folder, Capetian France

France, 909-1156, EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY Abbey, France, golden age of C, independent of kings, over 2000 Abbys, translated koran
France, 909-1156, EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY Abbey, France (Grosne River 1), golden age of Cluny, under Pope, independent of kings, silence, simple diet, chasity, C over 2000 Abbys, translated koran ; Cluny; Cluny Abbey; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; monastery of Cluny (in France, northwest of Lyons) was a center for the reform and spiritual renewal of Western monasticism in the tenth and eleventh centuries. was founded in 909 under Abbot Berno, as a reformed monastery, observing the Benedictine Rule with a strictness unusual at the time. Many monasteries in Europe at that time were dominated by a nearby king or nobleman. It was intended that Cluny should be independent of all but papal jurisdiction. second abbot was Odo (born 879 at Tours, monk in 909, abbot in 927, died 18 November 942--one of my sources says 944). He obtained papal and royal charters which guaranteed the monastery freedom from outside interference. Under his guidance Cluny attracted many men seeking to follow its discipline, and Abbot Odo was instrumental in introducing the Cluniac observances into many Italian monasteries as well. He insisted on silence, simplicity of diet, and strict observance of chastity for his monks, but he was not rigid of temperament: many stories survive of his generosity to the poor and to prisoners. Because he had no wordly ambitions, he was often called to mediate disputes between men in power. third abbot was Aylward, who held office from 942 to 965. He was blind from 954 on. (or Maieul or Maiolus) was born at Avignon around 906, became a clergyman, was made archdeacon of Macon, and fled to Cluny in order to avoid being made bishop of Besancon. At Cluny, he was made librarian and bursar. When Abbot Aylward became blind, he appointed Maiolus his assistant, and in 965 at the death of Aylward he became abbot. Under his guidance, Cluniac influence expanded, but by example and advice rather than by jurisdiction. Maiolus had the support and admiration of the Emperors Otto I and Otto II, and the latter wanted to make him Pope in 974, but he refused. When old, he chose Odilo as his successor, and retired to contemplation and penance. He died on 11 May 994. the fifth abbot, was born around 962, became a monk as a young man, was made assistant to Mayeul in 991, and became abbot in 994. He held office for 55 years, during which time thirty abbeys accepted Cluny as their mother house, and its practices were adopted by many more which did not affiliate. Thus the Cluniac reform spread through Burgundy, Provence, Auvergne, Poitou, and much of Italy and Spain. The abbot of Cluny appointed priors for the daughter houses, which were thus permanently under a central jurisdiction, making the Cluniac monasteries (or some of them) into the first monastic order in the modern sense. In Abbot Odilo's day, there was a great deal of fighting of minor wars, raids, and skirmishes between feudal lords and others. Odilo reduced the effect of this by persuading the combatants throughout most of France and some other regions to agree that churches and monastic holdings were strictly off limits in fighting, and that there was to be a truce from Fridays to Mondays, as well as throughout all of Advent and Lent, to enable all parties to worship unmolested. Odilo wrote many sermons and poems on the mystery of the Incarnation, and his references to the role of Mary as the means through whom the Incarnation took place greatly influenced Bernard of Clairvaux a century later. Odilo instituted the observance of 2 November as All Souls' Day, a day of prayer at first for the dead brothers of the Abbey and later for all who had died in the faith of Christ. In the years from 1028 to 1033, when crop failures created great hunger among the poor in the vicinity of Cluny, he melted down and sold most of the treasures of Cluny to relieve them. As an abbot, he held both himself and his monks to a strict observance of the Rule, but he said that he would rather be damned for being too merciful than for being too severe. He died in 1049 at the age of 87. the sixth abbot, was born in 1024, the oldest son of a Burgundian nobleman (the count of Semur), entered Cluny when about 16, and became abbot when only 25 years old. He was abbot for 60 years, during which time the number of monastic houses that recognized Cluny as their mother house grew from about 60 to about 2000. It was under his abbacy that the Cluniac reform was introduced into England (at Lewes in Sussex in 1077). He increased the control of the mother house over the daughter houses (at the cost, as some have thought, of a certain flagging in their spiritual enthusiasm). Hugh was an accomplished diplomat sent at various times by nine different popes to conduct delicate negotiotiations in Hungary, Toulouse, Spain, and all over Europe. He mediated between pope and emperor in the confrontation at Canossa, and must be reckoned as one of the most influential figures of his day. He died 29 April 1109. seventh abbot, Pons (or Pontius), was a secular-minded, contentious nobleman, unsuited to be an abbot. He took office in 1109, and by 1122 had created such a turmoil and so many factions that the Pope asked him to resign. eighth Abbot of Cluny was Peter the Venerable, born in 1092, prior of Vezelay in 1112, and elected abbot of Cluny in 1122. In 1125, when Peter was away, Pons returned with a band of armed men and seized control of the monastery. The Pope intervened and imprisoned Pons, who died in prison the following year. Peter was then involved in a dispute with Bernard of Clairvaux (see 20 August), the spokesman of the Cistercian monasteries, and disposed to view the Cluniac monasteries as in some sense a rival organization, who accused the Cluniac houses of being insufficiently strict in their monastic observances. Peter, instead of replying indignantly, considered the complaints, made some changes where he thought that changes were needed, and ignored the complaints that he considered ill-grounded. In 1140, when Bernard had succeeded in having the views of Abelard condemned (see 21 April), Peter gave Abelard shelter at Cluny, persuaded the Pope to deal mildly with Abelard, and reconciled Abelard and Bernard. He refused to have anything to do with the preaching of the Second Crusade, saying that the moslems should be met, not with armies, but with scholars prepared for rational dialogue. He sponsored the first translation of the Koran into Latin, so that Christian missionaries could understand what the moslems they were about to meet believed. He served as papal envoy to Aquitaine, England, and various states in Italy. He wrote religious tracts, poems, hymns, and many letters, of which about 200 survive. He defended the Jews against persecution and false accusations. He was abbot for thirty-four years, during which time Cluny was the most influential abbey in Europe. He died 25 December 1156, and with his death the golden age of Cluny was over. But it had lasted for well over two centuries, and had done much to advance Western civilization, both in spiritual and in secular terms.

France, 1000, 11th Century Folder, 1st Crusade, Norman Vikings

France, 1028-1095, Wulfstan oWorchester submitted tWilliam tC, became trusted advisor, opposed slave trade
England, 1028-1095, Wulfstan of Worchester, English Saint, when William tNorman conquered England i1066 he replaced Anglo-Saxib bishops with clergy fNormandy, except for Wolfstan who submitted to him after Harolds death, even though had supported King Harold, became William's trusted advisor,opposed slave trade iWestern England; England, 1062-1095, Saint of England, Wulfstan of Worchester; (c. 1008 – 20 January 1095) Bishop of Worcester from 1062 to 1095. was the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop. Wulfstan is a saint in the Western Christian churches. denomination as Wulfstan II is to indicate that he is the second Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester. however, does not prevent confusion, since the first Bishop Wulfstan – his maternal uncle – is also called Wulfstan II to denote that he was the second Archbishop of York called Wulfstan.[1] See also: History of Worcestershire § Medieval, and Anglican Diocese of Worcester § History was born about 1008 at Long Itchington in the English county of Warwickshire.[2] family lost their lands around the time King Cnut of England came to the throne.[3] was probably named after his uncle, Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York. his uncle's influence, he studied at monasteries in Evesham and Peterborough, becoming a clerk at Worcester. this time, his superiors, noting his reputation for dedication and chastity, urged him to join the priesthood. 1034 Wulfstan served as incumbent at St Mary’s Church in Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire. was here that he experienced an incident which changed his life. at his devotions he was distracted by the smell of a goose cooking in the kitchen nearby. he resolved never to touch meat again and became a vegetarian. was ordained shortly thereafter, in 1038, soon joined a monastery of Benedictines at Worcester. served as treasurer and prior of Worcester, from 1034 onwards served as the parish priest of Hawkesbury, Gloucestershire.[4][5][6] Ealdred, the bishop of Worcester as well as the Archbishop of York, was required to relinquish Worcester by Pope Nicholas, decided to have Wulfstan appointed to Worcester. addition, Ealdred continued to hold a number of the manors of the diocese.[7] was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 8 September 1062,[8] by Ealdred. would have been more proper for him to have been consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose province Worcester was in.[7] had deliberately avoided consecration by the current archbishop of Canterbury, Stigand, Stigand's own consecration had been uncanonical. still acknowledged that the see of Worcester was a suffragan of Canterbury. made no profession of obedience to Ealdred, offering a profession of obedience to Stigand's successor Lanfranc.[9] was a confidant of Harold Godwinson, who helped secure the bishopric for him.[10] social reformer, Wulfstan struggled to bridge the gap between the old and new regimes, and to alleviate the suffering of the poor. was a strong opponent of the slave trade, and together with Lanfranc, was mainly responsible for ending the trade from Bristol.[11] the Norman conquest of England, Wulfstan was the only English-born bishop to retain his diocese for any significant time after the Conquest (all others had been replaced or succeeded by Normans by 1075).[12][13] of Malmesbury, whose early 12th century work Vita Wulfstani provides much of our knowledge of the bishop, that pastoral care of his diocese was Wulfstan's principal interest. 1072 Wulfstan signed the Accord of Winchester. 1075, Wulfstan and the Worcestershire fyrd militia countered the Revolt of the Earls, when various magnates attempted a rebellion against William the Conqueror. founded the Great Malvern Priory, undertook much large-scale rebuilding work, Worcester Cathedral, Hereford Cathedral, Tewkesbury Abbey, and many other churches in the Worcester, Hereford and Gloucester areas. famously wept upon the destruction of the old Worcester Cathedral to make way for the new Romanesque building, decrying the loss of a building in which "so many holy and devout men have served god".[14] the Norman Conquest, he claimed that the Oswaldslow, a "triple hundred" administered by the bishops of Worcester, was free of interference by the local sheriff. right to exclude the sheriff was recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. also administered the diocese of Lichfield when it was vacant between 1071 and 1072.[15] bishop, he often assisted the archbishops of York with consecrations, as they had few suffragan bishops. 1073 Wulfstan helped Thomas of Bayeux consecrate Radulf as Bishop of Orkney, and in 1081 helped consecrate William de St-Calais as Bishop of Durham.[7] Stained glass depicting Wulfstan at the church of the Holy Trinity, Long Itchington was responsible for the compilation by Hemming of the second cartulary of Worcester.[16] was close friends with Robert Losinga, the Bishop of Hereford, who was well known as a mathematician and astronomer.[15] the last surviving pre-Conquest bishop, died 20 January 1095 after a protracted illness, whilst washing the feet of parishioners as was his custom. [17] After his death, an altar was dedicated to him in Great Malvern Priory, next to those of Thomas Cantilupe and King Edward the Confessor. Easter of 1158, Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine visited Worcester Cathedral and placed their crowns on the shrine of Wulfstan, vowing not to wear them again. Their son King John is buried at Worcester Cathedral.[18] after Wulfstan's death, a hagiography, or saint's life, was written about him in English by his former chancellor Colman. was translated into Latin by the medieval chronicler and historian William of Malmesbury.[19] was canonized on 14 May 1203 by Pope Innocent III.[4] became the Patron Saint of Peasants and Vegetarians. of the miracles attributed to Wulfstan was the curing of King Harold's daughter. recently founded Victorine priory in Celbridge, Ireland (paid for by Adam de Hereford) was named St. Wolstan's Priory in his honour.[20] 2008, the millennial anniversary of Wulfstan’s birth, the Friends of the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Hawkesbury, where Wulfstan served from 1034, commissioned a stained glass window to his memory. commission was carried out by a local artist, Caroline Pederick and it was dedicated in 2011 by Bishop Michael Pelham of Gloucester. three roundels, it depicts features from Wulfstan’s life; the broken chains of slavery, the goose, many vegetables and the bishop’s crosier and mitre. 2021, St. Mary's Church installed a ring of eight bells in their tower. The largest bell, weighing 600 kg, is named in honour of Wulfstan.[5] is remembered in the Church of England with a lesser festival[21] and on the Episcopal Church calendar[22] on 19 January. ^ Sometimes Wulfstan II, also known as Wolstan, Wulstan and Ulfstan WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, BISHOP (19 JAN 1095); William the Norman conquered England in 1066, replaced most of the native Anglo-Saxon bishops with clergy from his own Normandy. most conspicuous exception was Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester (pronounced "Wooster"), had been a supporter of the Anglo-Saxon King Harold, who submitted to William after Harold's death, became one of the King's most trusted advisors. is best remembered for his opposition to the slave trade in western England. by James Kiefer More information about Wulfstan of Worcester (who should not be confused with the slightly earlier Wulfstan, Archbishop of York) may be found on a site about the Norman conquest and at Wikipedia.

France, 1053-1109, ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, from Bec Abbey, Seine River 8, Western age of reason
England, 1053-1109, ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, Monastery of Bec, Normandy, France (Bec Abbey, Seine River 8) most important western theologian between Augustine and Aquinas, also focused on reason; Monastery of Bec (Bec Abbey) ; ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, 21 April 1109 ; - ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109): is the most important Christian theologian in the West between Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. two great accomplishments are his Proslogium (in which he undertakes to show that Reason requires that men should believe in God), and his Cur Deus Homo? (in which he undertakes to show that Divine Love responding to human rebelliousness requires that God should become a man). was born in Italy about 1033, and in 1060 he entered the monastery of Bec in Normandy to study under Stephen Lanfranc, whom he succeeded in office, first as prior of Bec, and later as Archbishop of Canterbury. 1078 he was elected abbot of Bec. The previous year, he completed a work called the Monologium, in which he argues for the existence of God from the existence of degrees of perfection (Aquinas's Fourth Way is a variation of this argument). 1087, while still at Bec, he produced his Proslogium, an outline of his "ontological argument" for the existence of God. Taking as his text the opening of Psalm 14 ("The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God."), undertakes to show that the fool is contradicting himself -- that the concept of God is unique in that anyone who understands what is meant by the question, "Does God exist?" will see that the answer must be "Yes." The argument has received mixed reviews from the start. at once another theologian, Gaunilon, wrote, "A Reply on Behalf of the Fool." Thomas Aquinas rejected Anselm's argument as inconclusive (and is followed in this by most Roman Catholic writers today). Kant practically made his reputation as a philosopher by explaining in detail what he thought was wrong with Anselm's argument. the other hand, Leibniz and others have thought it valid. William II of England had no fondness for the Church, and at the death of Lanfranc he kept the See of Canterbury vacant until he was gravely ill, whereon he promised to let Anselm be made Archbishop. Anselm was made Archbishop (4 December 1093), the King recovered, and the two began to dispute the extent of the King's right to intervene in Church matters. Anselm went into exile in 1097 and remained in Italy for three years until the King died in 1100. During that time Anselm was instrumental in settling the doubts of the Greek bishops of southern Italy about the doctrine of the Filioque. For a discussion of the Filioque (the principal doctrinal difference between Eastern and Western Christians), see article in the Christia library. He also devoted the time to writing a book known as Cur Deus Homo? (meaning Why did God become Man?). In it he puts forward the "satisfaction theory" of the Atonement. Man's offence of rebellion against God is one that demands a payment or satisfaction. Fallen man is incapable of making adequate satisfaction, and so God took human nature upon Him, in order that a perfect man might make perfect satisfaction and so restore the human race. The success of his work may be gauged by the fact that many Christians today not only accept his way of explaining the Atonement, but are simply unaware that there is any other way. For a discussion of Anselm's theory of the Atonement and a comparison with Abelard's theory, consult the Web page mentioned above. For several other theories of the Atonement, read the Essays GEN05 RUFF, GEN06 RUFF, and GEN07 RUFF, found at the same location. five works Proslogium, Monologium, Gaunilon's Reply, Anselm on Gaunilon, and Cur Deus Homo? are available in a single paperback volume from Oxford Univ. Press. the death of King William II in 1100, Anselm returned to England at the invitation of the new king Henry I, only to quarrel with Henry about the lawful extent of the king's control over the selection of bishops and abbots (it must be remembered that these officials had civil as well as religious authority). Anselm was again in exile from 1103 to 1106. In 1107 a compromise was reached, and Anselm returned home to Canterbury, where he lived his last few years in peace, dying 21 April 1109. of Anselm is his reversal of a tendency among English bishops after the Norman Conquest to ignore or downgrade the Anglo-Saxon saints as representatives of the conquered race. Lanfranc had proposed to remove even Dunstan and Alphege from the calendar, the latter on the grounds that he had not died as a martyr for refusing to deny the Christian faith. Anselm argued that, if he was not a martyr to faith, he was a martyr to justice and to charity. From the Preface to the Proslogium: I have written the little work that follows... in the role of one who strives to raise his mind to the contemplation of God and one who seeks to understand what he believes. I acknowledge, Lord, and I give thanks that you have created your image in me, so that I may remember you, think of you, love you. But this image is so obliterated and worn away by wickedness, it is so obscured by the smoke of sins, that it cannot do what it was created to do, unless you renew and reform it. I am not attempting, O Lord, to penetrate your loftiness, for I cannot begin to match my understanding with it, but I desire in some measure to understand your truth, which my heart believes and loves. For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this too I believe, that "unless I believe, I shall not understand." (Isa. 7:9) A PRAYER OF ANSELM My God, I pray that I may so know you and love you that I may rejoice in you. And if I may not do so fully in this life let me go steadily on to the day when I come to that fullness ... Let me receive That which you promised through your truth, that my joy may be full A SONG OF ANSELM Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you: you are gentle with us as a mother with her children; Often you weep over our sins and our pride: tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement. You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds: in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us. Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life: by your anguish and labour we come forth in joy. Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness: through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. Your warmth gives life to the dead: your touch makes sinners righteous. Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us: in your love and tenderness remake us. In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness: for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us. (text edited) by James Kiefer

France, 1059-1108, King of France, Philip I, first Crusade 1095
France, King of France, 1059-1108, Philip I ; I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous,[1] was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin[2] and Bourges. 1 Early life 2 Personal rule 3 Death 4 Issue 5 References 6 Sources life[edit] was born 23 May 1052 at Champagne-et-Fontaine, the son of Henry I and his wife Anne of Kiev.[3] Unusually for the time in Western Europe, his name was of Greek origin, being bestowed upon him by his mother. he was crowned king at the age of seven,[4] until age fourteen (1066) his mother acted as regent, the first queen of France ever to do so. Baldwin V of Flanders also acted as co-regent.[2] rule[edit] under Philip I the death of Baldwin VI of Flanders, Robert the Frisian seized Flanders.[5] Baldwin's widow, Richilda, requested aid from Philip, who was defeated by Robert at the battle of Cassel in 1071.[2] first married Bertha of Holland in 1072.[6] Although the marriage produced the necessary heir, Philip fell in love with Bertrade de Montfort, the wife of Fulk IV, Count of Anjou. repudiated Bertha (claiming she was too fat) and married Bertrade on 15 May 1092.[7] 1094, he was excommunicated by Hugh of Die, for the first time;[7] after a long silence, Pope Urban II repeated the excommunication at the Council of Clermont in November 1095.[8] Several times the ban was lifted as Philip promised to part with Bertrade, but he always returned to her, but in 1104 Philip made a public penance and must have kept his involvement with Bertrade discreet.[9] In France, the king was opposed by Bishop Ivo of Chartres, a famous jurist.[10] appointed Alberic first Constable of France in 1060. A great part of his reign, like his father's, was spent putting down revolts by his power-hungry vassals. In 1077, he made peace with William the Conqueror, who gave up attempting the conquest of Brittany.[11] In 1082, Philip I expanded his demesne with the annexation of the Vexin, in reprisal against Robert Curthose's attack on William's heir, William Rufus. Then in 1100, he took control of Bourges.[12] was at the aforementioned Council of Clermont that the First Crusade was launched. Philip at first did not personally support it because of his conflict with Urban II. Philip's brother Hugh of Vermandois, however, was a major participant. effigy of King Philip I died in the castle of Melun and was buried per his request at the monastery of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire[13] – and not in St Denis among his forefathers. He was succeeded by his son, Louis VI, whose succession was, however, not uncontested. to Abbot Suger: Philip daily grew feebler. For after he had abducted the Countess of Anjou, he could achieve nothing worthy of the royal dignity; consumed by desire for the lady he had seized, he gave himself up entirely to the satisfaction of his passion. So he lost interest in the affairs of state and, relaxing too much, took no care for his body, well-made and handsome though it was. The only thing that maintained the strength of the state was the fear and love felt for his son and successor. When he was almost sixty, he ceased to be king, breathing his last breath at the castle of Melun-sur-Seine, in the presence of the [future king] Louis... They carried the body in a great procession to the noble monastery of St-Benoît-sur-Loire, where King Philip wished to be buried; there are those who say they heard from his own mouth that he deliberately chose not to be buried among his royal ancestors in the church of St. Denis because he had not treated that church as well as they had, and because among those of so many noble kings, his own tomb would not have counted for much. ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109);

France, 1095-1099, 1st Crusade, Levant and Anatolia
France, 1095-1099, 1st Crusade, Levant and Anatolia; France, King of France, 1059-1108, Philip I ; ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, MONK, ARCHBISHOP, THEOLOGIAN (21 APR 1109);

France, 1100, 12th C Folder, 2nd&3rd Crusades, Henry I&II oEngland, Angevin Empire, ALFRED OF RIEVAULX, Hugh oLincoln

France, 1101-1135, King Henry I of England, son of Conqueror, fought with b and french kings for Normandy, harsh but effective
England, 1100-1135, King of England, Henry I of England; I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, Henry was left landless. He purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William against Robert. at the place where his brother William died in a hunting accident in 1100, Henry seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, William Adelin and Empress Matilda; he also had many illegitimate children by his many mistresses. who invaded in 1101, disputed Henry's control of England; this military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. peace was short-lived, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry's control of Normandy was challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. by contemporaries to be a harsh but effective ruler, Henry skillfully manipulated the barons in England and Normandy. England, he drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxation, but also strengthened it with additional institutions, including the royal exchequer and itinerant justices. was also governed through a growing system of justices and an exchequer. Many of the officials who ran Henry's system were "new men" of obscure backgrounds, rather than from families of high status, who rose through the ranks as administrators. encouraged ecclesiastical reform, but became embroiled in a serious dispute in 1101 with Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, which was resolved through a compromise solution in 1105. supported the Cluniac order and played a major role in the selection of the senior clergy in England and Normandy. son William drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120, throwing the royal succession into doubt. took a second wife, Adeliza of Louvain, in the hope of having another son, but their marriage was childless. response to this, he declared his daughter Matilda his heir and married her to Geoffrey of Anjou. relationship between Henry and the couple became strained, and fighting broke out along the border with Anjou. Henry died on 1 December 1135 after a week of illness. his plans for Matilda, the king was succeeded by his nephew Stephen of Blois, resulting in a period of civil war known as the Anarchy. 1 Early life, 1068–1099 1.1 Childhood and appearance, 1068–86 1.2 Inheritance, 1087–88 1.3 Count of the Cotentin, 1088–90 1.4 Fall and rise, 1091–99 2 Early reign, 1100–06 2.1 Taking the throne, 1100 2.2 Marriage to Matilda, 1100 2.3 Treaty of Alton, 1101–02 2.4 Conquest of Normandy, 1103–06 3 Government, family and household 3.1 Government, law and court 3.2 Relations with the Church 4 Later reign, 1107–35 4.1 Continental and Welsh politics, 1108–14 4.2 Rebellion, 1115–20 4.3 Succession crisis, 1120–24 4.4 Planning the succession, 1125–34 5 Death and legacy 5.1 Death 5.2 Historiography 6 Family and children 6.1 Legitimate 6.2 Illegitimate 6.3 Family tree 7 Notes 8 References 9 Bibliography life, 1068–1099[edit] and appearance, 1068–86[edit] was probably born in England in 1068, in either the summer or the last weeks of the year, possibly in the town of Selby in Yorkshire.[1][nb 1] His father was William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who had invaded England in 1066 to become the king of England, establishing lands stretching into Wales. The invasion had created an Anglo-Norman ruling class, many with estates on both sides of the English Channel.[2] These Anglo-Norman barons typically had close links to the Kingdom of France, which was then a loose collection of counties and smaller polities, under only the nominal control of the king.[3] Henry's mother, Matilda of Flanders, was the granddaughter of Robert II of France, and she probably named Henry after her uncle, King Henry I of France.[4] was the youngest of William and Matilda's four sons. Physically he resembled his older brothers Robert Curthose, Richard and William Rufus, being, as historian David Carpenter describes, "short, stocky and barrel-chested," with black hair.[5] As a result of their age differences and Richard's early death, Henry would have probably seen relatively little of his older brothers.[6] He probably knew his sister Adela well, as the two were close in age.[7] There is little documentary evidence for his early years; historians Warren Hollister and Kathleen Thompson suggest he was brought up predominantly in England, while Judith Green argues he was initially brought up in the Duchy.[8][nb 2] He was probably educated by the Church, possibly by Bishop Osmund, the King's chancellor, at Salisbury Cathedral; it is uncertain if this indicated an intent by his parents for Henry to become a member of the clergy.[10][nb 3] It is also uncertain how far Henry's education extended, but he was probably able to read Latin and had some background in the liberal arts.[11] He was given military training by an instructor called Robert Achard, and Henry was knighted by his father on 24 May 1086.[12] 1087–88[edit] century picture ------------------13th-century depiction of Henry 1087, William was fatally injured during a campaign in the Vexin.[13] Henry joined his dying father near Rouen in September, where the King partitioned his possessions among his sons.[14] The rules of succession in western Europe at the time were uncertain; in some parts of France, primogeniture, in which the eldest son would inherit a title, was growing in popularity.[15] In other parts of Europe, including Normandy and England, the tradition was for lands to be divided, with the eldest son taking patrimonial lands – usually considered to be the most valuable – and younger sons given smaller, or more recently acquired, partitions or estates.[15] dividing his lands, William appears to have followed the Norman tradition, distinguishing between Normandy, which he had inherited, and England, which he had acquired through war.[16] William's second son, Richard, had died in a hunting accident, leaving Henry and his two brothers to inherit William's estate. Robert, the eldest, despite being in armed rebellion against his father at the time of his death, received Normandy.[17] England was given to William Rufus, who was in favour with the dying king.[17] Henry was given a large sum of money, usually reported as £5,000, with the expectation that he would also be given his mother's modest set of lands in Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire.[18][nb 4] William's funeral at Caen was marred by angry complaints from a local man, and Henry may have been responsible for resolving the dispute by buying off the protester with silver.[20] returned to Normandy, expecting to have been given both the Duchy and England, to find that William Rufus had crossed the Channel and been crowned king.[21] The two brothers disagreed fundamentally over the inheritance, and Robert soon began to plan an invasion of England to seize the kingdom, helped by a rebellion by some of the leading nobles against William Rufus.[22] Henry remained in Normandy and took up a role within Robert's court, possibly either because he was unwilling to side openly with William Rufus, or because Robert might have taken the opportunity to confiscate Henry's inherited money if he had tried to leave.[21][nb 5] William Rufus sequestered Henry's new estates in England, leaving Henry landless.[24] 1088, Robert's plans for the invasion of England began to falter, and he turned to Henry, proposing that his brother lend him some of his inheritance, which Henry refused.[25] Henry and Robert then came to an alternative arrangement, in which Robert would make Henry the count of western Normandy, in exchange for £3,000.[25][nb 6] Henry's lands were a new countship created by a delegation of the ducal authority in the Cotentin, but it extended across the Avranchin, with control over the bishoprics of both.[27] This also gave Henry influence over two major Norman leaders, Hugh d'Avranches and Richard de Redvers, and the abbey of Mont Saint-Michel, whose lands spread out further across the Duchy.[28] Robert's invasion force failed to leave Normandy, leaving William Rufus secure in England.[29] of the Cotentin, 1088–90[edit] of Bishop Odo (wielding club at centre) who imprisoned Henry from 1088–89. From the Bayeux Tapestry. Henry quickly established himself as count, building up a network of followers from western Normandy and eastern Brittany, whom historian John Le Patourel has characterised as "Henry's gang".[30] His early supporters included Roger of Mandeville, Richard of Redvers, Richard d'Avranches and Robert Fitzhamon, along with the churchman Roger of Salisbury.[31] Robert attempted to go back on his deal with Henry and re-appropriate the county, but Henry's grip was already sufficiently firm to prevent this.[32] Robert's rule of the duchy was chaotic, and parts of Henry's lands became almost independent of central control from Rouen.[33] this period, neither William nor Robert seems to have trusted Henry.[34] Waiting until the rebellion against William Rufus was safely over, Henry returned to England in July 1088.[35] He met with the King but was unable to persuade him to grant him their mother's estates, and travelled back to Normandy in the autumn.[36] While he had been away, however, Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, who regarded Henry as a potential competitor, had convinced Robert that Henry was conspiring against the duke with William Rufus.[37] On landing, Odo seized Henry and imprisoned him in Neuilly-la-Forêt, and Robert took back the county of the Cotentin.[38] Henry was held there over the winter, but in the spring of 1089 the senior elements of the Normandy nobility prevailed upon Robert to release him.[39] no longer formally the Count of Cotentin, Henry continued to control the west of Normandy.[40] The struggle between his brothers continued. William Rufus continued to put down resistance to his rule in England, but began to build a number of alliances against Robert with barons in Normandy and neighbouring Ponthieu.[41] Robert allied himself with Philip I of France.[42] In late 1090 William Rufus encouraged Conan Pilatus, a powerful burgher in Rouen, to rebel against Robert; Conan was supported by most of Rouen and made appeals to the neighbouring ducal garrisons to switch allegiance as well.[43] issued an appeal for help to his barons, and Henry was the first to arrive in Rouen in November.[44] Violence broke out, leading to savage, confused street fighting as both sides attempted to take control of the city.[44] Robert and Henry left the castle to join the battle, but Robert then retreated, leaving Henry to continue the fighting.[45] The battle turned in favour of the ducal forces and Henry took Conan prisoner.[45] Henry was angry that Conan had turned against his feudal lord. He had him taken to the top of Rouen Castle and then, despite Conan's offers to pay a huge ransom, threw him off the top of the castle to his death.[46] Contemporaries considered Henry to have acted appropriately in making an example of Conan, and Henry became famous for his exploits in the battle.[47] and rise, 1091–99[edit] of Mont St Michel ----------------- Mont Saint-Michel, site of the 1091 siege the aftermath, Robert forced Henry to leave Rouen, probably because Henry's role in the fighting had been more prominent than his own, and possibly because Henry had asked to be formally reinstated as the count of the Cotentin.[48] In early 1091, William Rufus invaded Normandy with a sufficiently large army to bring Robert to the negotiating table.[49] The two brothers signed a treaty at Rouen, granting William Rufus a range of lands and castles in Normandy. In return, William Rufus promised to support Robert's attempts to regain control of the neighbouring county of Maine, once under Norman control, and help in regaining control over the duchy, including Henry's lands.[49] They nominated each other as heirs to England and Normandy, excluding Henry from any succession while either one of them lived.[50] now broke out between Henry and his brothers.[51] Henry mobilised a mercenary army in the west of Normandy, but as William Rufus and Robert's forces advanced, his network of baronial support melted away.[52] Henry focused his remaining forces at Mont Saint-Michel, where he was besieged, probably in March 1091.[53] The site was easy to defend, but lacked fresh water.[54] The chronicler William of Malmesbury suggested that when Henry's water ran short, Robert allowed his brother fresh supplies, leading to remonstrations between Robert and William Rufus.[55] The events of the final days of the siege are unclear: the besiegers had begun to argue about the future strategy for the campaign, but Henry then abandoned Mont Saint-Michel, probably as part of a negotiated surrender.[56][nb 7] He left for Brittany and crossed over into France.[57] next steps are not well documented; one chronicler, Orderic Vitalis, suggests that he travelled in the French Vexin, along the Normandy border, for over a year with a small band of followers.[58] By the end of the year, Robert and William Rufus had fallen out once again, and the Treaty of Rouen had been abandoned.[59] In 1092, Henry and his followers seized the Normandy town of Domfront.[60] Domfront had previously been controlled by Robert of Bellême, but the inhabitants disliked his rule and invited Henry to take over the town, which he did in a bloodless coup.[61] Over the next two years, Henry re-established his network of supporters across western Normandy, forming what Judith Green terms a "court in waiting".[62] By 1094, he was allocating lands and castles to his followers as if he were the Duke of Normandy.[63] William Rufus began to support Henry with money, encouraging his campaign against Robert, and Henry used some of this to construct a substantial castle at Domfront.[64] Rufus crossed into Normandy to take the war to Robert in 1094, and when progress stalled, called upon Henry for assistance.[65] Henry responded, but travelled to London instead of joining the main campaign further east in Normandy, possibly at the request of the King, who in any event abandoned the campaign and returned to England.[66][nb 8] Over the next few years, Henry appears to have strengthened his power base in western Normandy, visiting England occasionally to attend at William Rufus's court.[68] In 1095 Pope Urban II called the First Crusade, encouraging knights from across Europe to join.[67] Robert joined the Crusade, borrowing money from William Rufus to do so, and granting the King temporary custody of his part of the Duchy in exchange.[69] The King appeared confident of regaining the remainder of Normandy from Robert, and Henry appeared ever closer to William Rufus. They campaigned together in the Norman Vexin between 1097 and 1098.[70] reign, 1100–06[edit] the throne, 1100[edit] Pontificals --------------A 17th-century manuscript drawing of Henry's coronation. the afternoon of 2 August 1100, King William went hunting in the New Forest, accompanied by a team of huntsmen and a number of the Norman nobility, including Henry.[71] An arrow, possibly shot by the baron Walter Tirel, hit and killed William Rufus.[72] Numerous conspiracy theories have been put forward suggesting that the King was killed deliberately; most modern historians reject these, as hunting was a risky activity, and such accidents were common.[73][nb 9] Chaos broke out, and Tirel fled the scene for France, either because he had shot the fatal arrow, or because he had been incorrectly accused and feared that he would be made a scapegoat for the King's death.[72] rode to Winchester, where an argument ensued as to who now had the best claim to the throne.[75] William of Breteuil championed the rights of Robert, who was still abroad, returning from the Crusade, and to whom Henry and the barons had given homage in previous years.[76] Henry argued that, unlike Robert, he had been born to a reigning king and queen, thereby giving him a claim under the right of porphyrogeniture.[77] Tempers flared, but Henry, supported by Henry de Beaumont and Robert of Meulan, held sway and persuaded the barons to follow him.[78] He occupied Winchester Castle and seized the royal treasury.[79] was hastily crowned king in Westminster Abbey on 5 August by Maurice, the bishop of London, as Anselm, the archbishop of Canterbury, had been exiled by William Rufus, and Thomas, the archbishop of York, was in the north of England at Ripon.[80] In accordance with English tradition and in a bid to legitimise his rule, Henry issued a coronation charter laying out various commitments.[81] The new king presented himself as having restored order to a trouble-torn country.[82] He announced that he would abandon William Rufus's policies towards the Church, which had been seen as oppressive by the clergy; he promised to prevent royal abuses of the barons' property rights, and assured a return to the gentler customs of Edward the Confessor; he asserted that he would "establish a firm peace" across England and ordered "that this peace shall henceforth be kept".[83] addition to his existing circle of supporters, many of whom were richly rewarded with new lands, Henry quickly co-opted many of the existing administration into his new royal household.[84] William Giffard, William Rufus's chancellor, was made the bishop of Winchester, and the prominent sheriffs Urse d'Abetot, Haimo Dapifer and Robert Fitzhamon continued to play a senior role in government.[84] By contrast, the unpopular Ranulf Flambard, the bishop of Durham and a key member of the previous regime, was imprisoned in the Tower of London and charged with corruption.[85] The late king had left many Church positions unfilled, and Henry set about nominating candidates to these, in an effort to build further support for his new government.[86] The appointments needed to be consecrated, and Henry wrote to Anselm, apologising for having been crowned while the archbishop was still in France and asking him to return at once.[87] to Matilda, 1100[edit] ------------Picture of Matilda first wife, Matilda of Scotland 11 November 1100 Henry married Matilda, the daughter of Malcolm III of Scotland.[88] Henry was now around 31 years old, but late marriages for noblemen were not unusual in the 11th century.[89] The pair had probably first met earlier the previous decade, possibly being introduced through Bishop Osmund of Salisbury.[90] Historian Warren Hollister argues that Henry and Matilda were emotionally close, but their union was also certainly politically motivated.[91][nb 10] Matilda had originally been named Edith, an Anglo-Saxon name, and was a member of the West Saxon royal family, being the niece of Edgar the Ætheling, the great-granddaughter of Edmund Ironside and a descendant of Alfred the Great.[93] For Henry, marrying Matilda gave his reign increased legitimacy, and for Matilda, an ambitious woman, it was an opportunity for high status and power in England.[94] had been educated in a sequence of convents, however, and may well have taken the vows to formally become a nun, which formed an obstacle to the marriage progressing.[95] She did not wish to be a nun and appealed to Anselm for permission to marry Henry, and the Archbishop established a council at Lambeth Palace to judge the issue.[95] Despite some dissenting voices, the council concluded that although Matilda had lived in a convent, she had not actually become a nun and was therefore free to marry, a judgement that Anselm then affirmed, allowing the marriage to proceed.[95][nb 11] Matilda proved an effective queen for Henry, acting as a regent in England on occasion, addressing and presiding over councils, and extensively supporting the arts.[97] The couple soon had two children, Matilda, born in 1102, and William Adelin, born in 1103; it is possible that they also had a second son, Richard, who died young.[98][nb 12] Following the birth of these children, Matilda preferred to remain based in Westminster while Henry travelled across England and Normandy, either for religious reasons or because she enjoyed being involved in the machinery of royal governance.[100] had a considerable sexual appetite and enjoyed a substantial number of sexual partners, resulting in many illegitimate children, at least nine sons and 13 daughters, many of whom he appears to have recognised and supported.[101] It was normal for unmarried Anglo-Norman noblemen to have sexual relations with prostitutes and local women, and kings were also expected to have mistresses.[102][nb 13] Some of these relationships occurred before Henry was married, but many others took place after his marriage to Matilda.[103] Henry had a wide range of mistresses from a range of backgrounds, and the relationships appear to have been conducted relatively openly.[100] He may have chosen some of his noble mistresses for political purposes, but the evidence to support this theory is limited.[104] of Alton, 1101–02[edit] of Henry -----------Early 14th-century depiction of Henry early 1101, Henry's new regime was established and functioning, but many of the Anglo-Norman elite still supported his brother Robert, or would be prepared to switch sides if Robert appeared likely to gain power in England.[105] In February, Flambard escaped from the Tower of London and crossed the Channel to Normandy, where he injected fresh direction and energy to Robert's attempts to mobilise an invasion force.[106] By July, Robert had formed an army and a fleet, ready to move against Henry in England.[107] Raising the stakes in the conflict, Henry seized Flambard's lands and, with the support of Anselm, Flambard was removed from his position as bishop.[108] The King held court in April and June, where the nobility renewed their oaths of allegiance to him, but their support still appeared partial and shaky.[109] the invasion imminent, Henry mobilised his forces and fleet outside Pevensey, close to Robert's anticipated landing site, training some of them personally in how to counter cavalry charges.[110] Despite English levies and knights owing military service to the Church arriving in considerable numbers, many of his barons did not appear.[111] Anselm intervened with some of the doubters, emphasising the religious importance of their loyalty to Henry.[112] Robert unexpectedly landed further up the coast at Portsmouth on 20 July with a modest force of a few hundred men, but these were quickly joined by many of the barons in England.[113] However, instead of marching into nearby Winchester and seizing Henry's treasury, Robert paused, giving Henry time to march west and intercept the invasion force.[114] two armies met at Alton, Hampshire, where peace negotiations began, possibly initiated by either Henry or Robert, and probably supported by Flambard.[114] The brothers then agreed to the Treaty of Alton, under which Robert released Henry from his oath of homage and recognised him as king; Henry renounced his claims on western Normandy, except for Domfront, and agreed to pay Robert £2,000 a year for life; if either brother died without a male heir, the other would inherit his lands; the barons whose lands had been seized by either the King or the Duke for supporting his rival would have them returned, and Flambard would be reinstated as bishop; the two brothers would campaign together to defend their territories in Normandy.[115][nb 14] Robert remained in England for a few months more with Henry before returning to Normandy.[117] the treaty, Henry set about inflicting severe penalties on the barons who had stood against him during the invasion.[118] William de Warenne, the Earl of Surrey, was accused of fresh crimes, which were not covered by the Alton amnesty, and was banished from England.[119] In 1102 Henry then turned against Robert of Bellême and his brothers, the most powerful of the barons, accusing him of 45 different offences.[120] Robert escaped and took up arms against Henry.[121] Henry besieged Robert's castles at Arundel, Tickhill and Shrewsbury Castles, pushing down into the south-west to attack Bridgnorth.[122] His power base in England broken, Robert accepted Henry's offer of banishment and left the country for Normandy.[123] of Normandy, 1103–06[edit] of Tinchebray ------The village of Tinchebray in 2008 network of allies in Normandy became stronger during 1103.[124] He arranged the marriages of his illegitimate daughters, Juliane and Matilda, to Eustace of Breteuil and Rotrou III, Count of Perche, respectively, the latter union securing the Norman border.[125] Henry attempted to win over other members of the Norman nobility and gave other English estates and lucrative offers to key Norman lords.[126] Duke Robert continued to fight Robert of Bellême, but the Duke's position worsened, until by 1104, he had to ally himself formally with Bellême to survive.[127] Arguing that the Duke had broken the terms of their treaty, the King crossed over the Channel to Domfront, where he met with senior barons from across Normandy, eager to ally themselves with him.[128] He confronted the Duke and accused him of siding with his enemies, before returning to England.[129] continued to disintegrate into chaos.[130] In 1105, Henry sent his friend Robert Fitzhamon and a force of knights into the Duchy, apparently to provoke a confrontation with Duke Robert.[131] Fitzhamon was captured, and Henry used this as an excuse to invade, promising to restore peace and order.[130] Henry had the support of most of the neighbouring counts around Normandy's borders, and King Philip of France was persuaded to remain neutral.[132] Henry occupied western Normandy, and advanced east on Bayeux, where Fitzhamon was held.[133] The city refused to surrender, and Henry besieged it, burning it to the ground.[133] Terrified of meeting the same fate, the town of Caen switched sides and surrendered, allowing Henry to advance on Falaise, Calvados, which he took with some casualties.[134] His campaign stalled, and the King instead began peace discussions with Robert.[135] The negotiations were inconclusive and the fighting dragged on until Christmas, when Henry returned to England.[136] invaded again in July 1106, hoping to provoke a decisive battle.[137] After some initial tactical successes, he turned south-west towards the castle of Tinchebray.[138] He besieged the castle and Duke Robert, supported by Robert of Bellême, advanced from Falaise to relieve it.[138] After attempts at negotiation failed, the Battle of Tinchebray took place, probably on 28 September.[139][nb 15] The battle lasted around an hour, and began with a charge by Duke Robert's cavalry; the infantry and dismounted knights of both sides then joined the battle.[141] Henry's reserves, led by Elias I, Count of Maine, and Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, attacked the enemy's flanks, routing first Bellême's troops and then the bulk of the ducal forces.[142] Duke Robert was taken prisoner, but Bellême escaped.[142] mopped up the remaining resistance in Normandy, and Duke Robert ordered his last garrisons to surrender.[143] Reaching Rouen, Henry reaffirmed the laws and customs of Normandy and took homage from the leading barons and citizens.[144] The lesser prisoners taken at Tinchebray were released, but the Duke and several other leading nobles were imprisoned indefinitely.[145] The Duke's son, William Clito, was only three years old and was released to the care of Helias of Saint-Saens, a Norman baron.[146] Henry reconciled himself with Robert of Bellême, who gave up the ducal lands he had seized and rejoined the royal court.[147] Henry had no way of legally removing the Duchy from his brother, and initially Henry avoided using the title "duke" at all, emphasising that, as the King of England, he was only acting as the guardian of the troubled Duchy.[148] family and household[edit] Government, law and court[edit] Henry's royal seal, showing the King on horseback (l) and seated on his throne (r) information on English government during this period: England in the Middle Ages § High Middle Ages (1066–1272) inherited the kingdom of England from William Rufus, giving him a claim of suzerainty over Wales and Scotland, and acquired the Duchy of Normandy, a complex entity with troubled borders.[149] The borders between England and Scotland were still uncertain during Henry's reign, with Anglo-Norman influence pushing northwards through Cumbria, but his relationship with King David I of Scotland was generally good, partially due to Henry's marriage to his sister.[150] In Wales, Henry used his power to coerce and charm the indigenous Welsh princes, while Norman Marcher Lords pushed across the valleys of South Wales.[151] Normandy was controlled via various interlocking networks of ducal, ecclesiastical and family contacts, backed by a growing string of important ducal castles along the borders.[152] Alliances and relationships with neighbouring counties along the Norman border were particularly important to maintaining the stability of the Duchy.[153] ruled through the various barons and lords in England and Normandy, whom he manipulated skilfully for political effect.[154] Political friendships, termed amicitia in Latin, were important during the 12th century, and Henry maintained a wide range of these, mediating between his friends in various factions across his realm when necessary, and rewarding those who were loyal to him.[155] He also had a reputation for punishing those barons who stood against him, and he maintained an effective network of informers and spies who reported to him on events.[156] Henry was a harsh, firm ruler, but not excessively so by the standards of the day.[157] Over time, he increased the degree of his control over the barons, removing his enemies and bolstering his friends until the "reconstructed baronage", as historian Warren Hollister describes it, was predominantly loyal and dependent on the King.[158] itinerant royal court comprised various parts.[159] At the heart was his domestic household, called the domus; a wider grouping was termed the familia regis, and formal gatherings of the court were termed curia.[160] The domus was divided into several parts. The chapel, headed by the chancellor, looked after the royal documents, the chamber dealt with financial affairs and the master-marshal was responsible for travel and accommodation.[161] The familia regis included Henry's mounted household troops, up to several hundred strong, who came from a wider range of social backgrounds, and could be deployed across England and Normandy as required.[162] Initially Henry continued his father's practice of regular crown-wearing ceremonies at his curia, but they became less frequent as the years passed.[163] Henry's court was grand and ostentatious, financing the construction of large new buildings and castles with a range of precious gifts on display, including his private menagerie of exotic animals, which he kept at Woodstock Palace.[164] Despite being a lively community, Henry's court was more tightly controlled than those of previous kings.[165] Strict rules controlled personal behaviour and prohibited members of the court from pillaging neighbouring villages, as had been the norm under William Rufus.[165] was responsible for a substantial expansion of the royal justice system.[166][nb 16] In England, Henry drew on the existing Anglo-Saxon system of justice, local government and taxes, but strengthened it with additional central governmental institutions.[168] Roger of Salisbury began to develop the royal exchequer after 1110, using it to collect and audit revenues from the King's sheriffs in the shires.[169] Itinerant justices began to emerge under Henry, travelling around the country managing eyre courts, and many more laws were formally recorded.[170] Henry gathered increasing revenue from the expansion of royal justice, both from fines and from fees.[171] The first Pipe Roll that is known to have survived dates from 1130, recording royal expenditures.[172] Henry reformed the coinage in 1107, 1108 and in 1125, inflicting harsh corporal punishments to English coiners who had been found guilty of debasing the currency.[173][nb 17] In Normandy, he restored law and order after 1106, operating through a body of Norman justices and an exchequer system similar to that in England.[175] Norman institutions grew in scale and scope under Henry, although less quickly than in England.[176] Many of the officials that ran Henry's system were termed "new men", relatively low-born individuals who rose through the ranks as administrators, managing justice or the royal revenues.[177][nb 18] with the Church[edit] information on religion in England during this period: Religion in Medieval England and the King[edit] of seal seal of Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury ability to govern was intimately bound up with the Church, which formed the key to the administration of both England and Normandy, and this relationship changed considerably over the course of his reign.[179] William the Conqueror had reformed the English Church with the support of his Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc, who became a close colleague and advisor to the King.[180][nb 19] Under William Rufus this arrangement had collapsed, the King and Archbishop Anselm had become estranged and Anselm had gone into exile. Henry also believed in Church reform, but on taking power in England he became embroiled in the investiture controversy.[182] argument concerned who should invest a new bishop with his staff and ring: traditionally, this had been carried out by the King in a symbolic demonstration of royal power, but Pope Urban II had condemned this practice in 1099, arguing that only the papacy could carry out this task, and declaring that the clergy should not give homage to their local temporal rulers.[183] Anselm returned to England from exile in 1100 having heard Urban's pronouncement, and informed Henry that he would be complying with the Pope's wishes.[184] Henry was in a difficult position. On one hand, the symbolism and homage was important to him; on the other hand, he needed Anselm's support in his struggle with his brother Duke Robert.[185] stuck firmly to the letter of the papal decree, despite Henry's attempts to persuade him to give way in return for a vague assurance of a future royal compromise.[186] Matters escalated, with Anselm going back into exile and Henry confiscating the revenues of his estates. Anselm threatened excommunication, and in July 1105 the two men finally negotiated a solution.[187] A distinction was drawn between the secular and ecclesiastical powers of the prelates, under which Henry gave up his right to invest his clergy, but retained the custom of requiring them to come and do homage for the temporalities, the landed properties they held in England.[188] Despite this argument, the pair worked closely together, combining to deal with Duke Robert's invasion of 1101, for example, and holding major reforming councils in 1102 and 1108.[189] long-running dispute between the Archbishops of Canterbury and York flared up under Anselm's successor, Ralph d'Escures.[190] Canterbury, traditionally the senior of the two establishments, had long argued that the Archbishop of York should formally promise to obey their Archbishop, but York argued that the two episcopates were independent within the English Church and that no such promise was necessary. Henry supported the primacy of Canterbury, to ensure that England remained under a single ecclesiastical administration, but the Pope preferred the case of York.[190] The matter was complicated by Henry's personal friendship with Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, and the King's desire that the case should not end up in a papal court, beyond royal control.[190] Henry needed the support of the Papacy in his struggle with Louis of France, however, and therefore allowed Thurstan to attend the Council of Rheims in 1119, where Thurstan was then consecrated by the Pope with no mention of any duty towards Canterbury.[191] Henry believed that this went against assurances Thurstan had previously made and exiled him from England until the King and Archbishop came to a negotiated solution the following year.[192] after the investiture dispute, Henry continued to play a major role in the selection of new English and Norman bishops and archbishops.[193] He appointed many of his officials to bishoprics and, as historian Martin Brett suggests, "some of his officers could look forward to a mitre with all but absolute confidence".[194] Henry's chancellors, and those of his queens, became bishops of Durham, Hereford, London, Lincoln, Winchester and Salisbury.[195] Henry increasingly drew on a wider range of these bishops as advisors – particularly Roger of Salisbury – breaking with the earlier tradition of relying primarily on the Archbishop of Canterbury.[196] The result was a cohesive body of administrators through which Henry could exercise careful influence, holding general councils to discuss key matters of policy.[197] This stability shifted slightly after 1125, when he began to inject a wider range of candidates into the senior positions of the Church, often with more reformist views, and the impact of this generation would be felt in the years after Henry's death.[198] beliefs and piety[edit] of Reading Abbey ruined chapter house of Reading Abbey in 2008 other rulers of the period, Henry donated to the Church and patronised various religious communities, but contemporary chroniclers did not consider him an unusually pious king.[199] His personal beliefs and piety may, however, have developed during the course of his life. Henry had always taken an interest in religion, but in his later years he may have become much more concerned about spiritual affairs.[200] If so, the major shifts in his thinking would appear to have occurred after 1120, when his son William Adelin died, and 1129, when his daughter's marriage teetered on the verge of collapse.[201][nb 20] a proponent of religious reform, Henry gave extensively to reformist groups within the Church.[203] He was a keen supporter of the Cluniac order, probably for intellectual reasons.[204] He donated money to the abbey at Cluny itself, and after 1120 gave generously to Reading Abbey, a Cluniac establishment.[204] Construction on Reading began in 1121, and Henry endowed it with rich lands and extensive privileges, making it a symbol of his dynastic lines.[205] He also focused effort on promoting the conversion of communities of clerks into Augustinian canons, the foundation of leper hospitals, expanding the provision of nunneries, and the charismatic orders of the Savigniacs and Tironensians.[206] He was an avid collector of relics, sending an embassy to Constantinople in 1118 to collect Byzantine items, some of which were donated to Reading Abbey.[207] reign, 1107–35[edit] and Welsh politics, 1108–14[edit] faced an increased threat from France, Anjou and Flanders after 1108.[208] King Louis VI succeeded to the French throne in 1108 and began to reassert central royal power.[208] Louis demanded Henry give homage to him and that two disputed castles along the Normandy border be placed into the control of neutral castellans.[209] Henry refused, and Louis responded by mobilising an army.[210] After some arguments, the two kings negotiated a truce and retreated without fighting, leaving the underlying issues unresolved.[210][nb 21] Fulk V assumed power in Anjou in 1109 and began to rebuild Angevin authority.[212] He inherited the county of Maine, but refused to recognise Henry as his feudal lord and instead allied himself with Louis.[213] Robert II of Flanders also briefly joined the alliance, before his death in 1111.[214] of coin coin of Henry's rival, Louis VI of France 1108, Henry betrothed his six-year-old daughter, Matilda, to Henry V, the future Holy Roman Emperor.[215] For King Henry, this was a prestigious match; for Henry V, it was an opportunity to restore his financial situation and fund an expedition to Italy, as he received a dowry of £6,666 from England and Normandy.[216][nb 22] Raising this money proved challenging, and required the implementation of a special "aid", or tax, in England.[218] Matilda was crowned German queen in 1110.[219] responded to the French and Angevin threat by expanding his own network of supporters beyond the Norman borders.[220] Some Norman barons deemed unreliable were arrested or dispossessed, and Henry used their forfeited estates to bribe his potential allies in the neighbouring territories, in particular Maine.[221] Around 1110, Henry attempted to arrest the young William Clito, but William's mentors moved him to the safety of Flanders before he could be taken.[222] At about this time, Henry probably began to style himself as the duke of Normandy.[223][nb 23] Robert of Bellême turned against Henry once again, and when he appeared at Henry's court in 1112 in a new role as a French ambassador, he was arrested and imprisoned.[225] broke out in France and Anjou between 1111 and 1113, and Henry crossed into Normandy to support his nephew, Count Theobald II, Count of Champagne, who had sided against Louis in the uprising.[226] In a bid to isolate Louis diplomatically, Henry betrothed his young son, William Adelin, to Fulk's daughter Matilda, and married his illegitimate daughter Matilda to Duke Conan III of Brittany, creating alliances with Anjou and Brittany respectively.[227] Louis backed down and in March 1113 met with Henry near Gisors to agree a peace settlement, giving Henry the disputed fortresses and confirming Henry's overlordship of Maine, Bellême and Brittany.[228] the situation in Wales was deteriorating. Henry had conducted a campaign in South Wales in 1108, pushing out royal power in the region and colonising the area around Pembroke with Flemings.[229] By 1114, some of the resident Norman lords were under attack, while in Mid-Wales, Owain ap Cadwgan blinded one of the political hostages he was holding, and in North Wales Gruffudd ap Cynan threatened the power of the Earl of Chester.[230] Henry sent three armies into Wales that year, with Gilbert Fitz Richard leading a force from the south, Alexander, King of Scotland, pressing from the north and Henry himself advancing into Mid-Wales.[230] Owain and Gruffudd sued for peace, and Henry accepted a political compromise.[231] He reinforced the Welsh Marches with his own appointees, strengthening the border territories.[232] 1115–20[edit] pennies of Henry I, struck at the Oxford mint about the succession, Henry sought to persuade Louis VI to accept his son, William Adelin, as the legitimate future Duke of Normandy, in exchange for his son's homage.[233] Henry crossed into Normandy in 1115 and assembled the Norman barons to swear loyalty; he also almost successfully negotiated a settlement with Louis, affirming William's right to the Duchy in exchange for a large sum of money. However, Louis, backed by his ally Baldwin of Flanders, instead declared that he considered William Clito the legitimate heir to the Duchy.[234] broke out after Henry returned to Normandy with an army to support Theobald of Blois, who was under attack from Louis.[235] Henry and Louis raided each other's towns along the border, and a wider conflict then broke out, probably in 1116.[235][nb 24] Henry was pushed onto the defensive as French, Flemish and Angevin forces began to pillage the Normandy countryside.[237] Amaury III of Montfort and many other barons rose up against Henry, and there was an assassination plot from within his own household.[237] Henry's wife, Matilda, died in early 1118, but the situation in Normandy was sufficiently pressing that Henry was unable to return to England for her funeral.[238] responded by mounting campaigns against the rebel barons and deepening his alliance with Theobald.[239] Baldwin of Flanders was wounded in battle and died in September 1118, easing the pressure on Normandy from the north-east.[240] Henry attempted to crush a revolt in the city of Alençon, but was defeated by Fulk and the Angevin army.[241] Forced to retreat from Alençon, Henry's position deteriorated alarmingly, as his resources became overstretched and more barons abandoned his cause.[242] Early in 1119, Eustace of Breteuil and Henry's daughter, Juliana, threatened to join the baronial revolt.[243] Hostages were exchanged in a bid to avoid conflict, but relations broke down and both sides mutilated their captives.[244] Henry attacked and took the town of Breteuil, Eure, despite Juliana's attempt to kill her father with a crossbow.[244][nb 25] In the aftermath, Henry dispossessed the couple of almost all of their lands in Normandy.[246] situation improved in May 1119 when he enticed Fulk to switch sides by finally agreeing to marry William Adelin to Fulk's daughter, Matilda, and paying Fulk a large sum of money.[247] Fulk left for the Levant, leaving the County of Maine in Henry's care, and the King was free to focus on crushing his remaining enemies.[248] During the summer Henry advanced into the Norman Vexin, where he encountered Louis's army, resulting in the Battle of Brémule.[249] Henry appears to have deployed scouts and then organised his troops into several carefully formed lines of dismounted knights.[250] Unlike Henry's forces, the French knights remained mounted; they hastily charged the Anglo-Norman positions, breaking through the first rank of the defences but then becoming entangled in Henry's second line of knights.[251] Surrounded, the French army began to collapse.[250] In the melee, Henry was hit by a sword blow, but his armour protected him.[252] Louis and William Clito escaped from the battle, leaving Henry to return to Rouen in triumph.[253] war slowly petered out after this battle, and Louis took the dispute over Normandy to Pope Callixtus II's council in Reims that October.[254] Henry faced a number of French complaints concerning his acquisition and subsequent management of Normandy, and despite being defended by Geoffrey, the Archbishop of Rouen, Henry's case was shouted down by the pro-French elements of the council.[255] Callixtus declined to support Louis, however, and merely advised the two rulers to seek peace.[256] Amaury de Montfort came to terms with Henry, but Henry and William Clito failed to find a mutually satisfactory compromise.[257] In June 1120, Henry and Louis formally made peace on terms advantageous to the King of England: William Adelin gave homage to Louis, and in return Louis confirmed William's rights to the Duchy.[258] crisis, 1120–24[edit] of White Ship 14th-century depiction of the sinking of the White Ship at Barfleur on 25 November 1120 succession plans were thrown into chaos by the sinking of the White Ship on 25 November 1120.[259] Henry had left the port of Barfleur for England in the early evening, leaving William Adelin and many of the younger members of the court to follow on that night in a separate vessel, the White Ship.[260] Both the crew and passengers were drunk and, just outside the harbour, the ship hit a submerged rock.[261][nb 26] The ship sank, killing as many as 300 people, with only one survivor, a butcher from Rouen.[261] Henry's court was initially too scared to report William's death to the King. When he was finally told, he collapsed with grief.[263] disaster left Henry with no legitimate son, his various nephews now the closest possible male heirs.[264] Henry announced he would take a new wife, Adeliza of Louvain, opening up the prospect of a new royal son, and the two were married at Windsor Castle in January 1121.[265][nb 27] Henry appears to have chosen her because she was attractive and came from a prestigious noble line. Adeliza seems to have been fond of Henry and joined him in his travels, probably to maximise the chances of her conceiving a child.[267] The White Ship disaster initiated fresh conflict in Wales, where the drowning of Richard, Earl of Chester, encouraged a rebellion led by Maredudd ap Bleddyn.[268] Henry intervened in North Wales that summer with an army and, although he was hit by a Welsh arrow, the campaign reaffirmed royal power across the region.[268] alliance with Anjou – which had been based on his son William marrying Fulk's daughter Matilda – began to disintegrate.[269] Fulk returned from the Levant and demanded that Henry return Matilda and her dowry, a range of estates and fortifications in Maine.[269] Matilda left for Anjou, but Henry argued that the dowry had in fact originally belonged to him before it came into the possession of Fulk, and so declined to hand the estates back to Anjou.[270] Fulk married his daughter Sibylla to William Clito, and granted them Maine.[271] Once again, conflict broke out, as Amaury de Montfort allied himself with Fulk and led a revolt along the Norman-Anjou border in 1123.[271] Amaury was joined by several other Norman barons, headed by Waleran de Beaumont, one of the sons of Henry's old ally, Robert of Meulan.[272][nb 28] dispatched Robert of Gloucester and Ranulf le Meschin to Normandy and then intervened himself in late 1123.[274] He began the process of besieging the rebel castles, before wintering in the Duchy.[275] In the spring of 1124, campaigning began again. In the battle of Bourgthéroulde, Odo Borleng, castellan of Bernay, Eure, led the King's army and received intelligence that the rebels were departing from the rebel base in Beaumont-le-Roger allowing him to ambush them as they traversed through the Brotonne forest. Waleran charged the royal forces, but his knights were cut down by Odo's archers and the rebels were quickly overwhelmed.[276] Waleran was captured, but Amaury escaped.[276] Henry mopped up the remainder of the rebellion, blinding some of the rebel leaders – considered, at the time, a more merciful punishment than execution – and recovering the last rebel castles.[277] He paid Pope Callixtus a large amount of money, in exchange for the Papacy annulling the marriage of William Clito and Sibylla on the grounds of consanguinity.[278][nb 29] the succession, 1125–34[edit] and Adeliza did not conceive any children, generating prurient speculation as to the possible explanation, and the future of the dynasty appeared at risk.[280][nb 30] Henry may have begun to look among his nephews for a possible heir. He may have considered Stephen of Blois as a possible option and, perhaps in preparation for this, he arranged a beneficial marriage for Stephen to a wealthy heiress, Matilda.[282] Theobald of Blois, his close ally, may have also felt that he was in favour with Henry.[283] William Clito, who was King Louis's preferred choice, remained opposed to Henry and was therefore unsuitable.[284] Henry may have also considered his own illegitimate son, Robert of Gloucester, as a possible candidate, but English tradition and custom would have looked unfavourably on this.[285] plans shifted when the Empress Matilda's husband, the Emperor Henry, died in 1125.[286] The King recalled his daughter to England the next year and declared that, should he die without a male heir, she was to be his rightful successor.[287] The Anglo-Norman barons were gathered together at Westminster at Christmas 1126, where they swore to recognise Matilda and any future legitimate heir she might have.[287][nb 31] Putting forward a woman as a potential heir in this way was unusual: opposition to Matilda continued to exist within the English court, and Louis was vehemently opposed to her candidacy.[289] conflict broke out in 1127, when the childless Charles I, Count of Flanders, was murdered, creating a local succession crisis.[290] Backed by King Louis, William Clito was chosen by the Flemings to become their new ruler.[291] This development potentially threatened Normandy, and Henry began to finance a proxy war in Flanders, promoting the claims of William's Flemish rivals.[292] In an effort to disrupt the French alliance with William, Henry mounted an attack into France in 1128, forcing Louis to cut his aid to William.[293] William died unexpectedly in July, removing the last major challenger to Henry's rule and bringing the war in Flanders to a halt.[294] Without William, the baronial opposition in Normandy lacked a leader. A fresh peace was made with France, and Henry was finally able to release the remaining prisoners from the revolt of 1123, including Waleran of Meulan, who was rehabilitated into the royal court.[295] Henry rebuilt his alliance with Fulk of Anjou, this time by marrying Matilda to Fulk's eldest son, Geoffrey.[296] The pair were betrothed in 1127 and married the following year.[297] It is unknown whether Henry intended Geoffrey to have any future claim on England or Normandy, and he was probably keeping his son-in-law's status deliberately uncertain. Similarly, although Matilda was granted a number of Normandy castles as part of her dowry, it was not specified when the couple would actually take possession of them.[298] Fulk left Anjou for Jerusalem in 1129, declaring Geoffrey the Count of Anjou and Maine.[299] The marriage proved difficult, as the couple did not particularly like each other and the disputed castles proved a point of contention, resulting in Matilda returning to Normandy later that year.[300] Henry appears to have blamed Geoffrey for the separation, but in 1131 the couple were reconciled.[301] Much to the pleasure and relief of Henry, Matilda then gave birth to a sequence of two sons, Henry and Geoffrey, in 1133 and 1134.[302] and legacy[edit] of Henry 14th-century depiction of Henry mourning the death of his son between Henry, Matilda, and Geoffrey became increasingly strained during the King's final years. Matilda and Geoffrey suspected that they lacked genuine support in England. In 1135 they urged Henry to hand over the royal castles in Normandy to Matilda whilst he was still alive, and insisted that the Norman nobility swear immediate allegiance to her, thereby giving the couple a more powerful position after Henry's death.[303] Henry angrily declined to do so, probably out of concern that Geoffrey would try to seize power in Normandy.[304] A fresh rebellion broke out amongst the barons in southern Normandy, led by William III, Count of Ponthieu, whereupon Geoffrey and Matilda intervened in support of the rebels.[305] campaigned throughout the autumn, strengthening the southern frontier, and then travelled to Lyons-la-Forêt in November to enjoy some hunting, still apparently healthy.[306] There he fell ill – according to the chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, he ate too many ("a surfeit of") lampreys against his physician's advice – and his condition worsened over the course of a week.[307] Once the condition appeared terminal, Henry gave confession and summoned Archbishop Hugh of Amiens, who was joined by Robert of Gloucester and other members of the court.[308] In accordance with custom, preparations were made to settle Henry's outstanding debts and to revoke outstanding sentences of forfeiture.[309] The King died on 1 December 1135, and his corpse was taken to Rouen accompanied by the barons, where it was embalmed; his entrails were buried locally at the priory of Notre-Dame du Pré, and the preserved body was taken on to England, where it was interred at Reading Abbey.[310] Henry's efforts, the succession was disputed. When news began to spread of the King's death, Geoffrey and Matilda were in Anjou supporting the rebels in their campaign against the royal army, which included a number of Matilda's supporters such as Robert of Gloucester.[15] Many of these barons had taken an oath to stay in Normandy until the late king was properly buried, which prevented them from returning to England.[311] The Norman nobility discussed declaring Theobald of Blois king.[312] Theobald's younger brother, Stephen of Blois, quickly crossed from Boulogne to England, however, accompanied by his military household.[313] Hugh Bigod dubiously testified that Henry, on his deathbed, had released the barons from their oath to Matilda,[314] and with the help of his brother, Henry of Blois, Stephen seized power in England and was crowned king on 22 December.[315] Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, appealing at first to the Pope against the decision to allow the coronation of Stephen,[314] and then invading England to start a prolonged civil war, known as the Anarchy, between 1135 and 1153.[316] AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

France, 1101-1142, Philosopher, Peter Abelard, forerunner of Rousseau
France, 1100-1142, Philosopher, Peter Abelard; Abelard (c. 1079 - 21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, leading logician, theologian, teacher, musician, composer, and poet.[4] philosophy he is celebrated for his logical solution to the problem of universals via nominalism and conceptualism and his pioneering of intent in ethics.[5] Often referred to as the "Descartes of the twelfth century", he is considered a forerunner of Rousseau, Kant, and Spinoza.[6] He is sometimes credited as a chief forerunner of modern empiricism.[7] history and popular culture, he is best known for his passionate and tragic love affair and intense philosophical exchange with his brilliant student and eventual wife, Heloise d'Argenteuil. Apologist of women and of their education, Abelard founded in 1131 the first feminine monastery, meeting point of learned women, for whom he composed music. After having sent Heloise to a convent in Brittany to protect her from her abusive uncle who did not want her to pursue this forbidden love, he was castrated by men sent by this uncle. Still considering herself as his spouse even though both retired to monasteries after this event, Heloise publicly defended him when his doctrine was condemned by Pope Innocent II and Abelard was therefore considered, at that time, as a heretic. Among these opinions, Abelard professed the innocence of a woman who commits a sin out of love.[8] Catholic theology, he is best known for his development of the concept of limbo, and his introduction of the moral influence theory of atonement. He is considered (alongside Augustine) to be the most significant forerunner of the modern self-reflective autobiographer. He paved the way and set the tone for later epistolary novels and celebrity tell-alls with his publicly distributed letter, The History of My Calamities and public correspondence. law, Abelard stressed that, because the subjective intention determines the moral value of human action, the legal consequence of an action is related to the person that commits it and not merely to the action. With this doctrine, Abelard created in the Middle Ages the idea of the individual subject central to modern law. This eventually gave to School of Notre-Dame de Paris (later the University of Paris) a recognition for its expertise in the area of Law (and later led to the creation of a faculty of law in Paris). PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

France, 1112-1153, Bernard of Clairvaux, Philosopher, Abbot, Judge, revitalization of monasticism, pope ordered crusades
Bernard of Clairvaux; of Clairvaux (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was a Burgundian abbot and a major leader in the revitalization of Benedictine monasticism through the nascent Cistercian Order. was sent to found Clairvaux Abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d'Absinthe, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. In the year 1128, Bernard attended the Council of Troyes, at which he traced the outlines of the Rule of the Knights Templar,[a] which soon became an ideal of Christian nobility. the death of Pope Honorius II in 1130, a schism arose in the church. Bernard was a major proponent of Pope Innocent II, arguing effectively for his legitimacy over the Antipope Anacletus II. 1139, Bernard attended the Second Council of the Lateran and criticized Peter Abelard vocally. Bernard advocated crusades in general and convinced many to participate in the unsuccessful Second Crusade, notably through a famous sermon at Vézelay (1146). was canonized just 21 years after his death by Pope Alexander III. In 1830 Pope Pius VIII declared him a Doctor of the Church. France, 1100-1142, Philosopher, Peter Abelard; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); third son of a Burgundian nobleman, was born in 1090. His brothers were trained as soldiers, but Bernard from youth was destined for scholarship. One Christmas Eve as a child he had a dream about the infant Christ in the manger; and the memory of it, and consequent devotion to the mystery of the Word made flesh, remained with him throughout his life. Bernard had good prospects of success as a secular scholar, but he began to believe that he was called to the monastic life, and after a period of prayer for guidance, he decided at age 22 to enter the monastery of Citeaux (Latin Cistercium, appearing on modern maps as Corcelles-les-Citeaux), an offshoot of the Benedictines which had adopted a much stricter rule than theirs, and became the founding house of the Cistercian (Trappist) order. (Actually, the Trappists are a reformed (i.e. stricter) offshoot of the Cistercians, who are a stricter offshoot of the Benedictines.) He persuaded four of his brothers, one uncle, and 26 other men to join him. They were the first novices that Citeaux had had for several years. After three years, the abbot ordered Bernard to take twelve monks and found a new house at La Ferte. The first year was one of great hardship. They had no stores and lived chiefly on roots and barley bread. Bernard imposed such severe discipline that his monks became discouraged, but he realized his error and became more lenient. The reputation of the monastery, known as Clairvaux (48:09 N 4:47 E), spread across Europe. Many new monks joined it, and many persons wrote letters or came in person to seek spiritual advice. By the time of his death, 60 new monasteries of the Cistercian order were established under his direction. For four years after 1130 Bernard was deeply involved with a disputed papal election, championing the claims of Innocent II against his rival Anacletus II. He travelled throughout France, Germany, and Italy mustering support for his candidate (and, it should be added, preaching sermons denouncing injustices done to Jews), and returned from one of these journeys with Peter Bernard of Paganelli as a postulant for the monastery. The future Pope Eugenius III spent the next year stoking the monastery fires. Years later, Bernard wrote a major treatise of advice to Eugenius on the spiritual temptations of spiritual power. The papal election was not the only dispute in which Bernard became involved. He was highly critical of Peter Abelard, one of the most brilliant theologians of the day (see 21 April). Bernard believed that Abelard was too rationalistic in his approach, and failed to allow sufficiently for the element of mystery in the faith. When Abelard rejected some of the ways of stating Christian doctrines to which Bernard was accustomed, Bernard concluded, perhaps too hastily, that this was equivalent to rejecting the doctrine itself. A conference was scheduled at Sens, where Abelard's views were to be examined, but soon after it began Abelard decided that he was not about to get a fair hearing, announced that he was appealing to Rome, and left. He set out for Rome and got as far as Cluny, where he stopped. Peter the Venerable, the abbot (see 30 April), was a friend of both Abelard and Bernard, and managed to reconcile them before they died. of ClairvauxOne of Bernard's most influential acts, for better or worse, was his preaching of the Second Crusade. The First Crusade had given the Christian forces control of a few areas in Palestine, including the city of Edessa. When Moslem forces captured Edessa, now called Urfa and located in eastern Turkey) in 1144, King Louis VII of France (not to be confused with St. Louis IX, also a Crusader, but more than a century later) was eager to launch a crusade to retake Edessa and prevent a Moslem recapture of Jerusalem. He asked Bernard for help, and Bernard refused. He then asked the Pope to order Bernard to preach a Crusade. The pope gave the order, and Bernard preached, with spectacular results. Whole villages were emptied of able-bodied males as Bernard preached and his listeners vowed on the spot to head for Palestine and defend the Sacred Shrines with their lives. The preaching of the Crusade had an ugly side-effect. In the Rhineland, a monk named Raoul wandered about telling crowds that if they were going to fight for the faith, the logical first step was to kill the Jews who were near at hand. There were anti-Jewish riots in Mainz, (in the Rhineland), where the archbishop sheltered the Jews, or many of them, in his palace, and sent an urgent message to Bernard to come before both he and they were killed. Bernard came. He called Raoul arrogant and without authority, a preacher of mad and heretical doctrines, a liar and a murderer. Then he got nasty. Raoul sneaked off the scene, and the riots were over. From that day to this, Bernard has been remembered among Rhineland Jews and their descendants as an outstanding example of a "righteous Gentile," and many of them (e.g. Bernard Baruch) bear his name. As for the Crusade, things went wrong from the start. The various rulers leading the movement were distrustful of one another and not disposed to work together. Of the soldiers who set out (contemporary estimates vary from 100,000 to 1,500,000), most died of disease and starvation before reaching their goal, and most of the remainder were killed or captured soon after their arrival. The impact on Bernard was devastating, and so was the impact on Europe. In 1153, Bernard journeyed to reconcile the warring provinces Metz and Lorraine. He persuaded them to peace and to an agreement drawn up under his mediation, and then, in failing health, returned home to die. Bernard in controversy was fierce and not always fair, it was partly because he was a man of intense feeling and dedication, quick to respond to any real or supposed threat to what he held sacred. It is his devotional writings, not his polemical ones, that are still read today. Among the hymns attributed to him are the Latin originals of "O Sacred Head, sore wounded," "Jesus, the very thought of Thee," "O Jesus, joy of loving hearts," "Wide open are Thy hands (to pay with more than gold the awful debt of guilt and sin, forever and of old--see the Lutheran Book of Worship et alibi)," and "O Jesus, King most wonderful." His sermons on the Song of Songs, treated as an allegory of the love of Christ, are his best-known long work. by James Kiefer

France, 1112-1153, BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX&Trappists, Word flesh mystery, Abelard too rational, jews named Bernard
France, 1112-1153, BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, Burgundy, France (Morvan Hills, rivers source area, Saone drainage), Scholarship, childhood dream of word becoming flesh mystery, Citeaux 1112, founded Cistercian (Trappist) order 1115 LaFerte, 60 T monasteries by death, 1130-34 d Papal election, S Innocent II, wrote temptations of spiritual power, thought Abelard too rational, not allow mystery, Pope forced preaching 2nd Crusade, stopped anti Jew riots and Raoul, jews named Bernard, failed Crusade, hymns, sermons; Burgundy; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); third son of a Burgundian nobleman, was born in 1090. brothers were trained as soldiers, but Bernard from youth was destined for scholarship. Christmas Eve as a child he had a dream about the infant Christ in the manger; and the memory of it, and consequent devotion to the mystery of the Word made flesh, remained with him throughout his life. had good prospects of success as a secular scholar, but he began to believe that he was called to the monastic life, after a period of prayer for guidance, he decided at age 22 (1112) to enter the monastery of Citeaux (Latin Cistercium, appearing on modern maps as Corcelles-les-Citeaux), offshoot of the Benedictines which had adopted a much stricter rule than theirs, and became the founding house of the Cistercian (Trappist) order. the Trappists are a reformed (i.e. stricter) offshoot of the Cistercians, who are a stricter offshoot of the Benedictines.) He persuaded four of his brothers, one uncle, and 26 other men to join him. were the first novices that Citeaux had had for several years. three years (1115), the abbot ordered Bernard to take twelve monks and found a new house at La Ferte. first year was one of great hardship. They had no stores and lived chiefly on roots and barley bread. imposed such severe discipline that his monks became discouraged, but he realized his error and became more lenient. reputation of the monastery, known as Clairvaux (48:09 N 4:47 E), spread across Europe. Many new monks joined it, and many persons wrote letters or came in person to seek spiritual advice. the time of his death, 60 new monasteries of the Cistercian order were established under his direction. four years after 1130 (1130-34) Bernard was deeply involved with a disputed papal election, the claims of Innocent II against his rival Anacletus II. travelled throughout France, Germany, and Italy mustering support for his candidate it should be added, preaching sermons denouncing injustices done to Jews) and returned from one of these journeys with Peter Bernard of Paganelli as a postulant for the monastery. future Pope Eugenius III spent the next year stoking the monastery fires. Years later, Bernard wrote a major treatise of advice to Eugenius on the spiritual temptations of spiritual power. papal election was not the only dispute in which Bernard became involved. was highly critical of Peter Abelard, one of the most brilliant theologians of the day (see 21 April). believed that Abelard was too rationalistic in his approach, and failed to allow sufficiently for the element of mystery in the faith. Abelard rejected some of the ways of stating Christian doctrines to which Bernard was accustomed, Bernard concluded, perhaps too hastily, that this was equivalent to rejecting the doctrine itself. conference was scheduled at Sens, where Abelard's views were to be examined, but soon after it began Abelard decided that he was not about to get a fair hearing, announced that he was appealing to Rome, and left. set out for Rome and got as far as Cluny, where he stopped. the Venerable, the abbot (see 30 April), was a friend of both Abelard and Bernard, and managed to reconcile them before they died. Bernard of Clairvaux of Bernard's most influential acts, for better or worse, was his preaching of the Second Crusade. First Crusade had given the Christian forces control of a few areas in Palestine, including the city of Edessa. Moslem forces captured Edessa, now called Urfa and located in eastern Turkey) in 1144, King Louis VII of France to be confused with St. Louis IX, also a Crusader, but more than a century later) eager to launch a crusade to retake Edessa and prevent a Moslem recapture of Jerusalem. asked Bernard for help, and Bernard refused. then asked the Pope to order Bernard to preach a Crusade. pope gave the order, and Bernard preached, with spectacular results. Whole villages were emptied of able-bodied males as Bernard preached and his listeners vowed on the spot to head for Palestine and defend the Sacred Shrines with their lives. preaching of the Crusade had an ugly side-effect. the Rhineland, a monk named Raoul wandered about telling crowds that if they were going to fight for the faith, the logical first step was to kill the Jews who were near at hand. were anti-Jewish riots in Mainz, (in the Rhineland), where the archbishop sheltered the Jews, or many of them, in his palace, and sent an urgent message to Bernard to come before both he and they were killed. came. He called Raoul arrogant and without authority, a preacher of mad and heretical doctrines, a liar and a murderer. Then he got nasty. sneaked off the scene, and the riots were over. From that day to this, Bernard has been remembered among Rhineland Jews and their descendants as an outstanding example of a "righteous Gentile," many of them (e.g. Bernard Baruch) bear his name. for the Crusade, things went wrong from the start. various rulers leading the movement were distrustful of one another and not disposed to work together. the soldiers who set out estimates vary from 100,000 to 1,500,000) most died of disease and starvation before reaching their goal, and most of the remainder were killed or captured soon after their arrival. impact on Bernard was devastating, and so was the impact on Europe. 1153, Bernard journeyed to reconcile the warring provinces Metz and Lorraine. He persuaded them to peace and to an agreement drawn up under his mediation, then, in failing health, returned home to die. Bernard in controversy was fierce and not always fair, it was partly because he was a man of intense feeling and dedication, quick to respond to any real or supposed threat to what he held sacred. is his devotional writings, not his polemical (critical) ones, that are still read today. the hymns attributed to him are the Latin originals of "O Sacred Head, sore wounded," "Jesus, the very thought of Thee," "O Jesus, joy of loving hearts," "Wide open are Thy hands (to pay with more than gold the awful debt of guilt and sin, forever and of old--see the Lutheran Book of Worship et alibi)," and "O Jesus, King most wonderful." sermons on the Song of Songs, treated as an allegory of the love of Christ, are his best-known long work. by James Kiefer

France, 1129-1167, ALFRED OF RIEVAULX, Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire, writer, room for particular friendships
England, 1129-1167, ALFRED OF RIEVAULX, Cistercian monastery in Yorkshire, writer, room for particular friendships, fDurham, tScottish Court, for Ed, asNoble&Courtier, Suceeded but unsatisfied, master otHousehold oScottish King, tCistercian monaster aRievaulx iYorkshire, a24, Bernard oClairvaux encouraged write first work The Mirror oCharity, follow Christ all things, 1147 abbot oRievaulx till death kidney disease a57, most famous work Spiritual Friendship, OK to have special friendships, some believe only christian charity for love so no special friendships, some believe monks can not have special friendships, even no special preferences food drink, but Jesus loved John, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, even though he said All who do will oMy Father are my family ; Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire; AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167) ; was born in 1109 at Durham, and was sent to the Scottish court for an education that would ensure his future as a noble and courtier. succeeded, to the extent of being made Master of the Household of the King of Scotland. he found success at the court of an earthly king unsatisfying, at the age of 24 he entered the Cistercian monastery at Rievaulx in Yorkshire. of Clairvaux encouraged him to write his first work, The Mirror of Charity, which deals with seeking to follow the example of Christ in all things. 1147 he became abbot of Rievaulx, a post which he held until his death of kidney disease twenty years later at the age of 57. most famous work is called Spiritual Friendship (both it and the Mirror have been published in English by the Cistercian Press). Jesus was told that his family was waiting to see him, he replied, "All who do the will of my Father are my family." this, some Christians have drawn the conclusion that the only kind of love permissible to a Christian is Charity that is: (a) the universal benevolence that wills the good of all persons, (b) the bond that unites the Christian with Christ and through Christ with all other Christians. that Universal Benevolence is extended equally to all persons (we are to love Jones because God made him), that the bond of Christian Unity unites us equally with all our fellow Christians who are in a state of grace (we are to love Jones because Christ dwells in him). leaves any room for particular friendships, for liking Jones more than Smith because Jones shares our interest in hockey, or because Jones and we like the same sort of jokes, or come from the same part of the country and have similar childhood memories, or because Jones is an easy-going type and it is easy to relax and feel comfortable around him, or because Jones and we have a special bond of friendship, loyalty, and trust. Particular friendships are out! who do not think that every Christian must renounce particular friendships believe that every monastic must do so. many religious houses, where the monks or nuns walk two by two into chapel or the dining hall or while pacing about during the daily hour of recreation, the superior will make a point of constantly shifting partners, anyone form a liking for onepartner more than another. does not apply just to friends. It is sometimes held that no monk ought to allow himself any preferences in food or drink.) this view, Aelred wrote that it is compatible with the highest degree of Christian perfection to take special pleasure in the company of particular friends. point out that we are told that Jesus loved John, and Mary, and Martha, and Lazarus, and that this probably means that he found their company congenial. by James Kiefer

France, 1135-1154, King, Stephen. of Blois, Boulogne, Normandy, Anarchy, long Civil War w Matilda and Henry
England, 1135-1154, King of England, Stephen, King of England ; (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death. A younger son of the Count of Blois, he was Count of Boulogne jure uxoris from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 until 1144. His reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry II, succeeded Stephen as the first of the Angevin kings of England. was born in the County of Blois in central France; his father, Count Stephen-Henry, died while Stephen was still young, and he was brought up by his mother, Adela, daughter of William the Conqueror. Placed into the court of his uncle, Henry I of England, Stephen rose in prominence and was granted extensive lands. He married Matilda of Boulogne, inheriting additional estates in Kent and Boulogne that made the couple one of the wealthiest in England. Stephen narrowly escaped drowning with Henry I's son, William Adelin, in the sinking of the White Ship in 1120; William's death left the succession of the English throne open to challenge. When Henry died in 1135, Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel and with the help of his brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester and Abbot of Glastonbury, took the throne, arguing that the preservation of order across the kingdom took priority over his earlier oaths to support the claim of Henry I's daughter, the Empress Matilda. early years of Stephen's reign were largely successful, despite a series of attacks on his possessions in England and Normandy by David I of Scotland, Welsh rebels, and the Empress Matilda's husband Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. In 1138, the Empress's half-brother Robert of Gloucester rebelled against Stephen, threatening civil war. Together with his close advisor, Waleran de Beaumont, Stephen took firm steps to defend his rule, including arresting a powerful family of bishops. When the Empress and Robert invaded in 1139, Stephen was unable to crush the revolt rapidly, and it took hold in the south-west of England. Captured at the battle of Lincoln in 1141, he was abandoned by many of his followers and lost control of Normandy. He was freed only after his wife and William of Ypres, one of his military commanders, captured Robert at the Rout of Winchester, but the war dragged on for many years with neither side able to win an advantage. became increasingly concerned with ensuring that his son Eustace would inherit his throne. The King tried to convince the Church to agree to crown Eustace to reinforce his claim; Pope Eugene III refused, and Stephen found himself in a sequence of increasingly bitter arguments with his senior clergy. In 1153, the Empress's son Henry invaded England and built an alliance of powerful regional barons to support his claim for the throne. The two armies met at Wallingford, but neither side's barons were keen to fight another pitched battle. Stephen began to examine a negotiated peace, a process hastened by the sudden death of Eustace. Later in the year Stephen and Henry agreed to the Treaty of Winchester, in which Stephen recognised Henry as his heir in exchange for peace, passing over William, Stephen's second son. Stephen died the following year. Modern historians have extensively debated the extent to which his personality, external events, or the weaknesses in the Norman state contributed to this prolonged period of civil war. AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

France, 1137-1180, King, Louis VII, disastrous 2nd Crsde, greater centralization, French Gothic, Notre-Dame de P
France, 1137-1180, King of France, Louis VII ; VII (1120 - 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young, was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI and married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees, but was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced. after the annulment of her marriage, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine and produced five male heirs. Henry became King of England in 1154, as Henry II, he ruled as king, duke or count over a large empire of kingdoms, duchies and counties that spanned from Scotland to the Pyrenees. efforts to preserve and expand on this patrimony for the Crown of England would mark the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. VII's reign saw the founding of the University of Paris and the disastrous Second Crusade. Louis and his famous counselor, Abbot Suger, pushed for a greater centralization of the state and favoured the development of French Gothic architecture, notably the construction of Notre-Dame de Paris. died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

France, 1137-1204, Q Consort, Eleanor of A, rich, married Louis, no sons, married Henry, 5 sons, prison by H, r by Rich
France, 1137-1204, Eleanor of Aquitaine; of Aquitaine (1122 – 1 April 1204) (French: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, pronounced [ˈaˌli.ˌɛˈnɔʀ ˈdaˌkiˈten]) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the consort of King Louis VII,[1] Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from 1137 until her death in 1204. As the heir of the House of Poitiers, rulers in southwestern France, she was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. She was patron of literary figures such as Wace, Benoît de Sainte-Maure, and Bernart de Ventadorn. She led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade. was the daughter of William X, Duke of Aquitaine. She became duchess upon her father's death in April 1137, and three months later she married Louis, son of her guardian King Louis VI of France. after the wedding, her husband acceded as the French king. They had two daughters, Marie and Alix. As queen of France, Eleanor participated in the unsuccessful Second Crusade. Soon afterwards, she sought an annulment of her marriage,[2] but her request was rejected by Pope Eugene III.[3] Eventually, Louis agreed to an annulment, as 15 years of marriage had not produced a son.[4] marriage was annulled on 21 March 1152 on the grounds of consanguinity within the fourth degree. Their daughters were declared legitimate, custody was awarded to Louis, and Eleanor's lands were restored to her. soon as the annulment was granted, Eleanor became engaged to her third cousin Henry, Duke of Normandy. The couple married on Whitsun, 18 May 1152. Henry and Eleanor became king and queen of England in 1154. They had five sons and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged. Henry imprisoned her in 1173 for supporting the revolt of their eldest son, Henry, against him. She was not released until 6 July 1189, when her husband died and their third son, Richard I, ascended the throne. As queen dowager, Eleanor acted as regent while Richard went on the Third Crusade. She lived well into the reign of her youngest son, John. HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179);

France, 1139-1170, THOMAS BECKET, Canterbury, court jurisdiction, church protection, no death penalty for clerics or readers
England, 1139-1170, THOMAS BECKET, Canterbury, court jurisdiction, protecting the church, not tried twice for same crime, no death penalty for clerics, anybody who can read; Becket, also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London[1] and later Thomas à Becket[note 1] (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. He engaged in conflict with Henry II, King of England, over the rights and privileges of the Church and was murdered by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral. Soon after his death, he was canonised by Pope Alexander III. Canterbury (crossraods of 4 Roman roads); THOMAS OF CANTERBURY, Commemorated December 29 ; December 29, we remember Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, slain in his own cathedral in 1170, for his defiance of King Henry II. death of Thomas reminds us that a Christian, even when safe from pagans, can be in danger from his fellow-Christians. also reminds us that one can be martyred in a cause where the merits of the particular issue at hand are not obvious to all men of good will. issue here, or one of the issues, was one of court jurisdiction. Henry claimed that a cleric accused of an ordinary crime ought to be tried in the King's Courts like any layman. who was Henry's Chancellor and his close friend, vigorously upheld the king's position. when he was made Archbishop of Canterbury with the king's support, he reversed himself completely and upheld the right of clergy to be tried only in Church courts, which could not inflict capital punishment. reversal does not imply fickleness or treachery. As Chancellor, Thomas was bound to serve the king. Now, as Archbishop, he was bound to defend the Church.) wanted an arrangement by which (for example) a priest accused of murder would be tried by a Church Court, which if it found him guilty would degrade him to the rank of a layman, whereupon a King's Court would try him, and if it found him guilty would order him hanged. Thomas objected that a man could not be tried and punished twice for the same offense. Digression: In the United States, what is often counted as the first bloodshed of the War of Independence was that of the Boston Massacre (5 March 1770), when a mob threw stones at a group of sentries, who eventually fired at them, killing five. The soldiers were tried for murder, and defended by John Adams (later the 2nd President of the United States). The jury acquitted all but two, whom it found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder, and Adams promptly said, "I claim for my clients the benefit of clergy." Under law, the penalty for murder was "death without benefit of clergy," whereas the penalty for manslaughter was simply "death." The former penalty was supposed by Mark Twain (see his novels The Prince and the Pauper (about England in 1547) and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court) to mean that the accused was to have no access to a clergyman before being killed, and that the law thus sought to destroy his soul as well as his body. Naturally, Twain was horrified. However, the law was not what he thought it was. In fact, "death without benefit of clergy" meant simply that anyone convicted of murder was to be put to death even if a cleric. On the other hand, conviction of manslaughter meant death only if the accused was a layman. But what was the legal definition of a cleric (or clerk, or scholar)? The courts had developed the principle that in order to claim benefit of clergy it was sufficient to be able to read. Moreover, the literacy test had become extremely standardized. The convicted man approached the court clerk, who opened a Bible, pointed to a verse, and said, "Read this." The verse pointed to, known as the Neck Verse, was Psalm 56:13 "Thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living." (The Hebrew word "nephesh," here translated "soul," is derived, like our word "spirit," from a root meaning "breath," and can also, where the context permits, be translated "throat" or "neck," a translation that would make the verse even more appropriate than it already is. I must check to see whether there are any old translations that so render it.) The accused would read the verse, or recite it from memory, and be certified as a clerk. He would then be branded on the thumb with a hot iron, as a sign that he was now a convicted felon, and could never claim the benefit of clergy again. That is why, when one takes an oath in court, one holds up one's right hand. The court must see that the witness has no brand on the hand, and is therefore not a convicted felon, and is therefore presumed to be trustworthy under oath. Thus some remnants of the issue disputed between Henry and Thomas were with us (in English-speaking countries at least) until the 1700's, and others are still with us. End of digression. Back to Thomas.] Picture of stained glass from Christ Church Cathedral Stained glass depicting the murder of Thomas a Becket, at Christ Chruch Cathedral, Oxford. being angered at opposition from someone whom he had counted on for support, was heard to exclaim in anger, "This fellow who has eaten my bread has lifted up his heel against me [see Psalm 41:9]. Have I no friend who will rid me of this upstart priest?" Four of his knights promptly rode to Canterbury, where they confronted the Archbishop and demanded that he back down. When he did not, they killed him. Public reaction was immediate and vigorous, and reckoned Thomas as a saint and a martyr, and Henry as a blaspheming murderer. Henry swore that he had not intended his remark to be taken seriously, and had himself publicly whipped at the tomb of Thomas. Thomas was very soon canonized, and his tomb was one of the most popular places of pilgrimage in Europe for the next three-and-a-half centuries. During a war between England and France, a King of France obtained a cease-fire to enable him to make a pilgrimage to Canterbury. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is concerned with a group of pilgrims on their way to the tomb of Thomas. chief moral that I draw from Thomas's life and death is that when a man seeks to serve God, God graciously accepts that service, even if the man is quite wrong about what it is that God expects of him. vI close by quoting a section from T.S. Eliot's play, "Murder in the Cathedral," which deals with the death of Thomas. Note that the words are Eliot's and not Thomas's. I quote it not as applicable simply to Thomas, but as applicable to all martyrs (and thus appropriate during the Witness Days) and indeed as directed to all Christians in their understanding of the Christian life, and how it involves both sorrow and joy. The Archbishop preaches in the Cathedral on Christmas morning, 1170. to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." The fourteenth verse of the second chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. children of God, my sermon this morning will be a very short one. I wish only that you should ponder and meditate on the deep meaning and mystery of our masses of Christmas Day. For whenever Mass is said, we re-enact the Passion and Death of Our Lord; and on this Christmas Day we do this in celebration of His Birth. So that at the same moment we rejoice in His coming for the salvation of men, and offer again to God His Body and Blood in sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It was in this same night that has just passed, that a multitude of the heavenly host appeared before the shepherds at Bethlehem, saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men"; at this same time of all the year that we celebrate at once the Birth of Our Lord and His Passion and Death upon the Cross. Beloved, as the World sees, this is to behave in a strange fashion. For who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason? For either joy will be overcome by mourning or mourning will be cast out by joy; so that it is only in these our Christian mysteries that we can rejoice and mourn at once for the same reason. But think for a while on the meaning of this word "peace." Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the fear of War? Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise was a disappointment and a cheat? now, how Our Lord Himself spoke of Peace. He said to His disciples: "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you." Did He mean peace as we think of it: the kingdom of England at peace with its neighbors, the barons at peace with the King, the householder counting over his peaceful gains, the swept hearth, his best wine for a friend at the table, his wife singing to the children? Those men His disciples knew no such things: they went forth to journey afar, to suffer by land and sea, to know torture, imprisonment, disappointment, to suffer death by martyrdom. What then did He mean? If you ask that, remember that He said also, "Not as the world giveth, give I unto you." So then, He gave to his disciples peace, but not peace as the world gives. also one thing of which you have probably never thought. Not only do we at the feast of Christmas celebrate at once Our Lord's Birth and His Death: but on the next day we celebrate the martyrdom of his first martyr, the blessed Stephen. Is it an accident, do you think, that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ? By no means. Just as we rejoice and mourn at once, in the Birth and Passion of Our Lord; so also, in a smaller figure, we both rejoice and mourn in the death of martyrs. We mourn, for the sins of the world that has martyred them; we rejoice, that another soul is numbered among the Saints in Heaven, for the glory of God and for the salvation of men. we do not think of a martyr simply as a good Christian who has been killed because he is a Christian: for that would be solely to mourn. We do not think of him simply as a good Christian who has been elevated to the company of the Saints: for that would be simply to rejoice: and neither our mourning nor our rejoicing is as the world's is. A Christian martyrdom is no accident. Saints are not made by accident. Still less is a Christian martyrdom the effect of a man's will to become a Saint, as a man by willing and contriving may become a ruler of men. Ambition fortifies the will of man to become ruler over other men: it operates with deception, cajolery, and violence, it is the action of impurity upon impurity. Not so in Heaven. A martyr, a saint, is always made by the design of God, for His love of men, to warn them and to lead them, to bring them back to His ways. A martyrdom is never the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom. So thus as on earth the Church mourns and rejoices at once, in a fashion that the world cannot understand; so in Heaven the Saints are most high, having made themselves most low, seeing themselves not as we see them, but in the light of the Godhead from which they draw their being. have spoken to you today, dear children of God, of the martyrs of the past, asking you to remember especially our martyr of Canterbury, the blessed Archbishop Elphege; because it is fitting, on Christ's birthday, to remember what is that peace which he brought; and because, dear children, I do not think that I shall ever preach to you again; and because it is possible that in a short time you may have yet another martyr, and that one perhaps not the last. I would have you keep in your hearts these words that I say, and think of them at another time. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. [End of sermon] by James Kiefer

France, 1147-1149, Second Crusade, Edessa, Iberia, Levant, Egypt, Anatolia
France, 1147-1149, Second Crusade, Iberia, Levant, Egypt, Anatolia; France, 1137-1180, King of France, Louis VII ; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

France, 1154-1189, King Henry II, Norman, Angevin Empire, Common Law, Matilda's son, Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Touraine
England, 1154-1189, King of England, Henry II of England ; II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (French: Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 to his death. He was the first king of the House of Plantagenet. Louis VII of France made him Duke of Normandy in 1150. Henry became Count of Anjou and Maine upon the death of his father, Geoffrey of Anjou, in 1151. marriage in 1152 to Eleanor of Aquitaine, whose marriage to Louis VII had recently been annulled, made him Duke of Aquitaine. became Count of Nantes by treaty in 1185. he was 40 he controlled England, large parts of Wales, the eastern half of Ireland and the western half of France—an area that would later come to be called the Angevin Empire. At various times, Henry also partially controlled Scotland, Wales and the Duchy of Brittany. became actively involved by the age of 14 in the efforts of his mother Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, to claim the throne of England, then occupied by Stephen of Blois. Stephen agreed to a peace treaty after Henry's military expedition to England in 1153, and Henry inherited the kingdom on Stephen's death a year later. Henry was an energetic and sometimes ruthless ruler, driven by a desire to restore the lands and privileges of his grandfather Henry I. During the early years of his reign the younger Henry restored the royal administration in England, re-established hegemony over Wales and gained full control over his lands in Anjou, Maine and Touraine. Henry's desire to reform the relationship with the Church led to conflict with his former friend Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. This controversy lasted for much of the 1160s and resulted in Becket's murder in 1170. Henry soon came into conflict with Louis VII, and the two rulers fought what has been termed a "cold war" over several decades. Henry expanded his empire at Louis's expense, taking Brittany and pushing east into central France and south into Toulouse; despite numerous peace conferences and treaties, no lasting agreement was reached. and Eleanor had eight children—three daughters and five sons. Three of his sons would be king, though Henry the Young King was named his father's co-ruler rather than a stand-alone king. As the sons grew up, tensions over the future inheritance of the empire began to emerge, encouraged by Louis and his son King Philip II. In 1173 Henry's heir apparent, "Young Henry", rebelled in protest; he was joined by his brothers Richard (later a king) and Geoffrey and by their mother, Eleanor. France, Scotland, Brittany, Flanders, and Boulogne allied themselves with the rebels. The Great Revolt was only defeated by Henry's vigorous military action and talented local commanders, many of them "new men" appointed for their loyalty and administrative skills. Young Henry and Geoffrey revolted again in 1183, resulting in Young Henry's death. The Norman invasion of Ireland provided lands for his youngest son John (later a king), but Henry struggled to find ways to satisfy all his sons' desires for land and immediate power. By 1189, Young Henry and Geoffrey were dead, and Philip successfully played on Richard's fears that Henry II would make John king, leading to a final rebellion. Decisively defeated by Philip and Richard and suffering from a bleeding ulcer, Henry retreated to Chinon Castle in Anjou. He died soon afterwards and was succeeded by Richard. empire quickly collapsed during the reign of his son John (who succeeded Richard), but many of the changes Henry introduced during his long rule had long-term consequences. Henry's legal changes are generally considered to have laid the basis for the English Common Law, while his intervention in Brittany, Wales, and Scotland shaped the development of their societies and governmental systems. Historical interpretations of Henry's reign have changed considerably over time. In the 18th century, scholars argued that Henry was a driving force in the creation of a genuinely English monarchy and, ultimately, a unified Britain. During the Victorian expansion of the British Empire, historians were keenly interested in the formation of Henry's own empire, but they also expressed concern over his private life and treatment of Becket. Late-20th-century historians have combined British and French historical accounts of Henry, challenging earlier Anglocentric interpretations of his reign. HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); THOMAS OF CANTERBURY, ARCHBISHOP AND MARTYR (29 DEC 1170); AELRED OF RIEVAULX, ABBOT (12 JANUARY 1167);

France, 1154-1214, Angevin Empire, Half oFrance, All oEngland, Wales, Parts oIreland
Angevin Empire, Half oFrance, All oEngland, Wales, Parts oIreland, 1152 Henry II married Eleanor oAquitaine, 1154 inherited England fMother Matilda, Court in Anjou&Touraine, Conflicted wFrench Capet kings, H's son John defeated by Philip II oFrance Anglo-French War 1213-1214, he lost all continental possessions but Gascony iSouthern Aquitaine, that led to 100 Yrs War; Angevin Empire; term Angevin Empire describes the possessions of the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, they ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy.[3] empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou (from which the term Angevins is derived). married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, at Chinon in Touraine. influence and power of the House of Anjou brought them into conflict with the kings of France of the House of Capet, whom they also owed feudal homage for their French possessions, bringing in a period of rivalry between the dynasties. the extent of Angevin rule, Henry's son John was defeated in the Anglo-French War (1213–1214) by Philip II of France following the Battle of Bouvines. lost control of most of his continental possessions, apart from Gascony in southern Aquitaine. defeat set the scene for further conflicts between England and France, leading up to the Hundred Years' War.

France, 1176-1200, Hugh of Lincoln, Carthusian, Henry II a friend and sponsor, E Monastery, Land comensation, vacant bisoprics, Lincoln, forresters, meaningless lucrative post, Falaise glove
England, 1176-1200, Hugh of Lincoln, Carthusian, Henry II friend and sponsor, Monastery, Land comensation, vacant bisoprics, Lincoln, forresters, meaningless lucrative post, Falaise glove, faced riots against Jews, refused money grant for King Richard the Lion Hearted, legal precedent, King John's amulet, wit, temper, love for defenceless, washed lepers, animals loved him; Avalon, France; Chartreuse Mountains (Carthusians); Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); a sign of his remorse for his role in the murder of the Archbishop Thomas a Becket, King Henry II founded the first house in England of the strict monastic order called the Carthusians. Difficulties arose with the first two priors, and a French noble recommended Hugh de Avalon, who at that time had been a monk at the mother house of the order for 17 years. his arrival in England in 1176, Hugh found that the building of the monastery had not begun. Worse, no compensation had been paid to those who would have to lose their lands and property to make room for it. refused to take office until these persons had been paid "to the last penny." He intervened again on behalf of the builders, whose pay was not forthcoming. Henry loved him for his plain speaking. "I do not despair of you," Hugh said to him at their first interview; "I know how much your many occupations interfere with the health of your soul." impressed by his frankness, swore that while he lived he should not leave his kingdom, and took so much pleasure in his conversation, and paid so much heed to his counsels, that a rumor arose that Hugh was his son. biographer wrote that "of all men only Hugh could bend that rhinosceros to his will." Henry was in danger of shipwreck, he cried out, "If only my Carthusian Hugh were awake and at prayer, God would not forget me." This affection never diminished, though Hugh dared to oppose the king, particularly in the matter of keeping bishoprics vacant in order that their revenues might fall to the king's treasury. of the worst examples was Lincoln, which, except for a few months, had been without a bishop for eighteen years. Hugh was elected to the post in 1186, and his monastic superiors ordered him to accept. After so long a period of neglect, there was great need of reform. employed priests of great piety and learning, and made the fullest use of his authority in disciplining his clergy. He took a stern view of the ill-treatment of the poor by the royal foresters, and when a subject of the church of Lincoln suffered at their hands he excommunicated their chief. He also refused to appoint a royal favorite to a meaningless but lucrative post. Henry was furious, and summoned him to his presence. He came, and Henry turned away his face and would not speak, but by way of ignoring his presence took out a torn glove and began to sew it. At last Hugh said, "How like you are to your relations at Falaise." king might have resented this allusion to the humble birth of William the Conqueror's mother, the daughter of a glove-maker, but he only laughed, and the quarrel was made up. against the Jews broke out in England at the time of the Third Crusade. In defence of the persecuted, Hugh faced armed mobs in Lincoln, Stamford and Northampton and compelled their submission. refused to raise money for the foreign wars of King Richard the Lion-Heart, calmed the king's rage with a kiss, and persisted in his refusal: was the first clear example on record of the refusal of a money-grant demanded directly by the crown, and an important legal precedent. Richard said, "If all bishops were like my lord of Lincoln, not a prince among us could raise his head against them." His relations with King John were less happy. John showed him an amulet, which he said was sacred and would preserve him. Hugh replied, "Do not put your trust in lifeless stone, but only in the living and heavenly stone, our Lord Jesus Christ." following Easter he preached at length on the duties of kings, and the king slipped out partway through. tireless, and forgetful of self, Hugh also had wit, a temper that he described as "more biting than pepper," and a great love and concern for children and the defenceless. He visited leper-houses and washed the ulcerous limbs of their inmates. He was fond of animals, and they of him. Birds and squirrels came readily to his hand. He had a swan that would feed from his hand, follow him about, and keep guard over his bed, so that no one could approach it without being attacked. In 1200 the king sent him on an embassy to France. His mission was a success, but he took ill and returned to England to die on 16 November 1200. John Ruskin called him "the most beautiful sacerdotal (priestly) figure known to me in history." by James Kiefer

France, 1179-1223, King of France, Philip II of France
France, King of France, 1179-1223, Philip II of France; France, 1189-1192, Third Crusade, Levant and Anatolia; Henry II of England;

France, 1189-1192, Third Crusade, Levant and Anatolia
France, 1189-1192, Third Crusade, Levant and Anatolia; Philip II of France; Henry II of England;

France, 1189-1199, King Richard I, Lion Heart, French and English hero, only 6 mos in England
England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period. was the third of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and seemed unlikely to become king, but all his brothers except the youngest, John, predeceased their father. Richard is known as Richard CÅ“ur de Lion (Norman French: Le quor de lion) or Richard the Lionheart because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior.[1] troubador Bertran de Born also called him Richard Oc-e-Non (Occitan for Yes and No), possibly from a reputation for terseness.[2] the age of 16, Richard had taken command of his own army, putting down rebellions in Poitou against his father.[1] Richard was an important Christian commander during the Third Crusade, leading the campaign after the departure of Philip II of France and achieving considerable victories against his Muslim counterpart, Saladin, although he finalized a peace treaty and ended the campaign without retaking Jerusalem.[3] probably spoke both French and Occitan.[4] He was born in England, where he spent his childhood; before becoming king, however, he lived most of his adult life in the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the southwest of France. his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his life as king was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending his lands in France. than regarding his kingdom as a responsibility requiring his presence as ruler, he has been perceived as preferring to use it merely as a source of revenue to support his armies.[5] Nevertheless, he was seen as a pious hero by his subjects.[6] He remains one of the few kings of England remembered more commonly by his epithet than his regnal number, and is an enduring iconic figure both in England and in France.[7] HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

France, 1189-1192, Third Crusade and Richard the Lion Heart
England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade; England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

France, 1189-1192, Third Crusade riots against Jews, stopped by Hugh of Lincoln
England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade riots against Jews, stopped by Hugh of Lincoln England, 1189-1192, Third Crusade; England, 1189-1199, King of England, Richard I of England ; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

France, 1190-1221, Saint Dominic, Founder of the Dominicans, preachers in poverty, philosophy, theology, logical argument, OP
Spain, 1190-1221, Saint Dominic, Founder of the Dominicans; DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221); was born in Castile, in Spain, in 1170. He entered the priesthood, and eventually became prior of the canons of the cathedral chapter (the clergy who formed the staff of the cathedral and conducted the daily worship services) at Osma (42:52 N 3:03 W). turning point of his life came in 1206, when he was chosen to accompany the bishop on a visit to southern France, to an area held by the Albigenses. These were a heretical sect more or less directly descended from the early Gnostics and Manichees. They were dualists, holding that there are two gods, one the god of goodness, light, truth, and spirit, and the other the god of evil, darkness, error, and matter. The material universe is the creation of the bad god. The good god made the souls of men, and the bad god kidnapped them and imprisoned them in bodies of flesh. their first night in Albigensian country, they stayed at an inn where the innkeeper was an Albigensian. Dominic engaged him in conversation, they sat up all night talking, and by dawn the man was ready to become an orthodox Christian. then on, Dominic knew what his calling in life was. Dominic and his bishop undertook to study the Albigensian beliefs and to engage in public debates with their opponents. They seemed to be making some progress, but in 1207 the bishop died, and in the same year the murder by Albigenses of the papal legate moved the pope to declare a crusade against the Albigenses, which lasted about five years. continued to preach and to debate where he could, and in 1215 he founded an order of preachers, who were to live in poverty, and devote themselves to studying philosophy and theology and to combatting false doctrine by logical argument rather than by the use of force. was convinced that a major obstacle to the conversion of heretics was the material wealth of some of the clergy, which made plausible the accusation that they were concerned for their purses and not for the glory of God, and made workers indisposed to hear them. He therefore determined that the brothers of his order should live lives of poverty and simplicity, being no better off materially than those they sought to convert. he was in Rome, seeking authorization for his order from the Pope, the Pope gave him a tour of the treasures of the Vatican, and remarked complacently (referring to Acts 3:6), "Peter can no longer say, 'Silver and gold have I none.'" Dominic turned and looked straight at the Pope, and said, "No, and neither can he say, 'Rise and walk.'" He got the permission he was seeking, and the order grew and flourished. Officially known as the Order of Preachers (hence the letters O.P. after the name of a member), it was informally known as the Dominicans, or the Blackfriars (from the color of their cloaks). Two of their best-known members are Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great, 1200-1280, see 15 Nov), who was famous for his learning in numerous fields, and his pupil Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274, see 28 Jan), who wrote reconciling Christian theology with the philosophy of Aristotle, which was then being rediscovered in western Europe, and was thought by many to be a threat to Christianity. In later years, the Order forgot its commitment to "logic and persuasion, not force" as the means of bringing men to Christian truth, and many of its members were active in the Inquisition. St. Dominic & St. Catherine St. Dominic & St. Catherine was three times offered a bishopric, and refused, believing that he was called to another work. He died in 1220 in Bologna, Italy, after a preaching mission to Hungary. His emblem in art is a dog with a torch in its mouth, a pun on his name (the Dominicans are sometimes called the "Domini canes", the hounds of the Lord), and a reference to his relying on the power of preaching. by James Kiefer

France, 1194-1240, Edmund Rich (Edmund of Abingdon), Canterbury Archbishop, promoted Aristotle study, reason, for 6th Crusade
Edmund Rich (Edmund of Abingdon); RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253) Richard of Wyche;

France, 1195-1253, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, scholar, Theologian, removed clergy for neglecting duties
England, 1195-1253, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, scholar, Theologian, removed clergy neglecting duties; Lincoln, Yorkshire, England; ROBERT GROSSETESTE, BISHOP OF LINCOLN (9 OCT 1253) ; the leaders of the thirteenth century heeded this preacher, many of the disasters of the following three centuries might have been avoided. was a peasant lad from Suffolk, born about 1175. distinguished himself at Oxford in law, medicine, languages, natural sciences, and theology. He became what is now called Chancellor of Oxford University. 1235, he was elected Bishop of Lincoln, in area the largest diocese in England. He promptly visited all the churches in the diocese and quickly removed many of the prominent clergy because they were neglectng their pastoral duties. vigorously opposed the practice by which the Pope appointed Italians as absentee clergy for English churches (collecting salaries from said churches without ever setting foot in the country). insisted that his priests spend their time in the service of their people, in prayer, and in study. He went on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he spoke out boldly against ecclesiastical abuses. Back in England, he spoke against unlawful usurpations of power by the monarch, and was one of those present at the signing of the Magna Carta. scholarly writings embraced many fields of learning. He translated into Latin the Ethics of Aristotle and the theological works of John of Damascus and of the fifth-century writer known as Dionysius the Areopagite. was skilled in poetry, music, architecture, mathematics, astronomy, optics, and physics (one of his pupils was Roger Bacon). writings on the first chapter of Genesis include an interesting anticipation of modern cosmological ideas. (He read that the first thing created was light, and said that the universe began with pure energy exploding from a point source.) knew Hebrew and Greek, and his Biblical studies were a notable contribution to the scholarship of the day. by James Kiefer RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253) Richard of Wyche ;

France, 1199-1216, King John, collapse of Angevin E, to Capetian France, Magna Carta, Villain
England, 1199-1216, King of England, John, King of England; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

France, 1200, 13th Century Folder, 4th-9th Crusades, Treaty of Paris, Union of Lyon

France, 1202-1204, Fourth Crusade, Balkans, against Eastern Christians
France, 1202-1204, Fourth Crusade, Balkans, against Eastern Christians; Philip II of France;

France, 1209-1229, Albigensian Crusade (Languedoc Region, Albi, France)
Albigensian Crusade; DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221);

France, 1213-1221, Fifth Crusade, Levant and Egypt
France, 1213-1221, Fifth Crusade, Levant and Egypt; Andrew II of Hungary; Leopold VI, Duke of Austria;

France, 1221-1274, Robert de Sorbonne, Educator
France, 1221-1274, Robert de Sorbonne, Educator; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270);

France, 1226-1270, Louis IX, saint & King, fair, succesful, arbitrator, worked for the political unification of France
France, 1226-1270, King of France, Louis IX; IX (25 April 1214 -“ 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, is the only King of France to be canonized in the Catholic Church. was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII; his mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom as regent until he reached maturity. During Louis' childhood, Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals and obtained a definitive victory in the Albigensian Crusade, which had started 20 years earlier. an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of his realm's most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England attempted to restore the Angevin continental possessions, but was promptly routed at the Battle of Taillebourg. Louis annexed several provinces, notably parts of Aquitaine, Maine and Provence. IX is one of the most notable European monarchs of the Middle Ages. His reign is remembered as a medieval golden age in which the Kingdom of France reached an economic as well as political peak. His fellow European rulers esteemed him highly, not only for his pre-eminence in arms or the unmatched wealth of his kingdom, but also for his reputation of fairness and moral integrity: he was often asked to arbitrate their disputes.[1] was a reformer and developed French royal justice, in which the king was the supreme judge to whom anyone could appeal for the amendment of a judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to end the scourge of private wars, and introduced the presumption of innocence in criminal procedure. To enforce his new legal system, Louis IX created provosts and bailiffs. a vow he had made while praying for recovery during a serious illness, Louis IX led the Seventh and Eighth crusades against the Ayyubids, Bahriyya Mamluks and Hafsid Kingdom. was captured in the first and ransomed. He died from dysentery during the latter, and was succeeded by his son Philip III. the eyes of his many admirers through the centuries, Louis IX has been regarded as the ideal Christian ruler, though contemporaries occasionally rebuked him as a "monk king".[2][3] He is seen as inspired by Christian zeal and Catholic devotion, a just king who exacted his due but strove to be fair to all, from the lowest peasant to the proudest noble. in his habits, reasonable, brave, kind, chivalrously polite and charming, he was a splendid knight beloved by all. Valuing Catholic orthodoxy, his laws punished blasphemy by mutilation of the tongue and lips.[4] He is the only canonized king of France, and there are consequently many places named after him. LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; was born in 1214 and became King of France when twelve years old. His mother, the half-English Blanche of Castile, was regent during his minority, and an influence while she lived. In 1234 he married Margaret of Provence, sister of Eleanor the wife of Henry III of England (no, not the couple from A Lion in Winter--that was Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: this is two generations later). worked for the political unification of France, yielding Limoge, Cahors, and Perigeux to Henry in exchange for Henry's renunciation of all claims to Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, and Poitou (Treaty of Paris, 1259). He yielded French claims to Rousillon and Barcelona in exchange for the yielding of Spanish claims to Provence and Languedoc (Treaty of Corbeil, 1258). He largely eliminated the feuding and wars among French nobles and vassals that had ravaged France before his time. He protected vassals from oppression, and required their lords to fulfill their obligations. He reformed the system of taxation. He reformed the courts, so that every man in France, regardless of his station, had a far better chance of receiving justice than had previously been the case. He promoted the writing down of the law, so that it was clear what the laws were, and made major strides toward eliminating trial by combat in favor of trial by jury. (Trial by combat decided the guilt or innocence of the accused by a combat between the accused and the accuser, either personally or by proxy, with God being called on to uphold the right. Trial by ordeal required the accused to prove his innocence by, for example, walking across a bed of hot coals. Both were hold-overs from pre-Christian Frankish Law, and were vigorously denounced by many clergy, but took a long time to die out.) His reputation for integrity was such that foreign monarchs regularly asked him to arbitrate their disputes. founded a hospital for the poor, sick, and blind, known as the Quinze-Vingts (the Fifteen Score, originally for 300 inmates). His reign coincided with the great era of the building of Gothic cathedrals in France. Robert de Sorbon, the founder of the Sorbonne (University of Paris) was his confessor and his personal friend, and Thomas Aquinas was a frequent guest at his table. (Once, it is said, Thomas dropped out of the conversation, lost in thought, and then suddenly struck the table with his fist and exclaimed, "That is a decisive argument against the Manichees!" Louis at once called for writing materials, so that Thomas could record the argument before he had a chance to forget it.) of Louis in Tunis, from an illuminated mauscript of the history of FranceHe fought in two Crusades, both of which were total failures. In 1248 he led an army to the island of Cyprus, and was there joined by 200 English knights. In 1249 they proceeded to Egypt and took the city of Damietta, but discipline broke down and Louis was unable to keep the soldiers from looting. Disease ravaged the camp, and in 1250 the army suffered a disastrous defeat at Mansurah and Louis himself was taken prisoner. His Arab captors were quick to recognize in him a mixture of military valor and personal holiness, and were accustomed to kneel when speaking to him. He and his handful of surviving companions were released on the surrender of Damietta and the payment of a large ransom. He sailed to Palestine, visited the few Holy Places that were accessible, and returned to France in 1254. In 1270 he joined another crusade, which landed in Tunis, where he immediately caught typhoid fever and died on 25 August. His biography, by a friend and comrade in arms, the Sieur Jean de Joinville, is available in English in Chronicles of the Crusades, Penguin Paperbacks. by James Kiefer

France, 1228-1229, Sixth Crusade, Cyprus and Jerusalem Control (Near East)
France, 1228-1229, Sixth Crusade, Cyprus and Jerusalem (Near East); The Sixth Crusade, commonly known as the Crusade of Frederick II (1228â€“1229), was a military expedition to recapture the city of Jerusalem. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actual fighting. The diplomatic maneuvering of the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily, Frederick II, resulted in the Kingdom of Jerusalem regaining some control over Jerusalem for much of the ensuing fifteen years (1229â€“1239, 1241â€“1244)[1] as well as over other areas of the Holy Land. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor; Andrew II of Hungary; Leopold VI, Duke of Austria;

France, 1248-1254, 7th Crusade to Cyprus and Egypt, then Palestine trip, Louis ransomed
France, 1248-1254, 7th Crusade to Cyprus and Egypt, then Palestine trip; The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Louis' Christian army was defeated by the Ayyubid army led by Fakhr al-Din ibn Shaykh al-Shuyukh and their allies, the Bahriyya Mamluks, led by Faris ad-Din Aktai, Baibars al-Bunduqdari, Qutuz, Aybak and Qalawun. Shaykh al-Shuyukh was killed in the war, and Louis was captured. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for his return.[3][4][5] France, 1226-1270, King of France, Louis IX; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270);

France, 1259, Treaty of Paris 1259, France and England, caused 100 yr war
France, 1259, Treaty of Paris 1259; France, 1226-1270, King of France, Louis IX; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270);

France, 1270, 8th Crusade to Tunis, Louis IX died
France, 1270, 8th Crusade to Tunis; The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX of France against the Hafsid dynasty in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II are counted as a single crusade. The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also counted as part of the Eighth. The crusade is considered a failure after Louis died shortly after arriving on the shores of Tunisia, with his disease-ridden army dispersing back to Europe shortly afterwards.[1] France, 1226-1270, King of France, Louis IX; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270);

France, 1270-1285, King of France, Philip III of France, expanded French infuuence
France, 1270-1285, King of France, Philip III of France; Philip III (1 May 1245 -“ 5 October 1285), called the Bold[a][b] (French: le Hardi), was king of France from 1270 until his death in 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, returned to France and was anointed king at Reims in 1271. Philip inherited numerous territorial lands during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was returned to the royal domain in 1271. With the Treaty of Orleans, he expanded French influence into the Kingdom of Navarre and following the death of his brother Peter during the Sicilian Vespers, the County of Aleneon was returned to the crown lands. Following the Sicilian Vespers, Philip led the Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Initially successful, Philip, his army racked with sickness, was forced to retreat and died from dysentery in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his son Philip IV. Monastic Martyrs of Karyes, Commemorated on December 5;

France, 1271-1272, 9th Crusade, Jerusalem (Near East), Edward I of England
France, 1271-1272, 9th Crusade, Jerusalem (Near East); Lord Edward's crusade,[1] sometimes called the Ninth Crusade,[2] was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of the future King Edward I of England in 1271â€“1272. It was an extension of the Eighth Crusade and was the last of the Crusades to reach the Holy Land before the fall of Acre in 1291 brought an end to the permanent crusader presence there. The Ninth Crusade saw Edward clash with Baibars, with both achieving limited victories. The Crusaders were ultimately forced to withdraw, since Edward had pressing concerns at home and felt unable to resolve the internal conflicts within the remnant Outremer territories. It is arguable that the Crusading spirit was nearly "extinct" by this period as well.[3] It also foreshadowed the imminent collapse of the last remaining crusader strongholds along the Mediterranean coast. Edward I of England;

France, 1274, Union of Lyons convoked in 1272, convened 1274, peace among Christians, revoked
France, 1272, Union of Lyons 1272; The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arles (in modern France), in 1274.[1] Pope Gregory X presided over the council, called to act on a pledge by Byzantine emperor Michael VIII to reunite the Eastern church with the West.[2] The council was attended by about 300 bishops, 60 abbots[3] and more than a thousand prelates or their procurators, among whom were the representatives of the universities. Due to the great number of attendees, those who had come to Lyon without being specifically summoned were given "leave to depart with the blessing of God" and of the Pope. Among others who attended the council were James I of Aragon, the ambassador of the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos with members of the Greek clergy and the ambassadors of Abaqa Khan of the Ilkhanate. Thomas Aquinas had been summoned to the council, but died en route at Fossanova Abbey. Bonaventure was present at the first four sessions, but died at Lyon on 15 July 1274. As at the First Council of Lyon, Thomas Cantilupe was an English attendee and a papal chaplain.[4] In addition to Aragon, which James represented in person, representatives of the kings of Germany, England, Scotland, France, the Spains and Sicily[5] were present, with procurators also representing the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Bohemia, the "realm of Dacia" and the duchy of Poland. In the procedures to be observed in the council, for the first time the nations appeared as represented elements in an ecclesiastical council, as they had already become represented in the governing of medieval universities. This innovation marks a stepping-stone towards the acknowledgment of coherent ideas of nationhood, which were in the process of creating the European nation-states. The main topics discussed at the council were the conquest of the Holy Land and the union of the Eastern and Western Churches. The first session took place on 7 May 1274 and was followed by five additional sessions on 18 May 1274, 4 or 7 June 1274, 6 July 1274, 16 July 1274, and 17 July 1274. By the end of the council, 31 constitutions were promulgated. In the second session, the fathers approved the decree Zelus fidei, which contained no juridical statutes but rather summed up constitutions about the perils of the Holy Land, the means for paying for a proposed crusade, the excommunication of pirates and corsairs and those who protected them or traded with them, a declaration of peace among Christians, a grant of an indulgence for those willing to go on crusade, restoration of communion with the Greeks, and the definition of the order and procedure to be observed in the council. The Greeks conceded on the issue of the Filioque (two words added to the Nicene Creed), and union was proclaimed, but the union was later repudiated by Andronicus II,[2] heir to Michael VIII. The council also recognized Rudolf I as Holy Roman Emperor, ending the interregnum.[2] 26 Monk-Martyrs of Zographou of Mt Athos, Commemorated on September 21;

France, 1285-1314, King of France, Philip IV of France, Philip the Fair, centralized state, Avignon Papacy
France, 1285-1314, King of France, Philip IV of France, Philip the Fair; IV (April-“June 1268 -“ 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (French: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from 1284 to 1305, as well as Count of Champagne. Although Philip was known as handsome, hence the epithet le Bel, his rigid and inflexible personality gained him (from friend and foe alike) other nicknames, such as the Iron King (French: le Roi de fer). His fierce opponent Bernard Saisset, bishop of Pamiers, said of him: "he is neither man nor beast. He is a statue."[2][a] relied on skilful civil servants, such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny, to govern the kingdom rather than on his nobles. Philip and his advisors were instrumental in the transformation of France from a feudal country to a centralized state.[3] The king, who sought an uncontested monarchy, compelled his vassals by wars and restricted feudal usages.[4] His ambitions made him highly influential in European affairs. His goal was to place his relatives on foreign thrones. Princes from his house ruled in Naples and Hungary. He tried and failed to make another relative the Holy Roman Emperor. He began the long advance of France eastward by taking control of scattered fiefs.[5] most notable conflicts of Philip's reign include a dispute with the English over King Edward I's fiefs in southwestern France, and a war with the Flemish, who had rebelled against French royal authority and humiliated Philip at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. The war with the Flemish resulted in Philip's ultimate victory with which he received a significant portion of Flemish cities, which were added to the crown lands along with a vast sum of money. In 1306, Philip expelled the Jews from France, and in 1307 he annihilated the order of the Knights Templar. He was in debt to both groups and saw them as a "state within the state". To further strengthen the monarchy, Philip tried to take control of the French clergy, leading to a violent conflict with Pope Boniface VIII. This conflict resulted in the transfer of the papal court to the enclave of Avignon in 1309. final year saw a scandal amongst the royal family, known as the Tour de Nesle affair, in which Philip's three daughters-in-law were accused of adultery. His three sons were successively kings of France: Louis X, Philip V, and Charles IV. Their deaths without surviving sons of their own would compromise the future of the French royal house, which until then seemed secure, precipitating a succession crisis that would eventually lead to the Hundred Years' War (1337-“1453). CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1300, 14th Century Folder, Avignon Papacy, 100 Yr War,

France, 1309-1377, Avignon Papacy, 7 Popes resided in Avignon, Arles
France, 1309-1377, Avignon Papacy; The Avignon Papacy, also known as the Babylonian Captivity, was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon (then in the Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire, now in France) rather than in Rome.[1] The situation arose from the conflict between the papacy and the French crown, culminating in the death of Pope Boniface VIII after his arrest and maltreatment by Philip IV of France. Following the further death of Pope Benedict XI, Philip forced a deadlocked conclave to elect the French Clement V as pope in 1305. Clement refused to move to Rome, and in 1309 he moved his court to the papal enclave at Avignon, where it remained for the next 67 years. This absence from Rome is sometimes referred to as the "Babylonian captivity of the Papacy".[2][3] A total of seven popes reigned at Avignon, all French,[4][5] and all under the influence of the French Crown. In 1376, Gregory XI abandoned Avignon and moved his court to Rome (arriving on January 17, 1377). But after Gregory's death in 1378, deteriorating relations between his successor Urban VI and a faction of cardinals gave rise to the Western Schism. This started a second line of Avignon popes, subsequently regarded as illegitimate. The last Avignon antipope, Benedict XIII, lost most of his support in 1398, including that of France; after five years besieged by the French, he fled to Perpignan in 1403. The schism ended in 1417 at the Council of Constance, after two popes had reigned in opposition to the papacy in Rome.[6] Avignon; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

France, 1314-1316, King of France, Louis X of France, Quarrelsome, Headstrong, Stubborn, serfs buy freedom, abolished slavery, Jews back
France, 1314-1316, King of France, Louis X of France; X (4 October 1289 – 5 June 1316), called the Quarrelsome, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn (French: le Hutin), was King of France from 1314 to 1316, succeeding his father Philip IV. After the death of his mother, Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Louis I from 1305 until his death in 1316. short reign in France was marked by tensions with the nobility, due to fiscal and centralization reforms initiated by Enguerrand de Marigny, the Grand Chamberlain of France, under the reign of his father. Louis' uncle—Charles of Valois, leader of the feudalist party—managed to convince the king to execute Enguerrand de Marigny. allowed serfs to buy their freedom (which was the first step towards the abolition of serfdom), abolished slavery, and readmitted French Jews into the kingdom. 1305, Louis married Margaret of Burgundy, with whom he had Joan II of Navarre. Margaret was later convicted of adultery and died in prison, possibly murdered by strangulation.[citation needed] In 1315, Louis married Clementia of Hungary, who gave birth to John I of France five months after the king's death. The infant John's death a few days later led to a disputed succession.[2][3] CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1316-1322, King of France, Philip V of France, the Long, first a regent, Salic law, no male heir
France, 1316-1322, King of France, Philip V of France; V (c. 1293 – 3 January 1322), known as the Tall (French: Philippe le Long), was King of France and Navarre (as Philip II). He reigned from 1316 to 1322. the second son of king Philip IV, he was granted an appanage, the County of Poitiers, while his elder brother, Louis X, inherited the throne in 1314. When Louis died in 1316, he left a daughter and a pregnant wife, Clementia of Hungary. Philip the Tall successfully claimed the regency. Queen Clementia gave birth to a boy, who was proclaimed king as John I, but the infant king lived only for five days. the death of his nephew, Philip immediately had himself crowned at Reims. However, his legitimacy was challenged by the party of Louis X's daughter Joan. Philip V successfully contested her claims for a number of reasons, including her youth, doubts regarding her paternity (her mother was involved in the Tour de Nesle Affair), and the Estates General's determination that women should be excluded from the line of succession to the French throne. The succession of Philip, instead of Joan, set the precedent for the French royal succession that would be known as the Salic law. V restored somewhat good relations with the County of Flanders, which had entered into open rebellion during his father's rule, but simultaneously his relations with Edward II of England worsened as the English king, who was also Duke of Guyenne, initially refused to pay him homage. A spontaneous popular crusade started in Normandy in 1320 aiming to liberate the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors. Instead the angry populace marched to the south attacking castles, royal officials, priests, lepers, and Jews. V engaged in a series of domestic reforms intended to improve the management of the kingdom. These reforms included the creation of an independent Court of Finances, the standardization of weights and measures, and the establishment of a single currency. V died from dysentery in 1322 without a male heir and was succeeded by his younger brother Charles IV. CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1322-1328, King of France, Charles IV of France, the Fair, peasant revolt in Flanders, no male Heir
France, 1322-1328, King of France, Charles IV of France; IV[note 1] (18/19 June 1294 - 1 February 1328), called the Fair (le Bel) in France and the Bald (el Calvo) in Navarre, was last king of the direct line of the House of Capet, King of France and King of Navarre (as Charles I) from 1322 to 1328. Charles was the third son of Philip IV; like his father, he was known as "the fair" or "the handsome".[1][2] in 1323 Charles was confronted with a peasant revolt in Flanders, and in 1324 he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected Holy Roman Emperor. As Duke of Guyenne, King Edward II of England was a vassal of Charles, but he was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a conflict known as the War of Saint-Sardos (1324). In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles and to pay a fine. In exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory. Charles IV died without a male heir, the senior line of the House of Capet, descended from Philip IV, became extinct. He was succeeded in Navarre by his niece Joan II and in France by his paternal first cousin Philip of Valois. However, the dispute on the succession to the French throne between the Valois monarchs descended in male line from Charles's grandfather Philip III of France, and the English monarchs descended from Charles's sister Isabella, was a factor of the Hundred Years' War. CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1328-1350, King of France, Philip VI of France, the Fortunate, Edward's claim, began 100 yrs war, Navy lost, continental war, black death
France, 1328-1350, King of France, Philip VI of France; VI ( 17 November 1293 - 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (French: le Fortuné) and of Valois, was the first King of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 until his death. reign was dominated by the consequences of a succession dispute. When King Charles IV died in 1328, the nearest male relative was his nephew Edward III of England, but the French nobility preferred Charles's paternal cousin Philip. At first, Edward seemed to accept Philip's succession, but he pressed his claim to the throne of France after a series of disagreements with Philip. The result was the beginning of the Hundred Years' War in 1337. initial successes at sea, Philip's navy was annihilated at the Battle of Sluys in 1340, ensuring that the war would occur on the continent. The English took another decisive advantage at the Battle of Crécy (1346), while the Black Death struck France, further destabilizing the country. 1349, Philip VI bought the Dauphiné from its ruined ruler Humbert II and entrusted the government of this province to his grandson Charles. Philip VI died in 1350 and was succeeded by his son John II, the Good. CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with England to control France, on the continent
France, 1337-1453, 100 Years War, with England to control France;

France, 1350-1364, King of France, John II of France, black death, Jacqueries, free companies, English aggression
France, 1350-1364, King of France, John II of France; II (French: Jean II; 26 April 1319 – 8 April 1364), called John the Good (French: Jean le Bon), was King of France from 1350 until his death. When he came to power, France faced several disasters: the Black Death, which killed nearly half of its population; popular revolts known as Jacqueries; free companies (Grandes Compagnies) of routiers who plundered the country; and English aggression that resulted in catastrophic military losses, including the Battle of Poitiers of 1356, in which John was captured. John was a prisoner in London, his son Charles became regent and faced several rebellions, which he overcame. To liberate his father, he concluded the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), by which France lost many territories and paid an enormous ransom. In an exchange of hostages, which included his second son Louis, Duke of Anjou, John was released from captivity to raise funds for his ransom. Upon his return to France, he created the franc to stabilize the currency and tried to get rid of the free companies by sending them to a crusade, but Pope Innocent VI died shortly before their meeting in Avignon. When John was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England, where he died in 1364. He was succeeded by his son Charles V. CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1364-1380, King of France, Charles V of France, the Wise, regent for captured Father, raised taxes, Jacquerie peasant revolt, success in HY War
France, 1364-1380, King of France, Charles V of France; V (21 January 1338 - 16 September 1380), called the Wise (French: le Sage; Latin: Sapiens), was King of France from 1364 to his death. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War, with his armies recovering much of the territory held by the English, and successfully reversed the military losses of his predecessors. became regent of France when his father John II was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. To pay for the defense of the kingdom, Charles raised taxes. As a result, he faced hostility from the nobility, led by Charles the Bad, King of Navarre; the opposition of the French bourgeoisie, which was channeled through the Estates-General led by Étienne Marcel; and with a peasant revolt known as the Jacquerie. Charles overcame all of these rebellions, but in order to liberate his father, he had to conclude the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, in which he abandoned large portions of south-western France to Edward III of England and agreed to pay a huge ransom. became king in 1364. With the help of talented advisers, his skillful management of the kingdom allowed him to replenish the royal treasury and to restore the prestige of the House of Valois. He established the first permanent army paid with regular wages, which liberated the French populace from the companies of routiers who regularly plundered the country when not employed. Led by Bertrand du Guesclin, the French Army was able to turn the tide of the Hundred Years' War to Charles' advantage, and by the end of Charles' reign, they had reconquered almost all the territories ceded to the English in 1360. Furthermore, the French fleet, led by Jean de Vienne, managed to attack the English coast for the first time since the beginning of the Hundred Years' War. V died in 1380. He was succeeded by his son Charles VI, whose disastrous reign allowed the English to regain control of large parts of France. CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380);

France, 1367-1380, CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER & SPIRITUAL TEACHER, vision of Christ at 6, leprosy cancer nurse, Avigon Papacy
Rome, 1367-1380, SCATHERINE OF SIENA, (a Tuscan hill town, irrigation), REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER, vision of Christ at 6, leprosy cancer nurse, Avigon Papacy, persuaded Gregory XI back to R, ambassador to Florence, retired to Sienna, Dialog book visions advice, arrogant Urban VI, new Clement VII at Avigon, papal Schism till 1417; Siena; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380); Benincasa, born in 1347, was the youngest (one of my sources says the 23rd) of twenty-five children of a wealthy dyer of Sienna (or Siena). the age of six, she had a vision of Christ in glory, surrounded by His saints. that time on, she spent most of her time in prayer and meditation, over the opposition of her parents, who wanted her to be more like the average girl of her social class. they gave in, and at the age of sixteen she joined the Third Order of St. Dominic (First Order = friars, Second Order = nuns, Third Order = laypersons), where she became a nurse, caring for patients with leprosy and advanced cancer whom other nurses disliked to treat. began to acquire a reputation as a person of insight and sound judgement, and many persons from all walks of life sought her spiritual advice, both in person and by letter. have a book containing about four hundred letters from her to bishops, kings, scholars, merchants, and obscure peasants.) persuaded many priests who were living iacn luxury to give away their goods and to live simply. her day, the popes, officially Bishops of Rome, had been living for about seventy years, not at Rome but at Avignon in France, where they were under the political control of the King of France Avignon Papacy, sometimes called the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, began when Philip the Fair, King of France, captured Rome and the Pope in 1303). visited Avignon in 1376 and told Pope Gregory XI that he had no business to live away from Rome. He heeded her advice, and moved to Rome. then acted as his ambassador to Florence, and was able to reconcile a quarrel between the Pope and the leaders of that city. She then retired to Sienna, where she wrote a book called the Dialog, an account of her visions and other spiritual experiences, with advice on cultivating a life of prayer. Gregory's death in 1378, the Cardinals, mostly French, elected an Italian Pope, Urban VI, who on attaining office turned out to be arrogant and abrasive and tyrannical, and perhaps to have other faults as well. Cardinals met again elsewhere, declared that the first election had been under duress from the Roman mob and therefore invalid, and elected a new Pope, Clement VII, who established his residence at Avignon. worked tirelessly, both to persuade Urban to mend his ways letters to him are respectful but severe and uncompromising -- as one historian has said, she perfected the art of kissing the Pope's feet while simultaneously twisting his arm), to persuade others that the peace and unity of the Church required the recognition of Urban as lawful Pope. Despite her efforts, the Papal Schism continued until 1417. greatly weakened the prestige of the Bishops of Rome, and thus helped to pave the way for the Protestant Reformation a century later. is known (1) as a mystic, a contemplative who devoted herself to prayer, (2) as a humanitarian, a nurse who undertook to alleviate the suffering of the poor and the sick; (3) as an activist, a renewer of Church and society, who took a strong stand on the issues affecting society in her day, and who never hesitated (in the old Quaker phrase) "to speak truth to power"; (4) as an adviser and counselor, with a wide range of interests, who always made time for troubled and uncertain persons who told her their problems -- large and trivial, religious and secular. by James Kiefer

France, 1370-1378, Gregory XI, Pope, in Avignon, France
Pope, 1370-1378, Gregory XI, the last of the Avignon Popes; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380) ;

France, 1380-1422, King of France, Charles VI, the Beloved, then the Mad, mental illness, lost Agincourt
France, 1380-1422, King of France, Charles VI; VI (3 December 1368 - 21 October 1422), called the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé) and later the Mad (French: le Fol or le Fou), was King of France from 1380 until his death in 1422. He is known for his mental illness and psychotic episodes which plagued him throughout his life. Charles's reign would see his army crushed at the Battle of Agincourt, leading to the signing of the Treaty of Troyes, which made his future son-in-law Henry V of England his regent and heir to the throne of France. However, Henry would die shortly before Charles, which gave the House of Valois the chance to continue the fight against the English, leading to their eventual victory and the end of the Hundred Years' War in 1453. JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431;

France, 1389-1394, Antipope Clement VII
France, Pope, 1389-1394, Antipope Clement VII; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380) ;

France, 1391-1415, JAN HUS, Bohemia, denounced church abuses not theological, burned after E's promise , Moravians
Czech Lands, 1391-1415, JAN HUS, Bohemia, Western Czech Republic, denounced church abuses in discipline and practice, not theological, church spritual govenors, not earthly, found guilty for saying pope not divine office, burned right after Council of Constance, followers became Moravians; Bohemia; JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415; Huss (Jan Hus) was born in Bohemia (now part of the Czech Republic) in about 1371. received a master's degree from Charles University in Prague in 1396, became a professor of theology in 1398, was ordained to the priesthood in 1400, was made rector of the University in 1402, and in 1404 received a bachelor's degree in theology (presumably a more advanced degree than the term suggests today). his day, there was a crisis of authority in the Western Church. 1305, under pressure from the King of France, the seat of the Popes was moved from Rome to Avignon in France, where it remained for 70 years. period is called the Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, suggesting the 70 years that Jerusalem lay desolate after when the Jews were deported to Babylon.) 1376, the then pope returned to Rome. When he died soon after, the cardinals, mostly French, were disposed to elect a French Pope, but the people of Rome objected, fearing that a French Pope would move the Papacy back to France. cardinals therefore elected an Italian Pope, and then fled elsewhere, where they elected a French Pope and said that the first election had been under duress, and was void. there were two (later three) claimants for the Papal Office. Council of Constance was called to settle the matter. One claimant recognized the Council and then abdicated. The Council responded by proclaiming that he had been the true Pope. It then deposed the other two, and elected a new Pope, thus healing the schism. Hus had begun to denounce various church abuses in his sermons. His disputes with authority did not concern basic theological issues, but rather matters of church discipline and practice. custom had arisen, at celebrations of the Lord's Supper, of distributing the consecrated bread to all Christians in good standing who desired to receive it, but restricting the chalice to the celebrant alone. denounced this restriction as contrary to Holy Scripture and to the ancient tradition of the Church. also held that Church officials ought to exercise spiritual powers only, and not be earthly governors. 1412 his archbishop excommunicated him, not for heresy, but for insubordination. real problem was that Hus supported one papal claimant and the archbishop another. Hus's candidate was ultimately declared to be the true pope.) came to a head when one claimant (later declared unfit) proclaimed a sale of indulgences to raise money for a war against his rivals. was horrified at the idea of selling spiritual benefits to finance a war between two claimants to the title "Servant of the Servants of God," and said so. 1414 he was summoned to the Council of Constance, with the Emperor guaranteeing his personal safety even if found guilty. was tried, and ordered to recant certain heretical doctrines. replied that he had never held or taught the doctrines in question, and was willing to declare the doctrines false, but not willing to declare on oath that he had once taught them. one point on which Hus could be said to have a doctrinal difference with the Council was that he taught that the office of the pope did not exist by Divine command, but was established by the Church that things might be done in an orderly fashion (a view that he shared with Thomas More). Council, having just narrowly succeeded in uniting Western Christendom under a single pope after years of chaos, was not about to have its work undone. It accordingly found him guilty of heresy, and he was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. his death, his followers continued to insist on the importance of administering the Holy Communion in both kinds, and defeated several armies sent against them. 1436 a pact was signed, by which the Church in Bohemia was authorized to administer Chalice as well as Host to all communicants. followers of John Huss and his fellow martyr Jerome of Prague became known as the Czech Brethren and later as the Moravians. Moravian Church survives to this day, and has had a considerable influence on the Lutheran movement. Luther suddenly became famous after the publication of his 95 Theses, cartoons and graffiti began to appear implying that Luther was the spiritual heir of John Huss. When Luther encountered the Pope's representative Johannes Eck, in a crucial debate, Eck sidestepped the questions of indulgences and of justification by faith, and instead asked Luther whether the Church had been right to condemn Hus. Luther, after thinking it over, said that Hus had been unjustly condemned, the whole question of the authority of Popes and Councils was raised. — by James Kiefer

France, 1400, 15th Century Folder, Loss to English at Agincourt, Joan of Arc

France, 1415, Battle of Agincourt in 100 Years War with France
Battle of Agincourt; Hundred Years War (1337-1453); GEORGE, SOLDIER and MARTYR, 23 APRIL 303, Commemorated April 23;

France, 1422-1461, K of France, Charles VII (The Dauphin)
France, 1422-1461, King of France, Charles VII (The Dauphin); JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431;

France, 1429-1431, Saint, Joan of Arc, France parilyzed by Queen's oath, Joan led France to fight for the Dauphin
France, 1429-1431, Saint, Joan of Arc; Orleans; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ; of Arc was born in France, near the border of Burgundy, on 6 January 1412. In her time the King of England claimed the crown of France by the laws of inheritance, and English troops were fighting in France to support that claim. (The English King inherited through a woman, and the French claimants, the House of Valois, asserted that French law did not allow the crown to be inherited by or through a woman.) Henry V of England won a decisive victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (see Shakespeare's play Henry V, filmed in 1944 starring Laurence Olivier and in 1993 starring Kenneth Branagh, who emphasizes the darker aspects of war), and signed an agreement with the Valois monarch Charles VI, providing that Charles should keep his crown during his lifetime, that his daughter Catherine should marry Henry, and that Henry should be the next king. VI had a son (the Dauphin), but the Queen took an oath that she had been unfaithful to her husband, and that the Dauphin was not the King's son, and therefore had no right to inherit the throne. 1422, Henry V died, leaving an infant son who became Henry VI of England. England claimed the throne of France in his name. Duke of Burgundy supported the English claim, and was allied with England. The French claimant, the Dauphin (later Charles VII), had not been crowned. Since many Frenchmen thought that his mother the Queen might be telling the truth about his illegitimacy, the story largely paralyzed the national will to fight for Charles. this situation came Joan. When she was thirteen, she began to hear voices telling her that she was called to save France. Eventually she identified these voices as those of Michael the Archangel (mentioned in the Bible in Daniel and Jude and Revelation), and Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch, two early virgin martyrs about whom little is known historically (the accounts of their lives as we have them contain many blatant improbabilities, and even among thoroughly conservative Roman Catholics, they are widely thought to be fictional persons), but who were popular in France at that time. as she said, under direction from her voices, she persuaded a local baron to send her to the castle of Charles at Chinon, where she spoke with the Dauphin (French word for the heir to the throne until he is officially crowned king), and convinced him that her message was genuine. The city of Orleans was under siege by the English. Joan and an army marched to the scene and raised the siege (8 May 1429). She then proceeded to win other battles, and to bring Charles to Rheims to be crowned king. the king refused to take her advice that he should press the military advantage. When she attempted to recapture Paris from the English, he denied her adequate support, and the attempt failed. of Arc being interrogated by an English cardinal, by Ingres May 1430 she was taken prisoner in battle, and tried on an accusation of sorcery and heresy. Charles made no effort to ransom her or rescue her, although her first captors would almost certainly have accepted a ransom. She was convicted and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, being then a little less than nineteen and a half years old. The French, however, eventually went on to win the war and to expel the English from France. King Charles, perhaps because it was not to his advantage to have it said that he had been crowned by a witch and a heretic, and that he owed his victories and his kingdom to a pact with the Devil, pressured the Church courts for a review of the verdict against Joan, and got her condemnation annulled in 1456. She came to be regarded as a French national hero, and was eventually canonized by the Pope in May 1920. Her day (or a Sunday close to it) is a French national holiday. She is ranked with Denis of Paris and Remi of Rheims as one of France's three great national saints. She is honored by the Church, not for winning military victories, or even because her visions were necessarily authentic, but because, being persuaded of the will of God for her life, she responded in faith and obedience to that will as she understood it. many literary works inspired by the life of Joan, I mention three: Bernard Shaw has written a play about her, Saint Joan. It has a preface for the reader which should not be skipped Twain has a novel, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, supposedly related by a follower of Joan. Twain is a devoted and uncritical admirer of Joan. von Schiller, friend of Goethe and eminent German playwright, has a play, Die Jungfrau von Orleans, which has been highly praised. It is available in translation. — by James Kiefer

France, 1429-1431, JOAN OF ARC, called to save France by voices, Angel Michael and see the girls accounts below
France, 1429-1431, JOAN OF ARC, Burgundy, France (Morvan Hills, rivers source area, Saone drainage), called to save France by voices, Angel Michael, Catherine of Alexandria, Marina of Pisidia, see the girls accounts below, Joan was successful in uniting France, but burned at the stake for being a witch; Burgundy; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; of Arc was born in France, near the border of Burgundy, on 6 January 1412. her time the King of England claimed the crown of France by the laws of inheritance, and English troops were fighting in France to support that claim. English King inherited through a woman, and the French claimants, the House of Valois, asserted that French law did not allow the crown to be inherited by or through a woman.) V of England won a decisive victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 (see Shakespeare's play Henry V, filmed in 1944 starring Laurence Olivier and in 1993 starring Kenneth Branagh, who emphasizes the darker aspects of war) and signed an agreement with the Valois monarch Charles VI, providing that Charles should keep his crown during his lifetime, that his daughter Catherine should marry Henry, and that Henry should be the next king. VI had a son (the Dauphin), but the Queen took an oath that she had been unfaithful to her husband, and that the Dauphin was not the King's son, and therefore had no right to inherit the throne. 1422, Henry V died, leaving an infant son who became Henry VI of England. England claimed the throne of France in his name. Duke of Burgundy supported the English claim, and was allied with England. French claimant, the Dauphin (later Charles VII), had not been crowned. Since many Frenchmen thought that his mother the Queen might be telling the truth about his illegitimacy, the story largely paralyzed the national will to fight for Charles. this situation came Joan. she was thirteen, she began to hear voices telling her that she was called to save France. she identified these voices as those of Michael the Archangel (mentioned in the Bible in Daniel and Jude and Revelation), Catherine of Alexandria and Margaret of Antioch, two early virgin martyrs about whom little is known historically as we have them contain many blatant improbabilities, and even among thoroughly conservative Roman Catholics, they are widely thought to be fictional persons. (for the real accounts of their lives (see Orthodox accounts below, they are both normal christian saint stories) but who were popular in France at that time. as she said, under direction from her voices, she persuaded a local baron to send her to the castle of Charles at Chinon, where she spoke with the Dauphin (French word for the heir to the throne until he is officially crowned king), and convinced him that her message was genuine. city of Orleans was under siege by the English. Joan and an army marched to the scene and raised the siege (8 May 1429). then proceeded to win other battles, and to bring Charles to Rheims to be crowned king. However, the king refused to take her advice that he should press the military advantage. When she attempted to recapture Paris from the English, he denied her adequate support, and the attempt failed. Joan of Arc being interrogated by an English cardinal, by Ingres May 1430 she was taken prisoner in battle, and tried on an accusation of sorcery and heresy. made no effort to ransom her or rescue her, although her first captors would almost certainly have accepted a ransom. was convicted and burned at the stake on 30 May 1431, being then a little less than nineteen and a half years old. French, however, eventually went on to win the war and to expel the English from France. Charles, perhaps because it was not to his advantage to have it said that he had been crowned by a witch and a heretic, and that he owed his victories and his kingdom to a pact with the Devil, pressured the Church courts for a review of the verdict against Joan, and got her condemnation annulled in 1456. came to be regarded as a French national hero, and was eventually canonized by the Pope in May 1920. day (or a Sunday close to it) is a French national holiday. She is ranked with Denis of Paris and Remi of Rheims as one of France's three great national saints. is honored by the Church, not for winning military victories, or even because her visions were necessarily authentic, but because, being persuaded of the will of God for her life, she responded in faith and obedience to that will as she understood it. many literary works inspired by the life of Joan, I mention three: Bernard Shaw has written a play about her, Saint Joan. It has a preface for the reader which should not be skipped Twain has a novel, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, supposedly related by a follower of Joan. Twain is a devoted and uncritical admirer of Joan. von Schiller, friend of Goethe and eminent German playwright, has a play, Die Jungfrau von Orleans, which has been highly praised. It is available in translation. — by James Kiefer 0717 - Greatmartyr Marina (Margaret) of Antioch in Pisidia; Holy Great Martyr Marina was born in Asia Minor, in the city of Antioch of Pisidia (southern Asia Minor), into the family of a pagan priest. infancy she lost her mother, and her father gave her into the care of a nursemaid, who raised Marina in the Orthodox Faith. learning that his daughter had become a Christian, the father angrily disowned her. the time of the persecution against Christians under the emperor Diocletian (284-305), when she was fifteen years old, Saint Marina was arrested and locked up in prison. With firm trust in the will of God and His help, the young prisoner prepared for her impending fate. governor Olymbrios, charmed with the beautiful girl, tried to persuade her to renounce the Christian Faith and become his wife. But the saint, unswayed, refused his offers. The vexed governor gave the holy martyr over to torture. Having beaten her fiercely, they fastened the saint with nails to a board and tore at her body with tridents. The governor himself, unable to bear the horror of these tortures, hid his face in his hands. But the holy martyr remained unyielding. Thrown for the night into prison, she was granted heavenly aid and healed of her wounds. stripped her and tied her to a tree, then burned the martyr with fire. Barely alive, the martyr prayed: “Lord, You have granted me to go through fire for Your Name, grant me also to go through the water of holy Baptism.” the word “water”, the governor gave orders to drown the saint in a large cauldron. martyr besought the Lord that this manner of execution should become for her holy Baptism. they plunged her into the water, there suddenly shone a light, and a snow-white dove came down from Heaven, bearing in its beak a golden crown. The fetters put upon Saint Marina came apart by themselves. The martyr stood up in the fount of Baptism glorifying the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Saint Marina emerged from the fount completely healed, without any trace of burns. at this miracle, the people glorified the True God, and many came to believe. This brought the governor into a rage, and he gave orders to kill anyone who might confess the Name of Christ. 15,000 Christians perished there, and the holy Martyr Marina was beheaded. The sufferings of the Great Martyr Marina were described by an eyewitness of the event, named Theotimos. until the taking of Constantinople by Western crusaders in the year 1204, the relics of the Great Martyr Marina were in the Panteponteia monastery. According to other sources, they were located in Antioch until the year 908 and from there transferred to Italy. Now they are in Athens, in a church dedicated to the holy Virgin Martyr. Her venerable hand was transferred to Mount Athos, to the Batopedi monastery. 1124 - Greatmartyr Catherine of Alexandria; Holy Great Martyr Katherine was the daughter of Konstos, the governor of Alexandria, Egypt during the reign of Emperor Maximian (305-313). in the capital, the center of Hellenistic knowledge, and possessed of a rare beauty and intellect, Katherine received an excellent education, studying the works of the greatest philosophers and teachers of antiquity. men from the most worthy families of the empire sought the hand of the beautiful Katherine, but she was not interested in any of them. She told her parents that she would enter into marriage only with someone who surpassed her in nobility, wealth, comeliness and wisdom. ’s mother, a secret Christian, sent her to her own Spiritual Father, a saintly Elder living in a cave outside the city, for advice. After listening to Katherine, the Elder said that he knew of someone who surpassed her in everything. “His countenance is more radiant than the shining of the sun, and all of creation is governed by His wisdom. His riches are given to all the nations of the world, yet they never diminish. His compassion is unequaled.” description of the Heavenly Bridegroom produced an ardent desire in the soul of the holy maiden to see Him. "If you do as I tell you,” said the monk, “you will gaze upon the countenance of this illustrious man.” In parting, the Elder gave Katherine an icon of the Theotokos with the Divine Child on Her arm and told her to pray with faith to the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of the Heavenly Bridegroom, and she would hear Katherine and grant her heart’s desire. prayed all night and was permitted to see the Most Holy Virgin, Who said to her Divine Son, “Behold Thy handmaiden Katherine, how fair and virtuous she is.” the Child turned His face away from her saying, “No, she is ugly and unbelieving. She is a foolish pauper, and I cannot bear to look at her until she forsakes her impiety.” returned again to the Elder deeply saddened, and told him what she had seen in the dream. He received her, instructed her in the faith of Christ, admonished her to preserve her purity and integrity and to pray unceasingly. then received the Mystery of Holy Baptism from him. Again Saint Katherine had a vision of the Most Holy Theotokos with her Child. Now the Lord looked at her tenderly and gave her a beautiful ring, a wondrous token of her betrothal to the Heavenly Bridegroom (this ring is still on her hand). that time Emperor Maximian was in Alexandria for a pagan festival. Therefore, the celebration was especially splendid and crowded. cries of the sacrificial animals, the smoke and the smell of the sacrifices, the endless blaze of fires, and the bustling crowds at the arenas defiled the city of Alexandria. Human victims also were brought, the confessors of Christ, who would not deny Him under torture. They were condemned to death in the fire. love for the Christian martyrs, and her fervent desire to ease their sufferings, compelled her to speak to the pagan priest and to Emperor Maximian. herself, the Saint confessed her faith in the One True God, and exposed the errors of the pagans. beauty of the maiden captivated the Emperor. In order to convince her of the superiority of pagan wisdom, the Emperor ordered fifty of the most learned philosophers and rhetoricians of the Empire to dispute with her, but the Saint got the better of the wise men, so that they came to believe in Christ themselves. Katherine made the Sign of the Cross over the martyrs, and they bravely accepted death for Christ and were burnt alive by order of the Emperor. to persuade the Saint, Maximian tried to entice her with the promise of riches and fame. Hearing her angry refusal, the Emperor ordered his men to subject the Saint to terrible tortures, and then throw her in prison. Empress Augusta, who had heard much about the Saint, wanted to see her. She prevailed upon the military commander Porphyrios to accompany her to the prison with a detachment of soldiers. The Empress was impressed by Katherine's strong spirit, and her face was radiant with divine grace. The holy martyr explained the Christian Faith to them, and they were converted to Christ. the following day, they again brought the martyr to the judgment court where, under the threat of being broken on the wheel, she was urged to renounce the Christian Faith and to offer sacrifice to the "gods." The Saint steadfastly confessed Christ and she was taken to be tortured on four wheels with sharp iron spikes, an Angel smashed the instruments of execution, which shattered into pieces with many pagans standing nearby. seeing this miracle, the Empress Augusta and the imperial courtier Porphyrios and 200 soldiers confessed their faith in Christ before everyone, and they were beheaded. tried again to entice the holy martyr, offering to marry her, and again he was refused. Saint Katherine remained faithful to her heavenly Bridegroom Christ, and after praying to Him, she laid her head on the block beneath the executioner’s sword. relics of Saint Katherine were taken by the Angels to Mount Sinai. the VI century, the venerable head and left hand of the holy martyr were found through a revelation and transferred with honor to the newly-constructed church of the Monastery on Mount Sinai, built by the holy Emperor Justinian (November 14). Katherine is called upon for relief and assistance during a difficult childbirth. Pilgrims to her monastery on Mount Sinai are given souvenir rings as a remembrance of their visit. Katherine is commemorated on November 25 in Greek usage.

France, 1461-1483, K of France, Louis XI, rebelled his father, the cunning, the spider, eliminated rebellious vassals
France, 1461-1483, King of France, Louis XI of France; XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (French: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the Praguerie in 1440. The king forgave his rebellious vassals, including Louis, to whom he entrusted the management of the Dauphiné, then a province in southeastern France. Louis's ceaseless intrigues, however, led his father to banish him from court. From the Dauphiné, Louis led his own political establishment and married Charlotte of Savoy, daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy, against the will of his father. Charles VII sent an army to compel his son to his will, but Louis fled to Burgundy, where he was hosted by Philip the Good, the Duke of Burgundy, Charles' greatest enemy. Charles VII died in 1461, Louis left the Burgundian court to take possession of his kingdom. His taste for intrigue and his intense diplomatic activity earned him the nicknames "the Cunning" (Middle French: le rusé) and "the Universal Spider" (Middle French: l'universelle aragne), as his enemies accused him of spinning webs of plots and conspiracies. 1472, the subsequent Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, took up arms against his rival Louis. However, Louis was able to isolate Charles from his English allies by signing the Treaty of Picquigny (1475) with Edward IV of England. The treaty formally ended the Hundred Years' War. With the death of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy died out. Louis took advantage of the situation to seize numerous Burgundian territories, including Burgundy itself and Picardy. direct foreign threats, Louis was able to eliminate his rebellious vassals, expand royal power, and strengthen the economic development of his country. He died on 30 August 1483, and was succeeded by his minor son Charles VIII.

France, 1483-1498, K of France, Charles VIII, affable, regent sister, Mad War, Anne of Brittany, c Italian Penninsula
France, 1483-1498, King of France, Charles VIII of France; VIII, called the Affable ((30 June 1470 - 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.[1] His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon[1][2] until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War (1485–1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government. a remarkable stroke of audacity, Charles married Anne of Brittany in 1491 after she had already been married by proxy to the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I in a ceremony of questionable validity. by the problematic succession in the Kingdom of Hungary, Maximilian failed to press his claim. Upon his marriage, Charles became administrator of Brittany and established a personal union that enabled France to avoid total encirclement by Habsburg territories. secure his rights to the Neapolitan throne that René of Anjou had left to his father, Charles made a series of concessions to neighbouring monarchs and conquered the Italian peninsula without much opposition. A coalition formed against the French invasion of 1494–98 finally drove out Charles' army, but Italian Wars would dominate Western European politics for over 50 years. died in 1498 after accidentally striking his head on the lintel of a door at the Château d'Amboise, his place of birth. Since he had no male heir, he was succeeded by his 2nd cousin once removed, Louis XII from the Orléans cadet branch of the House of Valois.

France, 1490-1528, Matthias Grunewald, painter of religious works, ignored classicism, antithesis to Durer
Colmar, Alsace, on the Maginot Line, France; Matthias Grunewald of ALBRECHT DÜRER, 1528, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, 1529, LUCAS CRANACH the ELDER, 1553, ARTISTS, 5 August, Commemorated August 5; Grunewald, (c. 1470 - August 31, 1528), was an important German Renaissance painter of religious works, who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the expressive and intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. Only ten paintings—several consisting of many panels—and thirty-five drawings survive, all religious, although many others were lost at sea in the Baltic on their way to Sweden as war booty. His reputation was obscured until the late nineteenth century, and many of his paintings were attributed to Albrecht Dürer, who is now seen as his stylistic antithesis. His largest and most famous work is the Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar, Alsace. (More at Wikipedia)

France, 1498-1515, K of France, Louis XII, Mad War oppont, Itallian War commander, union Brittany France, Milan, Naples, lost N
France, 1498-1515, King of France, Louis XII of France ; XII (27 June 1462 - 1 January 1515) was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orleans, and Maria of Cleves, he succeeded his 2nd cousin once removed and brother in law at the time, Charles VIII, who died without direct heirs in 1498. his accession to the throne of France, he was known as Louis of Orleans and was compelled to be married to his disabled and supposedly sterile cousin Joan by his second cousin, King Louis XI. By doing so, Louis XI hoped to extinguish the Orleans cadet branch of the House of Valois.[1][2] of Orleans was one of the great feudal lords who opposed the French monarchy in the conflict known as the Mad War. At the royal victory in the Battle of Saint-Aubin-du-Cormier in 1488, Louis was captured, but Charles VIII pardoned him and released him. He subsequently took part in the Italian War of 1494–1498 as one of the French commanders. Louis XII became king in 1498, he had his marriage with Joan annulled by Pope Alexander VI and instead married Anne of Brittany, the widow of his cousin Charles VIII. This marriage allowed Louis to reinforce the personal Union of Brittany and France. persevered in the Italian Wars, initiating a second Italian campaign for the control of the Kingdom of Naples. Louis conquered the Duchy of Milan in 1500 and pushed forward to the Kingdom of Naples, which fell to him in 1501. Proclaimed King of Naples, Louis faced a new coalition gathered by Ferdinand II of Aragon and was forced to cede Naples to Spain in 1504. XII did not encroach on the power of local governments or the privileges of the nobility, in opposition with the long tradition of the French kings to attempt to impose absolute monarchy in France. A popular king, Louis was proclaimed "Father of the People" in 1506 by the Estates-General of Tours for his reduction of the tax known as taille, legal reforms, and civil peace within France. who remained Duke of Milan after the second Italian War, was interested in further expansion in the Italian Peninsula and launched a third Italian War (1508–1516), which was marked by the military prowess of the Chevalier de Bayard. XII died in 1515 without a male heir. He was succeeded by his cousin and son-in-law Francis from the Angoulême cadet branch of the House of Valois.

France, 1500, 16th Century Folder, Luther's 95 Theses, Hugenots, Calvin, Jesuits

France, 1501, 16th Century, Protestant Reformation throughout Europe
France, 16th Century, Protestant Reformation throughout Europe; JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564, commemorated May 28;

France, 1511-1556, Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits
France, 1511-1556, Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits; FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3;

France, 1515-1547, King, Francis I, Arts, Mona Lisa, Americas, Colonies
France, 1515-1547, King of France, Francis I of France; I (12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed Louis XII, who died without a son. prodigious patron of the arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa with him, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire. his role in the development and promotion of a standardized French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres (the 'Father and Restorer of Letters').[1] He was also known as François au Grand Nez ('Francis of the Large Nose'), the Grand Colas, and the Roi-Chevalier (the 'Knight-King')[1] for his personal involvement in the wars against his great rival Emperor Charles V, who was also King of Spain. the policy of his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. The succession of Charles V to the Burgundian Netherlands, the throne of Spain, and his subsequent election as Holy Roman Emperor, meant that France was geographically encircled by the Habsburg monarchy. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, Francis sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold.[2] When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time.[3] FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552;

France, 1517+, 16th Century, Hugenots, the French Reformed Church
France: original Land of the French Reformed Church: the Hugenots; CHARLES TODD QUINTARD, BISHOP OF TENNESSEE, 1898, Commemorated February 16 ;

France, 1526-1552, FRANCIS XAVIER, original Jesuit, India, verses to music, Malay Penninsula, 2000 Japan converts
France, 1526-1552, FRANCIS XAVIER, a Basque, evangelist, original Jesuit, Goa India, verses to music, Sri Lanka India, Malacca Malay Penninsula, 2000 Japan converts, died in China, tireless energy, many converts est 6 digits ; Biscay Region; Basque People; FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3 ; Xavier, or Francisco do Yasu y Javier, was a Basque. Basques are a people from the region of Biscay in northern Spain, whose language is unrelated to any other known language.) was born in 1506 and studied at the University of Paris, where he met Ignatius Loyola and joined together with him and five others in dedicating their lives to the will and service of God, and forming the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1534. 1541 Francis sailed with two companions from Portugal to the Portuguese colony of Goa on the west coast of India (arriving in May 1542), where he set about learning the language and writing a catechism for the instruction of converts. visited the prisons and the hospitals, conducted worship services among the lepers, and walked the streets ringing a bell to call the children for religious instruction. chief method of instructing the people was to write verses in their language setting forth the truths of the Christian faith, and set them to music. Both words and tunes tended to be "catchy," and his doggerel instructions were extremely popular and were sung everywhere. He preached tirelessly, both to the native peoples and to the Europeans living there. found to his dismay that the Portuguese settlers and soldiers of the colony were brutal in their treatment of the natives, and that, even aside from this, their manner of life did not commend their nominal faith to the native observer. He wrote boldly to the King of Portugal to complain: "It is possible that when our Lord God calls your Highness to his Judgement that your Highness may hear angry words from him: "Why did you not punish those who were your subjects and owned your authority, and were enemies to me in India?'" five months in Goa, Francis went to the east coast of India, near Sri Lanka (Ceylon), where he preached to a people called the Paravas, with considerable success until the ruler of Jaffna in northern Ceylon became alarmed and suppressed his mission by force. most of 1545 to 1547, Francis preached in Malacca (another Portuguese possession) and other places on or near the Malay Peninsula. he encountered a Japanese expatriate (Anjiro, later baptized as Paul), and became interested in the possibility of a Japanese mission. After a brief return to Goa, he set out for Japan with another Jesuit priest and three Japanese converts. Here he learned the language, wrote a catechism, and preached. authorities welcomed him in some towns and prevented him from teaching in others. Altogether Francis, the first to preach the Gospel in Japan, made perhaps 2000 converts there. then determined to carry the Gospel to China, at that time closed to outsiders. He bribed a ship's captain to smuggle him into the country, but had barely arrived there when he was stricken with fever and died on 3 December 1552. His body was brought back to Goa and buried there. all acounts, he was a man who preached the Gospel with tireless energy, and with great power and effectiveness. Estimates of the number of converts that he personally baptized vary, but some of them are in the six-digit range. One biographer says that he preached to more persons than anyone else since New Testament times. wrote as follows in a letter to Ignatius: many people hereabouts are not becoming Christians for one reason only: there is nobody to make them Christians. Again and again I have thought of going around the universities of Europe, especially Paris, and crying out to the scholars: "What a tragedy: how many souls are being shut out of heaven, thanks to you!" thought would certainly stir most of them to listen actively to what God is saying to them. They would forget their own desires and give themselves over entirely to God's will and his choice. They would cry out with all their heart: "Lord, here am I! Send me. Send me anywhere you like -- even to India!" by James Kiefer

France, 1534-1540, Society of Jesus, Jesuits
France, 1540, Society of Jesus, Jesuits ; Society of Jesus is a religious order of the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions with the approval of Pope Paul III in 1540. The members are called Jesuits .[2] The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue. Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General.[3][4] The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome.[5] The historic curia of Ignatius is now part of the Collegio del Ges¹ attached to the Church of the Gesu, the Jesuit mother church. Society of Jesus as a congregation had some militaristic tendencies. This was so because St. Ignatius who was its leading founder was a nobleman who had a military background. An example of these military tendencies is that members of the society were expected to accept orders to go anywhere in the world, where they might be required to live in extreme conditions. Accordingly, the opening lines of the founding document declared that the society was founded for "whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God[a] to strive especially for the defence and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine".[7] Jesuits are thus sometimes referred to colloquially as "God's soldiers",[8] "God's marines",[9] or "the Company", which evolved from references to Ignatius' history as a soldier and the society's commitment to accepting orders anywhere and to endure any conditions.[10] The society participated in the Counter-Reformation and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3;

France, 1547-1559, King, Henry II, pursued f's policies, art, war, religion, Wars against Habsburg, suppress Protestant Reformation, Huguenots increasing
France, 1547-1559, King of France, Henry II of France ; II (31 March 1519 - 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, in 1536. a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his father's policies in matters of art, war, and religion. He persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg and tried to suppress the Protestant Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign. Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), which put an end to the Italian Wars, had mixed results: France renounced its claims to territories in Italy, but gained certain other territories, including the Pale of Calais and the Three Bishoprics. In addition, even if the Habsburgs maintained a position of primacy, France managed to change the European balance of power by forcing Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor to abdicate during the Eighth Italian War and divide the Habsburg Empire between Spain and Austria. suffered an untimely death in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. The king's surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the infected wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery, the captain of his Scottish Guard. He was succeeded in turn by three of his sons, whose ineffectual reigns helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics. FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552;

France, 1559-1560, King of France, Frances II of France, French wars of religion
France, 1559-1560, King of France, Frances II of France ; II (19 January 1544 - 5 December 1560) was King of France from 1559 to 1560. was also King consort of Scotland as a result of his marriage to Mary, Queen of Scots, from 1558 until his death in 1560. ascended the throne of France at age 15 after the accidental death of his father, Henry II, in 1559. His short reign was dominated by the first stirrings of the French Wars of Religion. the royal age of majority was 14, his mother, Catherine de' Medici, entrusted the reins of government to his wife Mary's uncles from the House of Guise, staunch supporters of the Catholic cause. were unable to help Catholics in Scotland against the progressing Scottish Reformation, however, and the Auld Alliance was dissolved. was succeeded by two of his brothers in turn, both of whom were also unable to reduce tensions between Protestants and Catholics.

France, 1560-1574, King of France, Charles IX of France
France, 1560-1574, King of France, Charles IX of France;

France, 1574-1575, King of France, Henry III of France
France, 1574-1575, King of France, Henry III of France;

France, 1575-1610, King of France,Henry IV of France
France, 1575-1610, King of France,Henry IV of France; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660;

France, 1598, Edict of Nantes, Brittany (Liore River 31), Granted Rights to the French Protestants aka Huguenots
Nantes, Brittany ; Edict of Nantes; Edict of Nantes (French: édit de Nantes) was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. the edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity.[a] The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. offering a general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field, even for the state, and to bring grievances directly to the king. marked the end of the French Wars of Religion, which had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century. Edict of St. Germain, promulgated 36 years earlier by Catherine de Médici, had granted limited tolerance to Huguenots but was overtaken by events, as it was not formally registered until after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March 1562, which triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion. Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, was promulgated by Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV. This act drove an exodus of Protestants and increased the hostility of Protestant nations bordering France.

France, 1600, 17th Century Folder, St Vincent DePaul, Centralized Power, Versailles

France, 1610-1643, King of France, Louis XIII of France
France, 1610-1643, King of France, Louis XIII of France; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660;

France, 1643-1715, King of France, Louis XIV of France
France, 1643-1715, King of France, Louis XIV of France; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660;

France, 1682-1742, Elie Neau, French Huguenot, Anglican, and American Catechist school for slaves and indians in New York
France, 1682-1742, Elie Neau, French Huguenot, Anglican, and American Catechist school for slaves and indians in New York ; ELIE NAUD, (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722; most effective work of the Society [for the Propogation of the Gospel] among Negroes of the Northern colonies was accomplished in New York. that colony, the instruction of the Negro and Indian slaves to prepare them for conversion, baptism, and communion was a primary charge oft repeated to every missionary and schoolmaster of the Society. addition to the general efforts put forth in the colonies, there was in New York a special provision for the employment of sixteen clergymen and thirteen lay teachers mainly for the evangelization of the slaves and the free Indians. the Negro slaves a catechizing school was opened in New York City in 1704 under the charge of Elias Neau. benevolent man, after several years’ imprisonment because of his Protestant faith, had come to New York to try his fortunes as a trader. early as 1703 he called the attention of the Society to the great number, of slaves in New York “who were without God in the world, and of whose souls there was no manner of care taken” and proposed the appointment of a catechist to undertake their instruction. himself finally being prevailed upon to accept this position, obtained a license from the Governor, resigned his position as elder in the French church [Église du Saint Esprit] and conformed to the Established Church of England, “not upon any worldly account but through a principle of conscience and hearty approbation of the English liturgy.” He was later licensed by the Bishop of London. ’s task was not an easy one. At first he went from house to house, but afterwards arranged for some of the slaves to attend him. succeeded, however, in obtaining gratifying results. He was commended to the Society by Rev. Mr. Vesey in 1706 as a “constant communicant of our church, and a most zealous and prudent servant of Christ, in proselyting the miserable Negroes and Indians among them to the Christian Religion, whereby he does great service to God and his church.” confidence in him was attested by an act of the Society in preparing at his request “a Bill to be offered to Parliament for the more effectual Conversion of the Negro and other Servants in the Plantations, to compell Owners of Slaves to cause children to be baptized within 3 months after their birth and to permit them when come to years of discretion to be instructed in the Christian Religion on our Lord’s day by the Missionaries under whose ministry they live.” ’s school suffered greatly in 1712 because of the prejudice engendered by the declaration that instruction was the main cause of the Negro riot in that city. some days Neau dared not show himself, so bitter was the feeling of the masters. Upon being assured, however, that only one Negro connected with the school had participated in the affair and that the most criminal belonged to the masters who were openly opposed to educating them, the institution was permitted to continue its endeavors, and the Governor extended to it his protection and recommended that masters have their slaves instructed. Neau had still to complain thereafter of the struggle and opposition of the generality of the inhabitants, who were strongly prejudiced with a horrid motive thinking that Christian knowledge “would be a means to make the slave more cunning and apter to wickedness.” so long thereafter, however, the support of the best people and officials of the community made his task easier. Neau could say in 1714 that “if the slaves and domestics in New York were not instructed it was not his fault.” Governor, the Council, Mayor, the Recorder and the Chief Justice informed the Society that Neau had performed his work “to the great advancement of religion in general and the particular benefit of the free Indians, Negro slaves, and other Heathens in those parts, with indefatigable zeal and application.” Elias Neau signature Neau died in 1722. His work was carried on by Mr. Huddlestone, Rev. Mr. Whitmore, Rev. Mr. Colgan, Rev. R. Charlton, and Rev. S. Auchmutty. See also his biography from Holy Women, Holy Men. Elias Neau; Neau (1662 – 7 September 1722), born Élie Neau, in Moëze, Saintonge, was a French Huguenot. the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, he fled first to the French colony of Saint-Domingue, to Boston, where he became a prosperous merchant. 1692, he was captured by a French privateer near Jamaica, and for being a fugitive Protestant, was first sentenced to a life sentence as a galley slave, then imprisoned in Marseille.[1 He was released in 1697, following the intercession of King William III, whose ministers argued that Neau was an English subject.[1] [2] back in North America, Neau's story made him "probably the most famous refugee in British America at the time" because his refusal to gain his freedom by converting to Catholicism attracted "a wide Protestant readership in both French and English."[3][4] 1704, Neau cut his ties with the French Protestant church in New York and converted to Anglicanism. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel then appointed him as minister to black slaves in North America, and he established the first school open to African-Americans in New York City.[5][6] 1706, he secured passage of a bill in New York allowing slaves to be catechized.[7][8] Episcopal Church commemorates him as a "witness to the faith" on September 7.

France, 1685, Revocation Edict of Nantes, Brittany (Liore River 31), Granted Rights to the French Protestants aka Huguenots
Nantes, Brittany ; Edict of Nantes; Edict of Nantes (French: édit de Nantes) was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. the edict, Henry aimed primarily to promote civil unity.[a] The edict separated civil from religious unity, treated some Protestants for the first time as more than mere schismatics and heretics and opened a path for secularism and tolerance. offering a general freedom of conscience to individuals, the edict offered many specific concessions to the Protestants, such as amnesty and the reinstatement of their civil rights, including the right to work in any field, even for the state, and to bring grievances directly to the king. marked the end of the French Wars of Religion, which had afflicted France during the second half of the 16th century. Edict of St. Germain, promulgated 36 years earlier by Catherine de Médici, had granted limited tolerance to Huguenots but was overtaken by events, as it was not formally registered until after the Massacre of Vassy on 1 March 1562, which triggered the first of the French Wars of Religion. Edict of Fontainebleau, which revoked the Edict of Nantes in October 1685, was promulgated by Louis XIV, the grandson of Henry IV. This act drove an exodus of Protestants and increased the hostility of Protestant nations bordering France.

France, 1700-1789, 18th Century Folder, Versailles to the French Revolution

France, 1715-1774, King of France, Louis XV of France, returned netherlands, New France in A to GB&S, corruption, useless wars
France, 1715-1774, King of France, Louis XV of France; XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved,[1] was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defined as his 13th birthday) on 15 February 1723, the kingdom was ruled by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, as Regent of France. Cardinal Fleury was chief minister from 1726 until his death in 1743, at which time the king took sole control of the kingdom. reign of almost 59 years (from 1715 to 1774) was the second longest in the history of France, exceeded only by his predecessor, Louis XIV, who had ruled for 72 years (from 1643 to 1715).[2] 1748, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745. He ceded New France in North America to Great Britain and Spain at the conclusion of the disastrous Seven Years' War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of the Duchy of Lorraine and the Corsican Republic into the Kingdom of France. generally criticise his reign, citing how reports of his corruption embarrassed the monarchy, while his wars drained the treasury while producing little gain. His grandson and successor Louis XVI would inherit a kingdom in need of financial and political reform which would ultimately lead to the French Revolution of 1789.

France, 1732-1778, Rousseau, enlightenment, modern political, social thought, Facism, Naziism, Communism, democracy, progressive
Switzerland, 1732-1778, Rousseau, enlightenment, modern political, social thought, Facism, Naziism, Communism, democracy, progressive; Rousseau; 28 June 1712 - 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic and educational thought.[1] Discourse on Inequality and The Social Contract are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel Julie, or the New Heloise (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction.[2][3] His Emile, or On Education (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published Confessions (composed in 1769), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished Reveries of the Solitary Walker (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late-18th-century "Age of Sensibility", and featured an increased focus on subjectivity and introspection that later characterized modern writing. befriended fellow philosopher Denis Diderot in 1742, and would later write about Diderot's romantic troubles in his Confessions. During the period of the French Revolution, Rousseau was the most popular of the philosophers among members of the Jacobin Club. He was interred as a national hero in the Panthéon in Paris, in 1794, 16 years after his death. Absolved From Being Good-Mannered: The Romantic Totalitarianism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, May 20, 2021 ;

France, 1754-1763, French and Indian War, New France v New England, outnumbered french, indians both sides,
France, 1754-1763, French and Indian War; French and Indian War (1754–1763) pitted the colonies of British America against those of New France, each side supported by military units from the parent country and by Native American allies. At the start of the war, the French colonies had a population of roughly 60,000 settlers, compared with 2 million in the British colonies.[4] The outnumbered French particularly depended on the natives.[5] European nations declared a wider war upon one another overseas in 1756, two years into the French and Indian War, and many view the French and Indian War as being merely the American theater of the worldwide Seven Years' War of 1756–63; however, the French and Indian War is viewed in the United States as a singular conflict which was not associated with any European war.[6] French Canadians call it Guerre de la Conquête ('War of the Conquest').[7][8] British colonists were supported at various times by the Iroquois, Catawba, and Cherokee tribes, and the French colonists were supported by Wabanaki Confederacy member tribes Abenaki and Mi'kmaq, and the Algonquin, Lenape, Ojibwa, Ottawa, Shawnee, and Wyandot tribes.[9] Fighting took place primarily along the frontiers between New France and the British colonies, from the Province of Virginia in the south to Newfoundland in the north. It began with a dispute over control of the confluence of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River called the Forks of the Ohio, and the site of the French Fort Duquesne at the location that later became Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.[10] 1755, six colonial governors met with General Edward Braddock, the newly arrived British Army commander, and planned a four-way attack on the French. None succeeded, and the main effort by Braddock proved a disaster; he lost the Battle of the Monongahela on July 9, 1755, and died a few days later. British operations failed in the frontier areas of the Province of Pennsylvania and the Province of New York during 1755–57 due to a combination of poor management, internal divisions, effective Canadian scouts, French regular forces, and Native warrior allies. In 1755, the British captured Fort Beauséjour on the border separating Nova Scotia from Acadia, and they ordered the expulsion of the Acadians (1755–64) soon afterwards. Orders for the deportation were given by Commander-in-Chief William Shirley without direction from Great Britain. The Acadians were expelled, both those captured in arms and those who had sworn the loyalty oath to the King. Natives likewise were driven off the land to make way for settlers from New England.[11] British colonial government fell in the region of Nova Scotia after several disastrous campaigns in 1757, including a failed expedition against Louisbourg and the Siege of Fort William Henry; this last was followed by the Natives torturing and massacring their colonial victims. William Pitt came to power and significantly increased British military resources in the colonies at a time when France was unwilling to risk large convoys to aid the limited forces that they had in New France, preferring to concentrate their forces against Prussia and its allies who were now engaged in the Seven Years' War in Europe. The conflict in Ohio ended in 1758 with the British–American victory in the Ohio Country. Between 1758 and 1760, the British military launched a campaign to capture French Canada. They succeeded in capturing territory in surrounding colonies and ultimately the city of Quebec (1759). The following year the British were victorious in the Montreal Campaign in which the French ceded Canada in accordance with the Treaty of Paris (1763). also ceded its territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain, as well as French Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to its ally Spain in compensation for Spain's loss to Britain of Spanish Florida. (Spain had ceded Florida to Britain in exchange for the return of Havana, Cuba.) France's colonial presence north of the Caribbean was reduced to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, confirming Great Britain's position as the dominant colonial power in northern America. MARY (MOLLY) BRANT, WITNESS TO THE FAITH AMONG THE MOHAWKS, 1796, Commemorated April 16;

France, 1774-1791, King of France, Louis XVI of France, enlightened reforms, caused hostility on both sides, and his execution
France, 1774-1791, King of France, Louis XVI of France; XVI (23 August 1754 - 21 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. was referred to as Citizen Louis Capet during the four months just before he was executed by guillotine. In 1765, upon the death of his father, Louis, Dauphin of France, he became the new Dauphin. Upon his grandfather Louis XV's death on 10 May 1774, he assumed the title King of France and Navarre, until 4 September 1791, when he received the title of King of the French until the monarchy was abolished on 21 September 1792. first part of his reign was marked by attempts to reform the French government in accordance with Enlightenment ideas. These included efforts to abolish serfdom, remove the taille (land tax) and the corvée (labour tax),[1] and increase tolerance toward non-Catholics as well as abolish the death penalty for deserters.[2][3] French nobility reacted to the proposed reforms with hostility, and successfully opposed their implementation. implemented deregulation of the grain market, advocated by his economic liberal minister Turgot, but it resulted in an increase in bread prices. In periods of bad harvests, it led to food scarcity which, during a particularly bad harvest in 1775, prompted the masses to revolt. 1776, Louis XVI actively supported the North American colonists, who were seeking their independence from Great Britain, which was realised in the 1783 Treaty of Paris. ensuing debt and financial crisis contributed to the unpopularity of the Ancien Régime. This led to the convening of the Estates-General of 1789. Discontent among the members of France's middle and lower classes resulted in strengthened opposition to the French aristocracy and to the absolute monarchy, of which Louis and his wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, were viewed as representatives. Increasing tensions and violence were marked by events such as the storming of the Bastille, during which riots in Paris forced Louis to definitively recognize the legislative authority of the National Assembly. indecisiveness and conservatism led some elements of the people of France to view him as a symbol of the perceived tyranny of the Ancien Régime, and his popularity deteriorated progressively. His unsuccessful flight to Varennes in June 1791, four months before the constitutional monarchy was declared, seemed to justify the rumors that the king tied his hopes of political salvation to the prospects of foreign intervention. The credibility of the king was deeply undermined, and the abolition of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic became an ever-increasing possibility. growth of anti-clericalism among revolutionaries resulted in the abolition of the dîme (religious land tax) and several government policies aimed at the dechristianization of France. a context of civil and international war, Louis XVI was suspended and arrested at the time of the Insurrection of 10 August 1792. month later, the absolute monarchy was abolished and the First French Republic was proclaimed on 21 September 1792. Louis was then tried by the National Convention (self-instituted as a tribunal for the occasion), found guilty of high treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793, as a desacralized French citizen under the name of Citizen Louis Capet, in reference to Hugh Capet, the founder of the Capetian dynasty – which the revolutionaries interpreted as Louis's surname. XVI was the only king of France ever to be executed, and his death brought an end to more than a thousand years of continuous French monarchy. Both of his sons died in childhood, before the Bourbon Restoration; his only child to reach adulthood, Marie Thérèse, was given over to the Austrians in exchange for French prisoners of war, eventually dying childless in 1851.

France, 1789-1940, Folder, French Revolution to WWII

France, 1789-1799, 18th Century Folder, French Revolution

France, 1789-1799, French Revolution
France, 1789-1799, French Revolution; French Revolution began in May 1789 when the Ancient Regime was abolished in favour of a constitutional monarchy. Its replacement in September 1792 by the First French Republic led to the execution of Louis XVI in January 1793, and an extended period of political turmoil. This culminated in the appointment of Napoleon as First Consul in November 1799, which is generally taken as its end point. Many of its principles are now considered fundamental aspects of modern liberal democracy.[1] intellectual origins of the Revolution came from a global network of European and Aerican 'patriots', who shared ideas and political principles, contacts accelerated by the American Revolution.[2] Together, they marked the beginning of the Age of Revolution, which continued into the mid-19th century and impacted much of Europe and the Americas.[3] However, the French quickly discarded the American Revolution as a reference point, and the two revolutions are generally viewed as distinct events, with different causes.[4] 1700 and 1789, the French population increased from 18 million to 26 million, leading to large numbers of unemployed, accompanied by sharp increases in food prices caused by years of bad harvests.[5] Widespread social distress led to the convocation of the Estates General in May 1789, the first since 1614. In June, the Estates were converted into a National Assembly, which swept away the existing establishment in a series of radical measures. These included the abolition of feudalism, state control of the Catholic Church and extending the right to vote. next three years were dominated by the struggle for political control, exacerbated by economic depression and social unrest. External powers like Austria, Britain and Prussia viewed the Revolution as a threat, leading to the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in April 1792. Disillusionment with Louis XVI led to the establishment of the First French Republic on 22 September 1792, followed by his execution in January 1793. In June, an uprising in Paris replaced the Girondins who dominated the Assembly with a Committee of Public Safety under Maximilien Robespierre. sparked the Reign of Terror, an attempt to eradicate alleged "counter-revolutionaries"; by the time it ended in July 1794, over 16,600 had been executed in Paris and the provinces. As well as external enemies, the Republic faced a series of internal Royalist and Jacobin revolts; in order to deal with these, the Directory took power in November 1795. Despite military success, the cost of the war led to economic stagnation and internal divisions, and in November 1799, the Directory was replaced by the Consulate. This is generally viewed as marking the end of the Revolutionary period. Revolutionary symbols such as La Marseillaise and phrases like Liberty fraternity reappeared in other revolts, such as the 1917 Russian Revolution.[6] Over the next two centuries, its key principles like equality would inspire campaigns for the abolition of slavery and universal suffrage.[7] Its values and institutions dominate French politics to this day, and many historians regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.[8] Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12;

France, 1792-1804, French First Republic
France, 1792-1804, French First Republic; In the history of France, the First Republic, was founded on 22 September 1792 during the French Revolution. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First Empire in 1804 under Napoleon, although the form of the government changed several times. This period was characterized by the fall of the monarchy, the establishment of the National Convention and the Reign of Terror, the Thermidorian Reaction and the founding of the Directory, and, finally, the creation of the Consulate and Napoleon's rise to power. France, 1789-1799, French Revolution; Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12;

France, 1798, French Conquest of Malta, Hide the Relics
France, 1798, French Conquest of Malta, Hide the Relics; Siege of Malta, also known as the Siege of Valletta or the French Blockade, was a two-year siege and blockade of the French garrison in Valletta and the Three Cities, the largest settlements and main port on the Mediterranean island of Malta, between 1798 and 1800. had been captured by a French expeditionary force during the Mediterranean campaign of 1798, and garrisoned with 3,000 men under the command of Claude-Henri Belgrand de Vaubois. After the British Royal Navy destroyed the French Mediterranean Fleet at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798, the British were able to initiate a blockade of Malta, assisted by an uprising among the native Maltese population against French rule. its retreat to Valletta, the French garrison faced severe food shortages, exacerbated by the effectiveness of the British blockade. Although small quantities of supplies arrived in early 1799, there was no further traffic until early 1800, by which time starvation and disease was having a disastrous effect on health, morale, and combat capability of the French troops. February 1800, a significant convoy under Contre-Admiral Jean-Baptiste Perree sent from Toulon made a determined effort to resupply the garrison. The blockade squadron under Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson intercepted the convoy within sight of the starving troops on Malta. Perree was killed and his flagship captured in the ensuing and brief Battle of the Malta Convoy (1800); no supplies reached Malta. The following month, the ship of the line Guillaume Tell set sail from Valletta to Toulon, laden with soldiers, but this too was intercepted and in a hard-fought battle was forced to surrender to a larger British squadron. These defeats rendered the French position on Valletta untenable, and its surrender inevitable. Although Vaubois held out for another five months, he eventually surrendered on 4 September and Malta was taken by Britain. Malta ; Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated October 12 ; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, October 12 ; knights of Rhodes; Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John, Commemorated January 7 ; Maltese Order in honor of the holy Prophet John (no Wiki link);

France, 1800, 19th Century Folder, Napoleonic Wars, 1st and 2nd French Empires, 1st 3 Republics

France, 1803-1815, Napoleonic Wars
France, 1803-1815, Napoleonic Wars; Napoleonic Wars (1803-“1815) were a series of major conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European powers formed into various coalitions. It produced a brief period of French domination over most of continental Europe. The wars stemmed from the unresolved disputes associated with the French Revolution and its resultant conflict. The wars are often categorised into five conflicts, each termed after the coalition that fought Napoleon: the Third Coalition (1805), the Fourth (1806-“07), the Fifth (1809), the Sixth (1813-“14), and the Seventh (1815). upon ascending to First Consul of France in 1799, had inherited a republic in chaos; he subsequently created a state with stable finances, a strong bureaucracy, and a well-trained army. In 1805, Austria and Russia formed the Third Coalition and waged war against France. In response, Napoleon defeated the allied Russo-Austrian army at Austerlitz in December 1805, which is considered his greatest victory. At sea, the British severely defeated the joint Franco-Spanish navy in the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. This victory secured British control of the seas and prevented the invasion of Britain itself. Concerned about increasing French power, Prussia led the creation of the Fourth Coalition with Russia, Saxony, and Sweden, and the resumption of war in October 1806. Napoleon quickly defeated the Prussians at Jena and the Russians at Friedland, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. The peace failed, though, as war broke out in 1809, when the badly prepared Fifth Coalition, led by Austria, was quickly defeated at Wagram. to isolate and weaken Britain economically through his Continental System, Napoleon launched an invasion of Portugal, the only remaining British ally in continental Europe. After occupying Lisbon in November 1807, and with the bulk of French troops present in Spain, Napoleon seized the opportunity to turn against his former ally, depose the reigning Spanish royal family and declare his brother King of Spain in 1808 as Jose I. The Spanish and Portuguese revolted with British support and expelled the French from Iberia in 1814 after six years of fighting. Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, routinely violated the Continental System, prompting Napoleon to launch a massive invasion of Russia in 1812. The resulting campaign ended in disaster and the near destruction of Napoleon's Grande Armies. by the defeat, Austria, Prussia, and Russia formed the Sixth Coalition and began a new campaign against France, decisively defeating Napoleon at Leipzig in October 1813 after several inconclusive engagements. The Allies then invaded France from the east, while the Peninsular War spilled over into southwestern France. Coalition troops captured Paris at the end of March 1814 and forced Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba, and the Bourbons were restored to power. But Napoleon escaped in February 1815, and reassumed control of France for around one hundred days. After forming the Seventh Coalition, the Allies defeated him permanently at Waterloo in June 1815 and exiled him to Saint Helena, where he died six years later.[30] Congress of Vienna redrew the borders of Europe and brought a period of relative peace. The wars had profound consequences on global history, including the spread of nationalism and liberalism, the rise of Britain as the world's foremost naval and economic power, the appearance of independence movements in Latin America and subsequent collapse of the Spanish Empire and Portuguese Empire, the fundamental reorganisation of German and Italian territories into larger states, and the introduction of radically new methods of conducting warfare but also civil law. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST AND THEOLOGIAN, 1890, Commemorated February 21 ;

France, 1804-1815, Napolionic Era, First French Empire, aka Republic
France, 1804-1815, Napolionic Era, First French Empire; First French Empire,[4] officially the French Republic (until 1809) then the French Empire (French: Empire Francais; Latin: Imperium Francicum),[b] was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Although France had already established a colonial empire overseas since the early 17th century, the French state had remained a kingdom under the Bourbons and a republic after the French Revolution. Historians refer to Napoleon's regime as the First Empire to distinguish it from the restorationist Second Empire (1852-“1870) ruled by his nephew Napoleon III. 18 May 1804, Napoleon was granted the title Emperor of the French by the French (Senate) and was crowned on 2 December 1804,[8] signifying the end of the French Consulate and of the French First Republic. Despite his coronation, the empire continued to be called the œFrench RepublicÂ until 1809. The French Empire achieved military supremacy in mainland Europe through notable victories in the War of the Third Coalition against Austria, Prussia, Russia, and allied nations, notably at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805.[9] French dominance was reaffirmed during the War of the Fourth Coalition, at the Battle of Jena-“Auerstedt in 1806 and the Battle of Friedland in 1807,[10] before Napoleon's final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence to much of Western Europe and into Poland. At its height in 1812, the French Empire had 130 departments, ruled over 44 million subjects, maintained an extensive military presence in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Duchy of Warsaw, and counted Austria and Prussia as nominal allies.[11] Early French victories exported many ideological features of the Revolution throughout Europe: the introduction of the Napoleonic Code throughout the continent increased legal equality, established jury systems and legalized divorce, and seigneurial dues and seigneurial justice were abolished, as were aristocratic privileges in all places except Poland.[12] France's defeat in 1814 (and then again in 1815), marked the end of the Empire. Translation of a Particle of the Life Giving Cross from Malta to Gatchina, Commemorated on October 12; Translation of the relic of the Right Hand of John the Baptist, Commemorated on October 12; St Peter of Cetinje, Commemorated on October 18;

France, 1804-1814, Napoleon I Bonaparte, statesman and m leader, french revolution, wars, and empire
France, 1804-1814, Napoleon I Bonaparte; Bonaparte (15 August 1769 -“ 5 May 1821) was a French statesman and military leader who led many successful campaigns during the French Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars, and was Emperor of the French (as Napoleon I) from 1804 until 1814 and again briefly in 1815 during the Hundred Days. Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions during the Napoleonic Wars. He won many of these wars and a vast majority of his battles, building a large empire that ruled over much of continental Europe before its final collapse in 1815. Napoleon is regarded as one of the greatest military commanders in history, and his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. His political and cultural legacy has made him one of the most celebrated and controversial leaders in human history.[2][3] Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica a few months after the young independent republic was annexed by the Kingdom of France, Napoleon's modest family descended from minor Italian nobility. He was serving as an artillery officer in the French Royal Army when the French Revolution erupted in 1789. He rapidly rose through the ranks of the military, seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution and becoming a general at age 24. The French Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed the 13 Vendemiaire revolt against the government by royalist insurgents. At age 26, he began his first military campaign against the Austrians and the Italian monarchs aligned with the Habsburgs in the War of the First Coalition, ”winning virtually every battle, conquering the Italian Peninsula in a year while establishing "sister republics" with local support, and becoming a war hero in France. 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He orchestrated a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic. After the Peace of Amiens in 1802, Napoleon turned his attention to France's colonies. He sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States, and he attempted to restore slavery to the French Caribbean colonies. However, while he was successful in restoring slavery in the eastern Caribbean, Napoleon failed in his attempts to subdue Saint-Domingue, and the colony that France once proudly boasted of as the "Pearl of the Antilles" became independent as Haiti in 1804. Napoleon's ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and he became the first Emperor of the French in 1804. The balance of power in Europe shattered, intractable differences with the British meant that the French were soon facing a Third Coalition by 1805. Napoleon emerged triumphant over this coalition with decisive victories in the Ulm Campaign and a historic success over the Russian Empire and Austrian Empire at the Battle of Austerlitz which led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. formed the Franco-Persian alliance and wanted to re-establish the Franco-Indian alliances with the Muslim Indian emperor Tipu Sultan by providing a French-trained army during the Anglo-Mysore Wars, with the continuous aim of having an eventual open way to attack the British in India.[4][5] In 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about French continental expansion. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched his Grande Armie deep into Eastern Europe and annihilated the Russians in June 1807 at the Battle of Friedland. France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high-water mark of the French Empire. In 1809, the Austrians and the British challenged the French again during the War of the Fifth Coalition, but Napoleon solidified his grip over Europe after triumphing at the Battle of Wagram in July. then occupied the Iberian Peninsula, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, and declared his brother Joseph Bonaparte the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support. The Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies in 1814. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia. The Russians were unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade and routinely violated the Continental System, enticing Napoleon into another war. The French launched a major invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The campaign destroyed Russian cities, but did not yield the decisive victory Napoleon wanted. It resulted in the collapse of the Grande Armie and inspired a renewed push against Napoleon by his enemies. 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in the War of the Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, but his tactical victory at the minor Battle of Hanau allowed retreat onto French soil. The Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba off the coast of Tuscany, and the Bourbon dynasty was restored to power. Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition which defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo in June. He was exiled to the remote British island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51. influence on the modern world brought liberal reforms to the numerous territories that he conquered and controlled, such as the Low Countries, Switzerland, and large parts of modern Italy and Germany. He implemented fundamental liberal policies in France and throughout Western Europe. His Napoleonic Code has influenced the legal systems of more than 70 nations around the world. British historian Andrew Roberts states: "The ideas that underpin our modern world-”meritocracy, equality before the law, property rights, religious toleration, modern secular education, sound finances, and so on- ”were championed, consolidated, codified and geographically extended by Napoleon. To them he added a rational and efficient local administration, an end to rural banditry, the encouragement of science and the arts, the abolition of feudalism and the greatest codification of laws since the fall of the Roman Empire".[6] Venerable Anthony of Optina, Commemorated on August 7 ;

France, 1805-1809, Dalmatia in the Napoleonic Era, Roman Catholic, but Bay of Kotor, Montenegro Orthodox
Croatia, 1805-1809, Dalmatia in the Napoleonic Era; in the Napoleonic Era[edit] Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy from 1806 to 1810 included the Dalmatia that had belonged to Venice until 1797 as a part of the Illyrian Provinces in 1811 in 1797, in the treaty of Campo Formio, Napoleon I gave Dalmatia to Austria in return for Belgium. republics of Ragusa (Dubrovnik, Sicily) and Poljica (central Dalmatia near Omis) retained their independence, and Ragusa grew rich by its neutrality during the earlier Napoleonic wars. the Peace of Pressburg in 1805, Istria, Dalmatia and the Bay of Kotor (Montenegro) were handed over to France. 1805 Napoleon created his Kingdom of Italy around the Adriatic sea, annexing to it the former Venetian Dalmatia from Istria to Cattaro (Kotor). 1806, the Republic of Ragusa (Dubrovnik, Sicily) finally succumbed to foreign (French) troops under general Marmont, the same year a Montenegrin force supported by the Russians tried to contest the French by seizing Boka Kotorska (Bay of Kotor, Montenegro). The allied forces have pushed the French to Ragusa. The Russians induced the Montenegrins to render aid and they proceeded to take the islands of Korula and Bra (both central Dalmatian archipelago) but made no furtherprogress, and withdrew in 1807 under the treaty of Tilsit. The Republic of Ragusa was officially annexed to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1808. 1809, the War of the Fifth Coalition broke out, and French and Austrian forces also fought in the Dalmatian Campaign (1809). the summer, Austrian forces retook Dalmatia, but this lasted only until the Treaty of Schunbrunn, when Austria ceded a number of additional provinces north of Dalmatia to France, so Napoleon removed Dalmatia from his Kingdom of Italy and created the Illyrian Provinces. major part of the Dalmatian population was Roman Catholic. St. Peter of Cetinje, Commemorated on October 18;

France, 1809, 10 Oct 1809 NS, Treaty of Schonbrunn, harsh French terms, ended 5th coalition
France, 1875, 10 Oct 1809 NS, Treaty of Schonbrunn; The Treaty of Schonbrunn , sometimes known as the Peace of Schonbrunn or Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at Schonbrunn Palace near Vienna on 14 October 1809. The treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars, after Austria had been defeated at the decisive Battle of Wagram on 5-6 July. France, 1875, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date of 10 Oct 1809 NS; France, French Third Republic President, 1873-1879, Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1809, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date or 10 Oct 1809 NS
France, 1809, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date or 10 Oct 1809 NS; France, French Third Republic President, 1873-1879, Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1812, French Invasion of Russia, Russian Patriotic War of 1812
France, 1812, French Invasion of Russia, Russian Patriotic War of 1812 France, 1804-1815, Napolionic Era, First French Empire; St Tikhon the Bishop of Voronezh and Wonderworker of Zadonsk and All Russia, Commemorated on August 13;

France, 1812, Laurence, Fool for Christ, Kaluga became limit of French offensive and beginning of enemy's retreat
Russia, Kaluga,1512, Laurence, Fool for Christ at Kaluga; the Napoleonic invasion of Russia, the intercession of Blessed Lawrence for his native land was shown in a vivid manner. Kaluga became "the limit of the (French) offensive and the beginning of the enemy's retreat and destruction," according to an inscription on the Maloyaroslavets monument commemorating the battle on October 12, 1812. Tartar War at Kaluga 1512; Blessed Laurence the Fool-For-Christ at Kaluga, Commemorated on August 10; Laurence, the Fool-for-Christ and Wonderworker of Kaluga, lived at the beginning of the XVI century at a distance of half a verst from old Kaluga, near a forest church dedicated to the Nativity of Christ, set upon a high hill. was a long underground entrance from his dwelling place to the church, where he attended services. He also lived at the home of the Kaluga Prince Simeon. It is thought that Blessed Laurence was descended from the noble Khitrov family, since his name is at the head of their memorial at the Peremyshl’sk Liutykov Monastery in the Kaluga diocese. Laurence went barefoot both winter and summer, dressed in a shirt and sheepskin coat. By his ascetical struggles he had risen to such heights of virtue that during his lifetime, he was glorified by gifts of grace. He healed many diseases of the eyes through his prayers. the Crimean Tatars attacked Kaluga in May 1512, Blessed Laurence, then in the Prince's home, suddenly shouted in a loud voice: “Give me my sharp axe, for the curs are attacking Prince Simeon and I must defend him!” Saying this, he grabbed the axe and left. Suddenly, he was on board a ship next to the Prince. The Holy Fool Laurence inspired and encouraged the soldiers, and at that very hour they defeated the enemy. he is depicted on icons with an axe in his right hand, set upon a long handle. It is certain that Prince Simeon (+ 1518), who owed his life to Blessed Laurence, built a monastery on the site of the Saint’s ascetical struggles and dedicated it to him. Laurence reposed on August 10, 1515, on his Name Day. The Saint is also commemorated on July 8, perhaps in remembrance of his first posthumous miracle in Kaluga in 1621.1 that year, the paralyzed boyar Lev Andreevich Kologrivov, who could not move his hands and legs, and was unable to speak, was placed near the tomb of Saint Laurence. During a Moleben, as the Gospel was read, the paralyzed man spoke and began to believe. Raising his right hand, he made the Sign of the Cross; then he stood up, went to the tomb and attached himself to it. By the end of the Moleben, he was able to speak normally, and became perfectly healthy. Laurence seems to have been glorified in the second half of the XVI century. Tsar Ivan the Terrible wrote the following on a deed granting land to the monastery in 1565: “To the Monastery of the Nativity of Christ, where Laurence, the Fool-for-Christ lies." the Napoleonic invasion of Russia, the intercession of Blessed Lawrence for his native land was shown in a vivid manner. Kaluga became "the limit of the (French) offensive and the beginning of the enemy's retreat and destruction," according to an inscription on the Maloyaroslavets monument commemorating the battle on October 12, 1812. August 2018, some of Saint Laurence's relics were discovered in a storeroom of the Moscow Central Museum of the Armed Forces. On August 10/23, a portion of the holy relics was given to the Monastery in Kaluga where the body of Saint Laurence was once buried.

France, 1812, Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God stolen to Paris, Replaced by copy
Russia, Crimea, 988, Jerusalem Icon of the Mother of God transferred to Korsun and Vladimir the Great; Vladimir the Great; Battle of Bassianae (Byzantine (Gothic, Roman) victory over the Huns) 469; The war ended in 469. Marcellinus Comes shortly recorded "The head of Dinzic, son of Attila, king of the Huns, was brought to Constantinople".[14] The Chronicon Paschale recounts "Dinzirichus, Attila's son, was killed by Anagastes, general in Thrace. His head was brought to Constantinople, carried in procession through the Middle Street, and fixed on a pole at the Wooden Circus. The whole city turned out to look at it".[14] Jordanes recounts events in c. 468: "Now after firm peace was established between Goths and Romans, the Goths found that what they received from the emperor was not sufficient for them. Furthermore, they were eager to display their wonted valor, and so began to plunder the neighboring peoples around them, first attacking the Sadagis[nb 1] who held the interior of Pannonia. When Dintzic, king of the Huns, a son of Attila, learned this, he gathered to him the few who still seemed to have remained under his sway, namely, the Ultzinzures[nb 2] the Angisciri[nb 3] the Bittugures[nb 4] and the Bardores[nb 5] Coming to Bassianae (see Battle of Bassianae), a city of Pannonia, he beleaguered it and began to plunder its territory. When the Goths learned this, they abandoned the expedition they had planned against the Sadagis and turned upon the Huns and drove them so ingloriously from their own land that those who remained have been in dread of the arms of the Goths from that time down to the present day."[22] Dengizich, Atilla's Son; Icon of the Mother of God œJerusalemÂ, Commemorated on October 12;

France, 1812, Sven Icon of Briansk, Ukraine, trade r, Br, Ch, Kiev, Vohly to Poland, 1812 Napoleonic War delivernace
Russia, Kiev,1812, Sven Icon of Briansk, Ukraine (Desna River 2, First Great Abatis Line 1566, trade r, Smolensk, Br, Ch, Kiev, Vohly to Poland), 1812 Napoleonic War delivernace; Briansk, Ukraine (Desna River 1) ; Icon of the Mother of God of Sven, Commemorated on August 17; Sven Icon of the Mother of God of the Caves has two festal celebrations: May 3 (the day of the reopse of Saint Theodosius of the Caves), and August 17 (the day of the repose of Saint Alypius), who painted the icon. The August 17 celebration was established in the year 1815 in thanksgiving for the deliverance of the city of Briansk (around which the icon appeared in 1288) from invasion during the 1812 Napoleonic War.

France, 1814-1830, Bourbon Restoration, after Napoleon fell at Waterloo in 1815
France, 1814-1830, Bourbon Restoration; Bourbon Restoration was the period of French history following the first fall of Napoleon in 1814 and his final defeat in the Hundred Days in 1815, until the July Revolution of 1830. brothers of the executed Louis XVI, namely Louis XVIII and Charles X, successively mounted the throne and instituted a conservative government aiming to restore the proprieties, if not all the institutions, of the Ancien Regime. supporters of the monarchy returned to France. They were nonetheless unable to reverse most of the changes made by the French Revolution and Napoleon. by decades of war, the nation experienced a period of internal and external peace, stable economic prosperity and the preliminaries of industrialization.[1] St Peter of Cetinje, Commemorated on October 18;

France, 1830-1848, July Monarchy, Orleans Monarchy
France, 1830-1848, July Monarchy, Orleans Monarchy ; The July Monarchy (French: Monarchie de juillet, officially the Kingdom of France, French: Royaume de France) was a liberal constitutional monarchy in France under Louis Philippe I, starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848. It marks the end of the Bourbon Restoration (1814-“1830). It began with the overthrow of the conservative government of Charles X, the last king of the House of Bourbon. Louis Philippe, a member of the more liberal Orleans branch of the House of Bourbon, proclaimed himself as Roi des Francais ("King of the French") rather than "King of France", emphasizing the popular origins of his reign. The king promised to follow the juste milieu, or the middle-of-the-road, avoiding the extremes of both the conservative supporters of Charles X and radicals on the left. The July Monarchy was dominated by wealthy bourgeoisie and numerous former Napoleonic officials. It followed conservative policies, especially under the influence (1840-“48) of Fransois Guizot. The king promoted friendship with Great Britain and sponsored colonial expansion, notably the French conquest of Algeria. By 1848, a year in which many European states had a revolution, the king's popularity had collapsed, and he was overthrown.

France, 1848, French Revolution of 1848
France, 1848, French Revolution of 1848; The 1848 Revolution in France, sometimes known as the February Revolution, was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France the revolutionary events ended the July Monarchy (1830-“1848) and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. Following the overthrow of King Louis Philippe in February 1848, the elected government of the Second Republic ruled France. In the months that followed, this government steered a course that became more conservative. On 23 June 1848, the people of Paris rose in insurrection,[1] which became known as June Days uprising , a bloody but unsuccessful rebellion by the Paris workers against a conservative turn in the Republic's course. On 2 December 1848, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon III) was elected president of the Second Republic, largely on peasant support. Exactly three years later he suspended the elected assembly, establishing the Second French Empire, which lasted until 1870. Louis Napoleon went on to become the de facto last French monarch. The February revolution established the principle of the "right to work" (droit au travail), and its newly established government created "National Workshops" (ateliers nationaux) for the unemployed. At the same time a sort of industrial parliament was established at the Luxembourg Palace, under the presidency of Louis Blanc, with the object of preparing a scheme for the organization of labor. These tensions between liberal Orleanist and Radical Republicans and Socialists led to the June Days Uprising.

France, 1848-1852, French Second Republic
France, 1848-1852, French Second Republic; French Second Republic was a short-lived republican government of France under President Louis-Napoeon Bonaparte. It lasted from the 1848 Revolution to the 1851 coup by which the president made himself Emperor Napoleon III and initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto of the First Republic, Liberty Fraternity. The Second Republic witnessed the tension between the "Social and Democratic Republic" and a liberal form of republicanism, which exploded during the June Days uprising of 1848. The Republic would ultimately last four years, one of the shortest regimes in French history.

France, 1852-1870, Second French Empire
Second French Empire 1852-1870; was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France. Historians in the 1930s and 1940s often disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of fascism.[4] That interpretation is no longer promulgated, and by the late 20th century they were celebrating it as leading example of a modernising regime.[5][6] Historians have generally given the Empire negative evaluations on its foreign policy, and somewhat more positive evaluations of domestic policies, especially after Napoleon III liberalised his rule after 1858. He promoted French business and exports. The greatest achievements came in material improvements, in the form of a grand railway network that facilitated commerce and tied the nation together and centered it on Paris. It had the effect of stimulating economic growth, and bringing prosperity to most regions of the country. The Second Empire is given high credit for the rebuilding of Paris with broad boulevards, striking public buildings, and very attractive residential districts for upscale Parisians. In international policy, Napoleon III tried to emulate his uncle, engaging in numerous imperial ventures around the world as well as several wars in Europe. Using very harsh methods, he built up the French Empire in North Africa and in Southeast Asia. Napoleon III also sought to modernise the Mexican economy and bring it into the French orbit, but this ended in a fiasco. He badly mishandled the threat from Prussia, and by the end of his reign, Napoleon III found himself without allies in the face of overwhelming German force.[7] Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ;

France, 1852-1870, Emperor of France, Napoleon III
Emperor of France, 1852-1870, Napoleon III ; the nephew of Napoleon I, was the first president of France, from 1848 to 1852, and the last French monarch, from 1852 to 1870. First elected president of the French Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be re-elected, and became the emperor of the French. He founded the Second French Empire and was its only emperor until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. He worked to modernize the French economy, rebuilt the center of Paris, expanded the French overseas empire, and engaged in the Crimean War and the Second Italian War of Independence. Second French Empire 1852-1870; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ;

France, 1864-1879, Bernadette of Lourdes, Southwest France (Healing Spring, on Way of St James, Spain) Virgin Mary messages
France, 1864-1879, Bernadette of Lourdes, Southwest France (Healing Spring, East of Oloron, France on Way of St James, Spain) Virgin Mary messages; Lourdes; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ; Kiefer's Christian Biographies - Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary 16 April 1879: Bernarde ("Bernadette") Soubirous was born in 1844, the first of six children of a miller whose family lived in extreme poverty. She was malnourished when young, and ailing and asthmatic throughout her life. As a child, she was cheerful and pleasant, but was generally considered backward. 11 February and 16 July in 1858, when she was fourteen, she is said to have had a series of remarkable experiences in a shallow cave near a spot where she and two companions had gone to gather sticks for firewood. eighteen occasions she saw a lady who identified herself as the Virgin Mary and gave her a message for the world. content of the message was an exhortation to prayer and penitence. The lady pointed out a spring of water and told her to drink from it. spring now produces 27,000 (British) gallons of water a week (roughly 13 liters a minute), and pilgrims come from all over the world to bathe in its waters, to pray, and to seek healing from various ailments. committee of doctors (not all of them Roman Catholic) investigates reports of healings that are claimed to be miraculous, and publishes accounts of those that seem most noteworthy. reports of her visions subjected her to much skepticism, and to much curiosity. She retired to a convent, at first as a visitor, taking formal vows as a nun in 1866, and dying 16 April 1879, after a life of chronic illness patiently borne. was urged to go to Lourdes and ask for healing at the shrine that had been built in response to her visions there; but she said that the healings there were for others, not for her, and that her business was to bear her illness.) should be understood that the Church of Rome does not officially certify any revelations said to have been made since the time of the Apostles, and that therefore it is possible to be a devout Roman Catholic in good standing and yet completely disbelieve in the genuineness of the appearances at Lourdes and the subsequent healings. best known English account is the novel The Song Of Bernadette, by Franz Werfel (1942), later made into a movie. Its historical accuracy has been questioned by B. Lebbe in The Soul Of Bernadette (1947). (traditional language) Gracious Father, whose Son Jesus Christ went about healing the sick: We praise thee for the gift of healing, whether granted directly or through the ministration of dedicated physicians, surgeons, and nurses; and we humbly beseech thee to keep us ever grateful for deliverance from illness whenever it shall please thee to heal us, and patient and cheerful in affliction when for any reason thou dost call us to endure it; the which we ask through the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever. (contemporary language) Gracious Father, whose Son Jesus Christ went about healing the sick: We praise you for the gift of healing, whether granted directly or through the work of dedicated physicians, surgeons, and nurses; and we pray you to keep us always grateful for deliverance from illness whenever it pleases you to heal us, and patient and cheerful in affliction when for any reason you call us to endure it; and this we ask through your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

France, 1866-1920, Nectarius, Met oPentapolis, engine start, wind stop, Malice, deposed, S director, incorrupt r
Africa, North Africa, 1866-1920, Nectarius Kephalas, Met oPentapolis, North Africa (Benhgazi), great wonderworker, modern times, fSelebria, Thrace, poor, tConstan fWork, captain tried start engines, nothing happened, A allowed on boat for free, job w tobacco merchant, wrote spiritual maxims on tBags, wrote letter to christ for shoes&apron, man sent him money, employer beat him but man told employer, holy land pilgrimage, storm, dipped his cross&commanded sea be still, it worked, however cross fell, knocking sounds, cross found, monk in 1875, Nea Moni in Chios, Deacon, Malice fOther Mets&bishops, deposed but not deranked, weddings baptisms wPermission, bore trial wPatience, others demanded reason, he left Alexandria for Athens, false rumors, no food, mistreatment by MoReligion, friend got him humble job aVitineia&Euboea, scandal followed, laughter wispers, returned tAthens, director Rizarios Seminary 1894-1908, retired to Aegina abandoned monastery, nun community, lighthouse for you, his holy relics, died at 74 in Athens hospital, paralyzed man next bed healed by his sweater, incorrupt relics in his Aegina grave, thousands of miracles before after death; Pentapolis, North Africa (Benhgazi) ; St Nectarius Kephalas the Metropolitan of Pentapolis, Commemorated on November 9 ; Nectarius, the great wonderworker of modern times, was born Anastasius Kephalas in Selebria, Thrace on October 1, 1846. his family was poor, Anastasius went to Constantinople when he was fourteen in order to find work. he had no money, he asked the captain of a boat to take him. The captain told him to take a walk and then come back. Anastasius understood, and sadly walked away. captain gave the order to start the engines, but nothing happened. After several unsuccessful attempts, he looked up into the eyes of Anastasius who stood on the dock. Taking pity on the boy, the captain told him to come aboard. Immediately, the engines started and the boat began to move. found a job with a tobacco merchant in Constantinople, who did not pay him very much. In his desire to share useful information with others, wrote down short maxims from spiritual books on the paper bags and packages of the tobacco shop. The customers would read them out of curiosity, and might perhaps derive some benefit from them. boy went about barefoot and in ragged clothing, but he trusted in God. that the merchant received many letters, Anastasius also wanted to write a letter. To whom could he write? Not to his parents, because there were no mail deliveries to his village. Not to his friends, because he had none. he decided to write to Christ to tell Him of his needs. “My little Christ,” he wrote. “I do not have an apron or shoes. You send them to me. You know how much I love you.” sealed the letter and wrote on the outside: “To the Lord Jesus Christ in Heaven.” On his way to mail the letter, he ran into the man who owned a shop opposite the one in which he worked. The man asked him where he was going, and Anastasius whispered something in reply. Seeing the letter in his hands, the man offered to mail it for him, since he was on his way to the post office. merchant put the letter in his pocket and assured Anastasius that he would mail it with his own letters. The boy returned to the tobacco shop, filled with happiness. he took the letter from his pocket to mail it, the merchant happened to notice the address. Astonished and curious, the man could not resist opening the letter to read it. by the boy’s simple faith, the merchant placed some money in an envelope and sent it to him anonymously. Anastasius was filled with joy, and he gave thanks to God. few days later, seeing Anastasius dressed somewhat better than usual, his employer thought he had stolen money from him and began to beat him. Anastasius cried out, “I have never stolen anything. My little Christ sent me the money.” the commotion, the other merchant came and took the tobacco seller aside and explained the situation to him. he was still a young man, Anastasius made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. the voyage, the ship was in danger of sinking in a storm. looked at the raging sea, and then at the captain. He went and stood beside the captain and took the helm, praying for God to save them. he took off the cross his grandmother had given him (containing a piece of the Cross of Christ) and tied it to his belt. Leaning over the side, he dipped the cross into the water three times and commanded the sea, “Silence! Be still.” once, the wind died down and the sea became calm. was saddened, however, because his cross had fallen into the sea and was lost. As the boat sailed on, sounds of knocking seemed to come from the hull below the water line. When the ship docked, the young man got off and started to walk away. the captain began shouting, “Kephalas, Kephalas, come back here.” The captain had ordered some men into a small boat to examine the hull in order to discover the source of the knocking, and they discovered the cross stuck to the hull. was elated to receive his “Treasure,” and always wore it from that time forward. There is a photograph taken many years later, showing the saint in his monastic skufia. The cross is clearly visible in the photo. November 7, 1875, Anastasius received monastic tonsure at the Nea Moni Monastery on Chios, and the new name Lazarus. Two years later, he was ordained a deacon. On that occasion, his name was changed to Nectarius. when he was a priest, Father Nectarius left Chios and went to Egypt. There he was elected Metropolitan of Pentapolis. Some of his colleagues became jealous of him because of his great virtues, because of his inspiring sermons, and because of everything else which distinguished Saint Nectarius from them. Metropolitans and bishops of the Patriarchate of Alexandria became filled with malice toward the saint, they told Patriarch Sophronius that Nectarius was plotting to become patriarch himself. told the patriarch that the Metropolitan of Pentapolis merely made an outward show of piety in order to win favor with the people. the patriarch and his synod removed Saint Nectarius from his See. Patriarch Sophronius wrote an ambiguous letter of suspension which provoked scandal and speculation about the true reasons for the saint’s removal from his position. Nectarius was not deposed from his rank, however. He was still allowed to function as a bishop. If anyone invited him to perform a wedding or a baptism he could do so, as long as he obtained permission from the local bishop. Nectarius bore his trials with great patience, but those who loved him began to demand to know why he had been removed. that this was causing a disturbance in the Church of Alexandria, he decided to go to Greece. arrived in Athens to find that false rumors about him had already reached that city. His letter of suspension said only that he had been removed “for reasons known to the Patriarchate,” and so all the slanders about him were believed. the state and ecclesiastical authorities would not give him a position, the former Metropolitan was left with no means of support, and no place to live. Every day he went to the Minister of Religion asking for assistance. They soon tired of him and began to mistreat him. day, as he was leaving the Minister’s office, Saint Nectarius met a friend whom he had known in Egypt. Surprised to find the beloved bishop in such a condition, the man spoke to the Minister of Religion and Education and asked that something be found for him. Saint Nectarius was appointed to be a humble preacher in the diocese of Vitineia and Euboea. The saint did not regard this as humiliating for him, even though a simple monk could have filled that position. He went to Euboea to preach in the churches, eagerly embracing his duties. even here, the rumors of scandal followed him. while he was preaching, people began to laugh and whisper. the blameless one resigned his position and returned to Athens. then some people had begun to realize that the rumors were untrue, because they saw nothing in his life or conversation to suggest that he was guilty of anything. their help and influence, Saint Nectarius was appointed Director of the Rizarios Seminary in Athens on March 8, 1894. He was to remain in that position until December of 1908. saint celebrated the services in the seminary church, the students, wrote several edifying and useful books. he was a quiet man, Saint Nectarius did not care for the noise and bustle of Athens. He wanted to retire somewhere where he could pray. the island of Aegina he found an abandoned monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity, which he began to repair with his own hands. gathered a community of nuns, appointing the blind nun Xenia as abbess, while he himself served as Father Confessor. he had a gift for spiritual direction, many people came to Aegina to confess to him. Eventually, the community grew to thirty nuns. He used to tell them, “I am building a lighthouse for you, and God shall put a light in it that will shine forth to the world. Many will see this light and come to Aegina. ” They did not understand what he was telling them, that he himself would be that beacon, and that people would come there to venerate his holy relics. September 20, 1920 the nun Euphemia brought an old man in black robes, who was obviously in pain, to the Aretaieion Hospital in Athens. This was a state hospital for the poor. The intern asked the nun for information about the patient. “Is he a monk?” he asked. “No, he is a bishop.” intern laughed and said, “Stop joking and tell me his name, Mother, so that I can enter it in the register.” “He is indeed a bishop, my child. He is the Most Reverend Metropolitan of Pentapolis.” intern muttered, “For the first time in my life I see a bishop without a panagia or cross, and more significantly, without money.” the nun showed the saint’s credentials to the astonished intern who then admitted him. For two months Saint Nectarius suffered from a disease of the bladder. At ten thirty on the evening of November 8, 1920, he surrendered his holy soul to God. He died in peace at the age of seventy-four. the bed next to Saint Nectarius was a man who was paralyzed. As soon as the saint had breathed his last, the nurse and the nun who sat with him began to dress him in clean clothing to prepare him for burial at Aegina. They removed his sweater and placed it on the paralyzed man’s bed. Immediately, the paralytic got up from his bed, glorifying God. Nectarius was buried at the Holy Trinity Monastery on Aegina. Several years later, his grave was opened to remove his bones (as is the custom in Greece). His body was found whole and incorrupt, as if he had been buried that very day. was sent to the Archbishop of Athens, who came to see the relics for himself. Archbishop Chrysostomos told the nuns to leave them out in the sun for a few days, then to rebury them so that they would decay. A month or two after this, they opened the grave again and found the saint incorrupt. Then the relics were placed in a marble sarcophagus. years later, the holy relics dissolved, leaving only the bones. The saint’s head was placed in a bishop’s mitre, and the top was opened to allow people to kiss his head. Nectarius was glorified by God, since his whole life was a continuous doxology to the Lord. Both during his life and after his death, Saint Nectarius has performed thousands of miracles, especially for those suffering from cancer. There are more churches dedicated to Saint Nectarius than to any other modern Orthodox saint.

France, 1870-1940, French Third Republic (FTR)
France, 1870-1940, French Third Republic; was the system of government adopted in France from 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 after France's defeat by Nazi Germany in World War II led to the formation of the Vichy government in France.

France, 1870-1871, FTR President, Napoleon III
France, French Third Republic President, 1870-1871, Napoleon III; the nephew of Napoleon I, was the first president of France, from 1848 to 1852, and the last French monarch, from 1852 to 1870. First elected president of the French Second Republic in 1848, he seized power by force in 1851, when he could not constitutionally be re-elected, and became the emperor of the French. He founded the Second French Empire and was its only emperor until the defeat of the French Army and his capture by Prussia and its allies in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. He worked to modernize the French economy, rebuilt the center of Paris, expanded the French overseas empire, and engaged in the Crimean War and the Second Italian War of Independence. JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1871-1873, FTR President, Adolphe Thiers, historian, journalist, liberal
France, French Third Republic President, 1871-1873, Adolphe Thiers; was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France, and the first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Revolution of 1830, which overthrew the Bourbon monarchy, and the French Revolution of 1848, which established the Second French Republic. He served as a prime minister in 1836, 1840 and 1848, dedicated the Arc de Triomphe, and arranged the return to France of the remains of Napoleon from Saint-Helena. He was first a supporter, then a vocal opponent of Louis-NapolÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â©on Bonaparte (who served from 1848 to 1852 as President of the Second Republic and then reigned as Emperor Napoleon III from 1852 to 1871). When Napoleon III seized power, Thiers was arrested and briefly expelled from France. He then returned and became an opponent of the government. Following the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, which Thiers opposed, he was elected chief executive of the new French government and negotiated the end of the war. When the Paris Commune seized power in March 1871, Thiers gave the orders to the army for its suppression. At the age of seventy-four, he was named President of the Republic by the French National Assembly in August 1871. His chief accomplishment as president was to achieve the departure of German soldiers from most of French territory two years ahead of schedule. Opposed by the monarchists in the French assembly and the left wing of the Republicans, he resigned on 24 May 1873, and was replaced as President by Patrice de MacMahon. When he died in 1877, his funeral became a major political event; the procession was led by two of the leaders of the republican movement, Victor Hugo and Leon Gambetta, who, at the time of his death, were his allies against the conservative monarchists. He was also a notable literary figure, the author of a very successful ten-volume history of the French Revolution (Histoire de la RÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â©volution franÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â§aise) and a twenty-volume history of the Consulate and Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte (Histoire du Consulat et de l'Empire). In 1834 he was elected to the AcadÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â©mie FranÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â§aise. JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1873-1879, FTR President, Patrice de MacMahon, General, Conservative, Constitution guard
France, French Third Republic President, 1873-1879, Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; MacMahon led the main French army in the war against the Germans in 1870. He was trapped and wounded at the Battle of Sedan in September 1870. The army surrendered to the Germans, including MacMahon and Emperor Napoleon III. Thus France lost the war and the Emperor went into exile. After convalescence MacMahon was appointed head of the Versailles Army, which defeated the Paris Commune revolt in May 1871 and set the stage for his political career. MacMahon was a devout conservative Catholic, a traditionalist who despised socialism and strongly distrusted the secular Republicans. He took seriously his duty as the neutral guardian of the Constitution and rejected suggestions of a monarchist coup d'ÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â©tat. He also refused to meet with Gambetta, the leader of the Republicans. He moved for a parliamentary system in which the assembly selected the ruling government of the Third Republic, but he also insisted on an upper chamber. He later dissolved the Chamber of Deputies, resulting in public outrage and a Republican electoral victory. Soon after MacMahon resigned and retired to private life. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, MONASTIC AND MARTYR, 1916, Commemorated December 1; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1875, 10 Oct 1809 NS, Treaty of Schonbrunn, France and Austria, after Austrian defeat
France, 1875, 10 Oct 1809 NS, Treaty of Schonbrunn; France, 1875, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date; France, French Third Republic President, 1873-1879, Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1875, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date
France, 1875, June 26 1875: Simeon's Seal Date; France, French Third Republic President, 1873-1879, Patrice de MacMahon, Duke of Magenta; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1878-1916, CHARLES FOUCAULD, Geographer, Trappist, Algeria, Taureg dictionary, inspired Little Brothers of Jesus
France, 1878-1916, CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Algeria, North Africa, French officer, Geographer, mapped Morocco oases, conversion, Trappist monk, solitary hermit in Palestine,Tamanrasset Algeria, Taureg dictionary, blue people, saharan desert, killed by anti-french, then Little Brothers of Jesus, live among as christians; Algeria; CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated December 1 ; Eugene, viscount of Foucauld, was born in 1858. served as a French Army officer in Algieria beginning in 1881, and prepared a mapping of oases in Morocco in 1883. 1886 he underwent a religious conversion, and in 1890 he joined a Trappist monastery, but soon left to become a solitary hermit in Palestine. 1901 he went to Algeria, where he eventually settled at Tamanrasset and there lived the life of a missionary priest prepared a Taureg dictionary. was killed in an anti-French uprising on 1 December 1916, by those who said that his goodness tended to create friendly feelings toward the French. 1933 and 1939 respectively, groups of dedicated Christians were formed in Algeria known as the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters of Jesus, inspired by his ideas and example. of these groups went to live in small communities, called fraternities, in areas where the people were largely poor. supported themselves by doing the same kind of work as their neighbors. made no explicit attempt to convert their neighbors or to debate with them. purpose is simply to live among them as Christians. say that Christ did not come to earth primarily to teach (there were already teachers) but to share our human lot. They seek to express the love of Christ for the wretched of the earth by living among them and sharing their lives and their hardships. For example, on one occasion a brother became ill, and it would have been possible to send him home where he would have received European-style medical care and would almost certainly have recovered. However, this would have been an option not open to those who lived around them. Accordingly, the brother stayed in the fraternity, receiving only the treatment that a native of the area would have received, knowing that this meant that he would soon die, which he did. by James Kiefer

France, 1879-1887, FTR President, Jules Grevey, a Mason, so Separation of Church and State
France, French Third Republic President, 1879-1887, Jules Grevey; Judith Paul Gracvy (15 August 1807-“ 9 September 1891) was President of France from 1879 to 1887, and one of the leaders of the Opportunist Republican faction. Given that his predecessors were monarchists who tried without success to restore the French monarchy, Gracvy is seen as the first real republican President of France.[1][2] at Mont-sous-Vaudrey in the Jura Mountains, he became an advocate in 1837 distinguishing himself at the Conference du barreau de Paris, and, having steadily maintained republican principles under the Orleans monarchy, was elected by his native department to the Constituent Assembly of 1848. Foreseeing that Louis Bonaparte would be elected president by the people, he proposed to vest the chief authority in a president of the Council elected and removable by the Assembly, or in other words, to suppress the Presidency of the Republic. After the coup d'tat this proposition gained Greveu a reputation for sagacity, and upon his return to public life in 1868 he took a prominent place in the Republican party. at "La Constante in Arras,[3] his Masonic activity is inseparable from his political action,[4] specially in the struggle for separation of Church and State that marked the beginning of the Third Republic and MacMahon resignation. the fall of the Empire he was chosen president of the Assembly on 16 February 1871, and occupied this position until 2 April 1873, when he resigned on account of the opposition of the Right, which blamed him for having called one of its members to order in the session of the previous day. On 8 March 1876 he was elected president of the Chamber of Deputies, a post which he filled with such efficiency that upon the resignation of Marshal MacMahon he seemed to step naturally into the Presidency of the Republic (30 January 1879), and was elected without opposition by the republican parties.[5] shrewd, attentive to the public interest and his own, but without any particular distinction, he would have left an unblemished reputation if he had not accepted a second term (18 December 1885). Shortly afterwards, his son-in-law, Daniel Wilson, was found to be trafficking in the awards of the Legion of Honour. Grevey was not accused of personal participation in these scandals, but he was somewhat obstinate in refusing to realize that he was indirectly responsible for the misuse his relative had made of access to the Elysae, and it had to be unpleasantly impressed upon him that his resignation was inevitable (2 December 1887).[6] This political matter was the first one to feed anti-Masonic opinion in France.[7] CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated December 1; JOHN BOSCO, PRIEST, 1888, Commemorated January 31;

France, 1887-1894, FTR President, Marie Francois Sadi Carrnot, scientific engineer, assinated
France, French Third Republic President, 1887-1894, Marie Francois Sadi Carrnot; Marie Fransois was the son of the statesman Hippolyte Carnot and was born in Limoges, Haute-Vienne. His third given name Sadi was in honour of his uncle Nicolas Laonard Sadi Carnot, the engineer who formulated the second law of thermodynamics and is generally regarded as the founder of the subject, named after the famed Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz. Like his uncle, Marie Francois too came to be known as Sadi Carnot. In his scientific-mindedness and Republican leanings, he resembled his grandfather, Lazare Carnot, the military modernizer and member of the post-Revolutionary French Directory. Marie Francois was educated as a civil engineer and was a highly distinguished student at both the cole Polytechnique and the cole des Ponts et Chausses. After his academic course, he obtained an appointment in the public service. His hereditary republicanism caused the government of national defence to entrust him in 1870 with the task of organizing resistance in the departements of the Eure, Calvados and Seine-Inferieure, and he was made prefect of Seine-Infrieure in January 1871. In the following month he was elected to the French National Assembly by the dpartement Cete-d'Or. He joined the Opportunist Republican parliamentary group, Gauche republicaine. In August 1878 he was appointed secretary to the minister of public works. He became minister in September 1880 and again in April 1885, moving almost immediately to the ministry of finance, which post he held under both the Ferry and the Freycinet administrations until December 1886.[2] Presidency[edit] Depiction of Carnot's assassination appearing in Le Petit Journal Illustrte When the Daniel Wilson scandals occasioned the downfall of Jules Grevy in December 1887, Carnot's reputation for integrity made him a candidate for the presidency, and he obtained the support of Georges Clemenceau and many others, so that he was elected by 616 votes out of 827. He assumed office at a critical period, when the republic was all but openly attacked by General Boulanger.[2] President Carnot's ostensible part during this agitation was confined to augmenting his popularity by well-timed appearances on public occasions, which gained credit for the presidency and the republic. When, early in 1889, Boulanger was finally driven into exile, it fell to Carnot to appear as head of the state on two occasions of special interest, the celebration of the centenary of the French Revolution in 1889 and the opening of the Paris Exhibition of the same year.[3] The success of both was regarded as a popular ratification of the republic, and though continually harassed by the formation and dissolution of ephemeral ministries, by socialist outbreaks, and the beginnings of anti-Semitism, Carnot had only one serious crisis to surmount, the Panama scandals of 1892, which, if they greatly damaged the prestige of the state, increased the respect felt for its head, against whose integrity none could breathe a word.[2] Carnot was in favour of the Franco-Russian Alliance and received the Order of St Andrew from Alexander III. Death[edit] Carnot was reaching the zenith of his popularity, when, on 24 June 1894, after delivering a speech at a public banquet in Lyon in which he appeared to imply that he would not seek re-election, he was stabbed by an Italian anarchist named Sante Geronimo Caserio.[2] Carnot died shortly after midnight on 25 June.[4] The stabbing aroused widespread horror and grief, and the president was honoured with an elaborate funeral ceremony in the Pantheon on 1 July 1894.[5] Caserio called the assassination a political act, and was executed on 16 August 1894.[6] CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated December 1;

France, 1894-1895, FTR President, Jean Casimir-Perier, short term, ignored by his ministers
France, French Third Republic President, 1894-1895, Jean Casimir-Perier; On 24 June 1894, after the assassination of President Carnot, he was elected President of the Republic by 451 votes against 195 for Henri Brisson and 97 for Charles Dupuy. His presidency lasted only six months. The resignation of the Dupuy ministry on 14 January 1895 was followed the next day by that of the President. Casimir-Perier explained his action by the fact that he found himself ignored by the ministers, who did not consult him before taking decisions, and did not keep him informed upon political events, especially in foreign affairs. As of 2020, of all Presidents of France through its history, Casimir-Perier had the shortest presidency. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated Dec;ember 1;

France, 1895-1899, FTR President, Felix Faure, Someone who offended no one
France, French Third Republic President, 1895-1899, Felix Faure; CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated Dec;ember 1; Wealthy tanner, He became more prominent in French politics up until unexpectedly becoming president, during which time France's relations with Russia improved. Interested in matters concerning economics, railways and the navy. He became under-secretary for the colonies. In 1894 he obtained cabinet rank as minister of marine in the administration of Charles Dupuy. In the following January he was unexpectedly elected President of the Republic upon the resignation of President Casimir-Perier. Someone who offended no one. Faure answered perfectly to this description.

France, 1899-1906, FTR President, Emile Loubet, successful Paris exposition, one world G, served full term
France, French Third Republic President, 1899-1906, Emile Loubet ; Trained in law, he became mayor of Montelimar, where he was noted as a forceful orator. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1876 and the Senate in 1885. He was appointed as a Republican minister under Carnot and Ribot. He was briefly Prime Minister of France in 1892. As President (1899-“1906), he saw the successful Paris Exhibition of 1900, and the forging of the Entente Cordiale with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, resolving their sharp differences over the Boer War and the Dreyfus Affair. His reputation as an orator of great force and lucidity of exposition and as a safe and honest statesman procured for him president of the republic in succession to Felix Faure . He was marked out for fierce opposition and bitter insult, as the representative of that section of the Republican party which sought the revision of the Dreyfus affair. The president was struck on the head with a cane by an anti-Dreyfusard. In that month President Loubet summoned Waldeck-Rousseau to form a cabinet, and at the same time entreated Republicans of all shades of opinion to rally to the defence of the state. By the efforts of Loubet and Waldeck-Rousseau the Dreyfus affair was settled, when Loubet, acting on the advice of General Galliffet, minister of war, remitted the ten years' imprisonment to which Dreyfus was condemned at Rennes.[1] Loubet's presidency saw an acute stage of the clerical question, which was attacked by Waldeck-Rousseau and in still more drastic fashion by the Combes ministry. The French ambassador was recalled from the Vatican in April 1905, and in July the separation of church and state was voted in the Chamber of Deputies. Feeling had run high between France and Britain over the mutual criticisms passed on the conduct of the South African War and the Dreyfus affair respectively. These differences were composed, by the Anglo-French entente, and in 1904 a convention between the two countries secured the recognition of French claims in Morocco in exchange for non-interference with the British occupation of Egypt. President Loubet belonged to the peasant-proprietor class, and had none of the aristocratic proclivities of President Faure. He inaugurated the Paris Exhibition of 1900, received the emperor Nicholas II of Russia at the French maneuvers of 1901 and paid a visit to Russia in 1902.[1] Loubet also exchanged visits with King Edward VII, with the king of Portugal, the king of Italy and the king of Spain. During the king of Spain's visit in 1905, an attempt was made on his life, a bomb being thrown under his carriage as he and with his guest left the Opera. When his presidency came to an end in January 1906, he became the first President of the Third Republic to have served a full term and without resigning a second one.[1] He retired into private life and died on 20 December 1929 at the age of 90. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated Dec;ember 1;

France, 1900-1940, 20th Century Folder, 3rd French Republic

France, 1906-1913, 3rd Republic, Armand Fallieres, socialist union of the left, opponent of the death penalty
France, French Third Republic President, 1906-1913, Armand Fallieres; Clement Armand Fallieres ( 6 November 1841 -“ 22 June 1931) was a French statesman who was President of France from 1906 to 1913. He was born at Mezin in the departement of Lot-et-Garonne, France, where his father was clerk of the peace. He studied law and became an advocate at Nerac, beginning his public career there as municipal councilor (1868), afterwards mayor (1871), and as councillor-general of the department of Lot-et-Garonne (1871). Being an ardent Republican, he lost this position in May 1873 upon the fall of Thiers, but in February 1876 was elected deputy for Nerac. In the chamber he sat with the Opportunist Republican parliamentary group, Gauche republicaine, signed the protestation of 18 May 1877, and was re-elected five months later. In 1880 he became under-secretary of state in the department of the interior in Jules Ferry's ministry (May 1880 to November 1881). From 7 August 1882 to 20 February 1883 he was minister of the interior, and for a month (from 29 January 1883) was prime minister. His ministry had to face the question of the expulsion of the pretenders to the throne of France, owing to the proclamation by Prince Napoleon (January 1883). Falliees, who was ill at the time, was not able to face the storm of opposition, and resigned when the senate rejected his project. The following November, however, he was chosen as minister of public instruction by Jules Ferry, and carried out various reforms in the school system.[1] He resigned in March 1885, becoming minister of the interior in Maurice Rouvier's cabinet two years later. He exchanged his portfolio in December for that of the department of justice. He returned again to the ministry of the interior in February 1889, and finally retook the department of justice from March 1890 to February 1892. In June 1890 his departement (Lot-et-Garonne) elected him to the senate by 417 votes to 23. There Fallieres remained independent of party struggles, although maintaining his influence among the Republicans. In March 1899 he was elected president of the senate, and retained that position until January 1906, when he was chosen by a union of the groups of the Left in both chambers as candidate for the presidency of the republic. He was elected on the first ballot by 449 votes against 371 for his opponent, Paul Doumer. Fallieres was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty and commuted the sentences of many prisoners sentenced to death.[citation needed] CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated Dec;ember 1; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1913-1920, 3rd Republic, Raymond Poincare, Democratic Republican, Paris Peace Conference after WWI
France, French Third Republic President, 1913-1920, Raymond Poincare ; Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincare (20 August 1860 -e“ 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served three times as 58th Prime Minister of France, and as President of France from 1913 to 1920. Trained in law, Poincare was elected as a Deputy in 1887 and served in the cabinets of Dupuy and Ribot. In 1902, he co-founded the Democratic Republican Alliance, the most important centre-right party under the Third Republic, becoming Prime Minister in 1912 and serving as President of the Republic from 1913 to 1920. He purged the French government of all opponents and critics and single-handedly controlled French foreign policy from 1912 to the beginning of World War I. He was noted for his strongly anti-German attitudes, shifting the Franco-Russian Alliance from the defensive to the offensive, visiting Russia in 1912 and 1914 to strengthen Franco-Russian relations, and giving France's support for Russian military mobilization during the July Crisis of 1914. From 1917, he exercised less influence as his political rival Georges Clemenceau had become Prime Minister. At the Paris Peace Conference, he advocated Allied occupation of the Rhineland for at least 30 years and French support for Rhenish separatism. In 1922 Poincare returned to power as Prime Minister. In 1923 he ordered the Occupation of the Ruhr to enforce payment of German reparations. By this time Poincare was seen, especially in the English-speaking world, as an aggressive figure who had helped to cause the war in 1914 and who now favoured punitive anti-German policies. His government was defeated by the Cartel des Gauches at the elections of 1924. He served a third term as Prime Minister in 1926-“1929. CHARLES DE FOUCAULD, Hermit and Servant of the Poor, 1916, Commemorated Dec;ember 1; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1916-1966, John oSan Francisco, tBelgrade&ROCOR, tShanghai bCathedral, 5k exodus tPhillipines, DC lobbying, Paris, San F
Russia, Kiev, 1916-1966, St John oSan Francisco, fKharkov, Ukraine (High Point, Three Rivers source of the Seversky Donets, Vorskla River), born to pious aristocrats, sickly youth, poor appetite, intense religious interest, military school ed, Kharkiv U, law degree 1918, theological ed Belgrade 1925, Bishop Russian Church Outside Russia ROCOR, fled Bolsheviks, emigrated tYugoslavia, tonsured monk by ROCOR primate, taught iSerbian High School, hieromonk 1926, served iGreek, Bishop i1934, tShanghai, 1946 China Archbishop, ONationalities unity, built large cathedral w large Bell tower& lParish house, Churches, hospitals, orphanages, intensely active, barefoot Fool, end WWII exodus fCommunists 1949, 5,000 refuges Tubabao, Philippines, Wash DC lobbing tEnter US, parish in DC, 1951 Western Europe Archdiocese from Paris, restored Gaullican liturgy, consecrated ordained Bishops, 1962 Diocese San Francisco after friend Tikhon, sorrowful disunity days there, but peace there & new cathedral; Kharkov; Saint John [Maximovitch], Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, Commemorated on July 2; Father among the Saints John (Maximovitch), Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco (1896-1966), a diocesan bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) served widely from China to France to the United States. John departed this life on June 19 (O.S.) / July 2 (N.S.), 1966, was officially glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad on July 2, 1994. glorification was later recognized for universal veneration by the Patriarchate of Moscow on July 2, 2008. future Saint John was born on June 4, 1896, in the village of Adamovka in Kharkiv province pious aristocrats, Boris and Glafira Maximovitch. was given the baptismal name of Michael, after the Holy Archangel Michael. In his youth, Michael was sickly and had a poor appetite, but he displayed an intense religious interest. was educated at the Poltava Military School (1907-14); Kharkiv Imperial University, from which he received a law degree (in 1918); and the University of Belgrade (where he completed his theological education in 1925). and his family fled their country as the Bolshevik revolutionaries descended on the country, emigrating to Yugoslavia. he enrolled in the Department of Theology of the University of Belgrade. was tonsured a monk in 1926 by Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kharkov the first primate of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia). Anthony later in 1926 ordained him hierodeacon. Gabriel of Chelyabinsk ordained him hieromonk on November 21, 1926. to his ordination he began an active life of teaching in a Serbian high school serving, at the request of local Greeks and Macedonians, in the Greek language. the growth of his popularity, the bishops of the Russian Church Aboard resolved to elevate him to the episcopate. John was consecrated bishop on May 28, 1934, with Metropolitan Anthony serving as principal consecrator, which he was assigned to the Diocese of Shanghai. years later he was named Archbishop of China. his arrival in Shanghai, Bishop John began working to restore unity among the various Orthodox nationalities. time, he worked to build a large cathedral church that was dedicated to Surety of Sinners Icon to the Mother of God, with a bell tower and large parish house. he inspired many activities: building of churches, hospitals, and orphanages among the Orthodox and Russians of Shanghai. was intensely active, constantly praying and serving the daily cycle of services, while also visiting the sick with the Holy Gifts. often would walk barefooted even in the coldest days. Yet to avoid the appearance of secular glory, he would pretend to act the fool. the end of World War II and the coming to power of the communists in China, Bishop John led the exodus of his community from Shanghai in 1949. Initially, he helped some 5,000 refugees to a camp on the island of Tubabao in the Philippines, he travelled successfully to Washington, D.C., to lobby to amend the law to allow these refugees to enter the United States. was while on this trip that Bishop John took time to establish a parish in Washington dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner. 1951, Archbishop John was assigned to the Archdiocese of Western Europe with his cathedra in Paris. his time there, he also served as archpastor of the Orthodox Church of France, restored Gallican liturgy he studied and then celebrated. was the principal consecrator of the Orthodox Church of France's first modern bishop, Jean-Nectaire (Kovalevsky) of Saint-Denis, ordained to the priesthood the man who would become its second bishop, Germain (Bertrand-Hardy) of Saint-Denis. 1962, Archbishop John was assigned to the Diocese of San Francisco, his long time friend Archbishop Tikhon. John's days in San Francisco were to prove sorrowful as he attempted to heal the great disunity in his community. was able to bring peace such that the new cathedral, dedicated to the Joy of all Who Sorrow Icon of the Mother of God, was completed. revering Saint John of Kronstadt, Archbishop John played an active role in preparation of his canonization. reposed during a visit to Seattle on July 2, 1966, accompanying a tour of the Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God. was laid to rest in a crypt chapel under the main altar of the new cathedral. CREDIT: www.monasteryofstjohn.org/?p=about_st_john

France, 1919-1942, Gregory (Peradze), philosopher, theologian, saved Georgian manuscripts from Reds and Nazis in Paris
Georgia, 1919-1942, Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia, of Bakurtsikhe, Kakheti, Eastern Georgia, philosopher, theologian, Berlin, Bonn, Louvain, Oxford, Paris, Warsaw, found ancient Georgian manuscripts, Syria, Palestine, Greece, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, Italy, England, 1920's taken to Paris for savekeeping from Red Army, 1940 from Nazis in Paris, arrested for sheltering Jews; Bakurtsikhe, Georgia; Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia, Commemorated on November 23 ; Gregory (Peradze) was born August 31, 1899, in the village of Bakurtsikhe, in the Sighnaghi district of Kakheti. His father, Roman Peradze, was a priest. 1918, Gregory completed his studies at the theological school and seminary in Tbilisi and enrolled in the philosophy department at Tbilisi University. years later, in 1921, he began to teach at the university, but the Georgian Church soon sent him to Germany to study theology. 1922 to 1925, Gregory studied theology and eastern languages at the University of Berlin, and in 1925 he transferred to the philosophy department at the University of Bonn, he received a doctoral degree in philosophy for his dissertation “The Monastic Life in Georgia from Its Origins to 1064.” continued to attend lectures in theology at the University of Louvain until 1927. 1927, Gregory moved to England to continue his career in academia, and there he became acquainted with the old patristic manuscripts that were preserved in the library collections of the British Museum and Oxford University. July of that year, Gregory was named an associate professor at the University of Bonn, and he returned there to lecture on the history of Georgian and Armenian literature. 1931, Gregory was tonsured a monk, ordained a priest, and appointed dean of the Georgian church in Paris. year later he was invited to Oxford to lecture on Georgian history. new period in Saint Gregory’s life began later in 1932, when the Metropolitan of all Poland, Dionysius Waledinsky, invited him to be a professor of Patrology and the chair of Orthodox Theology at Warsaw University. often delivered lectures at academic conferences and in academic centers throughout Europe. sought tirelessly for ancient Georgian manuscripts and historical documents on the Georgian Church. His searches took him to Syria, Palestine, Greece, Bulgaria, Austria, Romania, Italy and England. As a result of his labors, many long-lost Georgian manuscripts surfaced again. and industriousness characterized the Hieromartyr Gregory throughout his life. In difficult moments he often repeated the words of Saint John Chrysostom: “Glory be to God for all things!” the 1920s, as the Red Army was securing its occupation of Georgia, the nation’s treasures were carried away to France for safekeeping. in the 1940s, Georgian society was unaware that, due to Saint Gregory’s efforts alone, many treasures of Georgian national culture were spared confiscation by the Nazis in Paris. execution at the hands of a firing squad, Saint Gregory wrote in the official documentation presented to the Nazis that these items were of no particular value but were precious to the Georgians as part of their national consciousness. did most of Georgian society know that, in Paris, Archimandrite Gregory had founded a Georgian church in honor of the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Nino and a parish journal called Jvari Vazisa, or “The Cross of Vines.” May of 1942, Saint Gregory was arrested by the Gestapo. The priceless Georgian manuscripts he had preserved and many sacred objects that had been crafted by ancient Georgian masters and collected by Saint Gregory during his travels (in hopes of returning them to Georgia) disappeared after his apartment was searched. Gregory was arrested for sheltering and aiding Jews and other victims of the fascist persecutions. He was incarcerated at Pawiak Prison in Warsaw, and deported to Auschwitz at the beginning of November. the camp an inmate killed a German officer. The guards drove everyone out of the barracks absolutely naked, forcing them to stay in the below-freezing temperatures until someone confessed. Gregory decided to take the blame for the murder, thus saving innocent prisoners from freezing to death. The guards let loose the dogs on the martyr, poured gasoline over him, and lit him on fire. Then they said, “Poles, go warm yourselves around him, your intercessor.” to the official German documentation, Gregory Peradze died on December 6, 1942 [November 23, old style], at 4:45 in the afternoon. (According to another account, the martyr entered the gas chamber in place of a Jewish man with a large family. This was reported by a former prisoner, who, after being liberated, visited Metropolitan Dionysius and gave him Saint Gregory’s cross.) In the end, like Christ Himself, Archimandrite Gregory died for having taken upon himself the sin of another.

France, 1920-1920, 3rd Republic, Paul Deschanel, progressive, mental illness then elected again, no executions
France, French Third Republic President, 1920-1920, Paul Deschanel; Eugene Louis Deschanel (13 February 1855, in Schaerbeek - 28 April 1922) was a French statesman. He served as President of France from 18 February to 21 September 1920. Deschanel, the son of Emile Deschanel (1819-1904), professor at the College de France and senator, was born in Brussels, where his father was living in exile (1851-1859), owing to his opposition to Napoleon III.[1] He is one of only two French Presidents (the other is Valery Giscard d'Estaing) who were born outside France (Deschanel in Belgium, Giscard in Koblenz, Germany). Deschanel studied law, and began his career as secretary to Deshayes de Marcere (1876) and to Jules Simon (1876–1877). In October 1885, he was elected deputy for Eure-et-Loir. From the first, he took an important place in the chamber, as one of the most notable orators of the Progressist Republican group. In January 1896, he was elected vice-president of the chamber, and henceforth devoted himself to the struggle against the Left, not only in parliament, but also in public meetings throughout France. addresses at Marseille on 26 October 1896, at Carmaux on 27 December 1896, and at Roubaix on 10 April 1897, were triumphs of clear and eloquent exposition of the political and social aims of the Progressist party.[1] June 1898, he was elected president of the chamber, and was re-elected in 1901, but rejected in 1902. Nevertheless, he came forward brilliantly in 1904 and 1905 as a supporter of the law on the separation of church and state.[1] He also gained a position on the Committee of Foreign Affairs, and was president of the committee when the Franco-German treaty of 1911 came before Parliament.[2] was re-elected deputy in 1910, and on 23 May 1912 was chosen to be the President of the Chamber. In this role he played a great part during World War I as the national orator; he delivered orations more frequently than he made speeches. He served until he was elected President of France on 17 January 1920 by an overwhelming majority, having beaten Georges Clemenceau in the preliminary party ballot.[2] aspired to a much more active role as president than had been de rigueur under the Third Republic; but, for reasons of his own mental health, was unable to put his ideas to the test. president, his eccentric behaviour caused some consternation; on one occasion, after a delegation of schoolgirls had presented him with a bouquet, he tossed the flowers back at them. It all culminated when, late one night, 24 May 1920, he fell out of a large window of the presidential train near Montargis after taking some sleeping pills and was found wandering in his nightshirt by a platelayer, who took him to the nearest level-crossing keeper's cottage. Soon afterwards, Deschanel walked out of a state meeting, straight into a lake, fully clothed. His resignation was offered on 21 September 1920, and he was placed in a sanatorium at Rueil-Malmaison for three months. After his release he was elected to the senate in January 1921, serving until his death. the death penalty was abolished in 1981, he was the only French head of state during whose term in office no persons in France were executed. Deschanel himself was a longtime death penalty opponent.[3] PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1920-1924, 3rd Republic, A Millerand, freemason, republican socialist, discredited politicians, min wage max work
France, French Third Republic President, 1920-1924, Alexandre Millerand; Millerand (10 February 1859 – 6 April 1943) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 20 January to 23 September 1920 and President of France from 23 September 1920 to 11 June 1924. participation in Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet at the start of the 20th century, alongside the Marquis de Galliffet who had directed the repression of the 1871 Paris Commune, sparked a debate in the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) and in the Second International about the participation of socialists in bourgeois governments. activism[edit] in Paris, he was educated for the bar and was elected Secretaire of the Conference des avocats du barreau de Paris. He made his reputation through his defence, in company with Georges Laguerre, of Ernest Roche and Duc-Quercy, the instigators of the strike at Decazeville in 1883. He then took Laguerre's place on Georges Clemenceau's newspaper, La Justice. He was a freemason[1] between 1883 and 1905. was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the Seine departement in 1885 as a Radical Socialist. He was associated with Clemenceau and Camille Pelletan as an arbitrator in the Carmaux strike (1892). He had long had the ear of the Chamber in matters of social legislation, and after the Panama scandals had discredited so many politicians, his influence grew. was chief of the Independent Socialist faction, a group which then mustered sixty members. Until 1896, he edited their organ in the press, La Petite Republique. His programme included the collective ownership of the means of production and the international association of labour. minister[edit] June 1899 he entered Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau's cabinet of republican defence as Minister of Commerce. In contrast to his earlier activism, he now limited himself to practical reforms, devoting his attention to the improvement of the merchant marine, to the development of trade, of technical education, of the postal system, and to the amelioration of the conditions of labour. Labour questions were entrusted to a separate department, the Direction du Travail, and the pension and insurance office was also raised to the status of a direction. 1902, he did not join fellow independent socialist Jean Jaures in forming the Parti Socialiste Francais, but in 1907 instead formed the small Independent Socialist Party, which became the Republican-Socialist Party (PRS) in 1911. His influence with the far-left had already declined, for it was said that his departure from the true Marxist tradition had disintegrated the movement. 1909/1910, he served as Minister of Public Works, Posts and Telegraphs. labour minister[when?], he was responsible for the introduction of a wide range of reforms, including the reduction in the maximum workday from 11 to 10 hours in 1904, the introduction of an 8-hour workday for postal employees, the prescribing of maximum hours and minimum wages for all work undertaken by public authorities, the bringing of workers' representatives into the Conseil superieur de travail, the establishment of arbitration tribunals and inspectors of labour, and the creation of a labour section inside his Ministry of Commerce to tackle the problem of social insurance. introduction of trade union representatives on the Supreme Labour Council, the organisation of local labour councils, and instructions to factory inspectors to put themselves in communication with the councils of the trade unions were valuable concessions to labour. He further secured the rigorous application of earlier laws devised for the protection of the working class. His name was especially associated with a project for the establishment of old age pensions, which became law in 1905. In 1898, he became editor of La Lanterne. twice served as Minister of War, first from 1912 to 1913 and again, during the early stages of World War I, from 1914 to 1915. minister[edit] continued to move to the right, being appointed Prime Minister by the conservative President, Paul Deschanel. During his time as Prime Minister, a decree of February 1920 introduced the eight-hour day for seamen. and later years[edit] Deschanel had to resign later in 1920 due to his mental disorder, Millerand emerged as a compromise candidate for President between the Bloc National and the remnants of the Bloc des gauches. Millerand appointed Georges Leygues, a politician with a long career of ministerial office, as Prime Minister and attempted to strengthen the executive powers of the Presidency. This move was resisted in the Chamber of Deputies and the French Senate, and Millerand was forced to appoint a stronger figure, Aristide Briand. Briand's appointment was welcomed by both left and right, although the Socialists and the left wing of the Radical Party did not join his government. Millerand dismissed Briand after just a year, and appointed the conservative republican Raymond Poincaré. was accused of favouring conservatives in spite of the traditional neutrality of French Presidents and the composition of the legislature. On 14 July 1922, Millerand escaped an assassination attempt by Gustave Bouvet, a young French anarchist. Two years later, Millerand resigned in the face of growing conflict between the elected legislature and the office of the President, following the victory of the Cartel des Gauches. Gaston Doumergue, who was the president of the Senate at the time, was chosen to replace Millerand. grave in the Passy Cemetery. died in 1943 at Versailles, and was interred in the Passy Cemetery. He was awarded Serbian Order of Karađorđe's Star.[2] PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1924-1931, 3rd Republic, Gaston Doumergue, popular, protestant, concervative
France, French Third Republic President, 1924-1931, Gaston Doumergue; Paul Henri Gaston Doumergue (French pronunciation: ​[ɡastɔ̃ dumɛʁɡ]; 1 August 1863 in Aigues-Vives, Gard – 18 June 1937 in Aigues-Vives) was a French politician of the Third Republic. He served as President of France from 13 June 1924 to 13 June 1931. c. 1910–1915 came from a Protestant family and was a freemason.[1][2][3] Beginning as a Radical, he turned more towards the political right in his old age. He served as prime minister from 9 December 1913 to 2 June 1914. He held the portfolio for the colonies through the ministries of Rene Viviani and Aristide Briand until Alexandre Ribot's ministry of March 1917, when he was sent to Russia to persuade Alexander Kerensky's government not to make a separate peace with Germany and Austria-Hungary. He was elected as the 13th French President on 13 June 1924, the only Protestant to hold that office. He served until 13 June 1931 and again was Prime Minister in a conservative national unity government, after the riots of 6 February 1934. That government lasted from 6 February to 8 November 1934. was widely regarded as one of the most popular French presidents, particularly after the controversial Alexandre Millerand, who had been his predecessor. Doumergue was single when he was elected and became the first President of France to marry in office.[4] PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1931-1932, 3rd Republic, Paul Doumer, Viet Nam G, taxes, Vs refused and land to French, a
France, French Third Republic President, 1931-1932, Paul Doumer; Athanase Doumer, commonly known as Paul Doumer (French pronunciation: ​[pɔl dumɛːʀ]; 22 March 1857 – 7 May 1932), was the President of France from 13 June 1931 until his assassination on 7 May 1932. Contents Biography[edit] Joseph Athanase Doumer was born in Aurillac, in the Cantal département, in France on 22 March 1857, into a family of modest means. Alumnus of the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers,[1] he became a professor of mathematics at Mende in 1877. In 1878 Doumer married Blanche Richel, whom he had met at college. They had eight children, four of whom were killed in the First World War (including the French air ace René Doumer). From 1879 until 1883 Doumer was professor at Remiremont, before leaving on health grounds. He then became chief editor of Courrier de l'Aisne, a French regional newspaper. Initiated into Freemasonry in 1879, at "L'Union Fraternelle" lodge, he became Grand Secretary of Grand Orient de France in 1892.[2][3][4] Paul Doumer in a photograph by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri He made his debut in politics in 1885 as chef de cabinet to Charles Floquet, then president of the Chamber of Deputies (a post equivalent to the speaker of the House of Commons). In 1888, Doumer was elected Radical deputy for the department of Aisne. Defeated in the general elections of September 1889, he was elected again in 1890 by the arrondissement of Auxerre. He was briefly Minister of Finance of France (1895–1896) when he tried without success to introduce an income tax.[5] was Governor-General of French Indochina from 1897 to 1902. Upon his arrival the colonies were losing millions of francs each year. Determined to put them on a paying basis he levied taxes on opium, wine and the salt trade. The Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians who could or would not pay these taxes, lost their houses and land, and often became day laborers. He established Indochina as a market for French products and a source of profitable investment by French businessmen.[6] set about outfitting Indochina, especially Hanoi, the capital, with modern infrastructure befitting property of France. Tree-lined avenues and a large number of French Colonial buildings were constructed in Hanoi during his governance. The Long Bien Bridge and the Grand Palais in Hanoi were among large-scaled projects built during his term; the bridge was originally named after him. palace was destroyed by airstrikes toward the end of World War 2. The bridge survived, became a well-known landmark and target for US pilots during the Vietnam War. returning from French Indochina, Doumer was elected by Laon to the Chamber of Deputies as a Radical. He refused, however, to support the ministry of Emile Combes, and formed a Radical dissident group, which grew in strength and eventually caused the fall of the ministry.[5] He then served as President of the Chamber from 1902 to 1905. became Minister of Finance of France again in 1925 when Louis Loucheur resigned.[7] He then served as President of the French Senate from 1927 until the 1931 presidential election. He was elected President of the French Republic on 13 May 1931, defeating the better known Aristide Briand, and replacing Gaston Doumergue.[8] of Paul Doumer (Le Petit Journal, 15 May 1932). 6 May 1932, Paul Doumer was in Paris at the opening of a book fair at the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, talking to the author Claude Farrere. Suddenly several shots were fired by Paul Gorguloff, a Russian emigre. Two of the shots hit Doumer, at the base of the skull and in the right armpit, and he fell to the ground. Claude Farrere wrestled with the assassin before the police arrived. Doumer was rushed to the hospital in Paris, where he died at 04:37 AM on 7 May. He is the only French president to die of a gunshot wound. Maurois was an eyewitness to the assassination, having come to the book fair to autograph copies of his book, and later described the scene in his autobiography, "Call No Man Happy". As Maurois notes, because the President was assassinated at a meeting of writers, it was decided that writers - Maurois himself among them - should stand guard over his body while he lay in state at the Elysee.[9] PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1932-1940, 3rd Republic, Albert Francois Lebrun, left republican
France, French Third Republic President, 1932-1940, Albert Francois Lebrun; François Lebrun (French: (29 August 1871 - 6 March 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He was the last president of the Third Republic. He was a member of the center-right Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD). life[edit to a farming family in Mercy-le-Haut, Meurthe-et-Moselle, he attended the Ecole Polytechnique and the Ecole des Mines de Paris, graduating from both at the top of his class. He then became a mining engineer in Vesoul and Nancy, but left that profession at the age of 29 to enter politics. gained a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1900 as a member of the Left Republican Party, later serving on the cabinet as Minister for the Colonies from 1912–1914, Minister of War in 1913 and Minister for Liberated Regions, 1917–1919. Joining the Democratic Alliance, he was elected to the French senate from Meurthe-et-Moselle in 1920, and served as Vice President of the Senate from 1925 through 1929. He was president of that body from 1931–1932. was elected President of France following the assassination of President Paul Doumer by Pavel Gurgulov on 6 May 1932. Re-elected in 1939, largely because of his record of accommodating all political sides, he exercised little power as President. June 1940, with the military collapse of France imminent, Lebrun wrote "the uselessness of the struggle was demonstrated. An end must be made."[1] the Cabinet wanting to ask for an armistice, on 17 June 1940 Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, recommending to President Lebrun that he appoint Marechal Philippe Petain in his place, which he did that day.[2] General Sir Edward Spears, who was present with the French cabinet during this crisis wrote "it is clear that the President had made up his mind that France was free of her obligations to Britain, and was at liberty to ask for an armistice [with Germany] if she deemed it to be in her interests to do so."[3] On 10 July 1940, Lebrun enacted the Constitutional Law of 10 July 1940, which the National Assembly had voted for by 569 votes to 80,[4] allowing Prime Minister Philippe Petain to promulgate a new constitution.[5] 11 July, Lebrun was replaced by Pétain as head of state.[6] He then fled to Vizille (Isère) on 15 July, but was later captured, on 27 August 1943, when the Germans moved into the region and was sent into captivity at the Itter Castle in Tyrol. On 10 October 1943 he was allowed to return to Vizille due to illness, but was kept under constant surveillance. 9 August 1944, Lebrun met with Charles de Gaulle and acknowledged the General's leadership, and conveniently forgetting the new Constitutional Law he had enacted in 1940, said that he had not formally resigned as President because the dissolution of the National Assembly had left nobody to accept his resignation.[citation needed] Whether or not de Gaulle accepted this lie is unknown. During the post-war Petain trial "all the available celebrities of the Third Republic testified, including Lebrun, all whitewashing themselves"[7] Lebrun argued again that he had never officially resigned. PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1940-1999, Folder, Vichy France, Fourth and Fifth Republics

France, 1941-1944, Vichy France, Nazi control
France, 1940-1944, Vichy France; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1944-1946, Provisional Government of the French Republic, Charles De Gaulle
France, 1944-1946, Provisional Government of the French Republic; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1946-1958, French Fourth Republic
France, 1946-1958, French Fourth Republic; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1947-1954, 4th Republic, Vincent Auriol, f resistance, socialist, UN, finance issues, devalued franc,
France, Fourth Republic President,1947-1954, Vincent Auriol; Jules Auriol (French pronunciation: ​[vɛ̃sɑ̃ oʁjɔl]; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. life and politics[edit] was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Auriol (1855–1933), a baker nicknamed Paul, and Angelique Virginie Durand (1862–1945).[1] great-grandmother, Anne Auriol, was a first cousin of English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He earned a law degree at the College de Revel in 1904 and began his career as a lawyer in Toulouse. A committed socialist, Auriol co-founded the newspaper Le Midi Socialiste in 1908; he was head of the Association of Journalists in Toulouse at this time. 1914, Auriol entered the Chamber of Deputies as a Socialist Deputy for Muret, a position he retained until 1942.[2] He also served as Mayor of Muret from 3 May 1925 to 17 January 1947,[1] and as a member of the Conseil General of Haute-Garonne from 1928 to 17 January 1947. In December 1920, after the breakup of the SFIO, Auriol refused to join the newly created SFIC and became one of the leaders of the new SFIO (the remaining socialist minority), along with Leon Blum. in 1927. became the party's leading spokesman on financial issues. He chaired the Finance Committee in the Chamber of Deputies from 1924–1926. His first cabinet post was as Minister of Finance under Leon Blum, in which Auriol controversially devalued the French franc 30% against the United States dollar, leading to capital flight and greater economic unease. This and Blum's proposals for greater regulatory restrictions on industry led to Blum's resignation as Premier; in the next government, led by Camille Chautemps, Auriol was made Minister of Justice, then Minister of Coordination of Services of the Presidency of the Council in Blum's short-lived government in 1938. Edouard Daladier's conservative–Radical government formed on 10 April 1938 returned Auriol to the Chamber of Deputies. was one of the 80 deputies who voted against the extraordinary powers given to Prime Minister Philippe Petain on 10 July 1940 that brought about the Nazi-backed Vichy government. As a result, he was placed under house arrest until he escaped to the French Resistance in October 1942, and fought with the resistance for a year. Auriol fled to London in October 1943. He represented the Socialists at the Free French Consultative Assembly (organized by Charles de Gaulle in Algiers later that year). In July 1944, he represented France at the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, United States. life and presidency[edit] World War II, Auriol served as Minister of State in de Gaulle's provisional government. He was a member of the Constituent Assemblies which drafted the constitution of the short-lived French Fourth Republic, and was President of the Assemblies. He lobbied for a "third force" as an alternative to both Communism and Gaullism. Auriol led the French delegation to the United Nations and was France's first representative on the United Nations Security Council in 1946. He served as a Deputy for Haute-Garonne in the National Assembly from 1946 until 31 December 1947.[2] Meanwhile, the National Assembly elected him on 16 January 1947 as the first President of the Fourth Republic by a wide margin, receiving 452 votes (51.19%) against the 242 (27.41%) for the People's Republican Movement (MRP) candidate, Auguste Champetier de Ribes. in 1946 president, Auriol pursued a relatively weak presidency like the office under the Third Republic. He attempted to reconcile political factions within France and warm relations between France and its allies. He was criticized for France's ailing economy and political turmoil in the postwar period, and the war in Indochina. A series of debilitating strikes were waged across France in 1947, initiated by the Confédération Générale du Travail. The strikes escalated into violence in November of that year, leading, on 28 November, to the government deploying 80,000 French Army reservists to face the "insurrection". The Communist Party, who often supported the strikes, were expelled from the legislature in early December. The strikes ended on 10 December, but more would come in 1948, and again in 1953 in response to the Joseph Laniel government's austerity program. from the inconclusive war in Indochina, France's colonial empire decayed under Auriol's presidency. Clashes in Morocco, Madagascar, Algeria, and Tunisia became more frequent; an Algerian independence movement, the Front de Libération Nationale, was founded in 1951, and in 1953 the French overthrew Mohammed V, the Sultan of Morocco, after he demanded greater autonomy. France waged a brutal war of repression in Madagascar, and imprisoned Tunisian independence leader Habib Bourguiba in 1952. Auriol's term as president expired, he did not run for re-election, and was succeeded by René Coty as President of France on 16 January 1954. Auriol commented on leaving office: "The work was killing me; they called me out of bed at all hours of the night to receive resignations of prime ministers"[3] (there were eighteen different governments during his seven years as President.) his presidency, Auriol assumed the role of elder statesman, and wrote articles on political topics. Auriol became a member of the Constitutional Council of France in 1958 at the establishment of the French Fifth Republic; he resigned from the SFIO in the same year. He unsuccessfully lobbied against the constitution in the 1958 national referendum, and resigned from his position on the Constitutional Council in 1960 to protest the growing power of Charles de Gaulle's presidency. In 1965, he endorsed François Mitterrand for the Presidency. 1 January 1966, Vincent Auriol died in hospital in the 7th arrondissement of Paris[4] and was buried at Muret, Haute-Garonne. PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1954-1959, 4th Republic, Rene Coty, Radical Party, Republican Left, then Republican Union, Algerian question
France, Fourth Republic President,1954-1959, Rene Coty; Gustave René Coty (20 March 1882 - 22 November 1962) was President of France from 1954 to 1959. He was the second and last president of the Fourth French Republic. life and politics[edit] é Coty was born in Le Havre and studied at the University of Caen, where he graduated in 1902, receiving degrees in law and philosophy. He worked as a lawyer in his hometown of Le Havre, specialising in maritime and commercial law. also became involved in politics, as a member of the Radical Party, and in 1907 was elected as a district councillor. The following year he was elected to the communal council of Le Havre as a member of the Republican Left group. He retained both of these positions until 1919. Coty also served as a member of the Conseil General of Seine-Inferieure from 1913 to 1942, holding the post of Vice President from 1932. the First World War broke out, Coty volunteered for the army, joining the 129th Infantry Regiment. He fought at the Battle of Verdun. entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1923, succeeding Jules Siegfried as Deputy for Seine-Inferieure. However, by this stage of his political career Coty had moved away from the Radical Party, and sat as a member of the Republican Union. Between 13 and 23 December 1930 he served as Under-secretary of State for the Interior in the government of Theodore Steeg. 1936, Coty was elected to the Senate for Seine-Inferieure. He was one of the French parliamentarians who, on 10 July 1940, voted to give extraordinary powers to Philippe Petain, thereby bringing about the Nazi-backed Vichy government. Coty remained relatively inactive during the Second World War, although he was rehabilitated after the war. life and presidency[edit] was a member of the Constituent National Assembly from 1944 to 1946, and chaired the right-wing Independent Republican group, which later became part of the National Center of Independents and Peasants. Coty was elected to the National Assembly in 1946 as a Deputy for Seine-Inferieure, and from November 1947 to September 1948, he served as Minister for Reconstruction and Urban Planning in the governments of Robert Schuman and Andre Marie. Coty was elected as a member of the Council of the Republic in November 1948, and served as Vice President of the Council from 1952. stood as a candidate for President in 1953, although it was thought unlikely that he would be elected. Nonetheless, and despite twelve successive ballots, right-wing favourite Joseph Laniel failed to obtain the absolute majority required. Following the withdrawal of another key right-wing candidate, Louis Jacquinot, Coty was finally elected in the thirteenth ballot on 23 December 1953, winning 477 votes against the 329 of socialist Marcel-Edmond Naegelen. He succeeded Vincent Auriol as President on 16 January 1954. President of the Republic, Coty was even less active than his predecessor in trying to influence policy. His presidency was troubled by the political instability of the Fourth Republic and the Algerian question. With the deepening of the crisis in 1958, on 29 May of that year, President Coty appealed to Charles de Gaulle, the "most illustrious of Frenchmen" to become the last Prime Minister of the Fourth Republic. Coty had threatened to resign if de Gaulle's appointment was not approved by the National Assembly. Gaulle drafted a new constitution, and on 28 September, a referendum took place in which 79.2% of those who voted supported the proposals, which led to the Fifth Republic. De Gaulle was elected as President of the new Republic by parliament in December, and succeeded Coty on 9 January 1959. Coty was a member of the Constitutional Council from 1959 until his death in 1962. PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10;

France, 1959-Present, French Fifth Republic

France, 1959-1969, 5th Republic, Charles de Gaulle, free french, progressive, p of grandeur, socialist, retired twice
France, Fifth Republic President, 1959-1969, Charles de Gaulle; Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 1890 - 9 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 in order to reestablish democracy in France. 1958, he came out of retirement when appointed President of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) by President Rene Coty. He rewrote the Constitution of France and founded the Fifth Republic after approval by referendum. He was elected President of France later that year, a position to which he was reelected in 1965 and held until his resignation in 1969. in Lille, he graduated from Saint-Cyr in 1912. He was a decorated officer of the First World War, wounded several times and later taken prisoner at Verdun. During the interwar period, he advocated mobile armoured divisions. During the German invasion of May 1940, he led an armoured division which counterattacked the invaders; he was then appointed Undersecretary for War. to accept his government's armistice with Germany, de Gaulle fled to England and exhorted the French to resist occupation and to continue the fight in his Appeal of 18 June. He led the Free French Forces and later headed the French National Liberation Committee against the Axis. Despite frosty relations with the United States, he generally had Winston Churchill's support and emerged as the undisputed leader of Free France. He became head of the Provisional Government of the French Republic in June 1944, the interim government of France following its liberation. As early as 1944, de Gaulle introduced a dirigiste economic policy, which included substantial state-directed control over a capitalist economy which was followed by 30 years of unprecedented growth, known as the Trente Glorieuses. by the return of petty partisanship in the new Fourth Republic, he resigned in early 1946 but continued to be politically active as founder of the Rassemblement du Peuple Francais (RPF; "Rally of the French People"). He retired in the early 1950s and wrote his War Memoirs, which quickly became a staple of modern French literature. the Algerian War was ripping apart the unstable Fourth Republic, the National Assembly brought him back to power during the May 1958 crisis. founded the Fifth Republic with a strong presidency, and he was elected to continue in that role. He managed to keep France together while taking steps to end the war, much to the anger of the Pieds-Noirs (ethnic French born in Algeria) and the military; both previously had supported his return to power to maintain colonial rule. He granted independence to Algeria and acted progressively towards other French colonies. the context of the Cold War, de Gaulle initiated his "politics of grandeur" asserting that France as a major power should not rely on other countries, such as the United States, for its national security and prosperity. To this end, he pursued a policy of "national independence" which led him to withdraw from NATO's military integrated command and to launch an independent nuclear development program that made France the fourth nuclear power. He restored cordial Franco-German relations to create a European counterweight between the Anglo-American and Soviet spheres of influence through the signing of the Elysee Treaty on 22 January 1963. he opposed any development of a supranational Europe, favouring Europe as a continent of sovereign nations. Gaulle openly criticised the United States intervention in Vietnam and the "exorbitant privilege" of the United States dollar. In his later years, his support for the slogan "Vive le Quebec libre" and his two vetoes of Britain's entry into the European Economic Community generated considerable controversy in both North America and Europe. reelected to the presidency in 1965, he faced widespread protests by students and workers in May 1968, but had the Army's support and won an election with an increased majority in the National Assembly. Gaulle resigned in 1969 after losing a referendum in which he proposed more decentralisation. He died a year later at his residence in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, leaving his presidential memoirs unfinished. French political parties and figures claim a Gaullist legacy; many streets and monuments in France were dedicated to his memory after his death.

France, Somme River Siegfried and Maginot Lines Folder (Northern France)

Siegfried Line - German Line between Germany and France
Siegfried Line - German Line between Germany and France;

Maginot Line - French Line between France and Germany
Maginot Line;

Colmar(Rhine River 1.5) Ballon d'Alsace Mts in Vosages Mts, on the Maginot Line, France
Colmar, Alsace, on the Maginot Line, France; Matthias Grunewald of ALBRECHT DÜRER, 1528, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, 1529, LUCAS CRANACH the ELDER, 1553, ARTISTS, 5 August, Commemorated August 5; Grunewald, (c. 1470 - August 31, 1528), was an important German Renaissance painter of religious works, who ignored Renaissance classicism to continue the expressive and intense style of late medieval Central European art into the 16th century. Only ten paintings—several consisting of many panels—and thirty-five drawings survive, all religious, although many others were lost at sea in the Baltic on their way to Sweden as war booty. His reputation was obscured until the late nineteenth century, and many of his paintings were attributed to Albrecht Dürer, who is now seen as his stylistic antithesis. His largest and most famous work is the Isenheim Altarpiece in Colmar, Alsace. (More at Wikipedia)

Somme River

Somme River Source (former Forest of Arrouaise)

Somme River 1

Somme River 2

Somme River 3

Somme River 4 (Corbie)

Corbie, France (Somme River 4)
Corbie (Somme River 4); ANSKAR, BISHOP AND MISSIONARY TO DENMARK AND SWEDEN (3 FEB 865);

Somme River 5 (Amiens)

Amiens, France (a former crossroads, Somme River 5)
Amiens (a former crossroads); MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397) ; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated October 12 ; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated November 11 ;

Somme River Mouth (English Channel)

France, Seine River Folder (North Central France)

Seine River

Aube Department
Aube Department; Martyr Patroclus of Troyes, Commemorated August 17 ;

Seine River Source (Source-Seine, Burgundy)
Source-Seine;

Seine River 1

Seine River 2 (Troyes)

Troyes, France (Seine River 2)
Troyes (Seine River 2), City of Tricassinum (Troyes); Martyr Patroclus of Troyes, Commemorated August 17 ;

Seine River 3 (Aube River)

France, Seine River 3, Aube River Folder

Aube River

Clairvaux (Aube River 1) 1115
Clairvaux Abbey ; HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179); PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Aube River Source

Aube River Mouth (Seine River 3)

Seine River 4 (Yonne River)

France, Seine River 4, Yonne River Folder

Yonne River

Yonne River Source (Morvan Hills)
Morvan Hills;

Morvan Hills

Yonne River 1 (Vezelay Abby)

Vezelay Abby (near Yonne River 1 in Burgandy) 750 approx.
Vezelay Abby ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Yonne River 2 (Auxerre)

Auxerre, France (Yonne River 2)
Auxerre, France (Yonne River) ; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31 ; Gaul; Britain; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ; PATRICK OF IRELAND, (17 MAR c461); St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17 ;

Auxerre Cathedral, 1215
Auxerre Cathedral; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31 ; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ; St Patrick the Bishop of Armagh and Enlightener of Ireland, Commemorated on March 17 ;

Joigny (Yonne River 2.5)
VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660;

Yonne River 3 (Sens, Vanne River Mouth)

Sens, Northern France (Vanne River Mouth, Yonne River 3)
Sens; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

Vanne River Mouth (Sens, Yonne River 3)

Vanne River

Yonne (river) Mouth (Seine River 4)

Seine River 5 (Paris, Oise River, Marne River)

France, Seine River 5, Marne River Folder

Marne River

Champagne-Ardenne Region, France (Marne and Ainse Rivers)
Champagne-Ardenne Region of France; HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179); JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431;

Haute-Marne Department, France (High Marne)
Haute-Marne; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431;

Marne Department, France
Marne Department;

Langres Cathedral, France (Champagne-Ardenne, Marne River Source)
Langres Cathedral; Martyr Speusippus in Cappadocia, Commemorated on January 16 ;

Marne River Source (Champagne-Ardenne)

Marne River Mouth (Paris, Seine River 5)

Lagny-sur-Marne monastery or Lagny Abbey (Marne River Mouth) 644
Lagny-sur-Marne monastery or Lagny Abbey (Marne River Mouth); St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8;

France, Seine River 5, Paris Area Folder

Paris, France (Seine River 5)
Paris; NATHAN SA–DERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated July 12; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660; Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, Bishop, Commemorated on October 9 ; Icon of the Mother of God "œJerusalem"Â, Commemorated on October 12; Hieromartyr Gregory (Peradze) of Georgia, Commemorated November 23 ; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ; Venerable Maximus the Greek, Commemorated January 21 ; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD COOPER, Educator (1964), Commemorated Febraury 28 ; RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253); St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 26 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ; Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3; Saint John [Maximovitch], Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco, Commemorated on July 2;

Prison (Priory of) Saint-Lazare
VINCENT DE PAUL; Prison Saint-Lazare;

Priory (Prison of) Saint-Lazare
VINCENT DE PAUL; Prison Saint-Lazare;

Argenteuil (near Paris)
Argenteuil near Paris; The Placing of the Honorable Robe of the Lord at Moscow, Commemorated on July 10;

Nanterre, France (Seine River 5, Paris Area)
Nanterre (Seine River 5) ; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated January 3 ;

Valerien, Mount Valerien
Valerien, Mount Valerien; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated on January 3;

Abbey of St Denis (Paris, France) 1144
Abbey of St Denis in France; Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, Bishop, Commemorated on October 9 ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; Martyr Christopher of Lycia, Commemorated on May 9;

Vicus Catulliacus, now known as St Denis, Paris, 1144
Vicus Catulliacus, now known as St Denis; Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, Bishop, Commemorated on October 9 ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Swedish Embassy, Paris
Embassy of Sweden, Paris; NATHAN SO–DERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated July 12; NATHAN SODERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated June 14 ;

Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs)
Montmartre (Hill of the Martyrs) ; Hieromartyr Dionysius of Paris, Bishop, Commemorated October 9 ;

University of Paris (Sarbonne) 1150
University of NATHAN SO–DERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated July 12 ; IGNATIUS LOYOLA, MYSTIC, EDUCATOR, PREACHER, AND FOUNDER OF THE JESUITS (31 JULY 1556); NATHAN SODERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated June 14 ; FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3 ; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD COOPER, Educator (1964), Commemorated Febraury 28 ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Sorbonne, Paris (University of Paris) 1150, 1257
Sorbonne; NATHAN SO–DERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931, Commemorated July 12; IGNATIUS LOYOLA, MYSTIC, EDUCATOR, PREACHER, AND FOUNDER OF THE JESUITS (31 JULY 1556); FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3 ; ANNA JULIA HAYWOOD COOPER, Educator (1964), Commemorated Febraury 28 ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; NATHAN SODERBLOM, ARCHBISHOP OF UPPSALA, 1931;

Bastille Prison, Paris
Bastille Prison; Righteous Martyr Maria (Skobtsova), Commemorated on July 20 France, 1682-1742, Elie Neau, French Huguenot and American Catechist; ELIE NAUD, (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722;

Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France

Luxembourg Gardens
75006 Paris, France
Luxembourg Gardens - Garden
75006 Paris
France
Le Jardin du Luxembourg, or the Luxembourg Garden, located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, was created beginning in 1612 by Marie de' Medici, the widow of King Henry IV of France, for a new residence she constructed, the Luxembourg Palace.
Wikipedia
Did you know: Created in 1612 by Marie de' Medici, the 25-hectare Jardin du Luxembourg is the second largest public park in Paris.
Construction started: 1612
17th-century park with formally laid-out gardens, trees planted in patterns & statues on pedestals.
senat.fr

Saint-Germain-des-Pres Cathedral, 542
Saint-Germain-des-Pres Cathedral, 542; St. Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28;

Saint Etienne du Mont Church, Paris
Saint Etienne du Mont Church; Venerable Genevieve of Paris, Commemorated on January 3;

French National Museum of Natural History, 1635
Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Museum of Natural History, Paris, 1635
Natural History Museum in Paris; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Quinze-Vingts Hospital
Quinze-Vingts Hospital ; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Conciergerie Prison, Paris
Conciergerie Prison, Paris ; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660 ;

Leville Cemetary, France
Leville Cemetary; St Euthymius (Takaishvili), Commemorated on January 3 ;

Leville, France, Leuville-sur-Orge (Seine River 4.5)
Leville, France, Leuville-sur-Orge (Seine River 4.5); Saint Euthymius (Takaishvili), Commemorated on January 3;

House of Capet, Direct Capetians, Paris and Seine River
House of Capet, Direct Capetians; House of Capet or the Direct Capetians, also called the House of France, or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. Historians in the 19th century came to apply the name "Capetian" to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet (c. 939 – 996). Contemporaries did not use the name "Capetian" (see House of France). The Capets were sometimes called "the third race of kings" (following the Merovingians and the Carolingians). The name "Capet" derives from the nickname (of uncertain meaning) given to Hugh, the first Capetian king.[1] direct line of the House of Capet came to an end in 1328, when the three sons of Philip IV (reigned 1285–1314) all failed to produce surviving male heirs to the French throne. the death of Charles IV (reigned 1322–1328), the throne passed to the House of Valois, descended from a younger brother of Philip IV. power would later pass (1589) to another Capetian branch, the House of Bourbon, descended from the youngest son of Louis IX (reigned 1226–1270), and (from 1830) to a Bourbon cadet branch, the House of Orléans, always remaining in the hands of agnatic descendants of Hugh Capet.

Nogent-Sur-Seine, France (near Paris, Seine River 4)
Nogent-Sur-Seine, France (near Paris, Seine River 4); Venerable Cloud (Clodoald) the Abbot-Founder of Nogent-Sur-Seine Near Paris, Commemorated September 7 ;

France, Seine River 5, Oise River Folder

Oise River

Oise River Source (south of Chimay, Belgium)

Oise River 1 (Hirson, Aisne)

Oise River 2 (Guise, Aisne)

Oise River 3 (Chauny, Aisne)

Oise River 4 (Noyon, Oise)

Noyon, France (Oise River 4)
Noyon, France (Oise River 4); JOHN CALVIN, THEOLOGIAN, 1564, Commemorated May 28;

Oise River 5 (Compiegne, Aisne River Mouth)

France, Seine River 5, Oise River 5, Ainse River Folder

Ainse River

Aisne River Source (Rembercourt-Sommaisne, Argonne Forest)

Aisne River 1 (Meuse Department)

Forest of Argonne (East of Aisne River)
Forest of Argonne;

Aisne River 2

Aisne River 3

Aisne River 4

Aisne River 8 (Sainte-Menehould, Marne Dept)

Aisne River 26 (Falaise)

Aisne River 27 (Vouziers, Ardennes)

Aisne River 28 (Rethel, Ardennes)

Aisne River 29 (Rheims)

Rheims (near Aisne River 29, Champagne-Ardenne, Marne Department)
Rheims (near Aisne River 29) ; REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS, BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530) ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

Aisne River 30 (Soissons, Aisne)

Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons, France (Aisne River 30) 557
Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Ainse River 31

Aisne River Mouth (Oise River 5)

Oise River 6 (Overview)

House of Valois, Vez, Oise, France (Includes Orleans, Anjou, Burgundy and Alencon)
House of Valois Region; House of Valois[a] was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans, Anjou, Burgundy, and Alençon. Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philip III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian Salic law) which excluded females (Joan II of Navarre), as well as male descendants through the distaff line (Edward III of England), from the succession to the French throne. After holding the throne for several centuries the Valois male line failed and the House of Bourbon succeeded the Valois to the throne as the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty. JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431;

France, Seine River 5, Oise River 6, Therain River Folder

Therain River

Therain River Source (between Grumesnil and St Michael d'Halescourt)

Therain River 1

Therain River 2 (Songeons)

Therain River 3 (Milly)

Therain River 4 (Beauvais)

Therain River 5 (Hermes)

Beauvais, France (Avalon River Mouth, Therain River 4) 1225
Beauvais; Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3;

Therain River 6 (Mouy)

Therain River Mouth (Oise River 6)

Oise River 7 (Creil, Oise)

Oise River 8 (Overview)

Oise River 9 (Auvers, Val-d'Oise)

Oise River 10 (Pontoise, Val d'Oise)

Oise River 11 (Cergy, Val d'Oise)

Oise River 12 (Jouy-le-Moutier, Val d'Oise)

Oise River Mouth (Paris, Seine River 5)

Seine River 6

Seine River 7

France, Seine River 7.5, Eure River Folder, Chartres Cathedral

Eure River from Loire

Eure River from Eure

Eure River Source (Marchanville)

Eure River 1, Eure-et-Loir Dept, Chartres Cathedral

Chartres Cathedral (Eure Liore River 1, betweeen Paris and Orleans, on a hill, 1194-1220
Chartres Cathedral; Chartres, France; HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179);

Eure River 2, Eure Dept

Eure River Mouth (Seine River 7.5)
Eure River;

Seine River 8 (Rouen and Bec Abbey)

Bec, Monastery of Bec, Normandy, France (Bec Abbey, Seine River 8) 1034
Monastery of Bec (Bec Abbey) ; ANSELM OF CANTERBURY, Monk, Archbishop, Theologian, 21 April 1109 ;

Seine River Mouth (Le Havre, English Channel)

France, Seine River Mouth, Normandy Folder, Cotentin Peninsula

Normandy, France (Lower Seine to Cotentin Peninsula)
Normandy; Duchy of Normandy; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; WULFSTAN OF WORCESTER, Commemorated January 19 ;

Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy
Cotentin Peninsula

Normandy Area

Falaise, Calvados, Normandy, France
Falaise, Calvados, birthplace of William the Conqueror; HUGH OF LINCOLN BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200) ;

Battle of Falaise Gap, 1944
Battle of Falaise Gap, 1944;

France, Loire River Folder (Central France)

Liore River

Loire River Source (Cevennes, Mt Mont Gerbier de Jonc)
Loire River, it flows north to Orleans then west to the Atlantic Ocean;

Mont Gerbier de Jonc (its springs the source of the Loire)
Mont Gerbier de Jonc; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon (Liore River Source)
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, on the Plateau Vivarais-Lignon; THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES, Andre and Magda Trocm, Commemorated July 16 ;

Loire River 1 (Monistrol)

Loire River 2 (Aurec)

Loire River 3 (Andrezieux-Boutheon)

Loire River 4 (Balbigny)

Loire River 5 (Roanne)

Loire River 6 (Marcigny)

Loire River 7 (Digoin, near Cluny Abby)

Loire River 8

Loire River 9

Loire River 10

Loire River 11 (Nevers)

Liore River 12

Liore River 13

Liore River 14

Loire River 20 (Orleans)

Dominican house in Orleans
Dominican house in Orleans ; RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253);

Orleans, France (Loire River 20)
Orleans; RICHARD, Bishop of Chichester (3 April 1253); JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

Loire River 22 (Tours)

Tours, France (Loire River 22)
Tours; Battle of Tours 732; Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, Commemorated on August 23; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on October 12 ; MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397) ; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on November 11 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; ALCUIN, DEACON, SCHOLAR, AND ABBOT OF TOURS (20 MAY 804) ; BERTHA and ETHELBERT, QUEEN & KING OF KENT, 616, Commemorated May 27 ;

Touraine Region, Tours (part of Paris Basin; Loire, Cher and Indre Rivers)
Touraine; Traversed by the Loire and its tributaries the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne, the Touraine makes up a part of the Paris Basin.

Liore River 23 (Tours, Cher River Mouth)

France, Loire River 23, Cher River Folder

Cher River

Cher River Source (Massif Central)
Massif Central;

Fathers of the Sacred Heart, Issoudun, France (Cher River 2)
Fathers of the Sacred Heart; DAMIEN of MOLOKAI, PRIEST AND LEPER, 1889, Commemorated April 15 ;

Cher River Mouth (Tours, Loire River 23)

Liore River 24 (Indre River Mouth)

France, Loire River 24, Indre River Folder

Indre River

Indre River Source

Indre River Mouth (Loire River 24)

Liore River 25 (Vienne River Mouth)

France, Loire River 25, Vienne River Folder

Vienne River

Vienne River Source (Plateau de Millevaches)
Plateau de Millevaches;

Plateau de Millevaches

Vienne River 1 (Limoges)

Vienne River 1

Limoge (high point, Vienne River 1 Source)
Limoges (Vienne River); LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Vienne River 2 (Clain River)

France, Loire River 25, Vienne River 2, Clain River Folder

Clain River

Clain River 1

Clain River 2

Clain River 3 (Poitiers and Vienne)

Poitiers, France (Clain River 3)
Poitiers; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated October 12 ; MARTIN OF TOURS, BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397) ; CECILIA OF ROME, MARTYR AT ROME, c. 280, Commemorated November 22; St Hilary the Bishop of Poitiers, Commemorated January 13 ; HILARY OF POITIERS, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (13 JANUARY 367) ;

Poitou Region, (Poitiers, Limoge high point, Poitevan Marsh, Clain River)
Poitevan Marsh; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Pitou Region (Poitevan Marsh, Poitiers, Limoge high point, Clain River)

Poitevin Marshland, Marais Poitevin (a large marshland western France)
Marais Poitevin; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Vienne, France (Claine River 3)
Vienne, France; BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS), (2 JUNE 177) ;

Clain River Mouth (Vienne River 2)

Vienne River Mouth (Loire River 25)

Chinon, France (near Vienne River Mouth and Loire River 25)
Chinon; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431 ;

Candes-Saint-Martin (Loire River 25, Vienne River)
Candes-Saint-Martin; St Martin the Merciful the Bishop of Tours, Commemorated on November 11 ;

Liore River 27 (Anjou)

Liore River 28 (Maine and Sarthe Rivers)

France, Liore River 28, Maine and Sarthe Rivers Folder

Maine River

Maine River Source

Maine River 1

Mayenne River Mouth (Maine River)

Maine River Mouth (Loire River 28)

Sarthe River

Sarthe River Source

Sarthe River 1

Sarthe River 2

Sarthe River 3

Sarthe River 5 (LeMans, Cenomanis)

Cenomanis, France and Gaul (Le Mans, Sarthe River 5)
Cenomanis, Gaul (Le Mans, Sarthe River 5); St Julian the Bishop of Cenomanis (Le Mans) in Gaul, Commemorated July 13 ;

Maine County (Maine River, Sarthe River)
Maine County (Maine River) ; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Sarthe River 7 (Overview)

Sarthe River Mouth (Maine River)

Anjou (both sides, Lower Loire Valley Western France)
Anjou; Serbia, 1245-1314, Helen of Anjou, Saint Helen of Serbia; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; St. Helen of Serbia, Commemorated on October 30;

Armorica, France (now Brittany, Liore River 30)
Armorica (now Brittany), and Nantes is the largest city in Brittany; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31 ;

Liore River 31 (Nantes)

Nantes, Brittany (Liore River 31)
Nantes, Brittany ; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

France, 1598, Edict of Nantes, Brittany (Liore River 31), Granted Rights to the French Protestants or
Nantes, Brittany ; St Germanus the Bishop of Auxerre, Commemorated on July 31; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Liore River Mouth (Atlantic Ocean)

Celts, Land of the Celtic People (Brittany, Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland)
Land of the Celtic People (Brittany, Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland); HILDA OF WHITBY, ABBESS AND PEACEMAKER (18 NOV 680); EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA, KING AND MARTYR (20 NOV 870);

France, Massif Central Folder (Central France)

Massif Central (Central France)
Massif Central; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Puy de Dome (dormant lava dome of a volcano)
Puy de Dome (dormant lava dome of a volcano); PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Orcines, Massif Central, France
Orcines; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Auvergne , France (Massif Central Volcano, west of the upper Loire)
Auvergne Province ; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Clermont-Ferrand (Puy de Dome region)
Clermont-Ferrand; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

House of Burbon, Central France, Navarre, Luxembourg, Spain, Naples, Sicily and Parma
House of Burbon, Central France; House of Bourbon is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish Bourbon dynasty held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma. Spain and Luxembourg have monarchs of the House of Bourbon. royal Bourbons originated in 1272, when the youngest son of King Louis IX married the heiress of the lordship of Bourbon.[2] The house continued for three centuries as a cadet branch, serving as nobles under the Direct Capetian and Valois kings. senior line of the House of Bourbon became extinct in the male line in 1527 with the death of Charles III, Duke of Bourbon. This made the junior Bourbon-Vendôme branch the genealogically senior branch of the House of Bourbon. In 1589, at the death of Henry III of France, the House of Valois became extinct in the male line. Under the Salic law, the Head of the House of Bourbon, as the senior representative of the senior-surviving branch of the Capetian dynasty, became King of France as Henry IV.[2] Bourbon monarchs then united to France the small kingdom of Navarre, which Henry's father had acquired by marriage in 1555, ruling both until the 1792 overthrow of the monarchy during the French Revolution. Restored briefly in 1814 and definitively in 1815 after the fall of the First French Empire, the senior line of the Bourbons was finally overthrown in the July Revolution of 1830. A cadet Bourbon branch, the House of Orléans, then ruled for 18 years (1830–1848), until it too was overthrown. Princes of Condé was a cadet branch of the Bourbons descended from an uncle of Henry IV, and the Princes of Conti was a cadet line of the Condé branch. Both houses were prominent French noble families, well known for their participation in French affairs, even during exile in the French Revolution, until their respective extinctions in 1830 and 1814. 1700, at the death of Charles II of Spain, the Spanish Habsburgs became extinct in the male line. Under the will of the childless Charles II, the second grandson of Louis XIV of France was named as his successor, to preclude the union of the thrones of France and Spain. The prince, then Duke of Anjou, became Philip V of Spain.[2] Permanent separation of the French and Spanish thrones was secured when France and Spain ratified Philip's renunciation, for himself and his descendants, of the French throne in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1714, and similar arrangements later kept the Spanish throne separate from those of the Two Sicilies and Parma. The Spanish House of Bourbon (rendered in Spanish as Borbón [boÉ¾ËˆÎ²on]) has been overthrown and restored several times, reigning 1700–1808, 1813–1868, 1875–1931, and since 1975. Bourbons ruled in Naples from 1734 to 1806 and in Sicily from 1734 to 1816, and in a unified Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from 1816 to 1860. They also ruled in Parma from 1731 to 1735, 1748–1802 and 1847–1859. Grand Duchess of Luxembourg (ruled 1919-1964) married a cadet of the Parmese line and thus her successors, who have ruled Luxembourg since her abdication in 1964, have also been members of the House of Bourbon. Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, regent for her father, Pedro II of the Empire of Brazil, married a cadet of the Orléans line and thus their descendants, known as the Orléans-Braganza, were in the line of succession to the Brazilian throne and expected to ascend its throne had the monarchy not been abolished by a coup in 1889. legitimate, living members of the House of Bourbon, including its cadet branches, are direct agnatic descendants of Henry IV through his son Louis XIII of France.

France, Brittany Folder (Western France)

Brittany or Breton Region, France
Brittany; EDMUND OF EAST ANGLIA, KING AND MARTYR (20 NOV 870); St Brannock of Braunton, Commemorated January 7 ; St. Elian, Missionary to Cornwall, England, Commemorated on January 13; St Gregory Dialogus, the Pope of Rome, Commemorated on March 12; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

Britany Area

monastery of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, Brittany, 570 approx.
monastery of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys ; PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ;

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers Folder (Southwest France)

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Dordogne River Folder

Dordogne River

Dordogne 1 (Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne)

Dordogne River Source (Plateau de Millevaches)

Dordogne River 2 (Vezere River Mouth)

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Dordogne River 2, Vezere River Folder

Vezere River

Vezere River Source (Plateau De Millevaches)

Vezere River 1 (Thenon)

Thenon, France (Gironde area, N-S and E-W Crossroads, Vezere River 1)
Thenon (N-S and E-W Crossroads) ; St Barses the Confessor, Commemorated August 25 ;

Vezere River Mouth (Dordogne River 2)

Dordogne River 3 (Isle River Mouth)

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Dordogne River 3, Isle River Folder

Isle River

Isle River Source (Plateau de Millevaches)

Isle River 1 (Perigeaux)

Perigeux (high point, Isle River 1)
Perigeux (Isle River) ; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Isle River Mouth (Dordogne River)

Dordogne River Mouth (Gironde Estuary)

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Garonne River Folder

Garonne River

Garonne River Source (Aran Valley)
Aran Valley;

Lourdes, Southwest France (Healing Spring, West of Garonne River Source)
Lourdes; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ;

Garonne River 1 (Toulouse)

Toulouse, Southern France, Langedoc - high point, Capital of the Visigoths (Garonne River 1)
Capital of the Visigoths - Toulouse; Toulouse; AMBROSE OF MILAN, BISHOP AND DOCTOR (7 DEC 397) ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; Saint Vincent of Lerins, Commemorated on May 24;

Languedoc Region (Toulouse, south central France, East of Garonne River)
Languedoc Region, The province of Languedoc covered an area in the central part of southern France, roughly the region between the Rhne River (border with Provence) and the Garonne River (border with Gascony), extending northwards to the Cvennes and the Massif Central (border with Auvergne); DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221); LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; Bernadette of Lourdes, Nun and Visionary, 16 April 1879 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1229 (Languedoc Region, Albi, France)
Albigensian Crusade; DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221);

Garonne River 2 (Tarn River Mouth)

Gascony, Southwest France (Basque Country, West of Garonne River)
Gascony; VINCENT DE PAUL, HELPER OF THE POOR, 27 Sept. 1660; FRANCIS XAVIER, Missionary to the Far East, 1552, Commemorated December 3 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Garonne River 2, Tarn River Folder

Tarn River

Tarn River Source (Mt Lozere)

Cevennes Range
Cevennes Range;

Tarn River 1

Tarn River 2 (Tarn Gourges)

Tarn River 3

Languedoc (Tarn and Upper Garonne Rivers)
Languedoc; Albigenses; Catharism; DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221)

Tarn River 4

Tarn River 5 (Montauban)

Lycee de Montauban, Montauban, France (Tarn River 5)
Montauban, France (Tarn River 5) THOMAS MERTON, MONK, POET, SPIRITUAL WRITER, 1968, Commemrated December 10 ;

Montauban, France (Tarn River 5)
Montauban, France (Tarn River 5) THOMAS MERTON, MONK, POET, SPIRITUAL WRITER, 1968, Commemrated December 10 ;

Tarn River Mouth (Garonne River 2)

Garonne River 3 (Lot River Mouth)

Aquitaine (Garonne River 3.7)
Aquitaine (Garonne River 3.7); Saint Prosper of Aquitaine, Commemorated on July 7;

Aquitaine Region, France (Southwest Coast, west of Garonne River)
Aquitaine Region, France (Southwest Coast, west of Garonne River); HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1142-1204;

Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1142-1204
Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1142-1204; Aquitaine Region, France (Southwest Coast, west of Garonne River); HILDEGARD OF BINGEN, VISIONARY (17 SEP 1179); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

France, Gironde Estuary Rivers, Garonne River 3, Lot River Folder

Lot River

Lot River Source (Plateau de Millevaches)

Lot River 1 (Cahors)

Cahors, France (high point, Lot River 1)
Cahors (Lot River); LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Lot River Mouth (Garonne River 3)

Garonne River Mouth (Gironde Estuary Bay of Biscay Atlantic Ocean)

Moeze Saintonge, Poitevin Marshland, Western France, Gironde Estuary
Moeze Saintonge, Poitevin Marshland, Western France, Gironde Estuary; ELIE NAUD, (ELIAS NEAU), HUGUENOT WITNESS TO THE FAITH, 7 Sept. 1722, commemorated Sept. 7

Bordeaux, France (Garonne River Mouth)
Bordeaux, France; St Paulinus the Merciful the Bishop of Nola, Commemorated January 23 ;

France, Aude River Folder (Southeastern France)

France, Southern France (south of Marais Poitevin)
France, Southern France (south of Marais Poitevin, a large marshland); DOMINIC, PREACHER, FRIAR, MISSIONARY (8 AUGUST 1221); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Marais Poitevin (a large marshland western France)
Marais Poitevin; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Aude River

Aude River Source (Pyrenees mountains)
Pyrenees mountains;

Aude River 1

Aude River 2

Aude River 3

Rousillon County, Catalonia, France (Aude River)
Rousillon County; Saint Anna of Leukadio, Commemorated on July 23; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ;

Aude River Mouth (Mediterranean Sea)

Leukadio or Leukate, France (south of Aude River Mouth, Leukate Lagoon, Southeast France)
Leukadio or Leukate, France; Saint Anna of Leukadio, Commemorated on July 23;

Narbonum, France (Aude River Mouth, Mediterranean Sea)
Narbonum; Martyr Sebastian at Rome, and his companions, Commemorated December 18;

France, French Rivierra Folder (Southeastern France)

Cimella, France (Cimelum, near Nice)
Cimella (Cimelum) near Nice; Martyr Pontious at Cimella in France ; Hieromartyr Antherus (Antheros) Pope of Rome, Commemorated August 4 ; Hieromartyr Fabian the Pope of Rome

Lerins Islands, Southeastern France
Lerins Islands, Southeastern France ; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated January 16 ; Saint Vincent of Lerins, Commemorated on May 24; Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

Lerins Abbey (French Rivierra) 410
Lerins monestary; St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated January 16 ; Saint Vincent of Lerins, Commemorated on May 24; Venerable Bede, the Church Historian, Commemorated on May 27 ;

France, Rhone and Saone Rivers Folder (Eastern France)

Rhone River

Rhone River (Fos Harbor)

Rhone River (Marseille)

Rhone River Source (Rhone Glacier, Switzerland)
Rhone Glacier;

Rhone River 1 (near Crans-Montana, Switzerland)

Rhone River 2 (Geneva, Switzerland, Lake Geneva)

Rhone River 3 (near Val-d'Isere, Courchevel, Meribel, France)

Chartreuse Mountains (Rhone River 3, Carthusians)
Chartreuse Mountains (Carthusians); Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse (Rhone River 3)
Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200);

Avalon, France, birthplace of Hugh of Lincoln (Chartreuse Mts, Carthusians, Rhone River 3)
Avalon, France; Chartreuse Mountains (Carthusians); Carthusians - Grande Chartreuse; HUGH OF LINCOLN, BISHOP, PROTECTOR OF THE OPPRESSED (17 NOV 1200); a sign of his remorse for his role in the murder of the Archbishop Thomas a Becket, King Henry II founded the first house in England of the strict monastic order called the Carthusians. Difficulties arose with the first two priors, and a French noble recommended Hugh de Avalon, who at that time had been a monk at the mother house of the order for 17 years. his arrival in England in 1176, Hugh found that the building of the monastery had not begun. Worse, no compensation had been paid to those who would have to lose their lands and property to make room for it. refused to take office until these persons had been paid "to the last penny." He intervened again on behalf of the builders, whose pay was not forthcoming. Henry loved him for his plain speaking. "I do not despair of you," Hugh said to him at their first interview; "I know how much your many occupations interfere with the health of your soul." impressed by his frankness, swore that while he lived he should not leave his kingdom, and took so much pleasure in his conversation, and paid so much heed to his counsels, that a rumor arose that Hugh was his son. biographer wrote that "of all men only Hugh could bend that rhinosceros to his will." Henry was in danger of shipwreck, he cried out, "If only my Carthusian Hugh were awake and at prayer, God would not forget me." This affection never diminished, though Hugh dared to oppose the king, particularly in the matter of keeping bishoprics vacant in order that their revenues might fall to the king's treasury. of the worst examples was Lincoln, which, except for a few months, had been without a bishop for eighteen years. Hugh was elected to the post in 1186, and his monastic superiors ordered him to accept. After so long a period of neglect, there was great need of reform. employed priests of great piety and learning, and made the fullest use of his authority in disciplining his clergy. He took a stern view of the ill-treatment of the poor by the royal foresters, and when a subject of the church of Lincoln suffered at their hands he excommunicated their chief. He also refused to appoint a royal favorite to a meaningless but lucrative post. Henry was furious, and summoned him to his presence. He came, and Henry turned away his face and would not speak, but by way of ignoring his presence took out a torn glove and began to sew it. At last Hugh said, "How like you are to your relations at Falaise." king might have resented this allusion to the humble birth of William the Conqueror's mother, the daughter of a glove-maker, but he only laughed, and the quarrel was made up. against the Jews broke out in England at the time of the Third Crusade. In defence of the persecuted, Hugh faced armed mobs in Lincoln, Stamford and Northampton and compelled their submission. refused to raise money for the foreign wars of King Richard the Lion-Heart, calmed the king's rage with a kiss, and persisted in his refusal: was the first clear example on record of the refusal of a money-grant demanded directly by the crown, and an important legal precedent. Richard said, "If all bishops were like my lord of Lincoln, not a prince among us could raise his head against them." His relations with King John were less happy. John showed him an amulet, which he said was sacred and would preserve him. Hugh replied, "Do not put your trust in lifeless stone, but only in the living and heavenly stone, our Lord Jesus Christ." following Easter he preached at length on the duties of kings, and the king slipped out partway through. tireless, and forgetful of self, Hugh also had wit, a temper that he described as "more biting than pepper," and a great love and concern for children and the defenceless. He visited leper-houses and washed the ulcerous limbs of their inmates. He was fond of animals, and they of him. Birds and squirrels came readily to his hand. He had a swan that would feed from his hand, follow him about, and keep guard over his bed, so that no one could approach it without being attacked. In 1200 the king sent him on an embassy to France. His mission was a success, but he took ill and returned to England to die on 16 November 1200. John Ruskin called him "the most beautiful sacerdotal (priestly) figure known to me in history." by James Kiefer

Arc River of Savoie

Arc (Savoie) River Source, near Bonneville sur Arc and Val d' Isere

Arc River in Savoie

Rhone River 4 (Lyon, Saone River Mouth)

France, Rhone River 4, Saone River Folder

Saone River

Saone River Source (Vosges Mt Range)

Saone River 1 (Darney)

Saone River 2 (Monthureux-sur-Saone)

Saone River 3 (Chatillon-sur-Saone)

France, Rhone River 4, Saone River 3, Grosne River Folder

Grosne River

Grosne River Source (Saint-Bonnet-des-Bruyeres)
Grosne River;

Grosne River 1 (Cluny Abbey)

Cluny Abbey, France (Grosne River 1) 910
Cluny; Cluny Abbey; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); PETER ABELARD, Abbot, Theologian, Philosopher, 21 April 1142 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Grosne River Mouth (Saone River 3)

La Fert Abbey (Grosne River Mouth, Saone River 3)
La Fert Abbey (Grosne River Mouth, Saone River 3) BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

Saone River 4 (Jussey)

Luxeuil Abbey, France
Luxeuil Abbey (Burgendy, France, between Rhine and Meuse Rivers); Venerable Comgall of Bangor, Commemorated on May 10;

Saone River 5 (Cistercian, Citeaux, Abby)

Cistercian abbey, France (Saone River 5) 1098
Cistercian abbey; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); Synaxis of the Holy Glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John, Commemorated January 7 ;

Citeaux Abby, 1098
Citeaux Abby; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

Corcelles-les-Citeaux
Corcelles-les-Citeaux; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

Autun (Saone-and-Loire Rivers Department)
Autun; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28 ;

Autun Cathedral, 1120
Autun Cathedral; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28;

St Symphorian'™s monastery, Autun, Saone, 452
St Symphorian'™s monastery; Autun Cathedral; St Germanus the Bishop of Paris, Commemorated on May 28 ;

Burgundy, France (Morvan Hills, rivers source area, Saone drainage)
Burgundy; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530) ; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3;

Burgundian State, a very large area, Upper Seine, Upper Loire, Upper Saone, Luxemborg, Belgium, Holland
Burgundian State, a very large area, Upper Seine, Upper Loire, Upper Saone, Luxemborg, Belgium, Holland Burgundy; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153); REMIGIUS OF RHEIMS BISHOP, APOSTLE OF THE FRANKS (1 OCTOBER 530) ; St Felix of Burgundy the Bishop of Dunwich and Enlightener of East Anglia, Commemorated on March 8; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; JOAN OF ARC, VISIONARY, 30 May 1431; Hieromartyr Lucian the Bishop at Beauvais in France, Commemorated on June 3;

France, Rhone River 4, Saone River 5, Doubs River Folder

Doubs River

Doubs River Source (Mouthe)
Mouthe;

Doubs River 1 (Montbeliard)
Montbiliard;

Besancon, France (Doubs River 2)
Besancon, France on the Doubs River; Venerable John Calabytes "the Hut-Dweller", Commemorated January 15 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Doubs River 2 (Besancon)

Doubs River Mouth (Saone River 5)
Doubs River;

Saone River 6 (Saone-et-Loire)

Macon, France (Saone River 6.7)
Macon ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Saone River 7 (Belleville et Saone

Mongre, Notre Dame de Mongre High School (Saone River 7.3) 1848
Notre Dame de Mongr High School; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Villefranche-sur-Saone (Saone River 7.3)
Villefranche-sur-Saone ; Notre Dame de Mongr High School; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Saone River 8 (Caluire-et-Cuire)

Saone River Mouth (Lyons, Rhone River 4)

Lyons, France (Saone River Mouth, Rhone River 4)
Lyons; Hieromartyr Irenaeus the Bishop of Lyons, Commemorated on August 23; Martyr and Confessor Michael the Wonderworker of Chernigov, Commemorated September 20 ; Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer the Bishop of Antioch, Commemorated December 20 ; Hieromartyr Polycarp the Bishop of Smyrna, Commemorated on February 23; Hieromartyr Pionius of Smyrna and those with him, Commemorated on March 11; POLYCARP; BLANDINA AND HER COMPANIONS, (Formerly THE MARTYRS OF LYONS), (2 JUNE 177); IRENAEUS, BISHOP OF LYONS, THEOLOGIAN (28 JUN 202) ;

Clairvaux Abby, 1115
Clairvaux Abbey ; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

La Ferte or Clairvaux (48:09 N 4:47 E) 1115
Clairvaux Abbey ; BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, ABBOT, THEOLOGIAN, AND POET (20 AUGUST 1153);

Rhone River 5 (Vienne)

Isere River

Isere River Source, Vald'Isere Ski Resort

Isere River Mouth, Rhone River 5.8

Rhone River 6 (near Grenoble, France)

Rhone River 7 (Avignon)

Avignon, France (Rhone River 7)
Avignon; CATHERINE OF SIENA, REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER (29 APR 1380); EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ; JAN HUS, PRIEST and MARTYR, 6 July 1415;

Rhone River 8 (Arles)

Arles, France (Rhone River 8)
Arles (Rhone River 8); St Honoratus the Archbishop of Arles and Founder of Lerins Monastery, Commemorated January 16 ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17 ; St Augustine of Canterbury, Evangelizer of England, Commemorated on May 26;

Rhone River Mouth (Marseille, Gulf of Lyon)

Rhone River Mouth (Fos Harbor)

Rhone River Mouth (Marseille)

Marseille, France (Rhone River Mouth)
Marseille; THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES, Raoul Wallenberg and Carl Lutz, Commemorated July 16 ; Myrrhbearer and Equal of the Apostles Mary Magdalene, Commemorated on July 22; FRANCIS OF ASSISI, FRIAR (4 OCT 1226); THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES, Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV; Venerable John Cassian the Roman, Commemorated on February 28; St Germanus of Dacia Pontica (Dobrogea), Commemorated on February 29;

Monastery of St Victor in Marseilles
Monastery of St Victor in Marseilles;

Aix-en-Provence (Rhone River Mouth, Marseille)
Aix-en-Provence; Provence-Alpes-Cate d'Azur; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Provence (Southeastern France, east of Rhone River)
Provence Region; LOUIS IX, KING OF FRANCE (25 AUGUST 1270) ; Venerable and God-bearing Father Anthony the Great, Commemorated on January 17 ; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ; EARLY ABBOTS of CLUNY, 30 April 909 ;

Provence-Alpes-Cate d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Cate d'Azur; PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN, SCIENTIST AND MILITARY CHAPLAIN, 1955, Commemorated April 10 ;

Arc (Provence) River

Arc (Provence) River Source

Arc (Provence) River Mouth

France, Maginot Line, Northeast France between France and Germany

Strasbourg, France (Maginot Line)
Strasbourg, France; England, 1508-1569, Bible Translator and Bishop, Miles Coverdale; WILLIAM TYNDALE and MILES CLOVERDALE, TRANSLATOR OF THE BIBLE (6 OCT 1536, 1569);

El'zasa in German Empire, or Alsace, France, Maginot Line
Alsace; Martyr Sophia and her three daughters at Rome, Commemorated on September 17;

France (Clean), Roman Roads or Major Rivers Folder

France (Clean), its Area
France, its Area

France (Clean), Britany, its Area
France, Britany, its Area

France (Clean) Angevin Empire, its Area 1154-1214
Angevin Empire, its Area;

France (Clean), North Sea Empire, its Area, 1013-66, 53 years
North Sea Empire, its Area, 1013-66, 53 years

Chartres Cathedral, 1194-1220
Chartres Cathedral;

Abbey of St Denis (Paris, France) 1144
Abbey of St Denis in France;

Paris, France (Seine River 5)
Paris;

Dominican house in Orleans (Loire River 20)
Dominican house in Orleans ;

Massif Central (Central France)
Massif Central;

Puy de Dome (dormant lava dome of a volcano)
Puy de Dome (dormant lava dome of a volcano);

Brittany or Breton Region, France
Brittany;

Breton or Brittany Region, France
Brittany;

France (Clean), Normandy, its Area
France, Normandy, its Area

Normandy, France (Lower Seine to Cotentin Peninsula)
Normandy; Duchy of Normandy;

Nantes, Brittany (Liore River 31)
Nantes, Brittany ;

France (Clean), Pitou Region (Poitevan Marsh, Poitiers, Limoge high point, Clain River)

Poitou Region, (Poitiers, Limoge high point, Poitevan Marsh, Clain River)
Poitevan Marsh;

Poitiers, France (Clain River 3)
Poitiers;

Bordeaux, France (Garonne River Mouth)
Bordeaux, France;

Arles, France (Rhone River 8)
Arles (Rhone River 8);

Lerins Abbey (French Rivierra) 410
Lerins monestary;

Lerins Islands, Southeastern France
Lerins Islands, Southeastern France ;

Lyons, France (Saone River Mouth, Rhone River 4)
Lyons;

Cistercian abbey, France (Saone River 5) 1098
Cistercian abbey;

Germania, not Germany, the fertile plain North of this Line, difficult to protect

Lourdes, Southwest France (Healing Spring, East of Oloron, France on Way of St James, Spain)
Lourdes;

Way of St James (Oloron)

Way of St James (Ostabat)

Way of St James (Camino Real)

Way of St James (Jaca)