Contents - LessonPaths

Contents
Articles
Culture of France
1
Brittany
20
Normandy
47
Languedoc
65
Dauphin€
71
Burgundy
81
Picardy
86
Provence
91
Alsace
121
County of Flanders
144
Lorraine (duchy)
155
Corsica
159
Savoy
171
References
Article Sources and Contributors
179
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
182
Article Licenses
License
189
Culture of France
1
Culture of France
Masterpiece painting by Eug€ne Delacroix called Liberty Leading
the People portrays the July Revolution using the stylistic views of
Romanticism. Since Liberty is part of the motto •Libert‚, ‚galit‚,
fraternit‚ƒ, as the French put it, this painting has became the primary
symbol of the French Republic.
Part of a series on the
Culture of
France
People
Cuisine
Festivals
Religion
Art
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Sport
„
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France portal
v
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e [1]
The culture of France and of the French people has been shaped by geography, by profound historical events, and
by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of
high culture since the 17th century, first in Europe, and from the 19th century on, world wide. From the late 19th
century, France has also played an important role in cinema, fashion and cuisine. The importance of French culture
Culture of France
has waxed and waned over the centuries, depending on its economic, political and military importance. French
culture today is marked both by great regional and socioeconomic differences and by strong unifying tendencies.
=Problems in defining "French" culture
Wherever one comes from, "culture" consists of beliefs and values learned through the socialization process as well
[2][3]
as material artifacts.
"Culture is the learned set of beliefs, values, norms and material goods shared by group
members. Culture consists of everything we learn in groups during the life course-from infancy to old age."
The conception of "French" culture however poses certain difficulties and presupposes a series of assumptions about
what precisely the expression "French" means. Whereas American culture posits the notion of the "melting-pot" and
cultural diversity, the expression "French culture" tends to refer implicitly to a specific geographical entity (as, say,
"metropolitan France", generally excluding its overseas departments) or to a specific historico-sociological group
defined by ethnicity, language, religion and geography. The realities of "Frenchness" however, are extremely
complicated. Even before the late 18th-19th century, "metropolitan France" was largely a patchwork of local
customs and regional differences that the unifying aims of the Ancien R‚gime and the French Revolution had only
begun to work against, and today's France remains a nation of numerous indigenous and foreign languages, of
multiple ethnicities and religions, and of regional diversity that includes French citizens in Corsica, Guadeloupe,
Martinique and elsewhere around the globe.
The creation of some sort of typical or shared French culture or "cultural identity", despite this vast heterogeneity, is
the result of powerful internal forces € such as the French educational system, mandatory military service, state
linguistic and cultural policies € and by profound historic events € such as the Franco-Prussian war and the two
World Wars € which have forged a sense of national identity over the last 200 years. However, despite these
unifying forces, France today still remains marked by social class and by important regional differences in culture
(cuisine, dialect/accent, local traditions) that many fear will be unable to withstand contemporary social forces
(depopulation of the countryside, immigration, centralization, market forces and the world economy).
In recent years, to fight the loss of regional diversity, many in France have promoted forms of multiculturalism and
encouraged cultural enclaves (communautarisme), including reforms on the preservation of regional languages and
the decentralization of certain government functions, but French multiculturalism has had a harder time of accepting,
or of integrating into the collective identity, the large non-Christian and immigrant communities and groups that
have come to France since the 1960s.
The last 70 years has also seen French cultural identity "threatened" by global market forces and by American
"cultural hegemony". Since its dealings with the 1943 GATT free trade negotiations, France has fought for what it
calls the exception culturelle, meaning the right to subsidize or treat favorably domestic cultural production and to
limit or control foreign cultural products (as seen in public funding for French cinema or the lower VAT accorded to
books). The notion of an explicit exception fran€aise however has angered many of France's critics.[4]
The French are often perceived as taking a great pride in national identity and the positive achievements of France
(the expression "chauvinism" is of French origin) and cultural issues are more integrated in the body of the politics
than elsewhere (see "The Role of the State", below). The French Revolution claimed universalism for the democratic
principles of the Republic. Charles de Gaulle actively promoted a notion of French "grandeur" ("greatness").
Perceived declines in cultural status are a matter of national concern and have generated national debates, both from
the left (as seen in the anti-globalism of Jos‚ Bov‚) and from the right and far right (as in the discourses of the
National Front).
According to Hofstede's Framework for Assessing Culture, the culture of France is moderately individualistic and
high Power Distance Index.
Now, the interracial blending of some native French and newcomers stands as a vibrant and boasted feature of
French culture, from popular music to movies and literature. Therefore, alongside mixing of populations, exists also
2
Culture of France
a cultural blending (le m•tissage culturel) that is present in France. It may be compared to the traditional US
conception of the melting-pot. The French culture might have been already blended in from other races and
ethnicities, in cases of some biographical research on the possibility of African ancestry on a small number of
famous French citizens. Author Alexandre Dumas, p€re possessed one-fifth black Haitian descent, and Empress
Josephine Napoleon who was born and raised in the French West Indies from a plantation estate family. We can
mention as well, the most famous French-Canadian singer Celine Dion whose grandmother was a North African
from Kabylie.[5]
For a long time, the only objection to such outcomes predictably came from the far-left schools of thought. In the
past few years, other unexpected voices are however beginning to question what they interpret, as the new
philosopher Alain Finkielkraut coined the term, as an "Ideology of miscegenation" (une id•ologie du m•tissage) that
may come from what one other philosopher, Pascal Bruckner, defined as the "Sob of the White man" (le sanglot de
l'homme blanc). These critics have been dismissed by the mainstream and their propagators have been labelled as
new reactionaries (les nouveaux r•actionnaires),[6] even if racist and anti-immigration sentiment has recently been
documented to be increasing in France at least according to one poll.
Language
Main articles: French language, Languages of France and Language policy in France
The Acad‚mie fran…aise sets an official standard of language purity; however, this standard, which is not mandatory,
is even occasionally ignored by the government itself: for instance, the left-wing government of Lionel Jospin
pushed for the feminization of the names of some functions (madame la ministre) while the Acad•mie pushed for
some more traditional madame le ministre.
Some action has been taken by the government in order to promote French culture and the French language. For
instance, there exists a system of subsidies and preferential loans for supporting French cinema. The Toubon law,
from the name of the conservative culture minister who promoted it, makes it mandatory to use French in
advertisements directed to the general public. Note that contrary to some misconception sometimes found in the
Anglophone media, the French government neither regulates the language used by private parties in non-commercial
settings, nor makes it compulsory that France-based WWW sites should be in French.
France counts many regional languages, some of them being very different from standard French such as Breton and
Alsatian. Some regional languages are Roman, like French, such as Occitan. The Basque language is completely
unrelated to French and, indeed, to any other language in the world; its area straddles the border between the south
west of France and the north of Spain. Many of those languages have enthusiastic advocates; however, the real
importance of local languages remains subject to debate. In April 2001, the Minister of Education, Jack Lang,
admitted formally that for more than two centuries, the political powers of the French government had repressed
regional languages, and announced that bilingual education would, for the first time, be recognized, and bilingual
teachers recruited in French public schools. English is taught in schools as a second language.
A revision of the French constitution creating official recognition of regional languages was implemented by the
Parliament in Congress at Versailles in July 2008.[7]
3
Culture of France
4
Religion
Main article: Religion in France
France is a secular country where freedom of thought
and of religion is preserved, by virtue of the 1789
Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The
Republic is based on the principle of la‚cit•, that is of
freedom of religion (including of agnosticism and
atheism) enforced by the Jules Ferry laws and the 1905
law on the separation of the State and the Church,
enacted at the beginning of the Third Republic
(1871•1940). A January 2007 poll found that 61% of the
French population describe themselves as Roman
Catholics, 21% as Atheists, 4% as Muslims, 3% as
Protestants, 1% as Buddhists, and 1% as Jews. France
guarantees freedom of religion as a constitutional right
and the government generally respects this right in
practice. A long history of violent conflict between
groups led the state to break its ties to the Catholic
Church early in the last century and adopt a strong
commitment to maintaining a totally secular public
sector.[8]
Catholicism
Main article: Roman Catholicism in France
Notre-Dame de Reims is the Roman Catholic cathedral where the
The Roman Catholic Church has always played a
kings of France were crowned until 1805.
significant role in French culture and in French life.
Most French people are Roman Catholic Christians, however many of them are secular but still place high value on
Catholicism.
The Roman Catholic faith is no longer considered the state religion, as it was before the 1789 Revolution and
throughout the various, non-republican regimes of the 19th century (the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the
Second Empire). The Official split of Catholic Church and State ("S‚paration de l'Eglise et de l'Etat") took place in
1905, and this major reform emphazises the Laicist and anti-clericalist mood of French Radical Republicans in this
period.
At the beginning of the 20th century, France was a largely rural country with conservative Catholic mores, but in the
hundred years since then, the countryside has become depopulated, and the population has largely become more
secular. A December 2006 poll by Harris Interactive, published in The Financial Times, found that 32% of the
French population described themselves as agnostic, a further 32% as atheist and only 27% believed in any type of
[9]
God or supreme being.
Culture of France
5
Islam
Main article: Islam in France
After Catholicism, Islam is the second largest faith in
France today, and the country has the largest Muslim
population (in percentage) of any Western European
country. This is a result of immigration and
permanent family settlement in France, from the
1960s on, of groups from, principally, North Africa
(Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia) and, to a lesser
extent, other areas such as Turkey and West
Africa.[10] While it is prohibited in France for the
government census to collect data on religious
beliefs, estimates and polls place the percentage of
Muslims at between 4% and 7%.[11]
The Grande Mosqu•e in Paris.
Judaism
Main article: History of the Jews in France
The current Jewish community in France numbers around 600,000, according to the World Jewish Congress and
500,000 according to the Appel Unifi‚ Juif de France, and is found mainly in the metropolitan areas of Paris,
Marseille and Strasbourg.
The history of the Jews in France dates back over 2,000 years. In the early Middle Ages, France was a center of
Jewish learning, but persecution increased as the Middle Ages wore on. France was the first country in Europe to
emancipate its Jewish population during the French Revolution, but despite legal equality anti-Semitism remained an
issue, as illustrated in the Dreyfus affair of the late 19th century. However, through the 1870 D•cret Cr•mieux,
France secured full citizenship for the Jews in then French-ruled Algeria. Despite the death of a quarter of all French
Jews during the Holocaust, France currently has the largest Jewish population in Europe.
French Jews are mostly Sephardic and span a range of religious affiliations, from the ultra-Orthodox Haredi
communities to the large segment of Jews who are entirely secular.
Buddhism
Main article: Buddhism in France
Buddhism is widely reported to be the fourth largest religion in France, after Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. France
has over two hundred Buddhist meditation centers, including about twenty sizable retreat centers in rural areas. The
Buddhist population mainly consists of Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants, with a substantial minority of native
French converts and "sympathizers". The rising popularity of Buddhism in France has been the subject of
considerable discussion in the French media and academy in recent years.
Culture of France
Cults and new religious movements
France created in 2006 the first French parliamentary commission on cult activities which led to a report registering
a number of cults considered as dangerous. Supporters of such movements have criticized the report on the grounds
of the respect of religious freedom. Proponents of the measure contend that only dangerous cults have been listed as
such, and state secularism ensures religious freedom in France.
Regional customs and traditions
Modern France is the result of centuries of nation building and the acquisition and incorporation of a number of
historical provinces and overseas colonies into its geographical and political structure. These regions all evolved
with their own specific cultural and linguistic traditions in fashion, religious observance, regional language and
accent, family structure, cuisine, leisure activities, industry, and including the simple way to pour wine, etc.
The evolution of the French state and culture, from the Renaissance to today, has however promoted a centralization
of politics, media and cultural production in and around Paris (and, to a lesser extent, around the other major urban
centers), and the industrialization of the country in the 20th century has led to a massive move of French people from
the countryside to urban areas. At the end of the 19th century, around 50% of the French depended on the land for a
living; today French farmers only make up 6-7%, while 73% live in cities.[12] Nineteenth century French literature
abounds in scenes of provincial youth "coming up" to Paris to "make it" in the cultural, political or social scene of
the capital (this scheme is frequent in the novels of Balzac). Policies enacted by the French Third Republic also
encouraged this displacement through mandatory military service, a centralized national educational system, and
suppression of regional languages. While government policy and public debate in France in recent years has returned
to a valorization of regional differences and a call for decentralization of certain aspects of the public sphere
(sometimes with ethnic, racial or reactionary overtones), the history of regional displacement and the nature of the
modern urban environment and of mass media and culture have made the preservation of a regional "sense of place
or culture" in today's France extremely difficult.
The names of the historical French provinces € such as Brittany (Bretagne), Berry, Orl‚anais, Normandy
(Normandie), Languedoc, Lyonnais, Dauphin‚, Champagne, Poitou, Guyenne and Gascony (Gascogne), Burgundy
(Bourgogne), Picardy (Picardie), Provence, Touraine, Limousin, Auvergne, B‚arn, Alsace, Flanders, Lorraine,
Corsica (Corse), Savoy (Savoie)... (please see individual articles for specifics about each regional culture) € are still
used to designate natural, historical and cultural regions, and many of them appear in modern r‚gion or d‚partement
names. These names are also used by the French in their self-identification of family origin.
Regional identification is most pronounced today in cultures linked to regional languages and non-French-speaking
traditions - French language itself being only a dialect of Langue d'o†l, the mother language of many of the languages
to-be-mentioned, which became a national vehicular language, like (in alphabetical order): Alsatian, Arpitan,
Basque, Brezhoneg (Breton), Burgundian, Corsu (Corsican), Catal‡ (Catalan), Francique, Gallo, Lorrain, Norman,
Occitan, Picard, Poitevin, Saintongeais,etc., and some of these regions have promoted movements calling for some
degree of regional autonomy, and, occasionally, national independence (see, for example, Breton nationalism,
Corsica and Occitania).
There are huge differences in life style, socioeconomic status and world view between Paris and the provinces. The
French often use the expression "la France profonde" ("Deep France", similar to "heartland") to designate the
profoundly "French" aspects of provincial towns, village life and rural agricultural culture, which escape the
hegemony of Paris. The expression can however have a pejorative meaning, similar to the expression "le d‚sert
fran…ais" ("the French desert") used to describe a lack of acculturation of the provinces. Another expression, "terroir"
is a French term originally used for wine and coffee to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed
upon these products. It can be very loosely translated as "a sense of place" which is embodied in certain qualities,
and the sum of the effects that the local environment (especially the "soil") has had on the growth of the product. The
use of the term has since been generalized to talk about many cultural products.
6
Culture of France
7
In addition to its metropolitan territory, France also consists of overseas departments made up of its former colonies
of Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana in the Caribbean, and Mayotte and R‚union in the Indian Ocean.
(There also exist a number of "overseas collectivities" and "overseas territories". For a full discussion, see
administrative divisions of France. Since 1982, following the French government‚s policy of decentralisation,
overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan
France. As a result of a constitutional revision which occurred in 2003, these regions are now to be called overseas
regions.) These overseas departments have the same political status as metropolitan departments and are integral
parts of France, (similar to the way in which Hawaii is a state and an integral part of the United States), yet they also
have specific cultural and linguistic traditions which set them apart. Certain elements of overseas culture have also
been introduced to metropolitan culture (as, for example, the musical form the biguine).
Industrialization, immigration and urbanization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have also created new
socioeconomic regional communities in France, both urban (like Paris, Lyon, Villeurbanne, Lille, Marseille, etc.)
and the suburban and working class hinterlands (like Seine-Saint-Denis) of urban agglomerations (called variously
banlieues ("suburbs", sometimes qualified as "chic" or "pauvres") or les cit•s ("housing projects") which have
developed their own "sense of place" and local culture (much like the various boroughs of New York City or suburbs
of Los Angeles), as well as cultural identity.
Other specific communities
Paris has traditionally been associated with alternative, artistic or intellectual subcultures, many of which involved
foreigners. Such subcultures include the "Bohemians" of the mid-nineteenth century, the Impressionists, artistic
circles of the Belle ‚poque (around such artists as Picasso and Alfred Jarry), the Dadaists, Surrealists, the "Lost
Generation" (Hemingway, Gertrude Stein) and the post-war "intellectuals" associated with Montparnasse (Jean-Paul
Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir).
France has an estimated 280,000-340,000 Roma, generally known as Gitans, Tsiganes, Romanichels (slightly
pejorative), Boh•miens, or Gens du voyage ("travellers").
There are gay and lesbian communities in the cities, particularly in the Paris metropolitan area (such as in Le Marais
district of the capital). Although homosexuality is perhaps not as well tolerated in France as in Spain, Scandinavia,
and the Benelux nations, surveys of the French public reveal a considerable shift in attitudes comparable to other
Western European nations. As of 2001, 55% of the French consider homosexuality "an acceptable lifestyle."[13] The
past mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoˆ, is gay. In 2006, an Ipsos survey shows that 62% support same-sex marriage,
while 37% were opposed. 55% believed gay and lesbian couples should not have parenting rights, while 44% believe
same-sex couples should be able to adopt.[14] See also LGBT rights in France.
Social class
Main article: Social class in France
Despite the egalitarian aspects of French society, French culture remains marked by social-economic class and by
many class distinctionsWikipedia:Citation needed.
Families and romantic relationships
Household structure
Growing out of the values of the Catholic Church and rural communities, the basic unit of French society was
[15]
traditionally held to be the family.
Over the twentieth century, the "traditional" family structure in France has
evolved from extended families to, after World War II, nuclear families. Since the 1960s, marriages have decreased
and divorces have increased in France, and divorce law and legal family status have evolved to reflect these social
Culture of France
8
changes.[16]
According to INSEE figures, household and family composition in metropolitan France continues to evolve. Most
significantly, from 1982 to 1999, single parent families have increased from 3.6% to 7.4%; there have also been
increases in the number of unmarried couples, childless couples, and single men (from 8.5% to 12.5) and women
(from 16.0% to 18.5%). Their analysis indicates that "one in three dwellings are occupied by a person living alone;
one in four dwellings are occupied by a childless couple.."
[17]
Voted by the French Parliament in November 1999 following some controversy, the pacte civil de solidarit• ("civil
pact of solidarity") commonly known as a PACS, is a form of civil union between two adults (same-sex or
opposite-sex) for organizing their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than marriage. From a
legal standpoint, a PACS is a "contract" drawn up between the two individuals, which is stamped and registered by
the clerk of the court. Individuals who have registered a PACS are still considered "single" with regard to family
status for some purposes, while they are increasingly considered in the same way as married couples are for other
purposes. While it was pushed by the government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in 1998, it was also opposed,
mostly by people on the right-wing who support traditionalist family values and who argued that PACS and the
recognition of homosexual unions would be disastrous for French society.
Currently, same-sex marriage is legally recognized in France. However, same sex marriage was a large contributing
factor in the presidential election of 2012 between Fran…ois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy. Sarkozy, who represents
the right-wing UMP party opposed gay marriage, while Fran…ois Hollande, of the left wing socialist party (France)
supported it. Hollande was elected in May 2012 and the French legislative branch is currently in the process of
writing and enacting a law for same-sex marriage.
Role of the State
The French state has traditionally played an important role in promoting and supporting culture through the
educational, linguistic, cultural and economic policies of the government and through its promotion of national
identity. Because of the closeness of this relationship, cultural changes in France are often linked to, or produce,
political crisis.[18]
The relationship between the French state and culture is an old one. Under Louis XIII's minister Richelieu, the
independent Acad‚mie fran…aise came under state supervision and became an official organ of control over the
French language and seventeenth-century literature. During Louis XIV's reign, his minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert
brought French luxury industries, like textile and porcelain, under royal control and the architecture, furniture,
fashion and etiquette of the royal court (particularly at the Ch‰teau de Versailles) became the preeminent model of
noble culture in France (and, to a great degree, throughout Europe) during the latter half of the seventeenth century.
At times, French state policies have sought to unify the country around certain cultural norms, while at other times
they have promoted regional differences within a heterogeneous French identity. The unifying effect was particularly
true of the "radical period"" of the French Third Republic which fought regionalisms (including regional languages),
supported anti-clericalism and a strict separation of church from state (including education) and actively promoted
national identity, thus converting (as the historian Eugen Weber has put it) a "country of peasants into a nation of
Frenchmen". The Vichy Regime, on the other hand, promoted regional "folk" traditions.
The cultural policies of the (current) French Fifth Republic have been varied, but a consensus seems to exist around
the need for preservation of French regionalisms (such as food and language) as long as these don't undermine
national identity. Meanwhile, the French state remains ambivalent over the integration into "French" culture of
cultural traditions from recent immigrant groups and from foreign cultures, particularly American culture (movies,
music, fashion, fast food, language, etc.). There also exists a certain fear over the perceived loss of French identity
and culture in the European system and under American "cultural hegemony".
Culture of France
Education
Main article: Education in France
The French educational system is highly centralised. It is divided into three different stages: primary education, or
enseignement primaire, corresponding to grade school in the United States; secondary education, or collƒge and
lyc•e, corresponding to middle and high school in the United States; and higher education (l'universit‚ or les
Grandes •coles).
Primary and secondary education is predominantly public (private schools also exist, in particular a strong
nationwide network of primary and secondary Catholic education), while higher education has both public and
private elements. At the end of secondary education, students take the baccalaur‚at exam, which allows them to
pursue higher education. The baccalaur‚at pass rate in 2012 was 84.5%.
In 1999•2000, educational spending amounted to 7% of the French GDP and 37% of the national budget.
France's performance in math and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995 Trends in
International Math and Science Study.[19]
Since the Jules Ferry laws of 1881-2, named after the then Minister of Public Instruction, all state-funded schools,
including universities, are independent from the (Roman Catholic) Church. Education in these institutions is free.
Non-secular institutions are allowed to organize education as well. The French educational system differs strongly
from Northern-European and American systems in that it stresses the importance of partaking in a society as opposed
to being responsibly independent.
Secular educational policy has become critical in recent issues of French multiculturalism, as in the "affair of the
Islamic headscarf".
Minister of Culture
Main article: Minister of Culture (France)
The Minister of Culture is in the Government of France, the cabinet member in charge of national museums and
monuments; promoting and protecting the arts (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architectural, literary,
televisual and cinematographic) in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de
culture" (culture centres). The Ministry of Culture is located on the Palais Royal in Paris.
The modern post of Minister of Culture was created by Charles de Gaulle in 1959 and the first Minister was the
writer Andr‚ Malraux. Malraux was responsible for realizing the goals of the "droit ‡ la culture" ("the right to
culture") -- an idea which had been incorporated in the French constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948) -- by democratizing access to culture, while also achieving the Gaullist aim of elevating the "grandeur"
("greatness") of post-war France. To this end, he created numerous regional cultural centres throughout France and
actively sponsored the arts. Malraux's artistic tastes included the modern arts and the avant-garde, but on the whole
he remained conservative.
The Ministry of Jacques Toubon was notable for a number of laws (the "Toubon Laws") enacted for the preservation
of the French language, both in advertisements (all ads must include a French translation of foreign words) and on
the radio (40% of songs on French radio stations must be in French), ostensibly in reaction to the presence of
English.
9
Culture of France
Acad€mie fran•aise
Main article: Acad‚mie fran…aise
The Acad•mie fran€aise, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to
the French language. The Acad‚mie was officially established in 1635 by Cardinal Richelieu, the chief minister to
King Louis XIII. Suppressed in 1793 during the French Revolution, it was restored in 1803 by Napoleon Bonaparte
(the Acad‚mie considers itself having been suspended, not suppressed, during the revolution). It is the oldest of the
five acad•mies of the Institut de France.
The Acad‚mie consists of forty members, known as immortels (immortals). New members are elected by the
members of the Acad‚mie itself. Acad‚micians hold office for life, but they may be removed for misconduct. The
body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language; it is charged with publishing an official
dictionary of the language. Its rulings, however, are only advisory; not binding on either the public or the
government.
Military service
Until 1996, France had compulsory military service of young men. This has been credited by historians for further
promoting a unified national identity and by breaking down regional isolationism.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Labor and employment policy
In France, the first labour laws were Waldeck Rousseau's laws passed in 1884. Between 1936 and 1938 the Popular
Front enacted a law mandating 12 days (2 weeks) each year of paid vacation for workers, and a law limiting the
work week to 40 hours, excluding overtime. The Grenelle accords negotiated on May 25 and 26th in the middle of
[20]
the May 1968 crisis, reduced the working week to 44 hours and created trade union sections in each enterprise.
[21]
The minimum wage was also increased by 25%.
In 2000 Lionel Jospin's government then enacted the 35-hour
workweek, down from 39 hours. Five years later, conservative prime minister Dominique de Villepin enacted the
New Employment Contract (CNE). Addressing the demands of employers asking for more flexibility in French
labour laws, the CNE sparked criticism from trade unions and opponents claiming it was lending favour to
contingent work. In 2006 he then attempted to pass the First Employment Contract (CPE) through a vote by
emergency procedure, but that it was met by students and unions' protests. President Jacques Chirac finally had no
choice but to repeal it.
Healthcare and social welfare
The French are profoundly committed to the public healthcare system (called "s‚curit‚ sociale") and to their
"pay-as-you-go" social welfare system.
In 1998, 75% of health payments in France were paid through the public healthcare system. Since 27 July 1999,
France has a universal medical coverage for permanent residents in France (stable residence for more than three
months). Using five performance indicators to measure health systems in 191 member states, it finds that France
provides the best overall health care followed among major countries by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan (The
World Health Report).
10
Culture of France
Lifestyle
Food and alcohol
Main article: French cuisine
Traditional French culture places a high priority on the enjoyment of food. French cuisine was codified in the 20th
century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become the modern version of haute cuisine. Escoffier's major work,
however, left out much of the regional character to be found in the provinces of France. Gastro-tourism and the
Guide Michelin helped to bring people to the countryside during the 20th century and beyond, to sample this rich
bourgeois and peasant cuisine of France. Basque cuisine has also been a great influence over the cuisine in the
southwest of France.
Ingredients and dishes vary by region (see: Regional cuisine). There are many significant regional dishes that have
become both national and regional. Many dishes that were once regional, however, have proliferated in different
variations across the country in the present day. Cheese (see: List of French cheeses) and wine (see: French wine) are
also a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles both regionally and nationally with their many variations and
Appellation d'origine contr„l•e (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws, (lentils from Le Puy-en-Velay also have an
AOC status). Another French product of special note is the Charolais cattle.
The French typically eat only a simple breakfast ("petit
d‚jeuner") which consists of coffee or tea, served
traditionally in a large handleless "bol" (bowl) and
bread or breakfast pastries (croissants). Lunch
("d‚jeuner") and dinner ("d‹ner") are the main meals of
the day. Formal four course meals consist of a starter
course ("entr‚e"), a salad, a main course ("plat
principal"), and finally a cheese or dessert course.
While French cuisine is often associated with rich
desserts, in most homes dessert consists of only fruit or
yogurt.
Food shopping in France was formerly done almost
A sweet crŠpe. CrŠpes are originally from Brittany.
daily in small local shops and markets, but the arrival
of the supermarket and the even larger "hypermarch•s" (large-surface distributors) in France have disrupted this
tradition. With depopulation of the countryside, many towns have been forced to close shops and markets.
Rates of obesity and heart disease in France have traditionally been lower than in other north-western European
countries. This is sometimes called the French paradox (see, for example, Mireille Guiliano's 2006 book French
Women Don't Get Fat). French cuisine and eating habits have however come under great pressure in recent years
from modern fast food, American products and the new global agricultural industry. While French youth culture has
gravitated toward fast food and American eating habits (with an attendant rise in obesity), the French in general have
remained committed to preserving certain elements of their food culture through such activities as including
programs of taste acquisition in their public schools, by the use of the appellation d'origine contrŒl‚e laws, and by
state and European subsides to the French agricultural industry. Emblematic of these tensions is the work of Jos‚
Bov‚, who founded in 1987, the Conf•d•ration Paysanne, an agricultural union that places its highest political
values on humans and the environment, promotes organic farming and opposes genetically modified organisms;
Bov‚'s most famous protest was the dismantling of a McDonald's franchise in Millau (Aveyron), in 1999.
In France, cutlery is used in the continental manner (with the fork in the left hand, prongs facing down and the knife
in the right hand). French etiquette prohibits the placing of hands below the table and the placing of elbows on it.
The legal drinking age is officially 18 (see: Legal drinking age).
11
Culture of France
France is one of the oldest wine producing regions of Europe. France now produces the most wine by value in the
world (although Italy rivals it by volume and Spain has more land under cultivation for wine grapes). Bordeaux
wine, Bourgogne wine and Champagne are important agricultural products.
Tobacco and drugs
The cigarette smoking age is 18 years. According to a widespread clich‚, smoking has been part of French culture €
actually figures indicate that in terms of consumption per capita, France is only the 60th country out of 121.
France, from 1 February 2007, tightened the existing ban on smoking in public places found in the 1991 •vin law:
[22]
Law nŽ91-32 of 10 January, 1991
, containing a variety of measures against alcoholism and tobacco consumption.
Smoking is now banned in all public places (stations, museums, etc.); an exception exists for special smoking rooms
fulfilling drastic conditions, see below. A special exemption was made for caf‚s and restaurants, clubs, casinos, bars,
etc. which ended, 1 January 2008.[23] Opinion polls suggest 70% of people support the ban. Previously, under the
former implementation rules of the 1991 •vin law, restaurants, caf‚s etc. just had to provide smoking and
non-smoking sections, which in practice were often not well separated.
Under the new regulations, smoking rooms are allowed, but are subjected to very strict conditions: they may occupy
at most 20% of the total floor space of the establishment and their size may not be more than 35 m•; they need to be
equipped with separate ventilation which replaces the full volume of air ten times per hour; the air pressure of the
smoking room must constantly be lower than the pressure in the contiguous rooms; they have doors that close
automatically; no service can be provided in the smoking rooms; cleaning and maintenance personnel may enter the
room only one hour after it was last used for smoking.
Popular French cigarette brands include Gauloises and Marlboro.
The possession, sale and use of cannabis (predominantly Moroccan hashish) is illegal in France. Since 1 March
1994, the penalties for cannabis use are from two months to a year and/or a fine, while possession, cultivation or
trafficking of the drug can be punished much more severely, up to ten years. According to a 1992 survey by
[24]
SOFRES, 4.7 million French people ages 12•44 have smoked cannabis at least once in their lives.
Sports and hobbies
Main article: Sport in France
Football (French: Le Foot) is the most popular sport in France. Other popular sports played in France are rugby
union, cycling, tennis, handball, basketball and sailing. France is notable for holding and winning the FIFA World
Cup in 1998, and holding the annual cycling race Tour de France, and the tennis Grand Slam tournament the French
Open. Sport is encouraged in school, and local sports clubs receive financial support from the local governments.
While football is definitely the most popular, rugby union and rugby league takes dominance in the southwest,
especially around the city of Toulouse (see: Rugby union in France and Rugby league in France).
The modern Olympics was invented in France, in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin.
Professional sailing in France is centred on singlehanded and shorthanded ocean racing with the pinnacle of this
branch of the sport being the Vendee Globe singlehanded around the world race which starts every 4 years from the
French Atlantic coast. Other significant events include the Solitaire du Figaro, Mini Transat 6.50, Tour de France a
Voile and Route du Rhum transatlantic race. France has been a regular competitor in the America's Cup since the
1970s.
ther important sports include:
„ 24 Hours of Le Mans - The world's oldest sports car race.
„ Skiing - France has an extensive number of ski resorts in the French alps such as Tignes. Ski resorts are also
located in the Pyr‚n‚es and Vosges mountain chains.
„ P‚tanque - The international federation is recognized by the IOC.
12
Culture of France
13
„ Fencing - Fencing leads the list of sports for which gold medals were won for France at the Summer Olympics
(see: France at the Olympics).
„ Parkour - Developed in France, Parkour is a training discipline with similarities to self-defense or martial arts.
„ Babyfoot (table football) - A very popular pastime in bars and homes in France, and the French are the
predominant winners of worldwide table football competitions.
„ Kitesurfing
Like other cultural areas in France, sport is overseen by a government ministry, the Minister of Youth Affairs and
Sports (France) which is in charge of national and public sport associations, youth affairs, public sports centers and
national stadia (like the Stade de France).
Fashion
Main article: French fashion
Along with Milan, London and New York, Paris is center of an important number of fashion shows. Some of the
world's biggest fashion houses (ex: Chanel) have their headquarters in France.
[25]
The association of France with fashion (la mode) dates largely to the reign of Louis XIV
when the luxury goods
industries in France came increasingly under royal control and the French royal court became, arguably, the arbiter
of taste and style in Europe.
France renewed its dominance of the high fashion (couture or haute couture) industry in the years 1860•1960
through the establishing of the great couturier houses, the fashion press (Vogue was founded in 1892; Elle was
founded in 1945) and fashion shows. The first modern Parisian couturier house is generally considered the work of
the Englishman Charles Frederick Worth who dominated the industry from 1858 to 1895.[26] In the early twentieth
century, the industry expanded through such Parisian fashion houses as the house of Chanel (which first came to
prominence in 1925) and Balenciaga (founded by a Spaniard in 1937). In the post war year, fashion returned to
prominence through Christian Dior's famous "new look" in 1947, and through the houses of Pierre Balmain and
Hubert de Givenchy (opened in 1952). In the 1960s, "high fashion" came under criticism from France's youth culture
while designers like Yves Saint Laurent broke with established high fashion norms by launching pr…t-†-porter
("ready to wear") lines and expanding French fashion into mass manufacturing and marketing.[27] Further
innovations were carried out by Paco Rabanne and Pierre Cardin. With a greater focus on marketing and
manufacturing, new trends were established in the 70s and 80s by Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana,
Jean Paul Gaultier and Christian Lacroix. The 1990s saw a conglomeration of many French couture houses under
luxury giants and multinationals such as LVMH.
Since the 1960s, France's fashion industry has come under increasing competition from London, New York, Milan
and Tokyo, and the French have increasingly adopted foreign (particularly American) fashions (such as jeans, tennis
shoes). Nevertheless, many foreign designers still seek to make their careers in France.
Pets
In 2006, 52% of French households had at least one pet:[28] In total, 9.7 million cats, 8.8 million dogs, 2.3 million
rodents, 8 million birds, and 28 million fish were kept as pets in France during this year.
Media and art
Art and museums
Main article: French art
The first paintings of France are those that are from prehistoric times, painted in the caves of Lascaux well over
10,000 years ago. The arts were already flourishing 1,200 years ago, at the time of Charlemagne, as can be seen in
Culture of France
many hand made and hand illustrated books of that time.
Gothic art and architecture originated in France in the 12th century around Paris and then spread to all of Europe. In
the 13th century, French craftsmen developed the stained glass painting technique and sophisticated illuminated
manuscripts for private devotion in the new gothic style. The final phase of gothic architecture, known as
Flamboyant, also began in France in the 15th century before spreading to the rest of Europe.
The 17th century was one of intense artistic achievements : French painting emerged with a distinct identity, moving
from Baroque to Classicism. Famous classic painters of the 17th century in France are Nicolas Poussin and Claude
Lorrain. French architecture also proved influential with the Palace of Versailles, built for the powerful king Louis
XIV, becoming the model of many European royal palaces. During the 18th century the Rococo style emerged as a
frivolous continuation of the Baroque style. The most famous painters of the era were Antoine Watteau, Fran…ois
Boucher and Jean-Honor‚ Fragonard. At the end of the century, Jacques-Louis David and Dominique Ingres were
the most influential painters of the Neoclassicism.
G‚ricault and Delacroix were the most important painters of the Romanticism. Afterwards, the painters were more
realistic, describing nature (Barbizon school). The realistic movement was led by Courbet and Honor‚ Daumier.
Impressionism was developed in France by artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and
Camille Pissarro. At the turn of the century, France had become more than ever the center of innovative art. The
Spaniard Pablo Picasso came to France, like many other foreign artists, to deploy his talents there for decades to
come. Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin and C‚zanne were painting then. Cubism is an avant-garde movement born in
Paris at the beginning of the 20th century.
The Louvre in Paris is one of the most famous and the largest art museums in the world, created by the new
revolutionary regime in 1793 in the former royal palace. It holds a vast amount of art of French and other artists, e.g.
the Mona Lisa, by Leonardo da Vinci, and classical Greek Venus de Milo and ancient works of culture and art from
Egypt and the Middle East.
Music
Main article: Music of France
France boasts a wide variety of indigenous folk music, as well as styles played by immigrants from Africa, Latin
America and Asia. In the field of classical music, France has produced a number of notable composers such as
Gabriel Faur‚, Claude Debussy, and Hector Berlioz while modern pop music has seen the rise of popular French hip
hop, French rock, techno/funk, and turntablists/djs.
The FŠte de la Musique was created in France (first held in 1982), a music festival, which has since become
worldwide Wikipedia:Please clarify. It takes place every June 21, on the first day of summer.
Theater
Main article: Theater of France
Cinema
Main article: Cinema of France
France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions: Antoine
Lumi€re realized, on 28 December 1895, the first projection, with the Cinematograph, in Paris.[29] Philippe Binant
realized, on 2 February 2000, the first digital cinema projection in Europe, with the DLP CINEMA technology
developed by Texas Instruments, in Paris.[30] Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle
Vague, began in the country.
Additionally, France is an important Francophone film production country. A certain amount of the movies created
share international distribution in the western hemisphere thanks to Unifrance. Although French cinema industry is
14
Culture of France
15
rather small in terms of budget and revenues, it enjoys qualitative screenplay, cast and story telling. French Cinema
is often portrayed as more liberal in terms of subjects (Sex, Society, Politics, Historical). Wikipedia:Citation needed
Within the domestic market, French movies are ranked through nŽ of entries. Movies are premiered on Wednesdays.
"Going to the movies" is a popular activity within metropolitan areas. Many cinema operators offer a "flat-rate pass"
for approx. ƒ30 per month. Prices per movie range between ƒ5.50 and ƒ10.
French major cinema operators are UGC and Path‚, mainly located in city suburbs due to the number of screens and
seating capacity.
Within France many "small" cinemas are located in the downtown parts of a city, resisting the big cinema operators
[31]
nationwide. Paris has the highest density of cinemas (movie theaters) in the world:
biggest number of movie
theaters per inhabitants, and that in most "downtown Paris" movie theaters, foreign movies which would be secluded
to "art houses" cinemas in other places, are shown alongside "mainstream" works as Parisians are avid movie-goers.
Proximity of restaurants, accessibility, ambiance and the showing of alternative foreign movies is often cited as
being the advantage of these small theaters.
The Cin‚math€que Fran…aise holds one of the largest archives of films, movie documents and film-related objects in
the world. Located in Paris, the Cin‚math€que holds daily screenings of films unrestricted by country of origin.
Television
Main article: Television in France
Books, newspapers and magazines
Main articles: French media and French literature
[32]
France has the reputation of being a "literary culture",
and this image is reinforced by such things as the
importance of French literature in the French educational system, the attention paid by the French media to French
book fairs and book prizes (like the Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot or Prix Femina) and by the popular success of the
(former) literary television show "Apostrophes" (hosted by Bernard Pivot).
Although the official literacy rate of France is 99%, some estimates have placed functional illiteracy at between 10%
and 20% of the adult population (and higher in the prison population).[33]
While reading remains a favorite pastime of French youth today, surveys show that it has decreased in importance
compared to music, television, sports and other activities. The crisis of academic publishing has also hit France (see,
for example, the financial difficulties of the Presses universitaires de France (PUF), France's premier academic
[34]
publishing house, in the 1990s).
Literary taste in France remains centered on the novel (26.4% of book sales in 1997), although the French read more
non-fiction essays and books on current affairs than the British or Americans.[35] Contemporary novels, including
French translations of foreign novels, lead the list (13% of total books sold), followed by sentimental novels (4.1%),
detective and spy fiction (3.7%), "classic" literature (3.5%), science fiction and horror (1.3%) and erotic fiction
(0.2%).[36] About 30% of all fiction sold in France today is translated from English (authors such as William Boyd,
John le Carr‚, Ian McEwan, Paul Auster and Douglas Kennedy are well received).[37]
An important subset of book sales is comic books (typically Franco-Belgian comics like The Adventures of Tintin
and Ast•rix) which are published in a large hardback format; comic books represented 4% of total book sales in
[38]
1997.
French artists have made the country a leader in the graphic novel genre and France hosts the AngoulŠme
International Comics Festival, Europe's preeminent comics festival.
Like other areas of French culture, book culture is influenced, in part, by the state, in particular by the "Direction du
livre et de la lecture" of the Ministry of Culture, which oversees the "Centre national du livre" (National Book
Center). The French Ministry of Industry also plays a role in price control. Finally, the VAT for books and other
cultural products in France is at the reduced rate of 5.5%, which is also that of food and other necessities (see here).
Culture of France
In terms of journalism in France, the regional press (see list of newspapers in France) has become more important
than national dailies (such as Le Monde and Le Figaro) over the past century: in 1939, national dailies were 2/3 of
the dailies market, while today they are less than 1/4.[39] The magazine market is currently dominated by TV listings
magazines[40] followed by news magazines such as Le Nouvel Observateur, L'Express and Le Point.
Architecture and housing
Main article: French architecture
Transportation
Main article: Transport in France
There are significant differences in lifestyles with respect to transportation between very urbanized regions such as
Paris], and smaller towns and rural areas. In Paris, and to a lesser extent in other major cities, many households do
not own an automobile and simply use efficient public transport. The clich‚ about the Parisien is rush hour in the
M•tro subway. However, outside of such areas, ownership of one or more cars is standard, especially for households
with children.
The TGV high-speed rail network, train † grande vitesse is a fast rail transport which serves several areas of the
country and is self-financing. There are plans to reach most parts of France and many other destinations in Europe in
coming years. Rail services to major destinations are punctual and frequent.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Holidays
Main article: Public holidays in France
Despite the principles of la‚cit• and the separation of church from state, public and school holidays in France
generally follow the Roman Catholic religious calendar (including Easter, Christmas, Ascension Day, Pentecost,
Assumption of Mary, All Saints Day, etc.). Labor Day and the National Holiday are the only business holidays
determined by government statute; the other holidays are granted by convention collective (agreement between
employers' and employees' unions) or by agreement of the employer.
The five holiday periods of the public school year[41] are:
„
„
„
„
„
the vacances de la Toussaint (All Saints Day) - one and a half weeks starting near the end of October.
the vacances de No‡l (Christmas) - two weeks, ending after New Years.
the vacances d'hiver (winter) - two weeks in February and March.
the vacances de printemps (spring), formerly vacances de Pˆques (Easter) - two weeks in April and May.
the vacances d'•t• (summer), or grandes vacances (literally: big holidays) - two months in July and August.
On May 1, Labour Day (La F…te du Travail) the French give flowers of Lily of the Valley (Le Muguet) to one
another.
The National holiday (called Bastille Day in English) is on the 14 of July. Military parades, called D‚fil‚s du 14
juillet, are held, the largest on the Champs-•lys‚es avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic.
On November 2, All Souls Day (La F…te des morts), the French traditionally bring chrysanthemums to the tombs of
departed family members.
On November 11, Remembrance Day (Le Jour de la Comm•moration or L' Armistice) is an official holiday.
Christmas is generally celebrated in France on Christmas Eve by a traditional meal (typical dishes include oysters,
boudin blanc and the b•che de Noˆl), by opening presents and by attending the midnight mass (even among
Catholics who do not attend church at other times of the year).
16
Culture of France
Candlemas (La Chandeleur) is celebrated with crŠpes. The popular saying is that if the cook can flip a crŠpe
singlehandedly with a coin in the other hand, the family is assured of prosperity throughout the coming year.
The Anglo-Saxon and American holiday Halloween has grown in popularity following its introduction in the
mid-1990s by the trade associations. The growth seems to have stalled during the following decade.
Conventions
„ France is the home of the International System of Units (the metric system).[42] Some pre-metric units are still
used, essentially the livre (a unit of weight equal to half a kilogram) and the quintal (a unit of weight equal to 100
kilograms).
„ In mathematics, France uses the infix notation like most countries. For large numbers the long scale is used. Thus,
„
„
„
„
the French use the word billion for the number 1,000,000,000,000, which in countries using short scale is called a
trillion. However, there exists a French word, milliard, for the number 1,000,000,000, which in countries using
the short scale is called a billion. Thus, despite the use of the long scale, one billion is called un milliard ("one
milliard") in French, and not mille millions ("one thousand million"). It should also be noted that names of
numbers above the milliard are rarely used. Thus, one trillion will most often be called mille milliards („one
thousand milliard…) in French, and rarely un billion.
In the French numeral notation, the comma (,) is the decimal separator, whereas a space is used between each
group of three digits (fifteen million five hundred thousand and thirty-two should be written as 15 500 032). In
finance, the currency symbol is used as a decimal separator or put after the number. For example, ƒ25,048.05 is
written either 25 048ƒ05 or 25 048,05 ƒ (always with an extra space between the figure and the currency
symbol).
In computing, a bit is called a bit yet a byte is called an octet[43] (from the Latin root octo, meaning "8"). SI
prefixes are used.
24-hour clock time is used, with h being the separator between hours and minutes (for example 2:30‘pm is
14h30).
The all-numeric form for dates is in the order day-month-year, using a slash as the separator (example:
31/12/1992 or 31/12/92).
References
„ Bernstein, Richard. Fragile Glory: A Portrait of France and the French. Plume, 1991.
„ Carroll, Raymonde. Carol Volk, translator. Cultural Misunderstandings: The French-American Experience.
University of Chicago Press, 1990.
„ Darnton, Robert. The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History. Vintage, 1984. ISBN
0-394-72927-7
„ Dauncey, Hugh, ed. French Popular Culture: An Introduction. New York: Oxford University Press (Arnold
Publishers), 2003.
„ DeJean, Joan. The Essence of Style: How The French INvented High Fashion, Fine Food, Chic Caf•s, Style,
Sophistication, and Glamour. New York: Free Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7432-6413-6
„ Forbes, Jill and Michael Kelly, eds. French Cultural Studies: An Introduction. Clarendon Press, 1996. ISBN
0-19-871501-3
„ Girod, Andr‚. " French-American class: It's a long way to France" Redleadbooks <www.usa-decouverte.com>
„ Gopnik, Adam. Paris to the Moon. Random House, 2001.
„ Hall, Edward Twitchell and Mildred Reed Hall. Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and
Americans. Intercultural Press, 1990.
„ Howarth, David and Georgios Varouzakis. Contemporary France: An Introduction to French Politics and
Society. New York: Oxford University Press (Arnold Publishers), 2003. ISBN 0-340-74187-2
17
Culture of France
„ Kelly, Michael. French Culture and Society: The Essentials. New York: Oxford University Press (Arnold
Publishers), 2001. (A Reference Guide)
„ Kidd, William and Si‰n Reynolds, eds. Contemporary French Cultural Studies. Arnold Publishers, 2000. ISBN
0-340-74050-7
„ Marmer, Nancy, "Out of Paris: Decentralizing French Art," Art in America, September 1986, pp.‘124•137,
155-157.
„ Nadeau, Jean-Beno‹t and Julie Barlow. Sixty Million Frenchmen Can€t Be Wrong: Why We Love France But Not
The French. Sourcebooks Trade, 2003. ISBN 1-4022-0045-5
„ Robb, Graham. The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War.
New York: Norton, 2007. ISBN 978-0-393-05973-1
„ (French) Wylie, Laurence and Jean-Fran…ois Bri€re. Les Fran€ais. 3rd edition. Prentice Hall, 2001.
„ Zedlin, Theodore and Philippe Turner, eds. The French. Kodansha International, 1996.
Notes
[1] http:/ / en. wikipedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=Template:Culture_of_France& action=edit
[2] Jary, D. and J. Jary. 1991. The HarperCollins Dictionary of Sociology, page 101.
[3] Hoult, T. F, ed. 1969. Dictionary of Modern Sociology, p. 93.
[4] see, for example, Jonathan Fenby: On the Brink; the Trouble with France Warner Books London, 1943
[5] A†cha Sa†d Ben Mohamed (1876 - 1930) was born in Kabylie, G•n•alogie Magazine, N‰ 233, p. 30/36
[6] Le Point, February 8, 2007
[7] Article 75-1: (a new article): "Les langues r‚gionales appartiennent au patrimoine de la France" ("Regional languages belong to the patrimony
of France"). See Loi constitutionnelle du 23 juillet 2008.
[8] Fran’a nu mai e o ’ar“ catolic“ (http:/ / www. cotidianul. ro/ index. php?id=8749& art=22782& cHash=597202ac5o) (France is no longer a
Catholic country), Cotidianul, 2007-01-11; "France 'no longer a Catholic country'", [[Daily Telegraph (http:/ / www. telegraph. co. uk/ news/
main. jhtml?xml=/ news/ 2007/ 01/ 10/ wfra10. xml)], 10 January 2007]
[9] Religion Important for Americans, Italians (http:/ / www. angus-reid. com/ polls/ index. cfm/ fuseaction/ viewItem/ itemID/ 14255), Angus
Reid Global Monitor, December 16, 2008
[10] Kidd and Reynolds, 104-5.
[11] Kidd and Reynolds, for example, give a figure of 4 million Muslims, or 6.9%, based on sources dated 1993, 1994, 1999. (102). See Islam in
France for more on recent estimates.
[12] Kidd and Reynolds, 30-31.
[13] Embassy of France in the US - The PACS - A civil solidarity pact (http:/ / www. ambafrance-us. org/ atoz/ pacs. asp)
[14] Gay News From 365Gay.com (http:/ / www. 365gay. com/ Newscon06/ 12/ 121406france. htm)
[15] Kelley, "Family", 100.
[16] Ibid.
[17] http:/ / www. insee. fr/ en/ ffc/ chifcle_fiche. asp?ref_id=NATTEF02313& tab_id=31
[18] Kelley, 246-7.
[19] TIMSS 1995 Highlights of Results for the Middle School Years (http:/ / timss. bc. edu/ timss1995i/ HiLightB. html). France has not
participated in later TIMSS studies. (http:/ / nces. ed. gov/ timss/ countries. asp)
[20] fr:section syndicale d'entreprise December 27, 1968 law
[21] fr:SMIG
[22] http:/ / www. legifrance. gouv. fr/ texteconsolide/ ADEAN. htm
[23] Decree nŽ2006-1386 over 15th November, 2006 (http:/ / www. legifrance. gouv. fr/ texteconsolide/ SQHYN. htm) taken as application of
article L3511-7 (http:/ / www. legifrance. gouv. fr/ WAspad/ UnArticleDeCode?commun=& code=CSANPUNL. rcv& art=L3511-7) of the
Public Health Code, banning smoking in public places.
[24] http:/ / www. cedro-uva. org/ lib/ boekhout. france. html
[25] Kelly, 101. DeJean, chapters 2-4.
[26] Kelly, 101.
[27] Dauncey, 195.
[28] Le march• des aliments pour chiens et chats en Belgique. Mission Economique de Bruxelles, 2006. Read this document (in French) PDF
(http:/ / www. ubifrance. fr/ download/ download. asp?cleautonomy=3204091)
[29] December 28, 1895. (http:/ / www. universalis. fr/ encyclopedie/ presentation-du-cinematographe-lumiere/ )
[30] Cahiers du cin•ma, nŽhors-s‚rie, Paris, April 2000, p. 32 (cf. also Histoire des communications, 2011, p. 10. (http:/ / academiecine. tv/ files/
8113/ 7674/ 5261/ Histoire_communications. pdf)).
[31] 20 questions about studying in France |url=http:/ / old. campusfrance. org/ en/ a-etudier/ faq. htm
18
Culture of France
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
Theodore Zedlin, quoted in Kidd and Reynolds, 266
Kidd and Reynolds, 261.
Kidd and Reynolds, 266.
Kidd and Reynolds, 258 and 264.
Kidd and Reynolds, 265.
[37] Donald Morrison, "The Death of French Culture", Time, Wednesday Nov. 21, 2007. {http:/ / www. time. com/ time/ magazine/ article/
0,9171,1686532,00. html}
[38] Kidd and Reynolds, 264.
[39] Kidd and Reynolds, 232.
[40] Kidd and Reynolds, 236
[41] French schoolyear calendar {fr} (http:/ / www. education. gouv. fr/ pid184/ le-calendrier-scolaire. html)
[42] International System of Units (SI) (http:/ / www. nist. gov/ physlab/ div842/ fcdc/ si-units. cfm) - Physics Laboratory
[43] English translation of "Octet" (http:/ / dictionary. reverso. net/ french-english/ octet) on Reverso (http:/ / dictionary. reverso. net/ )
-
External links
„ Frenchculture.org (http://www.frenchculture.org/)
„ Frenchcultureguide.com (http://www.frenchcultureguide.com/) - French culture news website
„ France in Brief / France From A to Z (http://info-france-usa.org/spip.php?rubrique160) - Embassy of France in
the US
„ National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (http://www.insee.fr/en/home/home_page.asp)
(INSEE)
„ Morrison, Don. " The Death of French Culture (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,1686532,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner)," TIME
„ Chardin's paintings are just an example of the importance of the French culture in the history of art (http://www.
non-solo-arte.com/chardin-paintings.html)
„ French Painters who contributed to the Rococo and Neoclassical period are Boucher, Bouguereau and
Jean-L‚ome G‚rŒme famous forgotten artists (http://www.non-solo-arte.com/famous-forgotten-artists.html)
„ The French Culture in Lyon (http://lyoncityblog.fr/)
19
Brittany
20
Brittany
This article is about the cultural region in the north-west of France. For the current French administrative region, see
Brittany (administrative region). For other uses, see Brittany (disambiguation).
Brittany
Bretagne / Breizh / Berta€yn
Historical province
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: None (de jure)
Historical: Kentoc'h mervel eget bezaŠ saotret
Rather death than dishonour
Anthem: None (de jure)
De facto "Bro Gozh ma Zado‹"
Old Land of My Fathers
Country
‘France
Largest settlements
Area
‚€‚Total
34,023‘km2 (13,136‘sq‘mi)
Population (2010)
‚€‚Total
4,475,295
Demonym
Bretons
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
‚€‚Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code
FR-E
Brittany (French: Bretagne [b†‡.taˆ]‘(
);
Breton: Breizh, pronounced [br‰js] or [br‰”]; Gallo: Bertaƒyn,
pronounced [b‡†.ta‰ˆ]) is a cultural region in the north-west of France. Covering the western part of Armorica, as it
was known during the period of Roman occupation, Brittany subsequently became an independent kingdom and then
a duchy before being united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as
Less, Lesser or Little Britain (as opposed to Great Britain). It is bordered by the English Channel to the north, the
Celtic Sea and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Bay of Biscay to the south. Its land area is 34,023‘km• (13,136
sq mi).
The historical province of Brittany is now split between five French departments: Finist€re in the west,
CŒtes-d'Armor in the north, Ille-et-Vilaine in the north east, Loire-Atlantique in the south east and Morbihan in the
Brittany
south on the Bay of Biscay. Since reorganisation in 1956, the modern administrative region of Brittany comprises
only four of the five Breton departments, or 80% of historical Brittany. The remaining area of old Brittany, the
Loire-Atlantique department around Nantes, now forms part of the Pays de la Loire region.
At the 2010 census, the population of historic Brittany was estimated to be 4,475,295. Of these, 71% lived in the
region of Brittany, while 29% lived in the Loire-Atlantique department. In 2008, the largest metropolitan areas were
Nantes (854,807 inhabitants), Rennes (654,478 inhabitants), and Brest (311,735 inhabitants). Brittany is the
traditional homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations,
retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. A nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within
the French Republic.
Etymology
The word "Brittany", and its French, Breton, and Gallo equivalents "Bretagne", "Breizh" and "Berta€yn" derive from
the Latin Britannia, which means "Britons' land". This word has been used by the Romans since the 1st century to
name Great Britain, and more specifically the Roman province of Britain. This word derives from a Greek word,
•–—˜˜™š›œ• (Prettanike) or ž–—˜˜™šŸ™› (Brettaniai), used by Pytheas, an explorer from Massalia who visited the
British Islands around 320 BC.
The Romans called Brittany Armorica, together with the region called nowadays Lower Normandy. This term
probably came from a Gallic word, aremorica, which means "close to the sea". Another name, Letauia (in English
"Litavis"), was used until the 12th century. It possibly means "wide and flat" or "to expand" and it gave the Welsh
name for Brittany: Llydaw.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, many Britons settled in the Western part of Armorica, and the region
started to be called Brittania. However, the name Armorica persisted for some centuries, and it had not fully
disappeared until the 5th century. Later, authors like Geoffrey of Monmouth used the terms Britannia minor and
Britannia major to distinguish Brittany from Britain.
Breton speaking people may pronounce the word "Breizh" in two different ways, according to their region of origin.
Breton can be divided in two main dialects, the KLT (Kerne-Leon-Tregor), and the dialect of Vannes. KLT speakers
pronounce it [br‰js], and would write it "Breiz", and the Vannetais speakers pronounce it [br‰”], and would write it
"Breih". The official spelling is a compromise between both variants, with a z and a h together. Besides, in 1941,
efforts to unify the dialects led to the creation of the so-called "breton zh", a standard which has never been widely
accepted. On its side, Gallo language has never had a widely accepted writing system and several ones coexist. For
instance, the name of the region in that language can be written "Berta€yn" in ELG script, or "Bert€gn" in MOGA,
and a couple of other scripts also exist.
21
Brittany
22
History
Main article: History of Brittany
Prehistoric origins
Brittany has been inhabited by humans since the Lower Paleolithic.
The first settlers were Neanderthals. This population was scarce and
very similar to the other Neanderthals found in the whole of Western
Europe. Their only original feature was a distinct culture, called
"Colombanian". One of the oldest hearths in the world has been found
in Plouhinec, Finist€re. It is 450,000 years old.
The homo sapiens settled in Brittany around 35,000 BC. They replaced
or absorbed the Neanderthals and developed local industries, similar to
the Ch‰telperronian or to the Magdalenian. After the last glacial
The Carnac stones.
period, the warmer climate allowed the area to become heavily
wooded. At that time, Brittany was populated by relatively large communities who started to change their lifestyles
from a nomadic life of hunting and gathering, to become settled farmers. Agriculture was introduced during the 5th
millennium BC by migrants who came from the South and the East. However, the Neolithic Revolution in Brittany
did not happen because of a radical change of population, but by slow immigration and exchange of skills.
Neolithic Brittany is characterised by an important megalithic production, and it is sometimes designated as the "core
area" of megalithic culture.[1] The oldest monuments, cairns, were followed by princely tombs and stone rows. The
Morbihan d•partement, on the southern coast, comprises a large share of these structures, including the Carnac
stones and the Broken Menhir of Er Grah in Locmariaquer, the largest single stone erected by Neolithic man.
Celtic era
During the protohistorical period, Brittany was inhabited by five Celtic
tribes:
„ The Curiosolitae, who lived around the present town of Corseul.
Their territory encompassed parts of CŒtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine
and Morbihan d•partements.
„ The Namnetes, who lived in the current Loire-Atlantique
d•partement (in today's administrative r•gion of Pays de la Loire),
north of the Loire. They gave their name to the city of Nantes. The
south bank of the river was occupied by an allied tribe, the
Ambilatres, whose existence and territory remain unsure.
The five Gallic tribes of Brittany.
„ The Osismii, who lived in the western part of Brittany. Their territory comprised the Finist€re d•partement and
the western extremity of CŒtes-d'Armor and Morbihan.
„ The Redones (or Rhedones), who lived in the eastern part of the Ille-et-Vilaine d•partement. They gave their
name to the city of Rennes (Rhoazon in Breton language, in the center of the d‚partement) and to the town of
Redon (in the south of the d•partement, bordering the d•partement of Loire-Atlantique in the administrative
r•gion of Pays de la Loire, where its suburb town of Saint-Nicolas-de-Redon is located; however the city of
Redon was founded around 832 CE under the initial name of Riedones, long after the Redones people were
assimilated to Bretons ; the cultural link between Riedones and the former Redones people is highly probable but
difficult to recover and the name of Riedones may have been written from a local usage preserving the name of
the former people in the vernacular oral language from a reading of an ancient Greek othography).
Brittany
23
„ The Veneti, who lived in the present Morbihan d•partement and gave their name to the city of Vannes. Despite
confusion by the classical scholar Strabo, they were unrelated to the Adriatic Veneti.
Those people had strong economic ties to the Insular Celts, especially for the tin trade. Several tribes also belonged
to an "Armorican confederation" which, according to Julius Caesar, gathered the Curiosolitae, the Redones, the
Caletes, the Osismii, the Lemovices, the Unelli and the Ambibarii.
Gallo-Roman era
The region became part of the Roman Republic in 51 BC. It was included in the
province of Gallia Lugdunensis in 13 BC. Gallic towns and villages were
redeveloped according to the Roman standards, and several cities were created.
These cities are Condate (Rennes), Vorgium (Carhaix), Dariotirum (Vannes) and
Condevincum (Nantes). Together with Fanum Martis (Corseul), they were the
capitals of the local civitates. They all had a grid plan and a forum, and sometimes
a temple, a basilica, thermae or an aqueduct, like Carhaix. The Romans also built
three major roads through the region. However, most of the population remained
rural. The free peasants lived in small huts, whereas the landowners and their
employees lived in proper villae rusticae. The Gallic deities continued to be
worshiped, and were often assimilated to the Roman gods. Only a small number of
statues depicting Roman gods were found in Brittany, and most of the time they
combine Celtic elements.
The temple of Mars in Corseul.
During the 3rd century, the region was attacked several times by Franks, Alamanni
and pirates. At the same time, the local economy collapsed and many rural exploitations were abandoned. To face
the invasions, many towns and cities were fortified, like Nantes, Rennes and Vannes.
Immigration of Britons
At the end of the 5th century, the Britons began to emigrate to Armorica. The history behind such an establishment is
unclear, but medieval Breton and Welsh sources connect it to a figure known as Conan Meriadoc. Welsh literary
sources assert that Conan came to Armorica with the Roman usurper Magnus Maximus, who took his British troops
to Gaul to enforce his claims and settled them in Armorica. Regardless of the truth of this story, Brythonic (British
Celtic) settlement probably increased during the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century. Scholars such as
L‚on Fleuriot have suggested a two-wave model of migration from Britain which saw the emergence of an
independent Breton people and established the dominance of the Brythonic Breton language in Armorica.[2] Over
time the Armorican British colony expanded, forming a group of petty kingdoms which were later unified in the
840s under Nominoe in resistance to Frankish control.[3] Among the immigrant Britons, there were some clergymen
who helped the evangelisation of the region, which was still pagan, particularly in rural areas.
Brittany
24
Middle Ages
At the beginning of the medieval era, Brittany was divided between three kingdoms,
Domnonea, Cornouaille and Broˆrec. These realms eventually merged into a single
state during the 9th century. The unification of Brittany was carried out by Nominoe,
king between 845 and 851 and considered as the Breton pater patriae. His son Erispoe
secured the independence of the new kingdom of Brittany and won the Battle of
Jengland against Charles the Bald. The Bretons won another war in 867, and the
kingdom reached then its maximum extent: it received parts of Normandy, Maine and
Anjou and the Channel Islands.
A 1922 nationalist engraving
Brittany was heavily attacked by the Vikings at the beginning of the 10th century. The
of Nominoe, first duke of
kingdom lost its eastern territories, including Normandy and Anjou, and the county of
Brittany.
Nantes was given to Fulk I of Anjou in 909. However, Nantes was seized by the
Vikings in 914, and was eventually liberated by Alan II of Brittany in 937. Alan II
totally expelled the Vikings from Brittany and recreated a strong Breton state. He paid homage to Louis IV of France
and thus Brittany ceased to be a kingdom and became a duchy.
Several Breton lords helped William the Conqueror to invade England
and received large estates there. Some of these lords were powerful
rivals. Medieval Brittany was far from being a united nation. The
French king maintained envoys in Brittany, alliances contracted by
local lords often overlapped and there was no specific Breton
consciousness. For example, Brittany replaced Latin with French as its
official language in the 13th century, 300 years before France did so
Tournament of Chivalry between a Breton and a
itself, and the Breton language never had any formal status. The
Bourbon knight. Miniature by Barth‚lemy
foreign policy of the duchy changed many times; the dukes were
d'Eyck, from King Ren‚'s Tournament Book.
usually independent but they often contracted alliances with England
or France. Their support for each nation became very important during
the 14th century, because the English kings then started to claim the French throne.
The Breton War of Succession, a local episode of the Hundred Years War, saw the House of Blois, backed by the
French, fighting with the House of Montfort, backed by the English. The Montforts won in 1364 and enjoyed a
period of total independence until the end of the Hundred Years War, because France was weakened and stopped
sending royal envoys to the Court of Brittany. However, Brittany lost the Mad War against France in 1488, mostly
because of its internal divisions. Indeed, some Breton lords were fighting on the French side.
Brittany
25
Union with France and modern period
Main article: Union of Brittany and France
After the Mad War, the duke Francis II could not marry his daughter Anne
without the King of France's consent. Nonetheless, she married the Holy
Roman Emperor in 1490, but this led to a severe crisis with France. Charles
VIII of France besieged Rennes and had the marriage cancelled. He eventually
married Anne of Brittany. After he died childless, the duchess had to marry his
heir and cousin Louis XII. Anne unsuccessfully tried to preserve Breton
independence, but she died in 1514 and the union between the two countries
was formally carried out by Francis I in 1532. He granted several privileges to
Brittany, such as exemption from the gabelle, a tax on salt which was very
unpopular in France.[4]
From the 15th to the 18th century, Brittany reached an economic golden age.
The region was located on the seaways between Spain, England and the
Anne of Brittany.
Netherlands and it greatly benefited from the creation of a French colonial
empire. Local seaports like Brest and Saint-Brieuc quickly expanded, and Lorient, first spelled "L'Orient", was
founded in the 17th century. Saint-Malo was then known for its corsairs, Brest was a major base for the French Navy
and Nantes flourished with the Atlantic slave trade. On its side, the inland provided hemp ropes and canvas and linen
sheets. However, Colbertism, which encouraged the creation of many factories, did not favour the Breton industry
because most of the royal factories were opened in other provinces. Moreover, several conflicts between France and
England led the latter to restrain its trade, and the Breton economy went into recession during the 18th century.
Two significant revolts occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries: the Revolt of the papier timbr‚ (1675) and the
Pontcallec Conspiracy (1719). Both arose from attempts to resist centralisation and assert Breton constitutional
[5]
exceptions to tax.
Since 1789
The mutineers of Fouesnant arrested by the
National Guard of Quimper in 1792.
The Duchy was legally abolished during the French Revolution, in
1789, and divided into five departments. Brittany also lost all its
privileges. Three years later, the area became a centre of royalist and
Catholic resistance to the Revolution during the Chouannerie. During
the 19th century, Brittany remained in economic recession, and many
Bretons emigrated to other French regions, particularly to Paris. This
trend remained strong until the beginning of the 20th century.
Nonetheless, the region was also modernising, with new roads and
railways being built, and some places being industrialised. Nantes
specialised in shipbuilding and food processing (sugar, exotic fruits
and vegetables, fish...), Foug€res in glass and shoe production, and
metallurgy was practised in small towns such as Ch‰teaubriant and
Lochrist, known for its labour movements.
The region remained deeply Catholic, and during the Second Empire, the conservative values were strongly
reasserted. When the Republic was re-established in 1871, there were rumours that Breton troops were mistrusted
and mistreated at Camp Conlie during the Franco-Prussian War because of fears that they were a threat to the
Republic.
Brittany
26
During the 19th century, the Breton language started to decline
precipitously, mainly because of the Francization policy conducted
under the Third Republic. On one hand, children were not allowed to
speak Breton at school, and were punished by teachers if they did.
Famously, signs in schools read: "It is forbidden to speak Breton and to
spit on the floor" ("Il est interdit de parler breton et de cracher par
terre"). On the other hand, Breton (like Latin) was considered as a
language that kept Brittany in the hands of the Roman Catholic church
and learning French was a way, especially for women, to free
A Royal Air Force attack on Saint-Malo in 1942.
themselves from the influence of the church. As a result, a generation
of native Breton speakers were made to feel ashamed of their language
and avoided speaking it or teaching it to their children. These factors contributed to the decline of Breton.
The Amoco Cadiz oil spill in 1978 deeply marked
Breton people.
At the same time, the Celtic Revival led to the foundation of the Breton
Regionalist Union (URB) and later to independence movements linked
to Irish, Welsh and Scottish independence parties in the UK and to
pan-Celticism. However, the audience of these movements remained
very low and their ideas did not reach a large public until the 20th
century. The Seiz Breur movement, created in 1923, permitted a
Breton artistic revival[6] but its ties with Nazism and the
collaborationism of the Breton National Party during World War II
weakened Breton nationalism in the post-war period.
Brittany lost 240,000 men during the First World War. The Second
World War was also catastrophic for the region. It was invaded by Nazi Germany in 1940 and freed after Operation
Cobra in August 1944. However, the areas around Saint-Nazaire and Lorient only surrendered the 10 and 11 May
1945, several days after the German capitulation. The two towns had been totally destroyed by air raids, like Brest
and Saint-Malo, and other towns, such as Nantes and Rennes, had also suffered.
In 1956, Brittany was legally reconstituted as the Region of Brittany, although the region excluded the ducal capital
of Nantes and the surrounding area. Nevertheless Brittany retained its cultural distinctiveness, and a new cultural
revival emerged during the 1960s and 1970s. Bilingual schools were opened, singers started to write songs in Breton,
and ecological catastrophes such as the Amoco Cadiz oil spill or the Erika oil spill and water pollution because of
intensive pig farming favoured new movements to protect the natural heritage.
Government and politics
See also: Politics of France
Traditional subdivisions
Brittany as a political entity disappeared in 1790, when it was divided into five d‚partements. The Breton
d‚partements more or less correspond to the nine Catholic dioceses that appeared at the beginning of the Middle
Ages. They were often called "pays" or "bro" ("country" in French and Breton) and they also served as fiscal and
military districts. Brittany is also divided between Lower Brittany ("Basse Bretagne" and "Breizh Izel"),
corresponding to the western half, where Breton is traditionally spoken, and Upper Brittany ("Haute Bretagne" and
"Breizh Uhel"), corresponding to the eastern half, where Gallo is traditionally spoken. The historical Breton dioceses
were:
„ Upper Brittany:
„ The Pays nantais, around Nantes, corresponding to the Loire-Atlantique d•partement.
Brittany
27
„ The Pays rennais, around Rennes, forming part of the Ille-et-Vilaine d•partement.
„ The Pays de Dol, around Dol-de-Bretagne, corresponding to the northern part of the Ille-et-Vilaine
d•partement.
„ The Pays de Saint-Brieuc, around Saint-Brieuc, forming part of the CŒtes-d'Armor d•partement.
„ The Pays de Saint-Malo, around Saint-Malo, divided between Ille-et-Vilaine, CŒtes-d'Armor and Morbihan.
„ Lower Brittany:
„
„
„
„
The Pays vannetais, around Vannes, corresponding to the Morbihan d•partement.
The Cornouaille, around Quimper, divided between Finist€re and CŒtes-d'Armor.
The L•on, around Saint-Pol-de-L‚on, corresponding to the northern part of the Finist€re d•partement.
The Tr•gor, around Tr‚guier, forming part of the CŒtes-d'Armor d•partement.
During the French Revolution, four dioceses were suppressed and the five remaining ones were modified to have the
same administrative borders as the d‚partements.
Capital cities
Brittany has several historical capital cities. When it was an
independent duchy, the Estates of Brittany, which can be compared to
a parliament, met in various towns: Dinan, Ploˆrmel, Redon, Rennes,
Vitr‚, Gu‚rande, and, most of all, Nantes, where they met 17 times,
and Vannes, 19 times. The Court and the government were also very
mobile, and each dynasty favoured its own castles and estates. The
dukes mostly lived in Nantes, Vannes, Redon, Rennes, Foug€res,
Dol-de-Bretagne, Dinan and Gu‚rande. It is interesting to notice that
all these towns except Vannes are located in Upper Brittany, thus not
in the Breton speaking area.
The ch‰teau des ducs de Bretagne in Nantes,
permanent residence of the last dukes.
Among all these towns, only Nantes, Rennes and Vannes, which were
the biggest ones, could really pretend to the capital status. The dukes were crowned in Rennes and they had a large
castle there; it was however destroyed during the 15th century. Vannes, on its side, was the seat of the Chamber of
Accounts and of the Parliament until the union with France. The Parliament was then transferred to Rennes, and the
Chamber of Accounts to Nantes. Nantes, nicknamed "the city of the Dukes of Brittany", was also the permanent
residence of the last dukes. The Ch‰teau des ducs de Bretagne still stands in the city centre. Nowadays, Rennes is the
only official capital of the region of Brittany. It is also the seat of an ecclesiastical province encompassing Brittany
and the Pays de la Loire region.
Brittany
28
Present subdivisions
See also: Administrative divisions of France, Brittany (administrative region) and Loire-Atlantique
During the French Revolution, Brittany was divided into five
d•partements, each made up of three or four arrondissements. The
arrondissements are further divided in cantons, which are themselves
made up of one or several communes. The communes and the
d‚partements have a local council elected by their citizens, but
arrondissements and cantons are not run by elected officials. The
cantons serve as an electoral district for the election of the d‚partement
councils and arrondissements are run by a subprefect appointed by the
French president. The president also appoints a prefect in each
d‚partement.
Because the d‚partements are small and numerous, the French
government tried to create wider regions during the 20th century. For
The region Brittany comprises four historical
the Breton nationalists, it was an occasion to recreate Brittany as a
Breton d•partements. Loire-Atlantique, in light
political and administrative entity, but the new region had to be
blue, is part of the Pays de la Loire region.
economically efficient. Nantes and its d•partement, Loire-Atlantique,
raised concerns because they were off-centered, more integrated with the Loire Valley than with the Breton
peninsula. The French government and local politicians also feared that Nantes, because of its population and its
former Breton capital status, would have maintained a harmful competition with Rennes to get the regional
institutions and investments.
Several drafts for French regions had been proposed since the 1920s, and the definitive regions were drawn in 1956.
The new Brittany had four d‚partements, and Loire-Atlantique formed the Pays de la Loire region together with
parts of Anjou, Maine and Poitou. In 1972, the regions received their present competencies, with an elected regional
council. Since then, the region of Brittany has had its own council and administrative bodies.
The reunification question
When the region of Brittany was created, several local politicians
opposed the exclusion of Loire-Atlantique, and the question still
remains.
The obstacles to reunification are the same as in 1956: having Nantes
in Brittany could harm the position of Rennes and create an economic
imbalance between Lower and Upper Brittany. Moreover, the Pays de
la Loire region could not exist without Loire-Atlantique, because it
would lose its political and economic capital. Without
Loire-Atlantique, the other d‚partements would not form an efficient
region any more, and would have to integrate neighbouring regions
such as the Centre region and Poitou-Charentes.
This Loire-Atlantique road sign reads "welcome
to historical Brittany".
However, several institutions have backed the reunification, such as the regional council of Brittany since 2008 and
the Loire-Atlantique council since 2001. Some politicians like Jean-Marc Ayrault, the French prime minister and
former mayor of Nantes, favour instead the creation of a "Greater West region", which would encompass Brittany
and the Pays de la Loire region. Polls show that 58% of the Bretons and 62% of the inhabitants in Loire-Atlantique
favour the reunification.
Brittany
29
Political tendencies
Main article: Politics of Brittany
Until the end of the 20th century, Brittany had been characterised by a strong Catholic and conservative influence.
However, some areas such as the industrial region around Saint-Nazaire and Lorient and the surroundings of
Tr‚guier are traditional Socialist and Communist strongholds. Left-wing parties, mainly the Socialist party and the
Greens, have become more and more powerful after the 1970s and they have formed a majority in the Regional
Council of Brittany since 2004. The Loire-Atlantique and Ille-et-Vilaine councils have also been held by the left
since 2004. The Socialist party has held the CŒtes-d'Armor council since 1976, and the Finist€re council since 1998.
On its side, Morbihan remains a right-wing stronghold. The local parties have a very small audience, except the
Union D‚mocratique Bretonne which has seats at the Regional Council and in other local assemblies. It advocates
more autonomy for the region and its positions are very close to the Socialist party's. It also has a strong ecological
orientation. The audience of far-right parties is lower in Brittany than in the rest of France.
Geography and natural history
Brittany is the largest French peninsula. It is around 34,030‘km2
(13,140‘sq‘mi) and stretches towards the northwest and the Atlantic
Ocean. It is bordered to the north by the English Channel, to the south
by the Bay of Biscay and the waters located between the western coast
and Ushant island form the Iroise Sea.
The Breton coast is very indented, with many cliffs, rias and capes.
The Gulf of Morbihan is a vast natural harbour with some forty islands
that is almost a closed sea. In total, around 800 islands lie off the
mainland; the largest being Belle le, in the south. Brittany has over
2,860‘km (1,780‘mi) of coastline; it represents a third of the total
French coastline.
The Pink Granite Coast around Tr‚gastel.
The region is generally hilly because it corresponds to the western end of the Armorican massif, a very old range that
also extends in Normandy and the Pays de la Loire region. Because of this continuity, the Breton border with the rest
of France is not marked by any strong geographical landmark, apart from the river Couesnon, which separates
Brittany from Normandy.
The Armorican massif reaches its maximal elevation outside of
Brittany, in neighbouring Mayenne, at 417 m, and slopes towards the
west before straightening on its western extremity, with the Montagnes
Noires and the Monts d'Arr‚e. The highest hill in Brittany is the Roc'h
Ruz in the Monts d'Arr‚e, at 385‘m (1,263‘ft). It is closely followed by
several neighbouring hills culminating at around 384 m above sea
level.
A bog around the Monts d'Arr‚e.
Coastal areas are usually named Armor or Arvor ("by the sea" in
Breton), and the inland is called Argoat ("by the forest"). The best soils
were primitively covered by large forests which had been progressively replaced by bocage during the Middle Ages.
The Breton bocage, with its small fields enclosed by thick hedgerows, has almost disappeared since the 1960s to fit
the modern agricultural needs and methods, particularly mechanisation.
Several forests still exist, such as the Paimpont forest, sometimes said to be the Arthurian Broc‚liande. The poor and
rocky areas are covered by large heathland and moorlands, and Brittany has several marshes, like the Bri€re,
included in a Regional natural park. Another regional park encompasses the Monts d'Arr‚e and the Iroise seacoast.
Brittany
30
The Iroise Sea is also a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Geology
The Breton peninsula appeared during the Cadomian Orogeny, which
formed its northern coastline, between Guingamp and Foug€res. The
southern part emerged during the Hercynian orogeny. At the same
time, an intense volcanic activity left large quantities of granite.
Between the Cadomian and Hercynian periods, the region was
submerged several times and the sea left fossils and sedimentary rocks,
mostly schist and sandstone. Because of the absence of limestone, soils
in Brittany are usually acid. The Armorican massif straightened and
flattened several times during the formation of the Pyrenees and the
Alps. Changes in sea levels and climate led to a strong erosion and to
the formation of more sedimentary rocks. Metamorphism is
responsible for the distinctive local blue schist and for the rich subsoil
of the Groix island, which comprises glaucophane and epidote.
The Pointe du Raz, one of the westernmost
extents of both Brittany and France.
During the Quaternary glaciations, Brittany was covered by loess and rivers started to fill the valleys with alluvial
deposits. The valleys themselves were a result of a strong tectonic activity between the African and the Eurasian
plate. The present Breton landscape did not acquired its final shape before one million years ago. The Breton subsoil
is characterised by a huge amount of fractures that form a large aquifer containing several millions square meters of
water.
Climate
Brittany lies within the north temperate zone. It has a changeable, maritime climate, similar to Cornwall. Rainfall
occurs regularly but sunny, cloudless days are also common. In the summer months, temperatures in the region can
reach 30‘ŽC (86‘ŽF), yet the climate remains comfortable, especially when compared to the French regions located
south of the Loire. The temperature difference between summer and winter is about fifteen degrees, but it varies
depending on the proximity of the sea. The weather is generally milder on the seacoast than in the inland but rainfall
occurs with the same intensity on both. The Monts d'Arr‚e, despite their low elevation, have much more rainfall than
the rest of the region. The south coast, between Lorient and Pornic, enjoys more than 2,000 hours of sunshine per
year.[7]
Flora and fauna
Brittany's wildlife is typical of France with several distinctions. On one
hand, the region, due to its long coastline, has a rich oceanic fauna, and
some birds cannot be seen in other French regions. On the other hand,
the species found in the inland are usually common for France, and
because Brittany is a peninsula, the number of species is lower in its
western extremity than in the eastern part.
A variety of seabirds can be seen close to the seaside, which is home to
colonies of cormorants, gulls, razorbills, Northern Gannets, Common
Murres and Atlantic puffins. Most of these birds breed on isolated
islands and rocks and thus are hard to observe. The inland is home to
common European species: pheasants, swallows, woodcocks, Common
Swifts, partridges...
An ocean sunfish exhibiting its characteristic
horizontal basking behaviour several miles off
Penmarch.
Brittany
31
A Breton horse.
Like Cornwall, Wales and Ireland, the waters of Brittany attract marine
animals including basking sharks, grey seals, leatherback turtles,
dolphins, porpoises, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters. Bass is common
along the coast, small-spotted catsharks live on the continental shelf,
rattails and anglerfish populate the deep waters. River fish of note
include trouts, Atlantic salmons, pikes, shades and lampreys. The
Breton rivers are also home to beavers and otters and to some invasive
American species, such as the coypu which destroys the ecosystem and
accelerated the extinction of the European mink.
Among the invertebrates, Brittany is notably home to the escargot de Quimper, the freshwater pearl mussel and the
white-clawed crayfish. The larger Breton mammals died out during the modern period, including the wolf. Today,
mammals of note include roedeers, wild boars, foxes, hares and several species of bat.
Brittany is widely known for the Breton horse, a local breed of draft horse, and for the Brittany gun dog. The region
also has its own breeds of cattle, some of which are on the brink of extinction: the Bretonne pie noir, the Froment du
L‚on, the Armorican and the Nantaise.
The Breton forests, dunes, moorlands and marshes are home to several iconic plants, such as endemic cistus, aster
and linaria varieties, the horseshoe vetch and the lotus maritimus.
Education
See also: Education in France
Brittany has the same education system as the rest of France. As in
other French regions, formal education before the 19th century was the
preserve of the elite. Before 1460, Brittany did not have a university,
and Breton students had to go to Angers, Poitiers or Caen. The
University of Nantes was founded under the duke Francis II, who
wanted to affirm the Breton independence from France. All the
traditional disciplines were taught there: arts, theology, law and
medicine. During the 17th century, it had around 1,500 students. It
declined during the 18th century, mostly because Nantes was
flourishing with the Atlantic slave trade and paid no attention to its
cultural institutions. A mayor eventually asked the University to be
relocated to Rennes, more devoted to culture and science, and the
[8]
faculties progressively moved there after 1735. The transfer was
interrupted by the French Revolution, and all the French universities
were dissolved in 1793.
A battalion of the Saint-Cyr-Coˆtquidan military
academy.
Napoleon reorganised the French education system in 1808. He created new universities and invented two secondary
education institutions: the "coll€ges" and the "lyc‚es" which were opened in numerous towns to educate boys and
form a new elite. A new University of Rennes was progressively recreated during the 19th century. In the meantime,
several laws were promoted to open schools, notably for girls. In 1882, Jules Ferry succeeded in passing a law which
made primary education in France free, non-clerical (la†que) and mandatory. Thus, free schools were opened in
almost every villages of Brittany. Jules Ferry also promoted education policies establishing French language as the
language of the Republic, and mandatory education was a mean to eradicate regional languages and dialects. In
Brittany, it was forbidden for the pupils to speak Breton or Gallo, and the two were strongly depreciated.
Brittany
32
Humiliating practices aimed at stamping out the Breton language and culture prevailed in state schools until the late
1960s.[9] In response, the Diwan schools were founded in 1977 to teach Breton by immersion. They have taught a
few thousand young people from elementary school to high school, and they have gained more and more fame owing
to their high level of results in school exams.[10] Bilingual approach has also been implemented in some state schools
after 1979, and some Catholic schools have did the same after 1990. Besides, Brittany, with the neighbouring Pays
de la Loire region, remains a stronghold for Catholic private education with around 1,400 schools
During the 20th century, tertiary education was developed with the creation of the •cole centrale de Nantes in 1919,
the University of Nantes in 1961, the ESC Bretagne Brest in 1962, the University of Western Brittany in 1971 and
the University of Southern Brittany in 1995. The Catholic University of the West, based in Angers, also opened
classes in several Breton towns. In 1969, the University of Rennes was divided between the University of Rennes 1
and the University of Rennes 2 • Upper Brittany. After the Second World War, the Ecole Sp‚ciale Militaire de
Saint-Cyr, the foremost French military academy, settled in Coˆtquidan.
Economy
Brittany, apart from some areas such as Lorient, Nantes and
Saint-Nazaire, has never been heavily industrialised. Today, fishing
and agriculture remain important activities. Brittany has more than
40,000 agricultural exploitations, mostly oriented towards cattle, pig
and poultry breeding, and cereals and vegetables production. The
number of exploitations tends to diminish, but as a result, they are
merged into very large estates. Brittany is the first producer in France
RMS Queen Mary 2, once the world's largest
for vegetables (green beans, onions, artichokes, potatoes, tomatoes...).
passenger ship, was built in Saint-Nazaire.
Cereals are mostly grown for cattle feeding. Wine, especially
muscadet, is made in a small region south of Nantes. Brittany is the first region in France for fishing. The activity
employs around 9,000 people, and more than 60 firms work in fish and seafood processing.
A fishing trawler from Le Guilvinec.
Although relatively new, the Breton industry has been constantly
growing since 1980. Food processing (meat, vegetables...) represents a
third of the industrial jobs, but other activities are also important for
the local economy. Shipbuilding, both commercial and military, is
implanted in Saint-Nazaire (Chantiers de l'Atlantique), Lorient and
Brest, Airbus has plants in Saint-Nazaire and Nantes and Peugeot has a
large factory in Rennes. Brittany is the second French region for
telecommunication and the fifth for electronics, two activities mainly
developed in Rennes, Lannion and Brest. Tourism is particularly
important for the seacoast and Brittany is one of the most visited
regions in France.
The unemployment rate in Brittany is lower than in other French regions and it is usually around 6 or 7% of the
active population. Because of the global financial crisis started in 2007, unemployment has arisen to 8.7% in the
Region Brittany and 8.4% in Loire-Atlantique in late 2012. However, these results remain under the French national
rate (9.9% at the same period). Some activities, such as construction, industry, catering or transport, usually have
difficulties to find employees.
In 2009, Region Brittany's gross domestic product reached 82 billion euros. It was the seventh richest region in
France and it produced 4.4% of the national GDP. The Breton GDP per capita was around 25,739 euros in 2009. It
was lower than the French result, 29,897 euros, but higher than the European one, 23,500 euros. The GDP of the
Loire-Atlantique d•partement is around 26 billion euros, and the GDP of the five historical Breton d‚partements
Brittany
would be at around 108 billion euros.
Demographics
See also: Demography of France
In 2012, the population in Region Brittany was estimated to 3,195,317
and Loire-Atlantique had around 1,303,103 inhabitants, thus historical
Brittany's population can be estimated at 4,552,918, the highest in its
history. The population in Region Brittany had grown by 0.9%
between 1999 and 2000, and the growth rate reached more than 1% in
Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan. The region around Rennes and the south
are the more attractive areas, whereas the population is declining in the
centre and in the westernmost parts. While most of the metropolitan
Rennes, the most populated city in Region
areas are growing, the cities themselves tend to stagnate or regress,
Brittany and the second in historical Brittany,
such as for Brest, Lorient, Saint-Brieuc and Saint-Malo. In 2008,
behind Nantes.
Ille-et-Vilaine had 967,588 inhabitants, it was followed by Morbihan,
710,034 inhabitants, Finist€re 890,509 inhabitants, and CŒtes-d'Armor, with 581,570 inhabitants. The largest cities in
Region Brittany were Rennes, with 206,655, Brest, 142,097, Quimper, 63,929, Lorient, 58,148, Vannes, 52,983,
Saint-Malo, 48,211, and Saint-Brieuc, 45,879. All the other communes had under 20,000 inhabitants. Brittany is also
characterised by a great number of small towns, such as Vitr‚, Concarneau, Morlaix or Auray. Loire-Atlantique has
two major cities, Nantes, with 283,288 inhabitants and an urban area emcompassing 873,133, and Saint-Nazaire,
with 67,031 inhabitants. Loire-Atlantique's population is more rapidly growing than Region Brittany's and it is the
12th most populated French d‚partement. Nevertheless, since the 1990s, Rennes has consistently ranked as one of
France's fastest growing metropolitan areas.
In 1851, Brittany had around 2,7 million inhabitants and the demographic growth stayed low until the second half of
the 20th century, mainly because of an important emigration. Brittany had 3,2 million inhabitants in 1962 and the
growth was mainly due to Loire-Atlantique and the steady growth of Nantes. Without the Loire-Atlantique's figures,
the Breton population only numbered 2,4 millions in 1962, and 2,3 in 1851. After the 1960s, the whole region has
had a strong demographic growth because of the decline of the traditional emigration to richer French regions.
Instead, Brittany has become attractive, particularly for families, young retired persons and active people over 35
years old.
Brittany do not have a strong share of foreign residents. Together with naturalised French people, they form
approximately 2% of the total population. They mainly come from European countries such as the United Kingdom,
Portugal and Spain, from former French colonies like Morocco, Algeria, Vietnam, CŒte d'Ivoire or Senegal, and
from Turkey.[11] Brittany is the region of France that has the smallest proportion of immigrants.
33
Brittany
34
Regional identity
Breton political parties do not have a wide support and their electoral
success is small. However, Bretons have a strong cultural identity.
According to a poll made in 2008, 50% of the inhabitants of the
Region Brittany consider themselves as much Breton as French, 22.5%
feel more Breton than French, and 15.4% more French than Breton. A
minority, 1.5%, considers itself Breton but not French, while 9.3% do
not consider to be Breton at all.[12]
51.9% of the poll respondents agreed that Brittany should have more
political power, and 31.1% thought that it should stay the same. Only
4.6% favoured the independence, and 9.4% did not know what to
think.
Breton women wearing the Bigouden distinctive
headdress, one of the symbols of Breton identity.
A 2012 poll realised in the five d‚partements of historical Brittany showed that 48% of the respondents considered
themselves to belong first to France, 37% to Brittany, and 10% to Europe. It also showed that Breton identity is
stronger among people younger than 35, 53% of them considering themselves to belong first to Brittany, while 50%
of the older respondents considered themselves to belong first to France. The Breton feeling is at its lowest among
the respondents over 65: 58% consider themselves to belong first to France. European feeling is also stronger among
older people, 21% of the respondents over 65 considering themselves to be European first. At last, Breton feeling is
much stronger among left-wing people and employees than persons with high qualifications.
Regional languages
Main articles: Breton language and Gallo language
French, the only official language of the French Republic, is spoken
today by everybody in Brittany, and it is the mothertongue of almost
every Breton. Nonetheless, French was not widely known before the
19th century, and two regional languages exist in Brittany: Breton and
Gallo. They are separated by a language border that has constantly
moved back since the Middle Ages. The actual border runs from
Plouha on the English Channel to the Rhuys Peninsula on the Bay of
Biscay. Because of their origins and practice, Breton and Gallo can be
compared to Scottish Gaelic and Scots language in Scotland. Both have
been recognised as "Langues de Bretagne" ("languages of Brittany") by
the Regional Council of Brittany since 2004.
Lower Brittany (in colours), where the Breton
language is traditionally spoken and Upper
Brittany (in shades of grey), where the Gallo
language is traditionally spoken. The changing
shades indicate the advance of Gallo and French,
and retreat of Breton from 900 AD.
Breton
Main article: Breton language
Brittany
35
Breton is a Celtic language derived from the historical Common
Brittonic language, and is most closely related to Cornish and Welsh.
Since the 13th century, long before the union of Brittany and France,
the main administrative language of the Duchy of Brittany had been
French, which had replaced Latin. Breton remained the language of the
rural population, but since the Middle Ages the bourgeoisie, the
nobility, and the higher clergy have been speaking French.
Bilingual road signs can be seen in traditional
Breton-speaking areas.
Government policies in the 19th and 20th centuries made education
compulsory and, at the same time, forbade the use of Breton in schools
to push non-French speakers into adopting the French language.
Nevertheless, until the 1960s Breton was spoken or understood by
many of the inhabitants of western Brittany. During the 1970s, Breton
schools were opened and the local authorities started to promote the
language, which was on the brink of extinction because parents had
stopped teaching it to their children.
Having declined from more than one million speakers around 1950 to about 200,000 in the first decade of the 21st
century, of whom 61% are more than 60 years old, Breton is classified as "severely endangered" by the UNESCO
Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. However, the number of children attending bilingual classes has risen
[13][14]
33% between 2006 and 2012 to 14,709.
The Breton language has several dialects which have no precise limits but rather form a continuum. Most of them are
very similar to each other, with only some phonetic and lexical differences. The three main dialects spoken in the
western end of Brittany, the 'Cornouillais, around Quimper, the L•onard, around Saint-Pol-de-L‚on, and the
Tr•gorrois, around Tr‚guier, are grouped into the KLT group (Kerne-Leon-Treger), in opposition to the Vannetais,
spoken around Vannes, which is the most differentiated Breton dialect.
Gallo
Main article: Gallo language
Gallo is spoken on the eastern half of Brittany. It is one of the romance
Langues d'o†l, but has some Celtic influences, particularly in its
vocabulary.
Unlike Breton, Gallo does not have a long promotion history and it is
still often perceived as a poor rural dialect. Moreover, because of its
similarities with Gallo, French imposed itself more easily as the main
language in Upper Brittany than in Breton speaking areas. Gallo was
felt as a wrong way of speaking French more than as a proper dialect
or language. The Gallo transmission from parents to children is
extremely low and efforts to standardise and publish books in Gallo did
not revert the decline of the language and its lack of prestige.
Gallo is also threatened by the Breton language revival, because Breton
is gaining ground in territories that were not previously part of the
main Breton-speaking area, and most of all because Breton appears as
the national language of Brittany, thus leaving no place for Gallo.
Signs in Gallo are very rare and the writing
systems they use are unknown by most of the
speakers.
Gallo had never been written before the 20th century, and several writing systems were created. They are however
rarely known by the population and signs in Gallo are often unreadable, even for fluent speakers. In
Brittany
36
Loire-Atlantique, where Gallo is not promoted at all by the local authorities, many people do not even know the
word "Gallo" and have no idea that it has writing systems and publications.
The Gallo speaking community is estimated between 28,300 and 200,000 locutors. The language is taught on a
non-compulsory basis in some schools, high-schools and universities, particularly in Ille-et-Vilaine.
Religion
Bretons are mainly Catholic and the Christianisation occurred during
the Roman Gaul and Frank era. During the Briton emigration to
Brittany, several Christian missionaries, mostly Welsh, came in the
region and founded dioceses. They are known as the "Seven founder
saints":
„ Paol Aoreliann, at Saint-Pol-de-L‚on,
„ Tudwal, at Tr‚guier,
„ Brieg, at Saint-Brieuc,
„ Malo¡, at Saint-Malo,
„ Samsun of Dol, at Dol-de-Bretagne,
Sculpted "calvaries" can be found in many
villages in Lower Brittany.
„ Padarn, at Vannes,
„ Kaourintin, at Quimper.
Other notable early evangelizers are Gildas and the Irish saint Columbanus. In total, Brittany numbers more than 300
"saints" (only a few recognised by the Catholic Church) and, since the 19th century at least, it has been known as one
of the most devoutly Catholic regions in France, together with the neighbouring Pays de la Loire region. The
proportion of students attending Catholic private schools is the highest in France. The patron saint of Brittany is
Saint Anne, the Virgin's mother, but Ivo of Kermartin, a 13th-century priest, called Saint-Yves in French and
Sant-Erwan in Breton, can also be considered as a patron saint. His feast, the 19 May, is Brittany's national day.
Many distinctive traditions and customs have also been preserved in
Brittany. Among them, the "Pardons" are one of the most traditional
demonstrations of popular Catholicism. These penitential ceremonies
occur in some villages in Lower Brittany on the feast day of the
parish's saint. The penitents form a procession and they walk together
to a shrine, a church or any sacred place. Some Pardons are reputed for
their length, and they all finish by large meals and popular feasts.
A chapel and a calvary in Locronan, Finist€re.
Brittany
There is a very old pilgrimage called the Tro Breizh (tour of Brittany),
where the pilgrims walk around Brittany from the grave of one of the
seven founder saints to another. Historically, the pilgrimage was made
in one trip (a total distance of around 600‘km) for all seven saints.
Nowadays, however, pilgrims complete the circuit over the course of
several years. In 2002, the Tro Breizh included a special pilgrimage to
Wales, symbolically making the reverse journey of the Welshmen Sant
[15]
Paol, Sant Brieg, and Sant Samzun.
The most powerful folk figure is the Ankou or the "Reaper of Death".
Sometimes a skeleton wrapped in a shroud with the Breton flat hat,
sometimes described as a real human being (the last dead of the year,
A sculpted Ankou in Ploudiry.
devoted to bring the dead to Death), he makes his journeys by night
carrying an upturned scythe which he throws before him to reap his
harvest. Sometimes he is on foot but mostly he travels with a cart, the Karrig an Ankou, drawn by two oxen and a
lean horse. Two servants dressed in the same shroud and hat as the Ankou pile the dead into the cart, and to hear it
[16]
creaking at night means you have little time left to live.
As official religious statistics are forbidden in France, there are no official figures about religious practices in
Brittany. However, successive polls show that the region tends to be more and more nonreligious. Catholic religion
has started to decline after the Second World War, during the urbanisation of Brittany. A poll conducted in 2006
showed that Morbihan was the only d•partement to have a strong Catholic population, around 70% of its inhabitants
belonging to that religion. Loire-Atlantique and CŒtes-d'Armor were among the least Catholic French d•partements,
with only 50% of Catholics, while Ille-et-Vilaine and Finist€re were at around 65%. Other religions are almost
non-existent, apart from Islam which gathers between 1 and 3% of the inhabitants in Ille-et-Vilaine and
Loire-Atlantique.
Culture
Architecture
Brittany is home to many megalithic monuments; the words menhir
and dolmen come from the Breton language. The largest menhir
alignments are the Carnac stones. Other major sites include the
Barnenez cairn, the Locmariaquer megaliths, the Menhir de
Champ-Dolent, the Mane Braz tumulus and the Gavrinis tomb.
Monuments from the Roman period are rare, but include a large temple
in Corseul and scarce ruins of villas and city walls in Rennes and
Nantes.
Brittany has a huge quantity of medieval buildings. They include
Josselin Castle.
numerous Romanesque and French Gothic churches, usually built in
local sandstone and granit, castles and half-timbered houses visible in villages, towns and cities. Several Breton
towns still have their medieval walls, such as Gu‚rande, Concarneau, Saint-Malo, Vannes, Foug€res and Dinan.
Major churches include Saint-Pol-de-L‚on Cathedral, Tr‚guier Cathedral, Dol Cathedral, Nantes Cathedral and the
Kreisker chapel. Most of the Breton castles were rebuilt between the 13th and the 15th century, such as the Ch‰teau
de Suscinio, the Ch‰teau de Dinan, the Ch‰teau de Combourg, the Ch‰teau de Largoˆt, the Ch‰teau de Tonqu‚dec,
the Josselin Castle and the Ch‰teau de Tr‚cesson. The most impressive castles can be seen along the border with
France, where stand the Ch‰teau de Foug€res, the Ch‰teau de Vitr‚, the Ch‰teau de Ch‰teaubriant and the Ch‰teau
37
Brittany
38
de Clisson.
The French Renaissance occurred when Brittany lost its independence.
The Renaissance architecture is almost absent in the region, apart in
Upper Brittany, close to the border with France. Major sites include the
Ch‰teau des ducs de Bretagne, the last permanent residence of the
dukes, which displays the transition from late Gothic to Renaissance
style. The Ch‰teau de Ch‰teaubriant, a former fortress, was
transformed into a vast palace in the Italian style.
A traditional house in Plougoumelen.
In Lower Brittany, the medieval style never totally disappeared.
However, local innovations permitted some changes and the birth of a
particular style. Its most distinctive feature is the parish close, which
displays an elaborately decorated church surrounded by an entirely
walled churchyard. Many villages still have their closes, they date from
the 16th and 17th centuries and sometimes include an elaborately
carved calvary sculpture.
During the 17th and the 18th centuries, the main seaports and towns
obtained a typical French look, with baroque and neoclassical
buildings. Nantes, which was at the time the biggest French harbour,
received a theatre, large avenues and quays, and Rennes was
redesigned after a fire in 1720. At the same period, the wealthy
ship-owners from Saint-Malo built many mansions called
"Malouini€res" around their town. Along the coast, Vauban and other
French architects designed several citadels, such as in Le Palais and
An Art Deco villa in B‚nodet.
Port-Louis. In rural areas, Breton houses remained simple, with a
single floor and a longhouse pattern. They were built with local
materials: mostly granit in Lower Brittany and schist in Upper Brittany. Slates and reeds were usually used for
roofing. During the 19th century, the Breton architecture was mainly characterised by the Gothic Revival and
Eclecticism. Clisson, the southernmost Breton town, was rebuilt in an Italian Romantic style around 1820. The
Breton lighthouses were mostly built during the 19th century. The most famous are Ar Men, Phare d'Eckm¢hl, La
Vieille and La Jument. The lighthouse on the le Vierge is, with 77 meters, the highest in Europe.
At the end of the 19th century, several seaside resorts were created along the coast and villas and hotels were built in
historicist, Art Nouveau, and later in the Art Deco styles. These architectures are particularly present in Dinard, La
Baule and B‚nodet. Architecture from the 20th century can be seen in Saint-Nazaire, Brest and Lorient, three cities
destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards, and in the works of the Breton nationalist architects
like James Bouill‚ and Olier Mordrel.
Brittany
39
Fine arts
Until the 19th century, Catholicism had been the main inspiration for
Breton artists. The region has a great number of baroque retables, made
between the 17th and the 19th century. Breton sculptors were also
famous for their ship models that served as ex-votos and for their
richly decorated furniture, which features na†ve Breton characters and
traditional patterns. The box-bed is the most famous Breton piece of
furniture. The Breton style had a strong revival between 1900 and the
Second World War and it was used by the Seiz Breur movement. The
Seiz Breur artists also tried to invent a modern Breton art by rejecting
French standards and mixing traditional techniques with new materials.
The leading artists of that period were the designer Ren‚-Yves Creston,
the illustrators Jeanne Malivel and Xavier Haas, and the sculptors
Raffig Tullou, Francis Renaud, Georges Robin, Joseph Savina,
Jules-Charles Le Bozec and Jean Fr‚our.
The Beautiful Angƒle by Paul Gauguin.
Brittany is also known for its needlework, which can be seen on its
numerous headdress models, and for its faience production, which
started at the beginning of the 18th century. Quimper faience is known worldwide for its bowls and plates painted by
hand, and other towns, such as Pornic, also maintain a similar tradition. The potteries usually feature na†ve Breton
characters in traditional clothing and daily scenes. The designs have a strong traditional Breton influence, but
Orientalism and Art Deco have also been used.
Because of its distinct culture and beautiful landscapes, Brittany has inspired many French artists since the 19th
century. The Pont-Aven School, which started to emerge in the 1850s and lasted until the beginning of the 20th
century, had a decisive influence on modern painting. The artists who settled in Pont-Aven wanted to break away
from the Academic style of the •cole des Beaux-Arts and later from Impressionism when it began to decline. Among
them were Paul Gauguin, Paul Signac, Marc Chagall, Paul S‚rusier and Raymond Wintz. Before them, Brittany had
also been visited by Academic and Romantic painters like Jean Antoine Th‚odore de Gudin and Jules Achille Noˆl
who were looking for dramatic seascapes and storms.
Music
Main articles: Music of Brittany and Breton dance
Since the early 1970s, Brittany has experienced a tremendous revival
of its folk music. Numerous festivals were created, along with smaller
festo‹ noz (popular feasts). The bagado‹, bands composed of bagpipes,
bombards and drums (including snare), are also a modern creation,
inspired by the Scottish pipe bands. The Lann-Bihou‚ bagad, one of
the most well-known, belongs to the French Navy. It is the only one
that does not take part to the annual bagado¡ competitions. Celtic harp
is also common, as are vocals and dances. The Kan ha diskan is the
most common type of singing. The performers sing calls and responses
The Lann-Bihou‚ bagad.
while dancing. Breton dances usually imply circles, chains or couples
and they are different in every region. The oldest dances seem to be the passepied and the gavotte, and the newest
ones derive from the quadrille and French Renaissance dances.
In the 1960s, several Breton artists started to use contemporary patterns to create a Breton pop music. Among them,
Alan Stivell highly contributed to popularise the Celtic harp and Breton music in the world. He also used American
Brittany
40
rock and roll in his works and influenced 1970s Breton bands such as Kornog, Gwerz and Tri Yann, who revived
traditional songs and made them popular across France. Soldat Louis is the main Breton rock band and the most
famous Wikipedia:Avoid weasel words Breton singers are Gilles Servat, Glenmor, Dan Ar Braz, Yann-Fa£ch
Kemener, Denez Prigent, Nolwenn Korbell and Nolwenn Leroy. The Manau Hip hop group from Paris has strong
Breton and Celtic inspirations.
Yann Tiersen, who composed the soundtrack for Am•lie, the Electro band Yelle and the avant-garde singer Brigitte
Fontaine are also from Brittany. The 19th-century composer Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray was one of the first
western European composers to be influenced by what is now known as world music.
Legends and literature
Brittany is closely associated with the Matter of Britain and King
Arthur. According to Wace, Broc‚liande is located in Brittany and it is
nowadays considered to be Paimpont forest. There, ruins of a castle
surrounded by a lake are associated with the Lady of the Lake, a
dolmen is said to be Merlin's tomb and a path is presented as Morgan
le Fay's Val sans Retour. Tristan and Iseult are also said to have lived
in Brittany. Another major Breton legend is the story about Ys, a city
swallowed by the ocean.
Breton literature before the 19th century was mostly oral. The oral
tradition entertained by medieval poets died out during the 15th
century and books in Breton were very rare before 1850. At that time,
local writers started to collect and publish local tales and legends and
wrote original works. Published between 1925 and the Second World
War, the literary journal Gwalarn favoured a modern Breton literature
and helped translating widely known novels into Breton. After the war,
the journal Al Liamm pursued that mission. Among the authors writing
in Breton are Auguste Brizeux, a Romantic poet, the neo-Druidic bard
Erwan Berthou, Th‚odore Hersart de La Villemarqu‚, who collected
the local legends around King Arthur, Roparz Hemon, founder of
Gwalarn, PŠr-Jakez Helias, Glenmor, PŠr Denez and Meavenn.
The singer-songwriter Th‚odore Botrel dressed in
traditional Breton costume.
Breton literature in French includes 19th-century historical novels by •mile Souvestre, travel journals by Anatole Le
Braz, poems and novels by Charles Le Goffic, the works of the singer-songwriter Th‚odore Botrel and of the
maritime writer Henri Queff‚lec. Brittany is also the birthplace of many French writers like Fran…ois-Ren‚ de
Chateaubriand, Jules Verne, Ernest Renan, F‚licit‚ Robert de Lamennais and Pierre Ab‚lard.
The comic books covering the adventures of Asterix the Gaul set during the time of Julius Caesar and written in the
2nd half of the 20th century was set in Amorica- now Brittany.
Brittany
41
Museums
The Museum of Brittany, located in Rennes, was founded in 1856. Its collections are mainly dedicated to the history
of the region. Museums dedicated to Prehistory and local megaliths are located in Carnac and Penmarch, while
several towns like Vannes and Nantes have a museum presenting their own history.
The Museum of Fine Arts of Rennes owns a large collection of Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities as well as
drawings and engravings by Domenico Ghirlandaio, Parmigianino, Albrecht D¢rer and Rembrandt. Its French art
collection gathers works by Georges de La Tour, Fran…ois Boucher, Paul Gauguin, Auguste Rodin, Camille Corot
and Robert Delaunay. It has also works by Pablo Picasso, Rubens, Peter Lely and Paolo Veronese. The collections of
the Museum of Fine Arts of Nantes are more dedicated to modern and contemporary art and contain works by
Edward Burne-Jones, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Eug€ne Delacroix, Gustave Courbet, Paul Signac, Tamara de
Lempicka, Wassily Kandinsky, Max Ernst, Pierre Soulages and Piero Manzoni. The Museums of Fine Arts of Brest
and Quimper offer similar collections, with large quantities of French painting together with the works of some
Italian and Dutch artists. The Museum of Fine Arts Pont-Aven is dedicated to the School of Pont-Aven.
Contemporary sculptures can be seen in the park around the Ch‰teau de Kergu‚hennec, in Bignan.
Museums in Saint-Malo, Lorient and Douarnenez are dedicated to ships and maritime traditions and history. The
Mus‚e national de la Marine has a large annexe in Brest and a submarine is opened to visitors in Lorient. In the same
town, it is also possible to visit the Keroman Submarine Base built in 1942, and the Cit• de la voile Œric Tabarly, a
museum dedicated to sailing. In Saint-Nazaire, where many transatlantic ships where built, including SS Normandie
and SS France, a museum showing transatlantic interiors was installed in a Second World War base. Nantes has a
museum dedicated to Jules Verne, a Natural History Museum and a museum of archaeology and design, the Mus‚e
Dobr‚e.
Festivals
Brittany has a vibrant calendar of festivals and events. It hosts some of
France's biggest contemporary music festivals, such as La Route du
Rock in Saint-Malo, the Vieilles Charrues in Carhaix, the Rencontres
Trans Musicales in Rennes, the Festival du Bout du Monde in Crozon,
the Hellfest in Clisson and the Astropolis in Brest. The Festival
Interceltique de Lorient welcomes each year participants all the Celtic
nations and their diasporas. La Folle Journ‚e, in Nantes, is the largest
classical music festival in France.
The G•theborg at the Brest tall ship meeting in
The Breton culture is highlighted during the F…te de la Bretagne,
2012.
which occurs in many places around Saint-Yves's day (19 May), and
during the Festival de Cornouaille in Quimper. Several towns also organise historical re-enactments and events
around local traditions, such as the Filets Bleus in Concarneau which celebrates fishing.
Brittany also has some film festivals like the Three Continents Festival in Nantes. The Utopiales international
science fiction festival is held in the same city. Brest and Douarnenez both organise large tall ship meetings.
Brittany
42
Sport
Football, cycling and sailing are the three most popular sports in Brittany. Major football teams are the FC Nantes,
the Stade rennais, the FC Lorient, the Stade brestois the Vannes OC and the En Avant de Guingamp. Professional
footballers coming from the region also form the Brittany national football team which sometimes plays with
national teams.
Several Bretons have won the Tour de France: Bernard Hinault, Cyrille Guimard, Louison Bobet, Jean Robic and
Lucien Petit-Breton.
Sailing is particularly important for sea-resorts like La Trinit‚-sur-Mer, Pornichet, Concarneau, Lorient and the ‹les
de Gl‚nan, where a prestigious school is located. A great number of Bretons have become acclaimed sailors: •ric
Tabarly, Lo†ck Peyron, Jean Le Cam, Michel Desjoyeaux, Olivier de Kersauson, Thomas Coville, Vincent Riou,
Marc PajotŠ The Route du Rhum, the Transat Qu‚bec-Saint-Malo, the Jules Verne Trophy are the main Breton
sailing competitions. The Solitaire du Figaro stages often start in Brittany.
Gouren, a style of folk wrestling, is the most popular Breton sport. The Boule bretonne is related to p‚tanque. The
Palets, common in Upper Brittany and in other French regions, is also related to p‚tanque, but players use iron disks
instead of balls and they have to throw them on a wooden board.
Cuisine
Although Muscadet and Gros Plant white wines are produced south of
the Loire, the traditional drink of Brittany is cider. Brittany is the
second largest cider-producing region in France. It is traditionally
served in a bowl or a cup. Brittany also has a long beer brewing
tradition, tracing its roots back to the 17th century. Young artisanal
brewers are keeping a variety of beer types alive, such as Coreff de
Morlaix, Tri Martolod and Britt. Stronger alcohols include the
chouchen, a sort of mead made with wild honey, and an apple eau de
vie called lambig.
Galettes served with eggs and sausages.
CrŠpes and galettes are the two most iconic Breton dishes. The crŠpe made and served with butter, are eaten for
dessert or breakfast, and the galettes are usually salty and made with buckwheat. They traditionally replaced bread as
basic food and they can be served with cheese, sausages, bacon, mushrooms or eggs. They can be accompanied by
Breton buttermilk called lait ribot. Brittany also has a dish similar to the pot-au-feu known as the Kig ha farz, which
consists of stewed pork or beef with buckwheat dumplings.
Surrounded by the sea, Brittany offers a wide range of fresh seafood and fish, especially mussels and oysters. Among
the seafood specialities is a fish stew called cotriade. The Beurre blanc sauce, invented in Saint-Julien-de-Concelles,
close to Nantes, is often served with fish. Brittany is also known for its salt, mainly harvested around Gu‚rande and
used in butter and milk caramels. The region is notable for its biscuit factories, many towns having their own:
Quimper, Lorient, Pont-Aven, Saint-Brieuc, BN and LU in Nantes, La Trinitaine in La Trinit‚-sur-Mer, and Galettes
Saint-Michel in Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef. They usually make their biscuits with salted butter and sell them in iron
boxes. Famous Breton pastries include the kouign amann ("butter cake" in Breton) made with bread dough and high
quantities of butter and sugar, the far, a sort of sweet Yorkshire pudding, and the clafoutis, usually made with plums.
Brittany
43
Transport
Road
Until the 1970s, the Breton road network was poor because maritime
and rail transport prevailed. The French president Charles de Gaulle
implemented a major road construction plan in the 1970 and Brittany
received over 10 billion francs of investments during 25 years.[17]
More than 10,000‘km of motorways were built, permitting Breton road
transport to multiply by four. The Breton motorways are not toll roads,
contrarily to the usual French highways.[18][19]
The main road artery linking cities and other settlements along the
north coast is the Route nationale 12 which connects the cities of
Rennes, Saint-Brieuc, Morlaix and Brest. It also provides a link to
An old road sign on the Route Nationale 786 in
southern Normandy, terminating in Paris. In south Brittany the Route
Tr‚veneuc.
nationale 165 performs a similar role along the south coast providing
connections between Nantes, Vannes, Lorient, Quimper and Brest. The Route nationale 164 crosses the centre of the
peninsula and connects Rennes to Loud‚ac, Morlaix and Ch‰teaulin, and the Route nationale 166 links Rennes to
Vannes. The Route nationale 137 provides connections between Saint-Malo, Rennes and Nantes and terminates in
Bordeaux.
Nantes is linked to Paris by the A11 autoroute, and Rennes is both on the A81 autoroute to Paris and the A84
autoroute to Caen. These highways are standard French toll road.
Air
The Morlaix railway viaduct is one of the highest
in France.
The biggest Breton airport is Nantes Atlantique Airport. It serves
destinations in the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Ireland,
Morocco... It will be replaced around 2017 by the new A‚roport du
Grand Ouest, located 30‘km to the north-west of Nantes. The Brest
Bretagne Airport is the second airport in Brittany. It is followed by
Rennes • Saint-Jacques, Lorient South Brittany and Dinard •
Saint-Malo. The Saint-Brieuc • Armor airport serves flights between
Brittany and the Channel Islands. Others smaller airport operates
domestic flights in Quimper, and Lannion.
Rail
Brittany is on two major TGV lines, one linking Paris to Nantes and Le
Croisic, on the south coast, and another linking Paris to Rennes and
Brest. The LGV Atlantique which stops at Le Mans will be extended to
Rennes in 2017, providing faster connections between Paris and
Brittany. TGV train services also link the region with cities such as
Lyon, Strasbourg, Marseille, and Lille. Secondary train services are
operated by TER Bretagne which provides connections between small
The Brittany Ferries MS Bretagne off Saint-Malo.
Brittany
44
towns such as Vannes, Carhaix, Roscoff and Paimpol. TER Bretagne also manages coach lines and connections
between Rennes and Nantes. TER Pays de la Loire operates trains between Nantes and smaller towns in
Loire-Atlantique.
Sea
There are ferry services that take passengers, vehicles and freight to Ireland, England and the Channel Islands. The
main companies are Brittany Ferries which operates lines between Plymouth and Roscoff, Portsmouth and
Saint-Malo, and Roscoff and Cork. Irish Ferries operates the route Rosslare-Roscoff and Condor Ferries link
Saint-Malo with Jersey.
Symbols
The modern flag of Brittany was designed in 1923. It is called Gwenn
ha Du ("white and black" in Breton) and it features eleven ermine spots
(their number may vary) and nine stripes, the black ones represent the
Breton speaking historical dioceses, and the white ones symbolise the
gallo speaking dioceses. The flag was created to replace the traditional
ermine plain standard, considered too aristocratic and royalist. It was
[20]
inspired by the American flag and the British Red Ensign.
Since the
1920s, the flag has become very popular and it is flown from a large
number of institutions. Apart from the ermine flag, Breton historic
banners include the Kroaz Du, a white flag with a black cross, the
perfect negative of the Cornish flag.
The ermine was the badge of several dukes of
Brittany.
The modern flag of Brittany.
The coat of arms of Brittany, ermine plain, was adopted by John III in
1316. Ermine had been used in Brittany long before, and there is no
clue about its origin. It was probably chosen by the dukes because of
its similarity with the French fleur-de-lis. The ermine, or stoat, as an
animal became the badge of John IV at the end of the 14th century. It
appeared later on numerous locations, including churches and castles.
According to popular traditions, Anne of Brittany was hunting with her
court when she saw a white ermine who preferred to die than to cross a
dirty marsh. This episode would have inspired the duchess' motto :
"Potius mori quam foedari" ("rather death than dishonour").[21] The
motto has later been reused by Breton regiments, local World War II
Resistants and cultural movements.
The Breton anthem, although not official, is Bro Gozh ma Zado‹ ("Old Land of My Fathers"). It reemploys the
Welsh anthem's music and its lyrics were written at the end of the 19th century.
Colloquial Breton emblems include the Celtic triskelion, the menhirs and dolmens, local dishes such as the galettes,
the Bigouden headdress and the traditional black round hat, the fisherman and his yellow raincoat, etc. BZH is a
common abbreviation for "Breizh" ("Brittany" in Breton) and people often put BZH stickers on their car-plates,
[22]
although it is forbidden under French laws.
.bzh is a proposed Internet top level domain for the Breton culture and
[23]
languages.
Brittany
45
Image gallery
Merlin's tomb in the
A dolmen in
The city wall of
Castle of Saint-Malo,
Broc‚liande forest,
Paimpont
Plouharnel
Gu‚rande
Qui Qu'en Grogne
Tower
Ch‰teau de Suscinio
le Vierge lighthouse
Abbey and lighthouse
Ar Meilho‹ Glaz, a Bagad
Festival du chant de
A Breton
of Saint-Mathieu
from Quimper
marin, sea songs
headdress
festival in Paimpol
from
Batz-sur-Mer
Modern Brittany Illustration from Legends
& Romances of Brittany
by Lewis Spence,
illustrated by W. Otway
Cannell.
References
[1] Mark Patton, Statements in Stone: Monuments and Society in Neolithic Brittany, Routledge, 1993, p.1
[2] L‚on Fleuriot, Les origines de la Bretagne: l€•migration, Paris, Payot, 1980.
[3] Smith, Julia M. H. Province and Empire: Brittany and the Carolingians, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp.80•83.
[4] Constance De La Warr, A Twice Crowned Queen: Anne of Brittany, Peter Owen, 2005
[5] Joˆl Cornette, Le marquis et le R‚gent. Une conspiration bretonne ‡ l'aube des Lumi€res, Paris, Tallandier, 2008.
[6] J. R. Rott‚, Ar Seiz Breur. Recherches et r•alisations pour un art Breton moderne, 1923•1947, 1987.
[7] Donn‚es des stations fran…aises (http:/ / www. infoclimat. fr/ climatologie/ index. php?s=& d=)
[8] ŽLa Lente Mise en Place des Universit•s Bretonnes• (http:/ / www. espace-sciences. org/ science/ 10065-sciences-ouest/ 20106-Annee-1993/
10235-93/ 10880-gros-plan/ 16926-histoire/ 16927-la-lente-mise-en-place-des/ index. html), Science Ouest NŽ93
[9] ICBL information about Breton (http:/ / www. breizh. net/ icdbl/ saozg/ endangered. htm#Image No. 2: Breton is a hindrance to good
citizenship) at breizh.net
[10] Diwan FAQ, #6 (http:/ / www. diwanbreizh. org/ sections. php4?op=viewarticle& artid=6).
[11] Insee Bretagne • Atlas des immigr‚s en Bretagne (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ insee_regions/ bretagne/ rfc/ docs/ fasild. pdf)
Brittany
[12] Sondage CNRS, TMO-Ouest. R‚sultats (http:/ / www. agencebretagnepresse. com/ pdfs/ 15280_2. pdf) comment‚s dans Ouest-France,
14-05.2009, page 7 (http:/ / www. ouest-france. fr/ region/
bretagne_detail_-Breton-et-Francais-la-double-identite-affirmee-_8619-932595_actu. Htm).
[13] Fa£ch Broudic, 2009. Parler breton au XXIe siƒcle • Le nouveau sondage de TMO-R•gions. (including data from 2007: 172,000 speakers in
Lower Brittany; slightly under 200,000 in whole Brittany; 206,000 including students in bilingual education)
[14] Donn‚es cl‚s sur breton, Ofis ar Brezhoneg (http:/ / www. ofis-bzh. org/ fr/ langue_bretonne/ chiffres_cles/ index. php)
[15] Bretagne: poems (in French), by Amand Gu‚rin, Published by P. Masgana, 1842: page 238
[16] Anatole le Braz, La Legende de la Mort, BiblioBazaar reprint, LLC, 2009, pp. 430ff.
[17] Plan routier breton (2) (http:/ / www. espace-sciences. org/ science/ 10065-sciences-ouest/ 20109-Annee-1996/ 10195-125/ 10680-gros-plan/
12801-histoire-et-societe/ 12803-le-plan-routier-breton/ index. html)
[18] Plan routier breton (3) (http:/ / www. espace-sciences. org/ science/ 10065-sciences-ouest/ 20109-Annee-1996/ 10197-123/ 10690-gros-plan/
15348-histoire-et-societe/ 15350-le-plan-routier-breton-2/ index. html)
[19] Plan routier breton (4) (http:/ / www. espace-sciences. org/ science/ 10065-sciences-ouest/ 20109-Annee-1996/ 10196-124/ 10685-gros-plan/
12851-histoire-et-societe/ 12852-le-plan-routier-breton-3/ index. html)
[20] Francis Favereau, Bretagne contemporaine • Culture, langue, identit•? page 210, Skol Vreizh, Morlaix, 2005, .
[21] Gwenc'hlan Le Scouˆzec, Guide de la Bretagne, page 40, Coop Breizh, Sp‚zet, 1987; and Le Journal de la Bretagne des origines † nos
jours, page 106, Larousse, Paris, 2001
[22] L'arrŠt‚ du 7 juin 1967 (http:/ / www. legifrance. gouv. fr/ jopdf/ common/ jo_pdf. jsp?numJO=0& dateJO=19670707& numTexte=&
pageDebut=06810& pageFin=)
[23] http:/ / www. domainesinfo. fr/ english/ 136/ brittany-s-bzh-the-next-regional-domain. php
External links
„ Brittany : in the West, the end of the world (http://www.france.fr/en/regions-and-cities/
brittany-west-end-world) • Official French website (in English)
„ Brittany (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/France/Regions/Brittany) at DMOZ
„ The official site for Brittany Tourism‘• Brittany Regional Tourist Board (http://www.brittanytourism.com/)
„ Personelezh Breizh e saozneg‘• Breton identity (http://www.breizh.net/identity/)
„ Western France Tourist Board (http://westernfrancetouristboard.com/brittany.html) Brittany tourism
information
„ Bretagne.com: Tourisme et Loisirs en Bretagne (in French) (http://www.bretagne.com)
Coordinates: 48Ž00‹N 3Ž00‹W (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Brittany&
params=48_00_N_3_00_W_region:FR_type:adm1st_source:kolossus-cawiki)
46
Normandy
47
Normandy
For other uses, see Normandy (disambiguation).
Normandy
Normandie / Nourmaundie
Historical province
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: • Diex A†e ! ƒ
Country
‘France
‘United Kingdom (
‘Jersey
‘Guernsey)
Largest settlements
Area
‚€‚Total
30,100‘km2 (11,600‘sq‘mi)
Population (2005)
‚€‚Total
3,450,388
Demonym
Normands
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
‚€‚Summer (DST)
CEST (UTC+2)
Normandy (French: Normandie, pronounced [nŒ†.m•Ž.di], Norman: Nourmaundie, from Old French Normanz,
plural of Normand, originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical
region of France corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy.
[1]
The continental territory covers 30,627‘km• and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the
territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two regions: Lower Normandy and Upper
Normandy. The population of Normandy is around 3.45‘million. The continental population of 3.26‘million accounts
for 5.5% of the population of France (in 2005). The Channel Islands (referred to as •les Anglo-Normandes in French)
are historically part of Normandy, cover 194‘km• and comprise two bailiwicks: Guernsey and Jersey, which are
British Crown dependencies.
Upper Normandy (Haute-Normandie) consists of the French departments of Seine-Maritime and Eure, and Lower
Normandy (Basse-Normandie) of the departments of Orne, Calvados, and Manche. The earlier province of
Normandy comprised present-day Upper and Lower Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the d•partements
of Eure-et-Loir, Mayenne, and Sarthe. The name is derived from the settlement of the territory by Vikings
("Northmen") from the 9th century, and confirmed by treaty in the 10th century. For a century and a half following
Normandy
48
the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman and Frankish rulers.
During the Second World War, the D Day landings on the Normandy beaches, under the code name Operation
Overlord, started the lengthy Battle of Normandy and resulted in the Liberation of Paris and the restoration of the
French Republic. These landings were a significant turning point in the war.
Lower Normandy is predominantly agricultural in character, with cattle breeding the most important sector (although
in decline from the peak levels of the 1970s and 1980s). The bocage is a patchwork of small fields with high hedges,
typical of western areas. Upper Normandy contains a higher concentration of industry. Normandy is a significant
cider-producing region, and also produces calvados, a distilled cider or apple brandy. Other activities of economic
importance are dairy produce, flax (60% of production in France), horse breeding (including two French national
stud farms), fishing, seafood, and tourism. The region contains three French nuclear power stations. There is also
easy access to and from the UK using the ports of Cherbourg, Caen (Ouistreham), Le Havre and Dieppe.[2]
History
Main article: History of Normandy
Archaeological finds, such as cave paintings,
prove that humans were present in the region in
prehistoric times.
Belgae and Celts, known as Gauls, invaded
Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to
the 3rd century BC.
When Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were
nine different Gallic tribes in Normandy.
The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by
the usual methods: Roman roads and a policy of
urbanisation. Classicists have knowledge of many
Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy.
Roman theatre in Lillebonne
In the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated
Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates. Christianity also began to enter the area during this
period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast. The
Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy.
As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord
Clovis.
The Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of 9th century. After attacking and destroying
monasteries, including one at Jumi€ges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of
Charlemagne's empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian/Danish
Viking leader Hrolf Ragnvaldsson, or Rollo (also known as Robert of Normandy). Rollo had besieged Paris but in
911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte.
In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he and his Viking allies had
previously conquered. The name "Normandy" reflects Rollo's Viking (i.e. "Northman") origins.
The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and intermarried with the
area's original inhabitants. They became the Normans • a Norman-speaking mixture of Scandinavians,
Hiberno-Norse, Orcadians, Anglo-Danish, Saxons and indigenous Franks and Gauls.
Rollo's descendant William, Duke of Normandy, became king of England in 1066 in the Norman Conquest
culminating at the Battle of Hastings, while retaining the fiefdom of Normandy for himself and his descendants.
Normandy
49
Norman expansion
Besides the Norman conquest of England
and the subsequent conquests of Wales and
Ireland, the Normans expanded into other
areas. Norman families, such as that of
Tancred of Hauteville, played important
parts in the Crusades.
Tancred's sons William Iron Arm, Drogo of
Hauteville, Humphrey of Hauteville, Robert
Guiscard and Roger the Great Count
conquered the Emirate of Sicily and
additional territories in Southern Italy. They
also carved out a place for themselves and
their descendants in the Crusader states of
Asia Minor and the Holy Land.
Norman possessions in the 12th century
The 14th century Norman explorer Jean de
B‚thencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands. B‚thencourt received the title King of the Canary Islands
but recognised as his overlord Henry III of Castile, who had provided aid during the conquest.
13th to 17th centuries
In 1204, during the reign of England's King
John, mainland Normandy was taken from
England by France under Philip II of France.
Insular Normandy (the Channel Islands)
remained under English control. In 1259,
Henry III of England recognised the legality
of French possession of mainland
Normandy under the Treaty of Paris. His
successors, however, often fought to regain
control of mainland French Normandy.
The Charte aux Normands granted by Louis
X of France in 1315 (and later re-confirmed
in 1339) • like the analogous Magna Carta
granted in England in the aftermath of 1204
• guaranteed the liberties and privileges of
the province of Normandy.
French Normandy was occupied by English
forces during the Hundred Years' War in
1345•1360 and again in 1415•1450.
Normandy lost three-quarters of its
population during the war. Afterward
Animated map of the Hundred Years' War
prosperity returned to Normandy until the
Wars of Religion. When many Norman towns (Alen…on, Rouen, Caen, Coutances, Bayeux) joined the Protestant
Normandy
50
Reformation, battles ensued throughout the province. In the Channel Islands, a period of Calvinism following the
Reformation was suppressed when Anglicanism was imposed following the English Civil War.
Samuel de Champlain left the port of Honfleur in 1604 and founded Acadia. Four years later, he founded Quebec
City. From then onwards, Normans engaged in a policy of expansion in North America. They continued the
exploration of the New World: Ren‚-Robert Cavelier de La Salle travelled in the area of the Great Lakes, then on the
Mississippi River. Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and his brother Lemoyne de Bienville founded Louisiana, Biloxi,
Mobile and New Orleans. Territories located between Quebec and the Mississippi Delta were opened up to establish
Canada and Louisiana. Colonists from Normandy were among the most active in New France, comprising Acadia,
Canada, and Louisiana.
Honfleur and Le Havre were two of the principal slave trade ports of France.
Modern history
Although agriculture remained important, industries such as weaving, metallurgy, sugar refining, ceramics, and
shipbuilding were introduced and developed.
In the 1780s, the economic crisis and the crisis of the Ancien R•gime struck Normandy as well as other parts of the
nation, leading to the French Revolution. Bad harvests, technical progress and the effects of the Eden Agreement
signed in 1786 affected employment and the economy of the province. Normans laboured under a heavy fiscal
burden.
In 1790 the five departments of Normandy replaced the former province.
11 July 1793, the Norman Charlotte Corday assassinated Marat.
The Normans reacted little to the many political upheavals which characterised the 19th century. Overall they warily
accepted the changes of r‚gime (First French Empire, Bourbon Restoration, July Monarchy, French Second
Republic, Second French Empire, French Third Republic).
There was an economic revival (mechanization of textile manufacture, first trains...) after the French Revolutionary
Wars and the Napoleonic Wars (1792•1815).
And new economic activity stimulated the coasts: seaside tourism. The 19th century marks the birth of the first beach
resorts.
During the Second World War, following the armistice of 22 June
1940, continental Normandy was part of the German occupied zone of
France. The Channel Islands were occupied by German forces between
30 June 1940 and 9 May 1945. The town of Dieppe was the site of the
unsuccessful Dieppe Raid by Canadian and British armed forces.
The Allies in this case involving Britain, the U.S, and Canada
coordinated a massive build-up of troops and supplies to support a
large-scale invasion of Normandy in the D-Day landings on 6 June
Allied invasion of Normandy, D-Day, 1944
1944 under the code name Operation Overlord. The Germans were dug
into fortified emplacements above the beaches. Caen, Cherbourg,
Carentan, Falaise and other Norman towns endured many casualties in the Battle of Normandy, which continued
until the closing of the so-called Falaise gap between Chambois and Mont Ormel. The liberation of Le Havre
followed.
This was a significant turning point in the war and led to the restoration of the French Republic. The remainder of
Normandy was liberated only on 9 May 1945 at the end of the war, when the Occupation of the Channel Islands
effectively ended.
Normandy
51
Geography
The historical Duchy of Normandy was a formerly independent duchy
occupying the lower Seine area, the Pays de Caux and the region to the
west through the Pays d'Auge as far as the Cotentin Peninsula.
The region is bordered along the northern coasts by the English
Channel. There are granite cliffs in the west and limestone cliffs in the
east. There are also long stretches of beach in the centre of the region.
The bocage typical of the western areas caused problems for the
invading forces in the Battle of Normandy. A notable feature of the
landscape is created by the meanders of the Seine as it approaches its
estuary.
A typical northeastern Norman village
The highest point is the Signal d'•couves (417m) in the Massif armoricain.
Normandy is sparsely forested:[3] 12.8% of the territory is wooded, compared to a French average of 23.6%,
although the proportion varies between the departments. Eure has most cover (21%) while Manche has least (4%), a
characteristic shared with the Islands.
Regions
„ The Avranchin
„ The Bessin
„ The Bauptois
„ The bocage virois
„ The campagne d'Alen…on
„ The campagne d'Argentan
„ The campagne de Caen
„ The campagne de Falaise
„ The campagne du Neubourg
„ The campagne de Saint-Andr‚ (or d‚•vreux)
Former Cistercian Abbey of Gruchet-le-Valasse.
„ The Cotentin
„ The Perche
„ The Domfrontais or Passais
„ The Hi‚mois
„ The Lieuvin
„ The Mortainais
„ The pays d'Auge, central Normandy, is characterized by excellent
agricultural land.
„ The pays de Bray
„ The pays de Caux
„ The pays d'Houlme
„ The pays de Madrie: territoire entre la Seine et L'Eure
„ The pays d'Ouche
„ The Roumois et Marais-Vernier
„ The Suisse normande (Norman Switzerland), in the south, presents hillier terrain.
„ The Val de Saire
„ The Vexin normand
Marais-Vernier
Normandy
52
Channel Islands
„ The bailliage of Jersey
„ The bailliage of Guernsey
The Channel Islands, although British Crown Dependencies, are
considered culturally and historically a part of Normandy.
Although the British surrendered claims to mainland Normandy,
France, and other French possessions in 1801, the monarch of the
United Kingdom retains the title Duke of Normandy in respect to the
Channel Islands.Wikipedia:Citation needed The Channel Islands
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mer et bateaux (Sea and
(except for Chausey) remain Crown dependencies of the British Crown
ships), 1883, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
in the present era. Thus the Loyal Toast in the Channel Islands is La
York.
Reine, notre Duc ("The Queen, our Duke"). The British monarch is
understood to not be the Duke with regards to mainland Normandy described herein, by virtue of the Treaty of Paris
of 1259, the surrender of French possessions in 1801, and the belief that the rights of succession to that title are
subject to Salic Law which excludes inheritance through female heirs.Wikipedia:Citation needed
Rivers
Rivers in Normandy include:
„ the Seine and its tributaries:
„ the Andelle
„ the Epte
„ the Eure
„ the Risle
„ the Robec
And many coastal rivers:
The Seine in Les Andelys
„ the Bresle
„ the Couesnon, which traditionally marks the boundary between the
Duchy of Brittany and the Duchy of Normandy
„ the Dives
„ the Orne
„ the S‚e
„ the S‚lune
„ the Touques
„ the Veules, the shortest French river
„ the Vire
The Bresle
Normandy
53
Towns
See: Category:Towns in Normandy
The principal cities (population at the 1999 census) are Rouen
(518,316 inhabitants in the metropolitan area), the capital of Upper
Normandy and formerly of the whole province; Caen (420,000
inhabitants in the metropolitan area), the capital of Lower Normandy;
Le Havre (296,773 inhabitants in the metropolitan area); and
Cherbourg (117,855 inhabitants in the metropolitan area).
See also: Norman Toponymy
Half-timbered Houses in Rouen
Population
In January 2006 the population of Normandy (including the part of Perche which lies inside the Orne d•partement
but excluding the Channel Islands) was estimated at 3,260,000 with an average population density of 109 inhabitants
per km•, just under the French national average, but rising to 147 for Upper Normandy.
Economy
Year
Area
Labour force in agriculture Labour force in industry Labour force in services
[4]
2.30 %
36.10 %
61.60 %
2006 Lower Normandy[5]
6.50 %
25.00 %
68.50 %
2.20 %
20.60 %
77.20 %
2003
2006
Upper Normandy
[6]
France
Area
GDP (in million of Euros)
[7]
[8]
(2006) Unemployment (% of the labour force) (2007)
Upper Normandy
46,853
6.80 %
Lower Normandy
34,064
7.90 %
France
1,791,956
7.50 %
Food and drink
Parts of Normandy consist of rolling countryside typified by pasture
for dairy cattle and apple orchards. A wide range of dairy products are
produced and exported. Norman cheeses include Camembert, Livarot,
Pont l'•vŠque, Brillat-Savarin, Neufch‰tel, Petit Suisse and Boursin.
Normandy butter and Normandy cream are lavishly used in
gastronomic specialties.
Norman CattleNorman cow
Normandy
54
Fish
and
seafood
are
of
superior
quality
in
Normandy.Wikipedia:Citation needed Turbot and oysters from the
Cotentin Peninsula are major delicacies throughout France. Normandy
is the chief oyster-cultivating, scallop-exporting, and mussel-raising
region in France.
Normandy is a major cider-producing region (very little wine is
produced). Perry is also produced, but in less significant quantities.
Apple brandy, of which the most famous variety is calvados, is also
popular. The mealtime trou normand, or "Norman hole", is a pause
between meal courses in which diners partake of a glassful of calvados
in order to improve the appetite and make room for the next course,
and this is still observed in many homes and restaurants. Pommeau is
an ap•ritif produced by blending unfermented cider and apple brandy.
Another aperitif is the kir normand, a measure of cr€me de cassis
topped up with cider. B•n•dictine is produced in F‚camp.
Cider from Normandy
Apples are also widely used in cooking: for example, moules † la
normande are mussels cooked with apples and cream, bourdelots are
apples baked in pastry, partridges are flamed with reinette apples, and localities all over the province have their own
variation of apple tart, that is more popular named tan tan tan tan, because the people can't say the correct name
"Tarte Tatin", a classic pastry dish from the region is Norman Tart a pastry-based variant of the apple tart.
Other regional specialities include tripes † la mode de Caen, andouilles and andouillettes, salt meadow (pr• sal•)
lamb, seafood (mussels, scallops, lobsters, mackerelŠ), and teurgoule (spiced rice pudding).
Normandy dishes include duckling † la rouennaise, saut‚ed chicken yvetois, and goose en daube. Rabbit is cooked
with morels, or † la havraise (stuffed with truffled pigs' trotters). Other dishes are sheep's trotters † la rouennaise,
casseroled veal, larded calf's liver braised with carrots, and veal (or turkey) in cream and mushrooms.
Normandy is also noted for its pastries. It is the birthplace of brioches (especially those from •vreux and Gisors) and
also turns out douillons (pears baked in pastry), craquelins, roulettes in Rouen, fouaces in Caen, fallues in Lisieux,
sabl•s in Lisieux. Confectionery of the region includes Rouen apple sugar, Isigny caramels, Bayeux mint chews,
Falaise berlingots, Le Havre marzipans, Argentan croquettes, and Rouen macaroons.
Normandy is the native land of Taillevent, cook of the kings of France Charles V and Charles VI. He wrote the
earliest French cookery book named Le Viandier. Confiture de lait was also made in Normandy around the 14th
century.
Culture
Symbols
The traditional provincial flag of Normandy, gules, two leopards passant or, is used in both modern regions. The
historic three-leopard version (known in the Norman language as les treis cats, "the three cats") is used by some
associations and individuals, especially those who support reunification of the regions and cultural links with the
Channel Islands and England. Jersey and Guernsey use three leopards in their national symbols. The three leopards
represents the strength and courage Normandy has towards the neighbouring provinces.
The unofficial anthem of the region is the song "Mon Normandie".
Normandy
55
"Two-leopard" version, which is the
main one.
"Three-leopard" version
Nordic Cross of Le Mouvement
Normand
Normandy
56
"Two-leopard" flag of Sark
Coat of arms of the Duchy of
Normandy
Coat of arms of
Guernsey
Coat of arms of Jersey
Normandy
57
Literature
See also: Anglo-Norman literature and Gesta Normannorum Ducum
The dukes of Normandy commissioned and inspired epic literature to record
and legitimise their rule. Wace, Orderic Vitalis and Stephen of Rouen were
among those who wrote in the service of the dukes. After the division of
1204, French literature provided the model for the development of literature
in Normandy. Olivier Basselin wrote of the Vaux de Vire, the origin of
literary vaudeville. Among notable Norman writers in French are Jean Marot,
R‚my Belleau, Guy de Maupassant, Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, Gustave
Flaubert, Octave Mirbeau, and Remy de Gourmont, and Alexis de
Tocqueville. The Corneille brothers, Pierre and Thomas, born in Rouen, were
great figures of French classical literature.
Guy de Maupassant
Gustave Flaubert
David Ferrand (1591•1660) in his Muse Normande established a landmark of
Norman language literature. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the workers and
merchants of Rouen established a tradition of polemical and satirical literature
in a form of language called the parler purin. At the end of the 18th century
and beginning of the 19th century a new movement arose in the Channel
Islands, led by writers such as George M‚tivier, which sparked a literary
renaissance on the Norman mainland. In exile in Jersey and then Guernsey,
Victor Hugo took an interest in the vernacular literature. Les Travailleurs de
la mer is a well-known novel by Hugo set in the Channel Islands. The boom
in insular literature in the early 19th century encouraged production especially
in La Hague and around Cherbourg, where Alfred Rossel, Louis Beuve and
CŒtis-Capel became active. The typical medium for literary expression in
Norman has traditionally been newspaper columns and almanacs. The novel
Zabeth by Andr‚ Louis which appeared in 1969 was the first novel published
in Norman.
Normandy
58
Painting
Normandy has a rich tradition of painting and gave to France some of
its most important artists.
In the 17th century some major French painters were Normans like
Nicolas Poussin, born in Les Andelys and Jean Jouvenet.
Romanticism drew painters to the
Richard Parkes Bonington and J. M.
from Great Britain, attracted by the
G‚ricault, a native of Rouen, was a
Channel coasts of Normandy.
W. Turner crossed the Channel
light and landscapes. Th‚odore
notable figure in the Romantic
movement, its famous Radeau de la M•duse being considered come
the breakthrough of pictorial romanticism in France when it was
officially presented at the 1819 Salon. The competing Realist tendency
was represented by Jean-Fran…ois Millet, a native of La Hague. The
landscape painter Eug€ne Boudin, born in Honfleur, was a determining
influence on the impressionnists and was highly considered by Monet.
Breaking away from the more formalised and classical themes of the
early part of the 19th century, Impressionist painters preferred to paint
outdoors, in natural light, and to concentrate on landscapes, towns and
scenes of daily life. Leader of the movement and father of modern
painting, Claude Monet is perhaps one of the best known
Impressionists and a major character in Normandy's artistic heritage.
His house and gardens at Giverny are one of the region's major tourist
sites, much visited for their beauty and their water lilies, as well as for
their importance to Monet's artistic inspiration. Normandy was at the
heart of his creation, from the paintings of Rouen's cathedral to the
Branch of the Seine near Giverny (1897) by
Claude Monet
Robert Antoine Pinchon, Un aprƒs-midi † l'Ile
aux Cerises, Rouen, oil on canvas, 50 x 61.2 cm
famous depictions of the cliffs at Etretat, the beach and port at F‚camp
and the sunrise at Le Havre. It was Impression, Sunrise, Monet's
painting of Le Havre, that led to the movement being dubbed Impressionism. After Monet, all the main avant-garde
painters of the 1870s and 1880s came to Normandy to paint its landscapes and its changing lights, concentrating
along the Seine valley and the Norman coast.
Landscapes and scenes of daily life were also immortalised on canvas by artists such as William Turner, Gustave
Courbet, the Honfleur born Eug€ne Boudin, Camille Pissarro, Alfred Sisley, Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte,
Paul Gauguin, Georges Seurat, Paul Signac, Pierre Bonnard, Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso. While Monet's
work adorns galleries and collections all over the world, a remarkable quantity of Impressionist works can be found
in galleries throughout Normandy, such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Rouen, the Mus‚e Eug€ne Boudin in
Honfleur or the Andr‚ Malraux Museum in Le Havre.
Maurice Denis, one of the leaders and theoricists of the Nabis movement in the 1890s, was a native of Granville, in
the Manche department.
The Soci•t• Normande de Peinture Moderne was founded in 1909 by Pierre Dumont, Robert Antoine Pinchon,
Yvonne Barbier and Eug€ne Tirvert. Among members were Raoul Dufy, a native of Le Havre, Albert Marquet,
Francis Picabia and Maurice Utrillo. Also in this movement were the Duchamp brothers, Jacques Villon and Marcel
Duchamp, considered one of the father of modern art, also natives of Normandy. Jean Dubuffet, one of the leading
French artist of the 1940s and the 1950s was born in Le Havre.
Normandy
59
Languages
Main article: Norman language
French is the only official language in continental Normandy. English is also an official language in the Channel
Islands. The Norman language, a regional language, is spoken by a minority of the population on the continent and
the islands, with a concentration in the Cotentin Peninsula in the far West (the Cotentinais dialect), and in the Pays
de Caux in the East (the Cauchois dialect). Many place names demonstrate the Norse influence in this O†l language;
for example -bec (stream), -fleur (river), -hou (island), -tot (homestead), -dal or -dalle (valley) and -hogue (hill,
mound).[9]
Architecture
Main article: Architecture of Normandy
Architecturally, Norman cathedrals, abbeys (such as the Abbey of
Bec) and castles characterise the former Duchy in a way that
mirrors the similar pattern of Norman architecture in England
following the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Domestic architecture in upper Normandy is typified by
half-timbered buildings that also recall vernacular English
architecture, although the farm enclosures of the more harshly
landscaped Pays de Caux are a more idiosyncratic response to
socio-economic and climatic imperatives. Much urban
architectural heritage was destroyed during the Battle of
Ch‰teau d'•telan (1494)
Normandy in 1944 • post-war urban reconstruction, such as in Le
Havre and Saint-LŒ, could be said to demonstrate both the virtues and vices of modernist and brutalist trends of the
1950s and 1960s. Le Havre, the city rebuilt by Auguste Perret, was added to Unesco‚s World Heritage List in 2005.
Vernacular architecture in lower Normandy takes its form from granite, the predominant local building material. The
Channel Islands also share this influence • Chausey was for many years a source of quarried granite, including that
used for the construction of Mont Saint-Michel.
The south part of Bagnoles-de-l'Orne is filled with bourgeois villas in Belle Œpoque style with polychrome fa…ades,
bow windows and unique roofing. This area, built between 1886 and 1914, has an authentic „Bagnolese… style and is
typical of high-society country vacation of the time. The Chapel of Saint Germanus (Chapelle Saint-Germain) at
Querqueville with its trefoil floorplan incorporates elements of one of the earliest surviving places of Christian
worship in the Cotentin • perhaps second only to the Gallo-Roman baptistry at Port-Bail. It is dedicated to
Germanus of Normandy.
Normandy
60
Religion
Since the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the
State there is no established church in mainland Normandy. In the
Channel Islands, the Church of England is the established church.
Christian missionaries implanted monastic communities in the territory
in the 5th and 6th centuries. Some of these missionaries came from
across the Channel. The influence of Celtic Christianity can still be
found in the Cotentin. By the terms of the treaty of
Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, Rollo, a Viking pagan, accepted Christianity and
was baptised. The Duchy of Normandy was therefore formally a
Christian state from its foundation. The cathedrals of Normandy have
exerted influence down the centuries in matters of both faith and
The Abbey of Jumi€ges
politics. King Henry II of England, did penance at the cathedral of
Avranches on 21 May 1172 and was absolved from the censures incurred by the assassination of Thomas Becket.
Mont Saint-Michel is a historic pilgrimage site.
Normandy does not have one generally agreed patron saint, although this title has been ascribed to Saint Michael,
and to Saint Ouen. Many saints have been revered in Normandy down the centuries, including:
„
„
„
„
Aubert who's remembered as the founder of Mont Saint-Michel
Marcouf and Laud who are important saints in Normandy
Helier and Samson of Dol who are evangelizers of the Channel Islands
Thomas Becket, an Anglo-Norman whose parents were from Rouen, who was the object of a considerable cult in
mainland Normandy following his martyrdom
„ Joan of Arc who was martyred in Rouen, and who is especially remembered in that city
„ Th‚r€se de Lisieux whose birthplace in Alen…on and later home in Lisieux are a focus for religious pilgrims.
„ Germanus of Normandy
People from Normandy
See Category:People from Normandy
Gallery
William the Conqueror, the Bayeux
Tapestry
Normandy
61
Mont Saint-Michel in
Normandy.‘
Rouen Cathedral by Claude
Monet
World War II German gun in
Normandy.‘
Pegasus Bridge
Normandy
62
Ch‰teau Gaillard
Honfleur
Le Havre
Arromanches, Mulberry Harbour
Port Racine‘
Normandy
63
Half-timbered houses in Rouen
Saint-Cen‚ri Le Gerei‘
Mont-Saint-Michel
Mont-Saint-Michel
Normandy
64
Field covered by snow in
Normandy‘
References
[1] Administrative Normandy (http:/ / 195. 7. 104. 1/ normandy/ gb/ 01bienv/ index. html)
[2] Houses and properties for sale (http:/ / normandyproperty. com/ ). Normandy Property. Retrieved on 2013-09-19.
[3] Normandie, Bonneton, Paris 2001 ISBN 2-86253-272-X
[4] L‚‚tat des r‚gions fran…aises 2004, page 189
[5] INSEE, Emploi-ChŒmage (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ regions/ basse-normandie/ default. asp?page=faitsetchiffres/ presentation/ presentation.
htm#tab4)
[6] "France in CIA factbook"
[7] INSEE (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ insee_regions/ basse-normandie/ rfc/ chifcle_fiche. asp?nat=1& ref_id=CMRSOS08114& tab_id=481)
[8] INSEE (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ insee_regions/ basse-normandie/ rfc/ chifcle_fiche. asp?nat=1& ref_id=CMRSOS03311& tab_id=476)
[9] The Scandinavian Contribution in Normandy (http:/ / www. viking. no/ e/ france/ contribution. html)
14. http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/french-language#SEC820952
External links
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
(French) Normandie H‚ritage (http://www.normandie-heritage.com)
The Norman Worlds (http://www.mondes-normands.caen.fr/angleterre/index.htm)
Gallery of photos of Normandy (http://www.pbase.com/ericdeparis/normandie)
New Normandy Commemorative Project Cauquigny (http://www.pararesearchteam.com/
Stained-Glass-Project/Cauquigny-Project.html)
Normandy Regional Tourist Board (http://www.normandie-tourisme.fr/normandy-tourism-109-2.html)
Official Normandy Tourist Board website containing information on all aspects of the region from history and
culture to local transport and current events.
A History of Normandy (http://bdaugherty.tripod.com/normandie/history.html) Contains a useful list of and
detail about the rulers of Normandy
TVNormanChannel (http://www.tvnc.tv/) WebTelevision of current events and history on Normandy, in
English and French.
Mount St. Michael, Storm on the Coast, Normandy, 1857 by D.J. Kennedy, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
(http://digitallibrary.hsp.org/index.php/Detail/Object/Show/object_id/3868)
„ Western France Tourist Board (http://www.westernfrancetouristboard.com/normandy.html)
Languedoc
65
Languedoc
For the language called Langue d'oc, see Occitan language. For the German/Italian wine grape also known as
Languedoc, see Languedoc (grape). For the French wine grape also known as Languedoc, see Mondeuse noire.
Languedoc
Flag
Coat of arms
Country
France
Time zone
CET
Languedoc (/•l•¤‘‡’d•k/ ; French:‘[l•Ž‘.dŒk] ; Occitan: Lengad‘c [•le¤‘Œ’¥Œ]) is a former province of France, now
continued in the modern-day r•gions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyr‚n‚es in the south of France, and whose
capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyr‚n‚es. It had an area of approximately 27,376 square kilometers.
Geographical extent
The traditional provinces of the kingdom of France were not formally
defined. A province was simply a territory of common traditions and
customs, but it had no political organization. Today, when people refer
to the old provinces of France, they actually refer to the gouvernements
as they existed in 1789. Gouvernements were military regions
established in the middle of the 16th century and whose territories
closely matched those of the traditional provinces. However, in some
cases, small provinces had been merged with a large one into a single
gouvernement, so gouvernements are not exactly the same as the
traditional provinces.
Historically, the region was called the county of Toulouse, a county
The gouvernement of Languedoc (including
independent from the kings of France. The county of Toulouse was
G‚vaudan, Velay, and Vivarais) among the
made up of what would later be called Languedoc, but it also included
former gouvernements of France.
the province of Quercy (now d•partement of Lot and northern half of
the d•partement of Tarn-et-Garonne) and the province of Rouergue
(now d•partement of Aveyron), both to the northwest of Languedoc. At some times it even included the province of
Agenais (now eastern half of the d•partement of Lot-et-Garonne) to the west of Languedoc, the province of
G‚vaudan (now d•partement of Loz€re), the province of Velay (now the central and eastern part of the d•partement
of Haute-Loire), the southern part of the province of Vivarais (now the southern part of the d•partement of Ard€che),
and even all the northern half of Provence. After the French conquest the entire county was dismantled, the central
Languedoc
66
part of it being now called Languedoc.
The gouvernement of Languedoc was created in the middle of the 16th century. In addition to Languedoc proper, it
also included the three small provinces of G‚vaudan, Velay, and Vivarais (in its entirety), these three provinces
being to the northeast of Languedoc. Some people also consider that the region around Albi was a traditional
province, called Albigeois (now d•partement of Tarn), although it is most often considered as being part of
Languedoc proper. The provinces of Quercy and Rouergue, despite their old ties with Toulouse, were not
incorporated into the gouvernement of Languedoc, instead being attached to the gouvernement of Guienne and its
far-away capital Bordeaux. This decision was probably intentional, to avoid reviving the independently-spirited
county of Toulouse. In the rest of the article, Languedoc refers to the territory of this gouvernement of Languedoc.
Area and location of Languedoc
The province of Languedoc covered an area of approximately 42,700‘km• (16,490 sq. miles) in the central part of
southern France, roughly the region between the RhŒne River (border with Provence) and the Garonne River (border
with Gascony), extending northwards to the C‚vennes and the Massif Central (border with Auvergne).
Old administrative structures and the question of the capital city of
Languedoc
The governors of Languedoc resided in P‚zenas, on the Mediterranean coast, away from Toulouse but close to
Montpellier. In time they had increased their power well beyond military matters, and had become the real
administrators and executive power of the province, a trend seen in the other gouvernements of France, but
particularly acute in Languedoc, where the duke of Montmorency, governor of Languedoc, even openly rebelled
against the king, then was defeated and beheaded in Toulouse in 1632 by the order of Richelieu. The kings of France
became fearful of the power of the governors, so after King Louis XIV (the Sun King) they had to reside in
Versailles and were forbidden to enter the territory of their gouvernement. Thus the gouvernements became hollow
structures, but they still carried a sense of the old provinces, and so their names and limits have remained popular
until today.
For administrative purposes, Languedoc was divided in two
g•n•ralit•s, the g•n•ralit• of Toulouse and the g•n•ralit• of
Montpellier, the combined territory of the two generalities exactly
matching that of the gouvernement of Languedoc. At the head of a
generality was an intendant, but in the case of Languedoc there was
only one intendant responsible for both generalities, and he was often
referred to as the intendant of Languedoc, even though technically
speaking he was in fact the intendant of the generality of Toulouse and
intendant of the generality of Montpellier. The generality of Toulouse
is also referred to as Upper Languedoc (Haut-Languedoc), while the
generality of Montpellier, down to the level of the sea, is referred to as
Lower Languedoc (Bas-Languedoc). The intendants of Languedoc
resided in Montpellier, and they had a sub-delegate in Toulouse.
Montpellier was chosen on purpose to diminish the power of Toulouse,
whose parlement was very influential, and which symbolized the old
spirit of independence of the county of Toulouse. The intendants
replaced the governors as administrators of Languedoc, but appointed
and dismissed at will by the king, they were no threat to the central
Saint-Sernin Basilica in Toulouse, displaying the
typical pink brick architecture of Upper
Languedoc.
state in Versailles. By 1789 they were the most important element of the local administration of the kingdom.
Languedoc
For judicial and legislative matters, Languedoc was overseen by the Parlement of Toulouse, founded in the middle
of the 15th century. It was the first parlement created outside of Paris by the kings of France in order to be the
equivalent of the Parlement of Paris in the far-away southern territories of the kingdom. The jurisdiction of the
Parlement of Toulouse included the whole of the territory of the gouvernement of Languedoc, but it also included
the province of Rouergue, most of the province of Quercy, and a part of Gascony. The Parlement of Toulouse was
the supreme court of justice for this vast area of France, the court of last resort whose rulings could not be appealed,
not even to the Parlement of Paris. The Parlement of Toulouse could also create case law through its decisions, as
well as interpret the law. It was also in charge of registering new royal edicts and laws, and could decide to block
them if it found them to be in contravention with the liberties and laws of Languedoc.
Finally, for purposes of taxation, Languedoc was ruled by the States of Languedoc, whose jurisdiction included only
Languedoc proper (and Albigeois), but not G‚vaudan, Velay, and Vivarais, which kept each their own provincial
states until 1789. Languedoc proper was one of the very few provinces of France which had the privilege to decide
over tax matters, the kings of France having suppressed the provincial states in most other provinces of the kingdom.
This was a special favor from the kings to ensure that an independently-spirited region far-away from Versailles
would remain faithful to the central state. The States of Languedoc met in many different cities, and for some time
they established themselves in P‚zenas, but in the 18th century they were relocated definitively to Montpellier,
where they met once a year, until 1789.
For religious purposes, Languedoc was also divided into a certain number of ecclesiastical provinces, which had
great importance at the time, but are less relevant to this article.
Resulting from this intricate entanglement of administrations and jurisdictions so typical of France before the French
Revolution, it is hard to say which city was the capital city of Languedoc. Toulouse and Montpellier both often claim
to be the capital of Languedoc. As a matter of fact, in the 18th century the monarchy clearly favored Montpellier, a
city much smaller than Toulouse, and with less history and memories attached to it than the ancient metropolis of
Toulouse, of which the kings of France were always fearful. However, most people consider that Toulouse is the real
capital city of the province of Languedoc, due to its old status as center of the county of Toulouse, and due to the
mighty power of its parlement. On maps (both ancient and modern) showing the provinces of France in 1789 (in fact
the gouvernements as was explained above), Toulouse is always marked as the capital city of Languedoc.
Modern administrative divisions
The province of Languedoc has been divided between four modern-day r•gions:
„ 55.5% of its former territory lies in the Languedoc-Roussillon r•gion, capital city Montpellier, covering the
d‚partements of Gard, H‚rault, Aude, Loz€re, and the extreme-north of Pyr‚n‚es-Orientales, which account for
86.5% of the territory of Languedoc-Roussillon. The remaining 13.5% is Roussillon (Pyr‚n‚es-Orientales), a
province which was never part of Languedoc historically.
„ 24.8% of its former territory lies in the Midi-Pyr‚n‚es r•gion, capital city Toulouse, covering the d•partement of
Tarn, as well as the eastern half of Haute-Garonne, the southeast of Tarn-et-Garonne, and the northwest and
northeast of Ari€ge, which account for 23.4% of the territory of Midi-Pyr‚n‚es. The remaining 76.6% is made of
Quercy and Rouergue (of which was talked above), as well as the province of County of Foix (which had been a
vassal of the county of Toulouse in the Middle Ages), several small provinces of the Pyr‚n‚es mountains, and a
large part of Gascony.
„ 13% lies in the RhŒne-Alpes r•gion, covering the d•partement of Ard€che, which accounts for 12.7% of the
territory of RhŒne-Alpes
„ 6.7% lies in the Auvergne r•gion, covering the central and eastern part of the d•partement of Haute-Loire, which
account for 11% of the territory of modern-day Auvergne r•gion
67
Languedoc
68
Population and cities
On the traditional territory of the province of Languedoc there live
approximately 3,650,000 people (as of 1999 census), 52% of these in
the Languedoc-Roussillon r•gion, 35% in the Midi-Pyr‚n‚es r•gion,
8% in the RhŒne-Alpes r•gion, and 5% in the Auvergne r•gion.
The territory of the former province shows a stark contrast between
some densely populated areas (coastal plains as well as metropolitan
area of Toulouse in the interior) where density is between 150
inhabitants per km•/390 inh. per sq. mile (coastal plains) and 300 inh.
per km•/780 inh. per sq. mile (plain of Toulouse), and the hilly and
mountainous interior where density is extremely low, the C‚vennes
Typical view of the mountainous C‚vennes area
in the thinly-populated interior of Languedoc:
plateaus (the Causses) with deep river canyons
area in the south of Loz€re having one of the lowest densities of
Europe with only 7.4 inhabitants per km• (19 inh. per sq. mile).
The five largest metropolitan areas on the territory of the former province of Languedoc are (as of 1999 census):
Toulouse (964,797), Montpellier (459,916), N‹mes (221,455), B‚ziers (124,967), and Al€s (89,390).
The population of the former province of Languedoc is currently the fastest-growing in France, and also among the
fastest-growing in Europe, as an increasing flow of people from northern France and the north of Europe relocating
to the sunbelt of Europe, in which Languedoc is located. Growth is particularly strong in the metropolitan areas of
Toulouse and Montpellier, which are the two fastest growing metropolitan areas in Europe at the moment. However,
the interior of Languedoc is still losing inhabitants, which increases the difference of density that was mentioned.
Population of the coast of Languedoc as well as the region of Toulouse is rather young, educated, and affluent,
whereas in the interior the population tends to be much older, with significantly lower incomes, and with a lower
percentage of high school and especially college graduates.
Economy
Agriculture
Languedoc is a significant producer of wine, and a major contributor to the surplus known as the "wine lake". Today
it produces more than a third of the grapes in France, and is a focus for outside investors. Wines from the
Mediterranean coast of Languedoc are labeled as Languedoc, those from the interior have other labels such as
Fronton, Gaillac, or Limoux to the west • and CŒtes du RhŒne towards east.
Other crops include wheat (the traditional crop which made the fortune of the landlords and parliamentarians based
in Toulouse, and for whose trade the famous Canal du Midi was built), maize (the new and nowadays most popular
crop in the region), olives (only on the Mediterranean coast of Languedoc), fruit, and rice (in some coastal areas). In
the hilly and mountainous areas of the interior, sheep and goat are raised for meat and cheese. The coastal area is,
naturally, a source of fish and shellfish.
Languedoc
69
Industry
Aerospace (Airbus, EADS, CNES, etc.), electronics (Motorola, etc.),
and bio-tech industries in Toulouse; high-tech, electronics, and
computer (IBM) industries in Montpellier; pharmaceutical industry
(Pierre Fabre Group) in Castres.
There is also a significant chemical sector in Toulouse, which has been
quite battered since the terrible explosion of AZF on 21 September
2001. It has been decided that chemical industries would be moved out
of Toulouse, and a large campus devoted to cancer research and
bio-tech R&D will be opened on the site.
The first completed Airbus A380 at the "A380
Reveal" event on 18 January 2005 in Toulouse,
home base of the European aerospace industry.
Elsewhere in the region industries are small and in decline, in particular around the formerly mining areas of Al€s
and Carmaux in the interior of the region.
Services and tourism
Services are the largest sector of the economy in the region. In particular, government services employ a significant
part of the workforce, especially in small towns. Key administrations have been relocated to the region, such as
France's National Meteorology Office (M‚t‚o-France) relocated from Paris to Toulouse in 1982.
The area is also a major tourist destination. There exists three types of tourism. First, a massive summer tourism
industry on the coast, with huge sea resorts such as Cap d'Agde, Palavas-les-Flots, or Le Grau-du-Roi, built in the
1970s.
Tourism related to history and art is also strong, as the region contains the historic cities of Carcassonne, Toulouse,
Montpellier, countless Roman monuments (such as the Roman arenas in N‹mes), medieval abbeys, Romanesque
churches, and old castles (such as the ruined Cathar castles in the mountains of Corbi€res, testimony of the bloody
Albigensian Crusade).
More recently, "green" and sports tourism is on the rise, with the gorges of the Tarn River, the Ard€che Gorges, as
well as the vast preserved expanses of C‚vennes, Ard€che, Lauragais, and other sites.
Tourism on the Canal du Midi combines history (for example viewing the nine locks of Fonseranes near B‚ziers)
with activities such as boating on the Canal, and walking or cycling on the towpaths.
Toulouse and Montpellier are also popular places for business congresses and conventions.
Sports
Rugby union is the "national" sport in Languedoc, unlike most other parts of France where football is more popular.
The Toulouse rugby club (Stade Toulousain) is one of most successful in Europe; it regularly competes for the
French championship and has won four European titles (1996, 2003,2005 and 2010) in the ten years of the European
championship's existence.
Bullfighting and other bull-related events are popular in the eastern part of Languedoc. Sea jousts (Joutes nautiques)
are held on the coast. Dating from the 11th century, this sport has local leagues and attracts large crowds.
Languedoc
70
Property
Property in the Languedoc is quite varied and ranges from beautiful
newly built villas with swimming pools and tennis courts, to rambling
old village houses set into the old ramparts of ancient fortified towns.
Some of these village houses date back a very long time. A small
house in the village of Magalas, H‚rault d•partement, has a date of
13th century carved into its stonework. Being a large area, the type of
property available in Languedoc varies a lot, from apartments in beach
resorts such as Cap D'Agde to isolated bastides in the rural interior.
References
„ Languedoc-Roussillon Tourist Board [1] Official Tourism Website
for the Region (in English)
„ The Canal du Midi at B‚ziers [2] Official B‚ziers Website (in
English)
„ (French) The Languedoc-Roussillon
[3]
Official Site of the R‚gion.
[4]
„ The H‚rault tourist board website Department of H‚rault in
Languedoc R‚gion. All informations to discover H‚rault and to
book your holidays in Languedoc. Free brochures and lodging.
The Rue de la pousterle in Magalas
„ An introduction to the Languedoc for tourists [5] including regional overview and main tourist attractions.
„ (French) Atlas historique de la province de Languedoc, de l'‚poque romaine ‡ nos jours [6], by •lie P‚laquier,
CNRS.
„ The Languedoc and Roussillon [7] history, geography, climate, cities, towns and historic monuments.
„ http://congenies.canalblog.com quakers end Methodists since 18 th century
Coordinates: 43Ž40‹N 3Ž10‹E
[8]
References
[1] http:/ / www. sunfrance. net/ UK/
[2] http:/ / www. beziers-tourisme. fr/
[3] http:/ / www. cr-languedocroussillon. fr/
[4] http:/ / www. herault-tourisme. com/
[5] http:/ / about-france. com/ regions/ languedoc. htm
[6] http:/ / recherche. univ-montp3. fr/ crises/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=309& Itemid=1
[7] http:/ / midi-france. info/
[8] http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Languedoc& params=43_40_N_3_10_E_region:FR_type:adm1st
Dauphin‚
71
Dauphin€
Dauphin€
Flag
Coat of arms
Country
France
Time zone
CET
The Dauphin€ (pronounced:‘[dofine]) or Dauphin€ Viennois[1] is a former province in southeastern France, whose
area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Is€re, DrŒme, and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphin‚ (also
historically called the Dauphiny in English) was originally the County of Albon, but the counts took the title
Dauphin, from which the region gets its name. It was a state of the Holy Roman Empire, although after 1349 it was
ruled by the King of France, and often by his heir, with the title of Dauphin. It remained an imperial state until the
French Revolution, but after 1457 it was controlled by the French crown without outside interference or internal
autonomy.
The historical capital is Grenoble and the other main towns are Vienne, Valence, Mont‚limar, Gap and
Romans-sur-Is€re. Its inhabitants are called Dauphinois.
Le Dauphin• Lib•r• is a famous regional French newspaper, and organized the Crit‚rium du Dauphin‚ Lib‚r‚ (now
known as the Crit‚rium du Dauphin‚) cycle stage race prior to 2010.
Geography
Under the Ancien R‚gime, the province was bordered in the North by
the River RhŒne which separated the Dauphin‚ from the Bresse
("BrŠsse") and Bugey ("BugŠ"). To the east it bordered the Savoy and
Piedmont, and to the south the Comtat Venaissin and Provence. The
western border was marked by the RhŒne to the south of Lyon. The
Dauphin‚ extended up to what is now the centre of Lyon. It was
divided into the "High Dauphin‚" and "Low Dauphin‚". The first
covered:
„ the Gr‚sivaudan
„ the Royans
„ the Champsaur
„ the Tri€ves
Massif du Vercors
Dauphin‚
72
„ the Brian…onnais
„ the Queyras
„ the Embrunais
„ the Gapen…ais
„ the D‚voluy
„ the Vercors
„ the Bochaine
„ the Baronnies
The second included:
La Meije, 3,983 meters
„ the County of Albon with the Viennois around the city
of Vienne, annexed in 1450 and the Turripinois around
the city of La Tour-du-Pin.
„ the County of Valentinois with the city of Valence,
annexed in 1404
„ the County of Diois, around the episcopal city of Die,
also annexed in 1404
„ the Tricastin
„ the Principality of Orange annexed to Dauphin‚, (in
1793 it was included in the Vaucluse)
The province also included the current Italian Dauphin‚,
which belonged to France and to Brian…onnais until 1713.
Vivaro-Alpine dialect was still spoken there until the 20th
century:
Proven…al DrŒme
„ the Oulx valley
„ the Pragela (Pragelato et Val Chisone)
„ the Castelade de Ch‰teaudauphin (Casteldelfino in Italian).
The province offers a range of terrain, from the alpine summits of the High-Dauphin‚ (the Barre des Ecrins is 4,102
meters at its highest point), the Prealps (Vercors and Chartreuse), and the plains of the DrŒme, which resemble the
landscapes of Provence.
History
Dauphin‚
73
Classical Antiquity and The Middle Ages
Roman rule and the early Middle Ages
The area of the future Dauphin‚ was inhabited by the Allobroges and
other Gaulish tribes in ancient times. The region was conquered by the
Romans before Gallia conquest by Julius Caesar. Vienne became a
Roman colony and one of the most important cities of Gallia.
After the end of the Western Roman Empire, the region suffered from
invasions of Visigoths and Alans tribes. The Burgundians settled in
Vienne.[2] After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the region became part of
the kingdom of Lotharingia. However, the King of France Charles the
Bald soon claimed authority over this territory.
Map of the Kingdom of Arelat
The governor of Vienne, Boson of Provence, proclaimed himself king of Burgundy and the region became part of
[3]
the Kingdom of Arelat, which remained independent until 1032, when it became part of the Holy Roman Empire.
At that time, the development of feudal society and the weakness of the Emperor's rule allowed for the creation of
several small ecclesiastic or secularist States (the region of Viennois, for example, was under the rule of the
archbishop of Vienne). In the middle of that chaos, the Counts of Albon succeeded in uniting these different
territories under their rule.[4]
The independent state (1040•1349)
Main article: List of Counts of Albon and Dauphins of Viennois
Amidst the chaos of feudal rule, the Counts of Albon began to rise
above other feudal lords and acquire dominance over the region. Their
story begins with Guigues I the Old (died 1070), Lord of Annonay and
Champsaur. During his reign, he gained significant territories for his
province: a part of the Viennois, the Gr‚sivaudan and the Oisans.
Moreover, the Emperor gave him the region of Brian…on. The
territories combined under his personal rule became a sovereign
mountain principality within the Holy Roman Empire. The count made
a significant decision when[5] he chose the small city of Grenoble as
capital of his state instead of the prestigious city of Vienne, which was
the long-established seat of a powerful bishop. This choice allowed
him to assert authority over all his territories.
Coat of arms of Dauphin‚ before 1349
In the 12th century, the local ruler Count Guigues IV of Albon
(c.1095•1142) bore a dolphin on his coat of arms and was nicknamed
le Dauphin (French for dolphin). His descendants changed their title from Count of Albon to Dauphin of Viennois.
The state took the name of Dauphin‚.
However, the Dauphin‚ did not, at this point, have its modern borders. The region of Vienne and Valence were
independent and even in Grenoble, the capital, the authority was shared with the bishop. Furthermore, the cities of
Voiron and la CŒte-Saint-Andr‚ were parts of the County of Savoy, while the Dauphins had the Faucigny and
territories in Italy. This tangle between Dauphin‚ and Savoy resulted in several conflicts. The last Dauphin, Humbert
II of Viennois, made peace with his neighbour. He also acquired the city of Romans. He finally created the Conseil
Delphinal and the University of Grenoble and enacted the Delphinal Status, a kind of constitution that protected the
Dauphin‚
74
rights of his people.
Union with France (1349)
The significant debts of Humbert II and the death of his son and heir led to the sale of his lordship to King Philip VI
in 1349, by the terms of the treaty of Romans, negotiated by his protonotary, Amblard de Beaumont. A major
condition was that the heir to the throne of France would be known as le Dauphin, which was the case from that time
until the French Revolution; the first Dauphin de France was Philippe's grandson, the future Charles V of France.
The title[6] also conferred an appanage on the region. Charles V spent nine months in his new territory.
Humbert's agreement further stipulated that Dauphin‚ would be exempted from many taxes (like the gabelle); this
statute was the subject of much subsequent parliamentary debate at the regional level, as local leaders sought to
defend this regional autonomy and privilege from the state's assaults.
Hundred Years' War and Louis XI's rule
The nobility of the Dauphin‚ took part in the battles of Poitiers (1356) and Agincourt (1415). The province was also
the setting for military events during the war. The Duke of Savoy and the Prince of Orange, with the help of the
English and Burgundians authorities, planned to invade the Dauphin‚, but at the battle of Anthon in 1430, the army
of the Principality of Orange was defeated by the troops of the Dauphin‚, preventing the invasion.
Louis XI was the only Dauphin of France to administer his territory, from 1447 to 1456. It was during his reign as
Dauphin that the Dauphin‚ became totally integrated into France. At that time, it was an anarchic state, with conflicts
[7]
between nobles still common. Louis XI prohibited these conflicts and forced the nobles to recognize his authority.
The Conseil Delphinal became the third Parlement of France. Moreover, Louis XI politically united the Dauphin‚.
He forced the archbishop of Vienne, the bishop of Grenoble and the Abbot of Romans all to pledge allegiance to
him. He also acquired Mont‚limar and the Principality of Orange.
In addition, he developed the economy of the province, by constructing roads and authorizing markets. He finally
created the University of Valence founded 26 July 1452, by letters patent. Nevertheless, he also tried to institute the
gabelle without referring the issue to the estates of the province, resulting in discontent on the part of the nobility and
the people of the province.
Because of his opposition to his father, Charles VII, he was forced to leave the Dauphin‚. The King took back the
control of the province and forced the Estates to pledge allegiance in 1457, putting an end to the autonomy of
[8]
Dauphin‚.
Dauphin‚
75
Modern History
Time of troubles
During the Italian Wars (1494•1559), French troops were quartered in
Dauphin‚. Charles VIII, Louis XII and Francis I stayed often in
Grenoble, but the people of the province suffered the exactions of the
soldiers. Moreover, the nobility of the region took part in the different
battles (Marignano, Pavia) and gained an immense prestige.[9] The
best-known of its members was Pierre Terrail de Bayard, "the knight
without fear and beyond reproach".
The province suffered from the French Wars of Religion (1562•98)
between Catholics and Protestants at the end of the 16th century. The
Dauphin‚ was a center of Protestantism in France, in cities such as
Gap, Die, and La Mure. Fran…ois de Beaumont, the Huguenot leader,
became famous for his cruelty and his destructions.
The cruel execution of Charles du Puy-Montbrun, leader of the
Protestants, by the king of France, led to more violence and struggles
between the two parties.
Fran…ois de Bonne, duc de Lesdigui€res
In 1575, Lesdigui€res became the new leader of the Protestants and
obtained several territories in the province. After the accession of
Henry IV to the throne of France, Lesdigui€res allied with the governor
and the lieutenant general of Dauphin‚. However, this alliance did not
put an end to the conflicts. Indeed, a Catholic movement, la Ligue,
which took Grenoble in 1590, refused to make peace. After months of
assaults, Lesdigui€res defeated the Ligue and took back Grenoble. He
[10]
became the leader of the entire province.
Administration of Lesdiguiƒres (1591•1626)
Dauphin‚ circa 1638
The conflicts were over, but Dauphin‚ was destroyed and its people
exhausted. The enactment of the Edict of Nantes (1598) restored some
civil rights to the Huguenots and brought peace for a short time, but the
wars resumed soon afterward.
Lesdigui€res defeated the army of Savoy several times and helped the
reconstruction of the region. His most famous construction is the
Palace of Vizille, built for his personal use.
The last meeting of the Estates of Dauphin‚ took place in 1628. It
symbolizes the end of the liberty of the province. From that time, the
important decisions were taken by the representatives of the king. It
shows the progress of Absolutism.
The Day of the Tiles
From Louis XIV to the French Revolution
The revocation of the Edict of Nantes by Louis XIV in 1685 caused the departure of 20,000 Protestants from
Dauphin‚, weakening the economy of the province. Some valleys lost half of their inhabitants.[11]
In 1692, during the Nine Years' War, the Duke of Savoy invaded the Dauphin‚. Gap and Embrun were badly
damaged. But the Savoy armies were defeated by Philis de la Charce.
Dauphin‚
In 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht changed the borders of Dauphin‚. The province gained the town of Barcelonette but
lost the major part of the Brian…onnais.
The 18th century was a period of economic prosperity for the region, with the development of the industry
(glove-making in Grenoble, silk mills in the RhŒne valley). Important trade shows also occurred at Grenoble or
Beaucroissant.
In 1787, the province was one of the first to demand the meeting of the Estates General of France. The turning point
occurred in 1788 with the Day of the Tiles. The King ordered the expulsion of the parliamentarians from Grenoble.
But the economy of the city was dependent on its Parliament. As a result, the people attacked the royal troops to
prevent the expulsion of the magistrates. This event allowed the sitting of the Assembly of Vizille, which instigated
the meeting of the old Estates General, thus beginning the Revolution.
Contemporary History
Revolutionary period and Empire
During the French Revolution, Dauphin‚ was highly represented in Paris by two illustrious notables from Grenoble,
Jean Joseph Mounier and Antoine Barnave.
In 1790, Dauphin‚ was divided in three departments, the current Is€re, DrŒme, and Hautes-Alpes.
The approval of the establishment of the Empire was clear and
overwhelming (in Is€re, the results showed 82,084 yes and only 12
no).[12]
In 1813, Dauphin‚ was under the threat of the Austrian army which
had invaded Switzerland and Savoy. After having resisted at Fort
Barraux, the French troops withdrew to Grenoble. The city,
well-defended, contained the Austrian attacks, and the French army
defeated the Austrians, forcing them to withdraw at Geneva. But the
invasion of France in 1814 resulted in the capitulation of the troops in
Dauphin‚.
During his return from the island of Elba in 1815, the Emperor was
welcomed by the people in the region. At Laffrey, he met the royalist
5th Infantry Regiment of Louis XVIII. Napoleon stepped towards the
soldiers and said those famous words: "If there is among you a soldier
who wants to kill his Emperor, here I am." The men all joined his
Statue of Napoleon at Laffrey
cause. Napoleon was then acclaimed at Grenoble. After the defeat at
Waterloo, the region suffered from a new invasion of Austrian and Sardinian troops.
19th century
This century corresponds to a significant industrial development of Dauphin‚, particularly in the region of Grenoble
(glove-making reached its Golden Age at that time) and the Rhone Valley (silk mills). The shoemaking industry also
developed in Romans.
During the Second Empire, the Dauphin‚ saw the construction of its railway network (the first trains arrived at
Valence in 1854 and Grenoble in 1858). The driving of new roads in the Vercors and Chartreuse ranges allowed the
beginning of tourism in the province. Moreover, several notable persons such as Queen Victoria came in the region
with the success of thermal stations such as Uriage-les-Bains.
In 1869, Aristide Berges played a major role in industrializing hydroelectricity production. With the development of
his paper mills, industrial development spread to the mountainous region of Dauphin‚.
76
Dauphin‚
77
20th century
During the Belle Epoque, the region benefited from major
transformations thanks to its economic growth. The Romanche Valley
became one of the most important industrial valleys of the country.[13]
World War I accelerated that trend. Indeed, in order to sustain the war
efforts, new hydroelectric industries settled next to different rivers of
the region. Several other businesses moved into armament industries.
Chemical companies also settled in the region of Grenoble and near
Roussillon in the Rhone Valley.
Gate of the International Exhibition of
Hydropower and Tourism exposition
The textile industry of Dauphin‚ also benefited from the war. The
occupation of northern France resulted in the settlement of many
textile enterprises in the region. Vienne for instance produced one fifth of the national production of sheets for the
army in 1915.[14]
Several Alpine troops, the Chasseurs Alpins, were killed at war. They were nicknamed the "Blue Devils" for their
courage on the field.
The economic development of the region was highlighted by the organisation at Grenoble of the International
Exposition of the "Houille Blanche" in 1925, visited by thousands of people.
The interwar period was also characterized by the beginning of the winter sports in Dauphin‚. The ski resort of
l'Alpe d'Huez was constructed in 1936, and Jean Pomagalski created there the first platter lift in the world.
In World War II, during the Italian invasion of France, the Chasseurs
Alpins contained the Italian troops, preventing an invasion of the
region. But the German victories in northern France quickly threatened
the troops in Dauphin‚. The Nazis were stopped near Grenoble, at
Voreppe. The French forces resisted until the armistice. The Dauphin‚
was then part of the French State, before being occupied by the Italians
from 1942 to 1943, when the German occupied southern France.
Due to its mountainous character, Dauphin‚ was the seat of strong
partisan activity. The best known was the Maquis du Vercors. In 1944,
its members suffered from German attacks. The martyr village of
Flag of the Free Republic of Vercors proclaimed
in 1944
Vassieux as well as Grenoble were made Compagnon de la Lib‚ration by General Charles de Gaulle, to underline
[15]
their actions against the Nazis.
In 1968, Grenoble welcomed the Xth Olympic Winter Games, allowing a major transformation of the city, the
development of infrastructure (airport, motorways, etc.) and new ski resorts (Chamrousse, Les Deux Alpes,
Villard-de-Lans, etc.).
Dauphin‚
78
Demography
The various territories of Dauphin‚ experienced diverging demographic evolutions. Although the plains of Low
Dauphin‚ and the big cities saw a strong increase in population during the 20th century (thanks to the industrial
development and immigrant workers' arrival), the mountainous regions of High-Dauphin‚ suffered from a
pronounced exodus.
These days, the entire territory is experiencing population growth because of economic development and tourism.
Demographic evolution of the Dauphin€ and its departments since 1801
Territoire
1975
1999
2006
297,000 275,280 361,847
437,657
468,608
Haute-Alpes department 112,500 132,000
109,510 85,067
121,338
133,000
Is€re department
413,109 578,000
544,000 587,975 860,339
Dauphin‚
760,966 1,037,000 950,510 948,322 1,319,544 1,651,773 1,771,263
DrŒme department
1801
1851
235,357 327,000
1901
1954
97,358
1,092,778 1,169,655
Source : INSEE
There were a relative stability of the population of Dauphin‚ until the mid-20th century, when the growth became
extremely stronger. It must be reminded nonetheless that several cities of northern Dauphin‚ (Villeurbanne,
V‚nissieux, Bron and many others) had been included in the department of RhŒne. These cities represented in 1999
more than 460,000 inhabitants.
Histogram of the evolution since 1801:
Dauphin‚ has a population density of 90.78/km•, with a very clear differentiation between Is€re (159/km•) and
Hautes-Alpes (23/km•).
Grenoble concentrates around the third of the population of Dauphin‚. Valence is now the second big Dauphin‚
metropolis. Dauphin‚ also benefits from an important network of mid-sized cities covering all the territory (Vienne,
Mont‚limar, Gap, etc.).
The aires urbaines of Dauphin‚ are:[16]
Valence
Dauphin‚
79
Grenoble
Vienne
Brian…on
Aire urbaine
Population
(1999)
1 Grenoble
514,559
2 Valence
167,155
3 Romans-sur-Is€re
65,933
4 Mont‚limar
58,557
5 Vienne
53,843
6 Gap
44,773
7 Voiron
44,226
8 Roussillon
40,002
9 Bourgoin-Jallieu
35,952
Dauphin‚
80
10 Brian…on
17,023
11 Livron-sur-DrŒme
15,711
Gastronomy
Dauphin‚ is famous for some culinary specialities:
„ the gratin dauphinois
„ the pommes dauphines
„ the Saint-Marcellin
„ the Saint-F‚licien
„ the Picodon
[17]
„ the Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage
(auparavant bleu de Sassenage)
„ the Nougat de Mont‚limar
Gratin dauphinois
„ the Coteaux du Tricastin
„ the clairette de Die
„ the Chartreuse (verte, jaune, etc.)
„ the crozes-hermitage
„ the Hermitage
Further reading
„ Pfeiffer, Thomas, Le Br’leur de loups, Lyon, Bellier, 2004.
„ F‚lix Vernay, Petite Histoire du Dauphin•, 1933.
External links
„ (French) Les Pays du Lyonnais-Dauphin‚ [18]
Notes
Green Chartreuse
[1] The archaic is seen in documents.
[2] Petite histoire du Dauphin• , F‚lix Vernay, 1933, p22
[3] Petite Histoire‚, F‚lix Vernay, 1933, p24
[4] Petite histoire‚ , F‚lix Vernaix, 1933, p25
[5] F‚lix Vernay, Petite histoire du Dauphin•, 1933, p9
[6] The Crown of France also absorbed Humbert's other titles: prince du Brian…onnais, duc de Champsaur, marquis de C‚zanne, comte de
Vienne, d'Albon, de Gr‚sivaudan, d'Embrun et de Gapen…ais, baron palatine of La Tour, La Valbonne, Montauban and M‚vouillon.
[7] Georges Bordonove, Les Valois, 2007, p1045
[8] F‚lix Vernay, Petite histoire du Dauphin•€€, 1933, p58
[9] Petite histoire du Dauphin•€€, F•lix Vernay, 1933, p78
[10] Petite Histoire du Dauphin• , F‚lix Vernay, 1933, p88
[11] Petie Histoire‚, F‚lix Vernay, 1933, p97
[12] Petite Histoire du Dauphin•, F‚lix Vernay, 1933,p115
[13] L€histoire de l'Isƒre en BD, Tome 5, Gilbert Bouchard, 2004, p40
[14] L€histoire de l'Isƒre en BD, Tome 5, Gilbert Bouchard, 2004, p42
[15] Ordredelaliberation.fr (http:/ / www. ordredelaliberation. fr/ us_doc/ 4_2_commune. html)
[16] Insee • Populations l‚gales 2006 (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ ppp/ bases-de-donnees/ recensement/ populations-legales/ )
[17] Francefromages.com (http:/ / www. francefromages. com/ m3_fiche. asp?IdFromage=150)
Dauphin‚
81
[18] http:/ / chateau-de-lyon. forumactif. com/ hrp-lecture-f172/ les-pays-du-lyonnais-dauphine-t15614. htm
Coordinates: 45Ž23‹N 5Ž44‹E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Dauphin¦§&
params=45_23_N_5_44_E_type:landmark_source:kolossus-cswiki)
Burgundy
For other uses, see Burgundy (disambiguation).
"Bourgogne" redirects here. For other uses, see Bourgogne (disambiguation).
Burgundy
Bourgogne
Region of France
Country
Prefecture
‘France
Dijon
Departments
Government
‚€‚President
Fran…ois Patriat (PS)
Area
‚€‚Total
2
31,582‘km (12,194‘sq‘mi)
Population (2008-01-01)
‚€‚Total
1,631,000
‚€‚Density
52/km (130/sq‘mi)
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
2
‚€‚Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code
FR-D
GDP‚(2012)
Ranked 16th
Total
ƒ42.7 billion (US$55.0 bn)
Per capita
ƒ25,996 (US$33,436)
NUTS Region
FR2
Website
cr-bourgogne.fr
[1]
Burgundy (French: Bourgogne, IPA:‘[bu†.‘Œˆ]‘(
)) is an administrative and historical region of east-central
France. Burgundy comprises the following four departments: CŒte-d'Or, SaŒne-et-Loire, Yonne and Ni€vre.
Historically, "Burgundy" has referred to numerous political entities, including kingdoms and duchies spanning
territory from the Mediterranean to Benelux.
Burgundy
82
Name
The name comes from the Burgundians, an ancient Germanic people originating in Bornholm who settled in the area
during the early Middle Ages. The Old Norse name for Bornholm was Burgundaholmr. An example of an equivalent
name in present-day Scandinavia is Borgund in Norway.Wikipedia:Citation needed
History
Main article: History of Burgundy
Burgundy was inhabited in turn by Celts, Romans (Gallo-Romans),
and in the 4th century, the Romans who were then allied with the
Burgundians, a Germanic people possibly originating in Bornholm
(Baltic Sea), who settled there and established their own kingdom.
However, Agathias identifies Burgunds (“”•–”•—”•˜™”š) and Ultizurs
as Bulgaric people of Hunnic circle tribes, near relatives of Turkic
Cotrigurs and Utigurs.[2][3] This Burgundian kingdom was conquered
in the 6th century by another Germanic tribe, the Franks who
continued the kingdom of Burgundy under their own rule.
Coat of arms of the second Duchy of Burgundy
and later of the province
Later, the region was divided between the Duchy of Burgundy (to the
west) and the County of Burgundy (to the east). The Duchy of
Burgundy is the better-known of the two, later becoming the French
province of Burgundy, while the County of Burgundy became the
French province of Franche-Comt‚, literally meaning free county.
Burgundy's modern existence is rooted in the dissolution of the Frankish Empire. In the 880s, there were four
Burgundies, which were the Kingdom of Upper and Lower Burgundy, the duchy and the county.
During the Middle Ages, Burgundy was the seat of some of the most important Western churches and monasteries,
among them Cluny, C‹teaux, and V‚zelay.
During the Hundred Years' War, King John II of France gave the duchy to his youngest son, Philip the Bold. The
duchy soon became a major rival to the crown. The court in Dijon outshone the French court both economically and
culturally. In 1477, at the battle of Nancy during the Burgundian Wars, the last duke Charles the Bold was killed in
battle, and the Duchy itself was annexed by France and became a province. However the northern part of the empire
was taken by the Austrian Habsburgs
With the French Revolution in the end of the 18th century, the administrative units of the provinces disappeared, but
were reconstituted as regions during the Fifth Republic in the 1970s. The modern-day administrative r•gion
comprises most of the former duchy.
Burgundy
83
Geography
The region of Burgundy is both larger than the old Duchy of Burgundy
and smaller than the area ruled by the Dukes of Burgundy, from the
modern Netherlands to the border of Auvergne. Today, Burgundy is
made up of the following old provinces:
„ Burgundy: CŒte-d'Or, SaŒne-et-Loire, and southern half of Yonne.
This corresponds to the old duchy of Burgundy (later called
province of Burgundy). However, the old county of Burgundy (later
called province of Franche-Comt•) is not included inside the
Burgundy region, but it makes up the Franche-Comt‚ region. Also,
a small part of the duchy of Burgundy (province of Burgundy) is
now inside the Champagne-Ardenne region.
„ Nivernais: now the department of Ni€vre.
„ the northern half of Yonne is a territory that was not part of
Burgundy (at least not since the 11th century), and was a frontier
between Champagne, le-de-France, and Orl‚anais, depending from
each of these provinces at different times in history.
Major communities
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Autun
Auxerre
Beaune
Chalon-sur-SaŒne
Dijon
Le Creusot
M‰con
Montceau-les-Mines
Nevers
Pr‚mery
Sens
Climate
Chardonnay vineyards in the south of the CŒte de
Beaune surrounding the town of Meursault.
Arboretum de P‚zanin
The climate of this region is essentially oceanic (Cfb in K¨ppen
classification), with a continental influence (sometimes called a "half-continental climate").
Burgundy
84
Politics
The regional council of Burgundy is the legislative assembly. Its seat is
in the capital city Dijon, at 17 boulevard de la Tr‚mouille.
Since 2004 the council is chaired by the Socialist Fran…ois Patriat.
Culture
Wine
Main article: Burgundy wine
Seat of the regional council of Burgundy in Dijon
Burgundy is one of France's main wine producing areas. It is well known for both its red and white wines, mostly
made from Pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes, respectively, although other grape varieties can be found, including
Gamay, Aligote, Pinot blanc, and Sauvignon blanc. The region is divided into the CŒte-d'Or, where the most
expensive and prized Burgundies are found, and Beaujolais, Chablis, the CŒte Chalonnaise and M‰con.
The reputation and quality of the top wines, together with the fact that they are often produced in small quantities,
has led to high demand and high prices, with some Burgundies ranking among the most expensive wines in the
world.
Cuisine
Famous Burgundian dishes include coq au vin, beef bourguignon, and •poisses de Bourgogne cheese.
Sites
Some cultural sites include La roche de Solutr•, l'Arboretum de P•zanin (in Dompierre-les-Ormes), and V‚zelay
Abbey.
References
[1] http:/ / www. cr-bourgogne. fr/
[2] Agathias, Histiriae, V,11,3•4
[3] Runciman S., A history of the First Bulgarian empire, London, G.Bell & Sons, 1930, p.7, & notes
Further reading
„ Burgundy, What a Story! by Bernard Lecomte and Jean-Louis Thouart (Ed. de Bourogne, 2004) ISBN
978-2-902650-02-6
„ Davies, Norman (2011), "Ch.3 : Burgundia: Five, Six or Seven Kingdoms (c. 411-1795)", Vanished Kingdoms:
The History of Half-Forgotten Europe, London: Allan Lane, pp.‘85•150, ISBN‘978-0-141-04886-4
External links
„ (English) Burgundy : history in the open air (http://www.france.fr/en/regions-and-cities/
burgundy-history-open-air)€Official French website
„ (French) Burgundy statistics (http://www.insee.fr/fr/regions/bourgogne/) on INSEE website
„ (French) Regional Council website (http://www.cr-bourgogne.fr)
„ (English) Short guide to Burgundy (http://about-france.com/regions/burgundy.htm) with main tourist
attractions
Burgundy
„ (English) Burgundy (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/France/Regions/Burgundy) at DMOZ
„ Burgundy in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia at BibleWiki (http://bible.tmtm.com/wiki/
Burgundvy_(Catholic_Encyclopedia))
„ Burgundy in the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia at NewAdvent.org (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03068a.
htm)
Coordinates: 47Ž00‹N 4Ž30‹E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Burgundy&
params=47_00_N_4_30_E_region:FR_type:adm1st)
85
Picardy
86
Picardy
This article is about the French region. For other uses, see Picardy (disambiguation).
Picardy
Picardie
Region of France
Country
‘France
Prefecture
Amiens
Departments
Government
‚€‚President
Claude Gewerc (PS)
Area
‚€‚Total
2
19,399‘km (7,490‘sq‘mi)
Population (2007-01-01)
‚€‚Total
1,890,000
‚€‚Density
97/km (250/sq‘mi)
Demonym
Picards
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
2
‚€‚Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Picardy (French: Picardie,
northern part of France.
ISO 3166 code
FR-S
GDP‚(2012)
Ranked 14th
Total
ƒ45.7 billion (US$58.8 bn)
Per capita
ƒ23,751 (US$30,548)
NUTS Region
FR2
Website
cr-picardie.fr
French pronunciation:‘
[1]
[pi.ka†.di]) is one of the 27 regions of France. It is located in the
Picardy
87
History
The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to
Calais, via the whole of the Somme department and the north of the
Aisne department. The province of Artois (Arras area) separated
Picardy from French Flanders.
Middle Ages
In the 5th century the area was part of the Frankish Empire, and in the
feudal period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne,
Montreuil, Ponthieu, Ami‚nois, Vermandois, and Laonnois.[2]
The name "Picardy" (which may have referred to a Frankish tribe of
picards or pike-bearers) was not used until the 12th or 13th century.
The historical province of Picardy within modern
During this time, the name applied to all lands where the Picard
French borders
language was spoken, which included all the territories from Paris to
the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a
"Picard Nation" (Nation Picarde) of students at Sorbonne University, most of whom actually came from Flanders.[3]
Modern era
In the 16th century, the government (military region) of Picardy was created. This became a new administrative
region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included the Somme
d•partement, the northern half of the Aisne d•partement, and a small fringe in the north of the Oise d•partement.
In the 17th century, an infectious disease similar to English sweat originated from the region and spread across
France. It was called Suette des picards or Picardy sweat.
Sugar beet was introduced by Napoleon I during the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, in order to counter the
United Kingdom, which had seized the sugar islands possessed by France in the Caribbean. The sugar industry has
continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region.
One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along the Somme
during World War I. From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including the Battle of the Somme,
were fought by British, French, and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy.
Picardy today
In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform
proposed to reduce the number of French regions and cancel additions
of new regions in the near future. Picardy would have disappeared, and
each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would
have been incorporated in the le-de-France, the Somme would have
been incorporated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Aisne would have
been incorporated in the Champagne-Ardenne. The vast majority of
Picards were opposed to this proposal, and it was scrapped in 2010 (see
newspaper: "Courrier Picard").
This painting by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
recalls the "Golden Age" in the history of the
province of Picardy. The Walters Art Museum.
Today, the modern region of Picardy no longer includes the coastline
from Berck to Calais, via Boulogne (Boulonais), that is now in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, but does incorporate
the pays of Beauvaisis, Valois, Noyonnais, Laonnois, Soissonnais, Omois, among other departments of France. The
older definition of Picardy survives in the name of the Picard language, which applies not only to the dialects of
Picardy
88
Picardy proper, but also to the Romance dialects spoken in the Nord-Pas de Calais r•gion, north of Picardy proper,
and parts of the Belgian province of Hainaut.
Geography
Between the 1990 and 1999 censuses, the
population of Oise increased 0.61% per year
(almost twice as fast as France as a whole),
while the Aisne department lost inhabitants,
and the Somme barely grew with a 0.16%
growth per year. Today, 41.3% of the
population of Picardy live inside the Oise
department.
Picardy stretches from the long sand
beaches of the Somme estuary in the west to
the vast forests and pastures of the
Landscape in Picardy
with Champagne (Champagne picarde) to the south.
Thi‚rache in the east and down to the
chateaux of Chantilly or Pierrefonds near
the Paris Area and vineyards of the border
Picardy
89
Administration
The president of the regional council is Claude Gewerc, a Socialist in office since 2004. That year he defeated
longtime UDF incumbent Gilles de Robien.
Since 2008, the mayor of the city of Amiens, the regional capital, has been Socialist Gilles Demailly. He defeated
longtime mayor Gilles de Robien of the New Centre party.
Language and culture
Historically, the region of Picardy has a strong and
proud cultural identity. The Picard (the local inhabitant
and traditionally Picard language speakers) cultural
heritage includes some of the most extraordinary
Gothic churches (Amiens and Beauvais cathedrals or
Saint-Quentin basilica), distinctive local cuisine
(including ficelle picarde, flamiche aux poireaux, tarte
au maroilles), beer (including from P‚ronne's de Clercq
brewery) and traditional games and sports, such as the
longue paume (ancestor of tennis), as well as danses
picardes and its own bagpipes, called the pipasso.
The villages of Picardy have a distinct character, with
their houses made of red bricks, often accented with a
"lace" of white bricks. A minority of people still speak
the Picard language, one of the languages of France,
which is also spoken in Artois (Nord-Pas de Calais
r•gion). "P'tit quinquin", a Picard song, is a symbol of
the local culture (and of that of Artois).
Arts and architecture
Distinctive brick building style demonstrated on a monument in
Somme, Picardy
Picardy is the birthplace of Gothic architecture, housing six of the world's greatest examples of Gothic cathedrals,
which envelop the history of Gothic architecture in its entirety. Amiens Cathedral, standing as the largest cathedral in
Europe, which according to John Ruskin is the "Pantheon of Gothic architecture", could house the Notre-Dame de
Paris twice over. It was built in as little as 50 years. Picardy also holds the tallest transept in the history of the Gothic
period located on Saint-Pierre cathedral in Beauvais, Oise.
The Museum of Picardy, built between 1855 and 1867, houses a vast array of great works, spanning centuries.
Archaeology from ancient Greece and Egypt to works of Pablo Picasso. The museum was built for the very reason it
is used today. Although Picardy is one of the least-known regions in France, its influence from art and most certainly
architecture is vivid throughout the world.
Picardy
90
Major communities
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Abbeville
Amiens
Beauvais
Compi€gne
Creil
Laon
Saint-Quentin
Soissons
Amiens
In popular culture
„ The song "Roses of Picardy" is a ballad written in 1916 during World War I. In 1927, the song title was used as
the title of the silent British film of the same name.
„ Picardy is one of the minor characters in the Japanese manga series Hetalia: Axis Powers.
References
[1] http:/ / www. cr-picardie. fr/
[2] Dunbabin.France in the Making. Ch.4. The Principalities 888•987
[3] Encyclop©dia Britannica Online. History of Picardy.
External links
„ (English) Picardy : the other north of France (http://www.france.fr/en/regions-and-cities/
picardy-other-north-france) - Official French website
„ (French) Official regional council website (http://www.cr-picardie.fr/)
„ (English) Picardy, brief guide to the region and attractions (http://about-france.com/regions/picardy.htm)
„ (English) Pictures of Picardy (http://www.images-en-somme.net/en/)
„ (English) photos from Southern Picardy (http://www.offrench.net/photos/gallery-10.php)
„ (English) War Memorials in the Aisne region of Picardy
„ (English) War Memorials in the Oise region of Picardy
„ (English) War Memorials in the Eastern Somme
„ (English) War Memorials in the Western Somme
Coordinates: 49Ž30‹N 2Ž50‹E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Picardy&
params=49_30_N_2_50_E_region:FR_type:adm1st)
Provence
91
Provence
For other uses, see Provence (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Province.
Provence (French pronunciation:‘ [p†Œ.v•Žs];
Proven…al: Proven€a in classical norm or
Prouvƒn€o
in
Mistralian
norm,
pronounced‘[p“u’v‰”sŒ]) is a geographical
region and historical province of
southeastern France, which extends from the
left bank of the lower RhŒne River on the
west to the Italian border on the east, and is
bordered by the Mediterranean Sea on the
[1]
south.
It largely corresponds with the
modern
administrative
r•gion
of
Provence-Alpes-CŒte d'Azur, and includes
the
d•partements
of
Var,
Bouches-du-RhŒne,
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and parts of
Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse.[2]
The Romans made the region into the first
Roman province beyond the Alps and called
it Provincia Romana, which evolved into
the present name. It was ruled by the Counts
of Provence from their capital in
Aix-en-Provence until 1481, when it became
a province of the Kings of France. While it
has been part of France for more than five
hundred years, it still retains a distinct
cultural and linguistic identity, particularly
in the interior of the region.[3]
The modern region of Provence-Alpes-CŒte d'Azur
The historical province of Provence (orange) within the modern region of
Provence-Alpes-CŒte d'Azur in southeast France
Provence
92
Gallery of Provence
Mont Ventoux and a field of
lavender
The old port of
Marseille.
Proven…al country
Flamingos in the Camargue.
Place Republique in Arles
Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, in
Upper Provence
road lined with
plane trees
History
Main article: History of Provence
See also: Lower Burgundy
Prehistoric Provence
The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human
habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dated to 1 to 1.05‘million
years BC were found in the Grotte du Vallonnet near
Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, between Monaco and Menton.[4] More
sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to
600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint Estªve-Janson,
and tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe
were found at Terra Amata in Nice.[5] Tools dating to the Middle
Paleolithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000•10,000 BC)
were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of
Monaco.
The entrance to the Cosquer Cave, decorated with
paintings of auks, bison, seals and outlines of
hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located
37 meters under the surface of the Calanque de
The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate,
Morgiou near Cassis.
with the arrival and departure of two ice ages, and dramatic changes in
the sea level. At the beginning of the paleolithic period, the sea level in
western Provence was 150 meters higher than it is today. By the end of the paleolithic, it had dropped 100 to 150
metres lower than today's sea level. The cave dwellings of the early inhabitants of Provence were regularly inundated
by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion.[6]
Provence
The changes in the sea level led to one of the most remarkable
discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named
Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres
below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille. The
entrance led to a cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer
Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and
[7]
outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC.
The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw
A bronze-age dolmen (2500 to 900 BC) near
the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the
Draguignan
retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and
other easily-hunted game meant that the inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits, snails and wild sheep. In
about 6000 BC, the Castelnovian people, living around Ch‰teauneuf-les-Martigues, were among the first people in
Europe to domesticate wild sheep, and to cease moving constantly from place to place. Since they were settled in one
place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by the imported pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in
about 6000 BC they created the first pottery to be made in France.
Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east, the Chasseens, arrived in Provence. They were farmers and
warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed in about 2500 BC
by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, who arrived by sea and settled along the coast
of what is now the Bouches-du-RhŒne department. Traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of
Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway
station. and a Dolmen from the Bronze Age (2500•900 BC) can be found near Draguignan.
Ligures and Celts in Provence
Between the 10th and 4th century BC the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia till modernday Liguria.
They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous neolithic peoples.[8] Strabo
distinctly states they were not of Celtic origin and a different race from the Gauls. They did not have their own
alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes -asc, -osc. -inc, -ates, and
auni. The ancient geographer Posidonios wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil is so rocky that
you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They
climb the mountains like goats."[9] They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th
century BC, and they later aided the passage of Hannibal, on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures
remain today in the dolmens and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in the primitive stone shelters called
'Bories' found in the Luberon and Comtat, and in the rock carvings in the Valley of Marvels near Mont B‚go in the
Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters.[10]
Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began
moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat the local tribes, who
were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the Segobriga, settled near modern-day Marseille. The
Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the Durance river.[11]
Celts and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence,
each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop
forts and settlements, later given the Latin name oppida. Today the traces 165 oppida are found in the Var, and as
many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes. They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at
Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernª€gues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC,
the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the Is€re to the Vaucluse; the Cavares in
the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the RhŒne river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron,
silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the
93
Provence
94
RhŒne river, and later Etruscan traders visited the coast. Etruscan amphorae from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have
been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop oppida in the region.
The Greeks in Provence
Traders from the island of Rhodes were visiting the coast of Provence
in the 7th century BC. Rhodes pottery from that century has been
found in Marseille, near Martigues and Istres, and at Mont Garou and
Evenos near Toulon. The traders from Rhodes gave their names to the
ancient town of Rhodanousia (now Trinquetaille, across the RhŒne
river from Arles), and to the main river of Provence, the Rhodanos,
[12]
today known as the RhŒne.
The first permanent Greek settlement was Massalia, established at
modern-day Marseille in about 600 BC by colonists coming from
Phocaea (now Fo…a, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. A second
wave of colonists arrived in about 540 BC, when Phocaea was
destroyed by the Persians.[13]
Remains of the ancient harbour of Massalia, near
the Old Port of Marseille
Massalia became one of the major trading ports of the ancient world. At its height, in the 4th century BC, it had a
population of about 6,000 inhabitants, living on about fifty hectares surrounded by a wall. It was governed as an
aristocratic republic, by an assembly of the 600 wealthiest citizens. It had a large temple of the cult of Apollo of
Delphi on a hilltop overlooking the port, and a temple of the cult of Artemis of Ephesus at the other end of the city.
The Drachma coins minted in Massalia were found in all parts of Ligurian-Celtic Gaul. Traders from Massalia
ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers Durance and RhŒne, and established overland trade routes deep into
Gaul, and to Switzerland and Burgundy, and as far north as the Baltic Sea. They exported their own products; local
wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork.
The Massalians also established a series of small colonies and trading posts along the coast; which later became
towns; they founded Citharista (La Ciotat); Tauroeis (Le Brusc); Olbia (near Hy€res); Pergantion (Breganson);
Caccabaria (Cavalaire); Athenopolis (Saint-Tropez); Antipolis (Antibes); Nikaia (Nice), and Monoicos (Monaco).
They established inland towns at Glanum (Saint-Remy) and Mastrabala (Saint-Blaise.)
The most famous citizen of Massalia was the mathematician, astronomer and navigator Pytheas. Pytheas made
mathematical instruments which allowed him to establish almost exactly the latitude of Marseille, and he was the
first scientist to observe that the tides were connected with the phases of the moon. Between 330 and 320 BC he
organised an expedition by ship into the Atlantic and as far north as England, and to visit Iceland, Shetland, and
Norway. He was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun. Though he hoped to establish a sea
trading route for tin from Cornwall, his trip was not a commercial success, and it was not repeated. The Massalians
found it cheaper and simpler to trade with Northern Europe over land routes.[14]
Provence
95
Roman Provence (2nd century BC to 5th century AD)
In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia appealed to Rome for
help against the Ligures. Roman legions entered Provence three times;
first in 181 BC the Romans suppressed Ligurian uprisings near Genoa;
in 154 BC the Roman Consul Optimus defeated the Oxybii and the
Deciates, who were attacking Antibes; and in 125 BC, the Romans put
down an uprising of a confederation of Celtic tribes.[15] After this
battle, the Romans decided to establish permanent settlements in
Provence. In 122 BC, next to the Celtic town of Entremont, the
Romans built a new town, Aquae Sextiae, later called
Aix-en-Provence. In 118 BC they founded Narbo (Narbonne).
Pont du Gard, first century BC
The Roman general Gaius Marius crushed the last serious resistance in
102 BC by defeating the Cimbri and the Teutons. He then began
building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between
Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt
and Tarascon, and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain,
passing through Fr‚jus and Aix-en-Provence.
In 49 BC, Massalia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side in the
power struggle between Pompey and Julius Caesar. Pompey was
defeated, and Massalia lost its territories and political influence.
Roman veterans, in the meantime, populated two new towns, Arles and
Fr‚jus, at the sites of older Greek settlements.
In 8 BC the Emperor Augustus built a triumphal monument at La
Turbie to commemorate the pacification of the region, and he began to
Romanize Provence politically and culturally. Roman engineers and
architects built monuments, theatres, baths, villas, fora, arenas and
aqueducts, many of which still exist. (See Architecture of Provence.)
Roman towns were built at Cavaillon; Orange; Arles; Fr‚jus; Glanum
(outside Saint-R‚my-de-Provence); Carpentras; Vaison-la-Romaine;
N‹mes; Vern€gues; Saint-Chamas and Cimiez (above Nice). The
Roman province, which was called Gallia Narbonensis, for its capital,
Narbo (modern Narbonne), extended from Italy to Spain, from the
Alps to the Pyrenees.
The Roman arena at Arles (2nd century AD)
The baptistery of Fr‚jus Cathedral
(5th century) is still in use
The Pax Romana in Provence lasted until the middle of the 3rd
century. Germanic tribes invaded Provence in 257 and 275. At the
beginning the 4th century, the court of Roman Emperor Constantine (280•337) was forced to take refuge in Arles.
By the end of the 5th century, Roman power in Provence had vanished, and an age of invasions, wars, and chaos
began.
The arrival of Christianity in Provence (3rd•6th centuries)
There are many legends about the earliest Christians in Provence, but they are difficult to verify. It is documented
that there were organised churches and bishops in the Roman towns of Provence as early as the 3rd and 4th
centuries; in Arles in 254; Marseille in 314; Orange, Vaison and Apt in 314; Cavaillon, Digne, Embrun, Gap, and
Fr‚jus at the end of the 4th century; Aix-en-Provence in 408; Carpentras, Avignon, Riez, Cimiez (today part of Nice)
and Vence in 439; Antibes in 442; Toulon in 451; Senez in 406, Saint-Paul-Trois-Ch‰teaux in 517; and Gland€ves in
Provence
96
541.[16] The oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the cathedral in Fr‚jus, dating
from the 5th century. At about the same time, in the 5th century, the first two monasteries in Provence were founded;
L‚rins, on an island near Cannes; and Saint-Victor in Marseille.
Germanic invasions, Merovingians and Carolingians (5th•9th centuries)
Beginning in the second half of the 5th century, as Roman power
waned, successive waves of Germanic tribes entered Provence; first the
Visigoths (480); then the Ostrogoths; then the Burgundians; finally, the
Franks in the 6th century. Arab invaders and Berber pirates came from
North Africa to the Coast of Provence in the beginning of the 7th
century.
During the late 7th and early 8th century, Provence was formally
suzerain to the Frankish kings of Merovingian dynasty, but it was in
fact ruled by its own regional nobility of Gallo-Roman stock, who
King Boson and San Stephen (fragment of fresco
ruled themselves according to Roman, not Frankish law. Actually, the
at Charlieu Abbey)
region enjoyed a prestige that the northern Franks hadn't, but the local
aristocracy feared Charles Martel's expansionist ambitions. In 737 Charles Martel headed down the RhŒne Valley
after subduing Burgundy. Charles attacked Avignon and Arles, garrisoned by the Umayyads. He came back in 739 to
capture for a second time Avignon and chase the duke Maurontus to his stronghold of Marseille. The city was
brought to heel and the duke had to flee to an island. The region was thereafter under the rule of Carolingian Kings,
descended from Charles Martel; and then was part of the empire of Charlemagne (742•814).
In 879, after the death of the Carolingian ruler Charles the Bald, Boso of Provence, (also known as Boson), his
brother-in-law, broke away from the Carolingian kingdom of Louis III and was elected the first ruler of an
independent state of Provence.
The Counts of Provence (9th•13th centuries)
Three different dynasties of Counts ruled Provence during the Middle Ages,
and Provence became a prize in the complex rivalries between the Catalan
rulers of Barcelona, the Kings of Burgundy, the German rulers of the Holy
Roman Empire, and the Angevin Kings of France.Wikipedia:Please clarify
The Bosonids (879•1112) were the descendants of the first King of Provence,
Boson. His son, Louis the Blind (890•928) lost his sight trying to win the
throne of Italy, after which his cousin, Hugh of Italy (died 947) became the
Duke of Provence and the Count of Vienne. Hugh moved the capital of
Provence from Vienne to Arles and made Provence a fief of Rudolph II of
Burgundy.
In the 9th century, Arab pirates (called Saracens by the French) and then the
Normans invaded Provence. The Normans pillaged the region and then left,
but the Saracens built castles and began raiding towns and holding local
residents for ransom. Early in 973, the Saracens captured Maieul, the Abbot
of the Monastery at Cluny, and held him for ransom. The ransom was paid
and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by Count William
I rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress Fraxinet
The Catalan Ramon Berenguer I, Count
of Provence, in the Castle in Fos, painted
by Mari‡ Fortuny (Reial Acad€mia
Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, on
deposit at the Palace of the Generalitat of
Catalonia, Barcelona).
Provence
97
(La Garde-Freinet) at the Battle of Tourtour. The Saracens who were not
killed at the battle were baptised and made into slaves, and the remaining
Saracens in Provence fled the region. Meanwhile, the dynastic quarrels
continued. A war between Rudolph III of Burgundy and his rival, the German
Emperor Conrad the Salic in 1032 led to Provence becoming a fiefdom of the
Holy Roman Empire, which it remained until 1246.
In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, Douce I, Countess of Provence,
married the Catalan Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona, who as a
result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence. He ruled Provence
from 1112 until 1131, and his descendants, the Catalan Dynasty ruled
Provence until 1246. In 1125, Provence was divided; the part of Provence
north and west of the Durance river went to the Count of Toulouse, while the
lands between the Durance and the Mediterranean, and from the RhŒne river
to the Alps, belonged to the Counts of Provence. The capital of Provence was
moved from Arles to Aix-en-Provence, and later to Brignoles.[17]
The Coat of Arms of Ramon Berenguer
III, Count of Barcelona and his
descendants, who as Counts of Provence
ruled Provence from 1112 until 1246
Coat of Arms of the Counts of Provence
of the House of Valois-Anjou, who ruled
Provence from 1246 until it became part
of France in 1486
Under the Catalan dynasty, the 12th century saw the construction of important
cathedrals and abbeys in Provence, in a harmonious new style, the romanesque,
which united the Gallo-Roman style of the RhŒne Valley with the Lombard style
of the Alps. Aix Cathedral was built on the site of the old Roman forum, and then
rebuilt in the gothic style in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Church of St.
Trophime in Arles was a landmark of Romanesque architecture, built between
the 12th and the 15th centuries. A vast fortress-like monastery, Montmajour
Abbey, was built on an island just north of Arles, and became a major destination
for medieval pilgrims.
In the 12th century three Cistercian monasteries were built in remote parts of
Provence, far from the political intrigues of the cities. S‚nanque Abbey was the
first, established in the Luberon 1148 and 1178. Le Thoronet Abbey was founded
in a remote valley near Draguignan in 1160. Silvacane Abbey, on the Durance
river at La Roque-d'Anth‚ron, was founded in 1175.
The Church of Saint Trophime in
Arles (12th century)
Provence
98
In the 13th century, the French kings started to use marriage to extend their influence into the south of France. One
son of King Louis VIII of France "the Lion", Alphonse, Count of Poitou, married the heiress of the Count of
Toulouse, Joan. Another, Louis IX "the Saint" of France or Saint Louis (1214•1270), married Marguerite of
Provence. Then, in 1246, Charles, Count of Anjou, the youngest son of Louis VIII, married the heiress of Provence,
Beatrice. Provence's fortunes became tied to the Angevin Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples.[18]
The Popes in Avignon (14th century)
Main article: Avignon papacy
In 1309, Pope Clement V, who was originally from Bordeaux, moved
the Roman Catholic Papacy to Avignon. From 1309 until 1377, seven
Popes reigned in Avignon before the Schism between the Roman and
Avignon churches, which led to the creation of rival popes in both
places. After that three Antipopes reigned in Avignon until 1423, when
the Papacy finally returned to Rome. Between 1334 and 1363 Popes
Benedict XII built the old Papal Palace of Avignon, and Clement VI
built the New Palace; together the Palais des Papes was the largest
gothic palace in Europe.[19]
The fa…ade of the Palais des Papes.
The 14th century was a terrible time in Provence, and all of Europe:
the population of Provence had been about 400,000 people; the Black Plague (1348•1350) killed fifteen thousand
people in Arles, half the population of the city, and greatly reduced the population of the whole region. The defeat of
the French Army during the Hundred Years' War forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend
themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside.
The Angevin rulers of Provence also had a difficult time. An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders
of Provence was organised to resist the authority of Queen Joan I of Naples (1343•1382.) She was murdered in 1382
by her cousin and heir, Charles of Durazzo, who started a new war, leading to the separation of Nice, Puget-Th‚niers
and Barcelonnette from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the territories of Savoy. From 1388 up to 1526,
the name of this new area acquired by the House of Savoy at the expense of the rest of Provence was Terres Neuves
de Provence. After 1526 it took officially the name of County of Nice.
Provence
99
Good King Ren€, the last ruler of Provence
The 15th century saw a series of wars between the Kings of Aragon
and the Counts of Provence. In 1423 the army of Alphonse of Aragon
captured Marseille, and in 1443 they captured Naples, and forced its
ruler, King Ren‚ I of Naples, to flee. He eventually settled in one of his
remaining territories, Provence.
History and legend has given Ren‚ the title "Good King Ren‚ of
Provence", though he only lived in Provence in the last ten years of his
life, from 1470 to 1480, and his political policies of territorial
expansion were costly and unsuccessful. Provence benefitted from
population growth and economic expansion, and Ren‚ was a generous
patron of the arts, sponsoring painters Nicolas Froment, Louis Br‚a,
and other masters. He also completed one of the finest castles in
Provence at Tarascon, on the RhŒne river.
When Ren‚ died in 1480, his title passed to his nephew Charles du
Maine. One year later, in 1481, when Charles died, the title passed to
Louis XI of France. Provence was legally incorporated into the French
royal domain in 1486.
Detail of the Burning Bush triptych
by Nicolas Froment, showing Ren‚
and his wife Jeanne de Laval
1486 to 1789
Soon after Provence became part of France, it became involved in the
Wars of Religion that swept the country in the 16th century. Between
1493 and 1501, many Jews were expelled from their homes and sought
sanctuary in the region of Avignon, which was still under the direct
rule of the Pope. In 1545, the Parliament of Aix ordered the destruction
The Chateau of Ren‚ in Tarascon (15th century)
of the villages of Lourmarin, M‚rindol, Cabri‚res in the Luberon,
because their inhabitants were Vaudois, of Italian Piedmontese origin,
and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics. Most of Provence remained strongly Catholic, with only
one enclave of Protestants, the principality of Orange, Vaucluse, an enclave ruled by Prince William of the House of
Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands, which was created in 1544 and was not incorporated into France until 1673. An
army of the Catholic League laid siege to the Protestant city of Mªnerbes in the Vaucluse between 1573 and 1578.
The wars did not stop until the end of the 16th century, with the consolidation of power in Provence by the House of
Bourbon kings.
The semi-independent Parliament of Provence in Aix and some of the
cities of Provence, particularly Marseille, continued to rebel against the
authority of the Bourbon king. After uprisings in 1630•31 and
1648•1652, the young King Louis XIV had two large forts, fort St.
Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the
city's unruly population.
At the beginning of the 16th century, Cardinal Richelieu began to build
View of Toulon Harbour around 1750, by Joseph
a naval arsenal and dockyard at Toulon to serve as a base for a new
Vernet.
French Mediterreanean fleet. The base was greatly enlarged by
Jean-Baptiste Colbert, the minister of Louis XIV, who also
commissioned his chief military engineer Vauban to strengthen the fortifications around the city.
Provence
100
At the beginning of the 17th century Provence had a population of about 450,000 people.[20] It was predominantly
rural, devoted to raising wheat, wine, and olives, with small industries for tanning, pottery, perfume-making, and
ship and boat building. Proven…al quilts, made from the mid-17th century onwards, were successfully exported to
England, Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland. There was considerable commerce along the coast, and up and down
the RhŒne river. The cities: Marseille, Toulon, Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards
and richly-decorated private houses.
Marseille in 1754, by Vernet
At the beginning of the 18th century Provence suffered from the
economic malaise of the end of the reign of Louis XIV. The plague
struck the region between 1720 and 1722, beginning in Marseille,
killing some 40,000 people. Still, by the end of the century, many
artisinal industries began to flourish; making perfumes in Grasse; olive
oil in Aix and the Alpilles; textiles in Orange, Avignon and Tarascon;
and faience pottery in Marseille, Apt, Aubagne, and
Moustiers-Sainte-Marie. Many immigrants arrived from Liguria and
the Piedmont in Italy. By the end of the 18th century, Marseille had a
population of 120,000 people, making it the third largest city in France.
During the French Revolution
Main article: French Revolution
Though most of Provence, with the exception of Marseille, Aix and Avignon, was rural, conservative and largely
royalist, it did produce some memorable figures in the French Revolution; Honor‚ Gabriel Riqueti, comte de
Mirabeau from Aix, who tried to moderate the Revolution, and turn France into a constitutional monarchy like
England; the Marquis de Sade from Lacoste in the Luberon, who was a Deputy from the far left in the National
Assembly; Charles Barbaroux from Marseille, who sent a battalion of volunteers to Paris to fight in the French
Revolutionary Army; and Emmanuel-Joseph Siey€s (1748•1836), an abb‚, essayist and political leader, who was
one of the chief theorists of the French Revolution, French Consulate, and First French Empire, and who, in 1799,
was the instigator of the coup d'‚tat of 18 Brumaire, which brought Napoleon to power.
Provence also produced the most memorable song of the period, the La
Marseillaise. Though the song was originally written by a citizen of
Strasbourg, Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792, and it was
originally a war song for the revolutionary Army of the Rhine, it
became famous when it sung on the streets of Paris by the volunteers
from Marseille, who had heard it when it was sung in Marseille by a
young volunteer from Montpellier named Fran…ois Mireur. It became
the most popular song of the Revolution, and in 1879 became the
national anthem of France.
The Revolution was as violent and bloody in Provence as it was in
other parts of France. On 30 April 1790, Fort Saint-Nicolas in
Marseille was besieged, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. On 17 October 1791 a massacre of royalists
and religious figures took place in the ice storage rooms (glaciere) of the prison of the Palace of the Popes in
Avignon.
La Marseillaise 1792
When the radical Montagnards seized power from the Girondins in May 1793, a real counter-revolution broke out in
Avignon, Marseille and Toulon. A revolutionary army under General Carteaux recaptured Marseille in August 1793
and renamed it "City without a Name" (Ville sans Nom.) In Toulon, the opponents of the Revolution handed the city
to a British and Spanish fleet on 28 August 1793. A Revolutionary Army laid siege to the British positions for four
Provence
months (see the Siege of Toulon), and finally, thanks to the enterprise of the young commander of artillery,
Napoleon Bonaparte, defeated the British and drove them out in December 1793. About 15,000 royalists escaped
with the British fleet, but five to eight hundred of the 7,000 who remained were shot on the Champ de Mars, and
Toulon was renamed "Port la Montagne".
The fall of the Montagnards in July 1794 was followed by a new White Terror aimed at the revolutionaries. Calm
was only restored by the rise of Napoleon to power in 1795.
Under Napoleon I
Napoleon restored the belongings and power of the families of the old regime in Provence. The British fleet of
Admiral Horatio Nelson blockaded Toulon, and almost all maritime commerce was stopped, causing hardship and
poverty. When Napoleon was defeated, his fall was celebrated in Provence. When he escaped from Elba on 1 March
1815, and landed at Golfe-Juan, he detoured to avoid the cities of Provence, which were hostile to
him.Wikipedia:Citation needed
19th century
Provence enjoyed prosperity in the 19th century; the ports of Marseille
and Toulon connected Provence with the expanding French Empire in
North Africa and the Orient, especially after the opening of the Suez
Canal in 1869.
In April•July 1859, Napoleon III made a secret agreement with
Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont, for France to assist in expelling
Austria from the Italian Peninsula and bringing about a united Italy, in
exchange for Piedmont ceding Savoy and the Nice region to France.
Marseille in 1825
He went to war with Austria in 1859 and won a victory at Solferino,
which resulted in Austria ceding Lombardy to Piedmont, and, in return,
Napoleon received Savoy and Nice in 1860, and Roquebrune-Cap-Martin and Menton in 1861.
The railroad connected Paris with Marseille (1848) and then with Toulon and Nice (1864). Nice, Antibes and Hy€res
became popular winter resorts for European royalty, including Queen Victoria. Under Napoleon III, Marseille grew
to a population of 250,000, including a very large Italian community. Toulon had a population of 80,000. The large
cities like Marseille and Toulon saw the building of churches, opera houses, grand boulevards, and parks.
After the fall of Louis Napoleon following the defeat in the Franco-Prussian War barricades went up in the streets of
Marseille (23 March 1871) and the Communards, led by Gaston Cremieux and following the lead of the Paris
Commune, took control of the city. The Commune was crushed by the army and Cremieux was executed on 30
November 1871. Though Provence was generally conservative, it often elected reformist leaders; Prime Minister
L‚on Gambetta was the son of a Marseille grocer, and future prime minister Georges Clemenceau was elected
deputy from the Var in 1885.
The second half of the 19th century saw a revival of the Proven…al language and culture, particularly traditional rural
values. driven by a movement of writers and poets called the Felibrige, led by poet Fr‚d‚ric Mistral. Mistral
achieved literary success with his novel Mir•io (Mireille in French); he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in
1904.
101
Provence
20th century
Between World War I and World War II, Provence was bitterly divided between the more conservative rural areas
and the more radical big cities. There were widespread strikes in Marseille in 1919, and riots in Toulon in 1935.
After the defeat of France by Germany in June 1940, France was divided into an occupied zone and unoccupied
zone, with Provence in the unoccupied zone. Parts of eastern Provence were occupied by Italian soldiers.
Collaboration and passive resistance gradually gave way to more active resistance, particularly after Nazi Germany
invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the Communist Party became active in the resistance. Jean Moulin, the
deputy of Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free France resistance movement, was parachuted into Eygali€res, in
the Bouches-du-RhŒne on 2 January 1942 to unite the diverse resistance movements in all of France against the
Germans.
In November 1942, following Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch), the Germans occupied all of
Provence (Operation Attila) and then headed for Toulon (Case Anton). The French fleet at Toulon sabotaged its own
ships to keep them from falling into German hands.
The Germans began a systematic rounding-up of French Jews and
refugees from Nice and Marseille. Many thousands were taken to
concentration camps, and few survived. A large quarter around the port
of Marseille was emptied of inhabitants and dynamited, so it would not
serve as a base for the resistance. Nonetheless, the resistance grew
stronger; the leader of the pro-German militia, the Milice, in Marseille
was assassinated in April 1943.
On 15 August 1944, two months after the Allied landings in Normandy
US 3rd Infantry Division landing at
(Operation Overlord), the Seventh United States Army under General
Cavalaire-sur-Mer
Alexander Patch, with a Free French corps under General Jean de
Lattre de Tassigny, landed on the coast of the Var between St. Raphael
and Cavalaire (Operation Dragoon). The American forces moved north toward Manosque, Sisteron and Gap, while
the French First Armored Division under General Vigier liberated Brignoles, Salon, Arles, and Avignon. The
Germans in Toulon resisted until 27 August, and Marseille was not liberated until 25 August.
After the end of the War, Provence faced an enormous task of repair and reconstruction, particularly of the ports and
railroads destroyed during the war. As part of this effort, the first modern concrete apartment block, the Unit‚
d'Habitation of Corbusier, was built in Marseille in 1947•52. In 1962, Provence absorbed a large number of French
citizens who left Algeria after its independence. Since that time, large North African communities settled in and
around the big cities, particularly Marseille and Toulon.
In the 1940s, Provence underwent a cultural renewal, with the founding of the Avignon Festival of theatre (1947),
the reopening of the Cannes Film Festival (begun in 1939), and many other major events. With the building of new
highways, particularly the Paris Marseille autoroute which opened in 1970, Provence became destination for mass
tourism from all over Europe. Many Europeans, particularly from Britain, bought summer houses in Provence. The
arrival of the TGV high-speed trains shortened the trip from Paris to Marseille to less than four hours.
At the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, the residents of Provence were struggling to
reconcile economic development and population growth with their desire to preserve the landscape and culture that
make Provence unique.
102
Provence
103
Extent and geography
The original Roman province was called Gallia Transalpina, then
Gallia Narbonensis, or simply Provincia Nostra ('Our Province') or
Provincia. It extended from the Alps to the Pyrenees and north to the
Vaucluse, with its capital in Narbo Martius (present-day Narbonne).
Borders
In the 15th century the Cont‚ of Provence was bounded by the Var
river on the east, the RhŒne river to the west, with the Mediterranean to
the south, and a northern border that roughly followed the Durance
river.
The Comtat Venaissin, a territory which included Avignon, and the
principality of Orange were both papal states, ruled by the Pope from
the 13th century until the French Revolution. At the end of the 14th
century another piece of Provence along the Italian border, including
Nice and the lower Alps, was detached from Provence and attached to
the lands of the Duke of Savoy. The lower Alps were re-attached to
France after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, but Nice did not return to
France until 1860, during the reign of Napoleon III.[21]
The Roman Province of Gallia Narbonensis
around 58 BC
The administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur was created
in 1982. It included Provence, plus the territory of the Comtat
Venaissin around Avignon, the eastern portion of the Dauphin‚, and
the former county of Nice.
Location of Comt‚ de Provence
Rivers
The RhŒne river, on the western border of Provence, is one of the
major rivers of France, and has been a highway of commerce and
communications between inland France and the Mediterranean for
centuries. It rises as the effluent of the RhŒne Glacier in Valais,
Switzerland, in the Saint-Gotthard massif, at an altitude of 1753 m. It is
The RhŒne at Avignon
joined by the river SaŒne at Lyon. Along the RhŒne Valley, it is joined
on the right bank by C‚vennes rivers Eyrieux, Ard€che, C€ze and
Gardon or Gard, on the left Alps bank by rivers Is€re, DrŒme, Ouv€ze and Durance. At Arles, the RhŒne divides
itself in two arms, forming the Camargue delta, with all branches flowing into the Mediterranean Sea. One arm is
called the "Grand RhŒne"; the other one is the "Petit RhŒne".
Provence
104
The Durance river, a tributary of the RhŒne, has its source in the Alps
near Brian…on. It flows south-west through Embrun, Sisteron,
Manosque, Cavaillon, and Avignon, where it meets the RhŒne.
The Verdon River is a tributary of the Durance, rising at an altitude of
2,400 metres in the southwestern Alps near Barcelonette, and flowing
southwest for 175 kilometres through the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
and Var (d‚partements) before it reaches the Durance at near
The Gorge du Verdon.
Vinon-sur-Verdon, south of Manosque. The Verdon is best known for
its canyon, the Verdon Gorge. This limestone canyon, also called the
'Grand Canyon of Verdon', 20 kilometres in length and more than 300
metres deep, is a popular climbing and sight-seeing area.
The Var River rises near the Col de la Cayolle (2,326 m/7,631‘ft) in the Maritime Alps and flows generally southeast
for 120 kilometres (75‘mi) into the Mediterranean between Nice and Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Before Nice was
returned to France in 1860, the Var marked the eastern border of France along the Mediterranean. The Var is the
unique case in France of a river giving a name to a department, but not flowing through that department (due to
subsequent adjustments to the department's boundaries).
The Camargue
With an area of over 930‘km• (360‘mi•), the Camargue is Western Europe's largest river delta (technically an island,
as it is wholly surrounded by water). It is a vast plain comprising large brine lagoons or •tangs, cut off from the sea
by sandbars and encircled by reed-covered marshes which are in turn surrounded by a large cultivated area.
The Camargue is home to more than 400 species of birds, the brine ponds providing one of the few European
habitats for the greater flamingo. The marshes are also a prime habitat for many species of insects, notably (and
notoriously) some of the most ferocious mosquitoes to be found anywhere in France. It is also famous for bulls and
the Camargue horse.
Mountains
By considering the Maritime Alps, along the border with Italy, as a
part of the cultural Provence, they constitute the highest elevations of
the region (the Punta dell'Argentera has an elevation of 3,297 m). They
form the border between the French d•partement Alpes-Maritimes and
the Italian province of Cuneo. Mercantour National Park is located in
the Maritime Alps. On the other hand, if the d•partement Hautes Alpes
is also considered as part of the modern Provence, then the alpin •crins
mountains represent the highest elevations of the region with the Barre
des •crins culminating at 4102m.
Vallon de Molli€res, Mercantour National Park.
Provence
105
Alpilles landscape near Le Destet.
View of Mont Ventoux from
Mirabel-aux-Baronnies.
Outside of the Maritime Alps, Mont Ventoux (Occitan: Ventor in
classical norm or Ventour in Mistralian norm), at 1,909 metres
(6,263‘ft), is the highest peak in Provence. It is located some 20‘km
north-east of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain
borders the DrŒme d‚partement. It is nicknamed the "Giant of
Provence", or "The Bald Mountain". Although geologically part of the
Alps, is often considered to be separate from them, due to the lack of
mountains of a similar height nearby. It stands alone to the west of the
Luberon range, and just to the east of the Dentelles de Montmirail, its
foothills. The top of the mountain is bare limestone without vegetation
or trees. The white limestone on the mountain's barren peak means it
appears from a distance to be snow-capped all year round (its snow
cover actually lasts from December to April).
The Alpilles are a chain of small mountains located about 20 kilometres (12‘mi) south of Avignon. Although they
are not particularly high • only some 387 metres (1,270‘ft) at their highest point • the Alpilles stand out since they
rise abruptly from the plain of the RhŒne valley. The range is about 25‘km long by about 8 to 10‘km wide, running in
an east-west direction between the RhŒne and Durance rivers. The landscape of the Alpilles is one of arid limestone
peaks separated by dry valleys.
Montagne Sainte-Victoire is probably the best-known mountain in
Provence, thanks to the painter Paul C‚zanne, who could see it from
his home, and painted it frequently. It is a limestone mountain ridge
which extends over 18 kilometres between the d‚partements of
Bouches-du-RhŒne and Var. Its highest point is the Pic des mouches at
1,011‘m.
Mont Sainte-Victoire, painted by Paul C‚zanne
Provence
106
The Massif des Maures (Mountains of the Moors) is a small chain of
mountains that lies along the coast of the Mediterranean in the Var
Department between Hy€res et Fr‚jus. Its highest point is the signal de
la Sauvette, 780 metres high. The name is a souvenir of the Moors
(Maures in Old French), Arabs and Berbers from North Africa, who
settled on the coast of Provence in the 9th and 10th centuries.
The massif des Maures extends about sixty kilometres along the coast,
and reaches inland about thirty kilometres. On the north it is bordered
by a depression which is followed by the routes nationales 97 and 7
and the railroad line between Toulon and Nice. On the south it ends
abruptly at the Mediterraenan, forming a broken and abrupt coastline.
The massif des Maures
The peninsula of Saint-Tropez is part of the Massif des Maures, along with the peninsula of Giens and the islands
offshore of Hy€res; Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and ‹le du Levant. Cape Sici‚, west of Toulon, as well as the massif of
Tanneron, belong geologically to the massif des Maures.
The Calanques
The Calanques, also known as the Massif des Calanques, are a dramatic feature
of the Provence coast, a 20-km long series of narrow inlets in the cliffs of the
coastline between Marseille on the west and Cassis on the east. The highest peak
in the massif is Mont Puget, 565 metres high.
The best known calanques of the Massif des Calanques include the Calanque de
Sormiou, the Calanque de Morgiou, the Calanque d'En-Vau, the Calanque de
Port-Pin and the Calanque de Sugiton.
Calanques are remains of ancient river mouths formed mostly during Tertiary.
Later, during quaternary glaciations, as glaciers swept by, they further deepened
those valleys which would eventually (at the end of the last glaciation) be
invaded with sea and become calanques.
Calanque de Sugiton
The Cosquer cave is an underwater grotto in the Calanque de Morgiou,
37 metres (121‘ft) underwater, that was inhabited during Paleolithic
era, when the sea level was much lower than today. Its walls are
covered with paintings and engravings dating back to between 27,000
and 19,000 BC, depicting animals such as bison, ibex, and horses, as
well as sea mammals such as seals, and at least one bird, the auk.
Landscapes
The Garrigue, typical landscape of Provence
The Garrigue is the typical landscape of Provence; is a type of low,
soft-leaved scrubland or chaparral found on limestone soils around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the
[22]
seacoast, where the climate is moderate, but where there are annual summer drought conditions.
Juniper and
stunted holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as lavender, sage, rosemary, wild thyme
and Artemisia are common garrigue plants. The open landscape of the garrigue is punctuated by dense thickets of
Kermes oak.
Provence
107
Climate
Most of Provence has a Mediterranean climate, characterised by hot,
dry summers, mild winters, little snow, and abundant sunshine. Within
Provence there are micro-climates and local variations, ranging from
the Alpine climate inland from Nice to the continental climate in the
northern Vaucluse. The winds of Provence are an important feature of
the climate, particularly the mistral, a cold, dry wind which, especially
in the winter, blows down the RhŒne Valley to the Bouches-du-RhŒne
and the Var Departments, and often reaches over one hundred
kilometres an hour.
Mistral wind blowing near Marseille. In the
center is the Ch‰teau d'If
Bouches-du-Rh„ne
Marseille, in the Bouches-du-RhŒne, has an average of 59 days of rain
a year, though when it does rain the rain is often torrential; the average
annual rainfall is 544.4‘mm. It snows an average of 2.3 days a year,
and the snow rarely remains long. Marseille has an average of 2835.5
hours of sunshine a year. The average minimum temperature in
January is 2.3‘ŽC., and the average maximum temperature in July is
29.3‘ŽC. The mistral blows an average of one hundred days a year.
The Var
Toulon and the Department of the Var (which includes St. Tropez and
Hy€res) have a climate slightly warmer, dryer and sunnier than Nice
and the Alpes-Maritime, but also less sheltered from the wind. Toulon
has an average of 2899.3 hours of sunshine a year, making it the
[23]
sunniest city in metropolitan France,
The average maximum daily
temperature in August is 29.1‘ŽC., and the average daily minimum
temperature in January is 5.8‘ŽC. The average annual rainfall is
665‘mm, with the most rain from October to November. Strong winds
blow an average of 118 days a year in Toulon, compared with 76 days
at Fr‚jus further east. The strongest Mistral wind recorded in Toulon
was 130 kilometres an hour.[24]
Sisteron • la Baume rock
Alpes-Maritimes
Nice and the Alpes-Maritimes Department are sheltered by the Alps,
and are the most protected part of the Mediterranean coast. The winds
in this department are usually gentle, blowing from the sea to the land,
though sometimes the Mistral blows strongly from the northwest, or,
Forcalquier Cathedral
turned by the mountains, from the east. In 1956 a mistral wind from the
northwest reached the speed of 180 kilometres an hour at Nice airport. Sometimes in summer the scirocco brings
high temperatures and reddish desert sand from Africa. (See Winds of Provence.)
Rainfall is infrequent • 63 days a year, but can be torrential, particularly in September, when storms and rain are
caused by the difference between the colder air inland and the warm Mediterranean water temperature (20•24
degrees‘C.). The average annual rainfall in Nice is 767‘mm, more than in Paris, but concentrated in fewer days.
Provence
Snow is extremely rare, usually falling once every ten years. 1956 was a very exceptional year, when 20 centimetres
of snow blanketed the coast. In January 1985 the coast between Cannes and Menton received 30 to 40 centimetres of
snow. In the mountains, the snow is present from November to May
Nice has an annual average of 2694 hours of sunshine. The average maximum daily temperature in Nice in August is
28‘ŽC., and the average minimum daily temperature in January is 6‘ŽC.
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
The Department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence has a Mediterranean climate in the lower valleys under one thousand
metres in altitude and an alpine climate in the high valleys, such as the valleys of the Blanche, the Haut Verdon and
the Ubaye, which are over 2500 metres high. The alpine climate in the higher mountains is moderated by the warmer
air from the Mediterranean.
Haute-Provence has unusually high summer temperatures for its altitude and latitude (44 degrees north). The average
summer temperature is 22 to 23‘ŽC. at an altitude of 400 metres, and 18 to 19‘ŽC. at the altitude of 1000 metres; and
the winter average temperature is 4 to 5‘ŽC. at 400 metres and 0 C. at 1000 metres. The lower valleys have 50 days
of freezing temperatures a year, more in the higher valleys. Sometimes the temperatures in the high valleys can reach
•30‘ŽC. Because of this combination of high mountains and Mediterreanean air, it is not unusual that the region
frequently has some of the lowest winter temperatures and some of the hottest summer temperatures in France.
Rainfall in Haute-Provence is infrequent • 60 to 80 days a year • but can be torrential; 650 to 900‘mm. a year in the
foothills and plateaus of the southwest, and in the valley of the Ubaye; and 900 to 1500‘mm. in the mountains. Most
rainfall comes in the autumn, in brief and intense storms; from mid-June to mid-August, rain falls during brief but
violent thunderstorms. Thunder can be heard 30 to 40 days a year.
Snow falls in the mountains from November to May, and in midwinter can be found down to altitude of 1000•1200
metres on the shady side of the mountains and 1300 to 1600 metres on the sunny side. Snowfalls are usually fairly
light, and melt rapidly.
The Mistral (wind) is a feature of the climate in the western part of the Department, blowing from the north and the
northwest, bringing clear and dry weather. The eastern part of the department is more protected from the Mistral.
The Marin (wind) comes from the south, bringing warm air, clouds and rain.
Haute-Provence is one of the sunniest regions of France, with an average of between 2550 and 2650 hours of
sunshine annually in the north of the department, and 2700 to 2800 hours in the southwest. The clear nights and
sunny days cause a sharp difference between nighttime and daytime temperatures. Because of the clear nights, the
region is home of important observatories, such as the Observatory of Haute-Provence in Saint-Michel-Observatoire
near of Forcalquier.
The Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is the meeting point of three of the four different climatic zones of France; it has a Mediterranean
climate in the south, an alpine climate in the northeast, around the mountains of Vaucluse and the massif of the
Baronnies; and a continental climate in the northwest. The close proximity of these three different climates tends to
moderate all of them, and the Mediterranean climate usually prevails.
Orange in the Vaucluse has 2595 hours of sunshine a year. It rains an average of 80 days a year, for a total of
693.4‘mm a year. The maximum average temperature in July is 29.6‘ŽC., and the average minimum temperature in
January is 1.3‘ŽC. There are an average of 110 days of strong winds a year.
108
Provence
109
Language and literature
Scientists, scholars and prophets
„ Pytheas (4th century BCE) was a geographer and mathematician who lived in the Greek colony of Massalia,
which became Marseille. He conducted an expedition by sea north around England to Iceland, and was the first to
describe the midnight sun and polar regions.
„ Petrarch (1304•1374) was an Italian poet and scholar, considered the father of humanism and one of the first
great figures of Italian literature. He spent much of his early life in Avignon and Carpentras as an official at the
Papal court in Avignon, and wrote a famous account of his ascent of Mount Ventoux near Aix-en-Provence.
„ Nostradamus (1503•1566), a Renaissance apothecary and reputed clairvoyant best known for his alleged
prophecies of great world events, was born in Saint-Remy-de-Provence and lived and died in Salon-de-Provence.
Occitan literature
Main articles: Occitan language and Occitan literature
Historically the language spoken in Provence was Proven…al, a dialect of the
Occitan language, also known as langue d'oc, and closely related to Catalan.
There are several regional variations: vivaro-alpin, spoken in the Alps; and the
proven…al variations of south, including the maritime, the rhoadanien (in the
RhŒne Valley) and the ni…ois (in Nice). Ni…ois is the archaic form of proven…al
closest to the original language of the troubadours, and is sometimes to said to be
literary language of its own.[25]
Proven…al was widely spoken in Provence until the beginning of the 20th
century, when the French government launched an intensive and largely
successful effort to replace regional languages with French. Today Proven…al is
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras, from a
taught in schools and universities in the region, but is spoken regularly by a small
number of people, probably less than five hundred thousand, mostly elderly.
collection of troubadour songs, BNF
Richelieu Manuscrits Fran€ais 854,
Bibliothƒque Nationale Fran€aise,
Paris.
Provence
110
Writers and poets in the Occitan language
The golden age of Proven…al literature, more correctly called Occitan literature,
was the 11th century and the 12th century, when the troubadours broke away
from classical Latin literature and composed romances and love songs in their
own vernacular language. Among the most famous troubadours was Folquet de
Marselha, whose love songs became famous all over Europe, and who was
praised by Dante in his Divine Comedy. In his later years, Folquet gave up poetry
to become the Abbot of Le Thoronet Abbey, and then Bishop of Toulouse, where
he fiercely persecuted the Cathars.
In the middle of the 19th century there was a literary movement to revive the
language, called the F•librige, led by the poet Fr‚d‚ric Mistral (1830•1914),
who shared the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1904.
Proven…al writers and poets who wrote in Occitan include:
„ Raimbaut de Vaqueiras (1180•1207)
„ Louis Bellaud (1543•1588)
"Folquet de Marselha" in a
13th-century chansonnier. Depicted
in his episcopal robes
„ Th‚odore Aubanel (1829•1886)
„ Joseph d'Arbaud (1874•1950)
„ Robert Lafont (1923•2009)
French authors
„ Alphonse Daudet (1840•1897) was the best-known French writer from
Provence in the 19th century, though he lived mostly in Paris and
Champrosay. He was best known for his Lettres de mon moulin (eng: Letters
from my Mill) (1869) and the Tartarin de Tarascon trilogy (1872, 1885,
1890). His story L'Arl•sienne (1872) was made into a three-act play with
music by Bizet.[26]
„ Marcel Pagnol (1895•1970), born in Aubagne, is known both as a filmmaker
and for his stories of his childhood, Le Chˆteau de la Mere, La Gloire de mon
Pere, and Le Temps des secrets. He was the first filmmaker to become a
member of the Acad‚mie fran…aise in 1946.
Alphonse Daudet
„ Colette (Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette) (1873•1954), although she was not from
Provence, became particularly attached to Saint-Tropez. After World War II, she headed a committee which saw
that the village, badly-damaged by the war, was restored to its original beauty and character
„ Jean Giono (1895•1970), born in Manosque, wrote about peasant life in Provence, inspired by his imagination
and by his vision of Ancient Greece.
„ Paul Ar€ne (1843•1896), born in Sisteron, wrote about life and the countryside around his home town.
Emigr€s, exiles, and expatriates
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the climate and lifestyle of Provence attracted writers almost as much as it attracted
painters. It was particularly popular among British, American and Russian writers in the 1920s and 1930s.
Provence
111
„ Edith Wharton (1862•1937), bought Castel Sainte-Claire in 1927, on the site
of a former convent in the hills above Hy€res, where she lived during the
winters and springs until her death in 1937.
„ F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896•1940) and his wife Zelda first visited the Riviera in
1924, stopping at Hy€res, Cannes and Monte Carlo, eventually staying at St.
Raphaˆl, where he wrote much of The Great Gatsby and began Tender is the
Night.
Colette
„ Ivan Bunin (1870•1953), the first Russian writer to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, went to France after the
Russian Revolution, set several of his short stories on the CŒte d'Azur, and had a house in Grasse.
„ Somerset Maugham (1874•1965) bought a house, the Villa Mauresque, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1928, and,
except for the years of World War II, spent much of his time there until his death.
Other English-speaking writers who live in or have written about Provence include:
„
„
„
„
„
„
Peter Mayle
Carol Drinkwater
John Lanchester
Willa Cather
Charles Spurgeon (who spent long periods in Menton
Katherine Mansfield
Music
Music written about Provence includes:
„ The saxophone concerto Tableaux de Provence (Pictures of Provence) composed by Paule Maurice.
„
„
„
„
The opera Mireille by Charles Gounod after Fr‚d‚ric Mistral's poem Mireio.
Georges Bizet, 'L'Arl‚sienne' incidental music to play by Alphonse Daudet.
Darius Milhaud, 'Suite Proven…ale'
Two song settings of Vladimir Nabokov's poem "Provence" in Russian and English versions by composers Ivan
[27]
Barbotin and James DeMars on the 2011 contemporary classical album Troika.
„ The piece "Suite Provencale", written for symphonic band by Jan Van der Roost.
Provence
112
Painters
Artists have been painting in Provence since prehistoric times;
paintings of bisons, seals, auks and horses dating to between 27,000
and 19,000 BC were found in the Cosquer Cave near Marseille.
[28]
The 14th-century wooden ceiling of the cloister of Fr‚jus Cathedral has
a remarkable series of paintings of biblical scenes, fantastic animals,
and scenes from daily life, painted between 1350 and 1360. They
include paintings of a fallen angel with the wings of a bat, a demon
with the tail of a serpent, angels playing instruments, a tiger, an
elephant, an ostrich, domestic and wild animals, a mermaid, a dragon,
a centaur, a butcher, a knight, and a juggler.[29]
Nicolas Froment (1435•1486) was the most important painter of
Provence during the Renaissance, best known for his triptych of the
The 14th-century ceiling of the cloister of Fr‚jus
Cathedral is decorated with paintings of animals,
people and mythical creatures
Burning Bush (c. 1476), commissioned by King Ren‚ I of Naples. The
painting shows the Annunciation to the shepherds, with the Virgin
Mary and Christ above the burning bush. The wings of the triptych
show King Rene with Mary Magdalene, St. Anthony and St. Maurice
on one side, and Queen Jeanne de Laval, with Saint Catherine, John the
Evangelist, and Saint Nicholas on the other.[30]
Louis Br‚a (1450•1523) was a 15th-century painter, born in Nice,
whose work is found in churches from Genoa to Antibes. His Retable
of Saint-Nicholas (1500) is found in Monaco, and his Retable de
Notre-Dame-de-Rosaire (1515) is found in Antibes.
Pierre Paul Puget (1620•1694), born in Marseille, was a painter of
portraits and religious scenes, but was better known for his sculptures,
found in Toulon Cathedral, outside the city hall of Toulon, and in the
Louvre. There is a mountain named for him near Marseille, and a
square in Toulon.
Triptych of the Burning Bush, by
Nicolas Froment, in Aix Cathedral
(15th century)
In the 19th and 20th centuries, many of the most famous painters in the
world converged on Provence, drawn by the climate and the clarity of
the light. The special quality of the light is partly a result of the Mistral
wind, which removes dust from the atmosphere, greatly increasing
visibility.
„ Adolphe Monticelli (1824•1886) was born in Marseille, moved to
Paris in 1846 and returned to Marseille in 1870. His work
influenced Vincent van Gogh who greatly admired him.[31]
„ Paul C‚zanne (1839•1906) was born in Aix-en-Provence, and lived
and worked there most of his life. The local landscapes, particularly
Montagne Sainte-Victoire, featured often in his work. He also
painted frequently at L'Estaque.
Paul C‚zanne, L'Estaque, 1883•1885
Provence
113
„ Vincent van Gogh (1853•1890) lived little more than two years in
Provence, but his fame as a painter is largely a result of what he
painted there. He lived in Arles from February 1888 to May 1889,
and then in Saint-Remy from May 1889 until May 1890.
„ Auguste Renoir (1841•1919) visited Beaulieu, Grasse, Saint
Raphael and Cannes, before finally settling in Cagnes-sur-Mer in
1907, where he bought a farm in the hills and built a new house and
workshop on the grounds. He continued to paint there until his death
in 1919. His house is now a museum.
„ Henri Matisse (1869•1954) first visited St. Tropez in 1904. In 1917
he settled in Nice, first at the Hotel Beau Rivage, then the Hotel de
la Mediterran‚e, then la Villa des Allies in Cimiez. In 1921 he lived
in an apartment at 1 place Felix Faure in Nice, next to the flower
Cafe Terrace at Night, September
1888
market and overlooking the sea, where he lived until 1938. He then
moved to the Hotel Regina in the hills of Cimiez, above Nice.
During World War II he lived in Vence, then returned to Cimiez,
where he died and is buried.
„ Pablo Picasso (1881•1973) spent each summer from 1919 to 1939
on the CŒte d'Azur, and moved there permanently in 1946, first at
Vallauris, then at Mougins, where he spent his last years.
„ Pierre Bonnard (1867•1947) retired to and died at Le Cannet.
„ Georges Braque (1882•1963) painted frequently at L'Estaque
between 1907 and 1910.
„ Henri-Edmond Cross (1856•1910) discovered the CŒte d'Azur in
Paul Signac, The Port of Saint-Tropez, oil on
canvas, 1901
1883 and painted at Monaco and Hy€res.
„ Maurice Denis (1870•1943) painted at St. Tropez and Bandol.
„ Andr‚ Derain (1880•1954) painted at L'Estaque and Martigues.
„ Raoul Dufy (1877•1953), whose wife was from Nice, painted in Forcalquier, Marseille and Martigues.
„ Albert Marquet (1873•1947) painted at Marseille, St. Tropez and L'Estaque.
„ Claude Monet (1840•1927) visited Menton, Bordighera, Juan-les-Pins, Monte-Carlo, Nice, Cannes, Beaulieu and
Villefranche, and painted a number of seascapes of Cap Martin, near Menton, and at Cap d'Antibes.
„ Edvard Munch (1863•1944) visited and painted in Nice and Monte-Carlo (where he developed a passion for
gambling), and rented a villa at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in 1891.
„ Paul Signac (1863•1935) visited St. Tropez in 1892, and bought a villa, La Hune, at the foot of citadel in 1897. It
was at his villa that his friend, Henri Matisse, painted his famous Luxe, Calme et Volupt•" in 1904. Signac made
numerous paintings along the coast.
„ Pierre Deval (1897•1993), a French modernist and figurist painter, lived and worked at the Domaine d'Orv€s in
La Valette-du-Var from 1925 until his death in 1993.
„ Nicolas de Staˆl (1914•1955) lived in Nice and Antibes.
„ Yves Klein (1928•1962), a native of Nice, is considered an important figure in post-war European art.
„ Sacha Sosno (b. 1937) is a French painter and sculptor living and working in Nice.
Source and Bibliography about artists on the Mediterranean
„ M•diterran•e de Courbet › Matisse, catalogue of the exhibit at the Grand Palais, Paris from September 2000 to
January 2001. Published by the R‚union des mus‚es nationaux, 2000.
Provence
Film
Provence has a special place in the history of the motion picture • one of the first projected motion pictures,
L'Arriv•e d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (eng: the entry of a train into the station of Ciotat), a fifty-second silent
film, was made by Auguste and Louis Lumi€re at the train station of the coastal town of La Ciotat. It was shown to
an audience in Paris on 28 December 1895, causing a sensation.[32]
Before its commercial premiere in Paris, the film was shown to invited audiences in several French cities, including
La Ciotat. It was shown at the Eden Theater in September 1895, making that theatre one of the first motion picture
theatres, and the only of the first theatres still showing movies in 2009.[33]
Three other of the earliest Lumiere films, Partie de cartes, l'Arroseur arros• (the first known filmed comedy), and
Repas de b•b•, were also filmed in La Ciotat in 1895, at the Villa du Clos des Plages, the summer residence of the
Lumi€re Brothers.
Two modern French film classics particularly capture the idyllic qualities of Provence: Jean de Florette and its
sequel Manon des Sources.
A modern day British film, "A Good Year", shows off the true beauty of Provence and its vineyards.
Parks and gardens in Provence
Main article: Gardens of Provence-Alpes-CŒte d'Azur
Cuisine
The cuisine of Provence is the result of the warm, dry Mediterranean climate; the rugged landscape, good for
grazing sheep and goats but, outside of the RhŒne Valley, with poor soil for large-scale agriculture; and the abundant
seafood on the coast. The basic ingredients are olives and olive oil; garlic; sardines, rockfish, sea urchins and
octopus; lamb and goat; chickpeas; local fruits, such as grapes, peaches, apricots, strawberries, cherries, and the
famous melons of Cavaillon.
The fish frequently found on menus in Provence are the rouget, a small red fish usually eaten grilled, and the loup,
(known elsewhere in France as the bar), often grilled with fennel over the wood of grapevines.
„ A†oli is a thick emulsion sauce made from olive oil flavoured with
crushed garlic. It often accompanies a bourride, a fish soup, or is
served with potatoes and cod (fr. Morue). There are as many recipes
as there are families in Provence.
„ Bouillabaisse is the classic seafood dish of Marseille. The
traditional version is made with three fish: scorpionfish, sea robin,
and European conger, plus an assortment of other fish and shellfish,
such as John Dory, monkfish, sea urchins, crabs and sea spiders
An A†oli made of garlic, salt, egg yolk and olive
included for flavour. The seasoning is as important as the fish,
oil
including salt, pepper, onion, tomato, saffron, fennel, sage, thyme,
bay laurel, sometimes orange peel, and a cup of white wine or cognac. In Marseille the fish and the broth are
served separately • the broth is served over thick slices of bread with rouille (see below.)[34]
„ Brandade de Morue is a thick cream made of cod crushed and mixed with olive oil, milk, garlic and sometimes
truffles.
114
Provence
115
„ Daube proven…ale is a stew made with cubed beef braised in wine,
vegetables, garlic, and herbes de provence. Variations also call for
olives, prunes, and flavouring with duck fat, vinegar, brandy,
lavender, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries, or orange peel.
For best flavour, it is cooked in several stages, and cooled for a day
between each stage to allow the flavours to meld together. In the
Camargue area of France, bulls killed in the bullfighting festivals
are sometimes used for daube.
„ Escabeche is another popular seafood dish; the fish (usually
sardines) are either poached or fried after being marinated overnight
in vinegar or citrus juice.
Pissaladi€re
„ Fougasse is the traditional bread of Provence, round and flat with
holes cut out by the baker. Modern versions are baked with olives or
nuts inside.
„ Oursinade is the name of a sauce based on the coral of the sea
urchin, and usually is used with fish, and also refers to a tasting of
sea urchins.
„ La pissaladiƒre is another speciality of Nice. Though it resembles a
pizza, it is made with bread dough and the traditional variety never
has a tomato topping. It is usually sold in bakeries, and is topped
with a bed of onions, lightly browned, and a kind of paste, called
pissalat, made from sardines and anchovies, and the small black
olives of Nice, called caillettes.
A bowl of ratatouille with bread
„ Ratatouille is a traditional dish of stewed vegetables, which
originated in Nice.[35]
„ Rouille is a mayonnaise with red pimentos, often spread onto bread
and added to fish soups.
„ Socca is a speciality of Nice • it is a round flat cake made of
chickpea flour and olive oil, like the Italian farinata. It is baked in
the oven in a large pan more than a meter in diameter, then seasoned
with pepper and eaten with the fingers while hot. In Toulon socca is
[36]
known as La Cade.
Socca of Nice also known as La Cade in Toulon
„ Soupe au pistou, either cold or hot, usually made with fresh basil
ground and mixed with olive oil, along with summer vegetables,
such as white beans, green beans, tomatoes, summer squash, and
potatoes.
„ Tapenade is a relish consisting of pureed or finely chopped olives,
capers, and olive oil, usually spread onto bread and served as an
hors d'«uvre.
The Calissons from Aix
„ The calisson is the traditional biscuit of Aix-en-Provence, made
from a base of almond paste flavoured with confit of melon and orange. They have been made in
Aix-en-Provence since the 17th century.
„ The g‰teau des Rois is a type of epiphany cake found all over France; the Proven…al version is different because it
is made of brioche in a ring, flavoured with the essence of orange flowers and covered with sugar and fruit confit.
„ The tarte Trop€zienne is a tart of pastry cream (cr€me p‰tissi€re) invented by a St. Tropez pastry chef named
Alexandre Micka in the 1950s, based on a recipe he brought from his native Poland. In 1955, he was chef on the
Provence
116
set of the film And God Created Woman when actress Brigitte Bardot suggested he name the cake La
Trop‚zienne. It is now found in bakeries throughout the Var.[37]
„ The Thirteen desserts is a Christmas tradition in Provence, when thirteen different dishes, representing Jesus and
the twelve apostles, and each with a different significance, are served after the large Christmas meal.
„ Herbes de Provence (or Proven•al herbs) are a mixture of dried herbs from Provence which are commonly used
in Proven…al cooking.
Wines
Main article: Provence wine
The wines of Provence were probably introduced into Provence around 600 BC by the Greek Phoceans who
founded Marseille and Nice. After the Roman occupation, in 120 BC the Roman Senate forbade the growing of vines
and olives in Provence, to protect the profitable trade in exporting Italian wines, but in the late Roman empire retired
[38]
soldiers from Roman Legions settled in Provence and were allowed to grow grapes.
The Romans complained about the competition from and poor quality of the wines of Provence. In the 1st century
AD the Roman poet Martial condemned the wines of Marseille as "terrible poisons, and never sold at a good
price."[39]
As recently as the 1970s the wines of Provence had the reputation of
being rather ordinary: In 1971 wine critic Hugh Johnson wrote: "The
whites are dry and can lack the acidity to be refreshing; the reds are
straightforward, strong and a trifle dull; it is usually the ros‚s, often
orange-tinted, which have most appeal." He added, "Cassis and Bandol
distinguish themselves for their white and red wines respectively.
Cassis (no relation of the blackcurrant syrup) is livelier than the run of
Proven…al white wine, and Bandol leads the red in much the same
way."[40]
Vineyards near Montagne St. Victoire, producing
wines of the AOL CŒtes de Provence
Since that time, cultivation of poorer varieties has been reduced and
new technologies and methods have improved the quality considerably.
The wines of Provence are grown under demanding conditions; hot weather and abundant sunshine (Toulon, near
Bandol, has the most sunshine of any city in France) which ripens the grapes quickly; little rain, and the mistral.
The great majority of the wines produced in Provence are ros‚s. The most characteristic grape is mourv€dre, used
most famously in the red wines of Bandol. Cassis is the only area in Provence known for its white wines.
There are three regional classifications (Appellation d'origine contrŒl‚e (AOC)) in Provence:
„ AOC C„tes de Provence. This AOC classification dates to 1997, though these wines were recognised in the 17th
and 18th century, notably by Madame de S‚vign‚, who reported the habits and preferred wines of the Court of
Louis XIV. The title CŒtes de Provence was already in use in 1848, but production was nearly destroyed by
phylloxera later in that century, and took decades to recover. The appellation today covers 84 communes in the
Var and Bouches-du-RhŒne departments, and one in Alpes-Maritimes. The principal grapes used in the red wines
are the grenache, mourv€dre, cinsault, tibouren, and syrah. For the white wines, clairette, vermentino, s‚millon,
and ugni blanc.
The appellation covers 20,300 hectares. 80 percent of the production is ros‚ wine, fifteen percent is red wine, and 5
percent white wine.
„ AOC Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence was classified as an AOC in 1985. The wines of Aix were originally planted
by veterans of the Roman legions in the 1st century BC, and were promoted in the 15th century by Ren‚ I of
Naples, the last ruler of Provence. Most vineyards were destroyed by phylloxera in the 19th century, and very
slowly were reconstituted. The principal grapes for the red wines and ros‚s are the grenache, mourv€dre, cinsault,
Provence
syrah, counoise, carignan, and cabernet sauvignon. White wines are made mainly with bourboulenc, clairette,
grenache blanc, and vermentino. There are 4000 hectares in production. 70 percent of the wines are ros‚s, 25
percent red wines, and 5 percent white wines.
„ AOC Coteaux varois en Provence is a recent AOC in Provence. The name Coteaux Varois was first used in
1945, and became an AOC in 1993. the name was changed to Couteaux Varois en Provence in 2005. The red
wines principally use the grenache, cinsaut, mourv€dre, and syrah grapes. White wines use the clairette, grenache
blanc, rolle blanc, S‚millon Blanc, and Ugni Blanc. There are 2200 hectares in this AOL. It produces 80 percent
ros‚s, 17 percent red wines, and 3 percent white wines.
In addition, there are five local classifications: (Les appellations locales):
„ Bandol AOC, grown in the Var on the coast west of Toulon, mostly around the villages of La Cadiere d'Azur and
Castellet. Wines of this appellation must have at least fifty percent Mourv€dre grapes, though most have
considerably more. Other grapes used are grenache, cinsault, syrah, and carignan.
„ AOC Cassis, made near the coastal town of Cassis, between Toulon and Marseille, was the first wine in Provence
to be classified as an AOC in 1936, and is best known for its white wines. Wines from Cassis are described in
French literature as early as the 12th century. The grapes most commonly used are the marsanne, the clairette, the
ugni blanc, sauvignon blanc, and the Bourboulenc. Ros‚ wines use the grenache, carignan, and mourv€dre.
„ AOC Bellet; at the time of the French Revolution, the little town of Saint Roman de Bellet (now part of Nice) was
the center of an important wine region. Production was nearly destroyed by the phylloxera and by the two wars,
and only in 1946 was the region again producing fully. It was classified as an AOC in 1941. Today the region is
one of the smallest in France; just 47 hectares. The grapes are grown on terraces along the left bank of the Var
River, east of the town. The major grapes grown for red wines and ros‚s are the braquet, Folle, and Cinsault,
blended sometimes with grenache. For white wines, the major grapes grown are rolle blanc, roussane, spagnol,
and mayorquin; the secondary grapes are clairette, bourboulenc, chardonnay, pignerol, and muscat.
„ Palette AOC; the little village of Palete, four kilometres east of Aix-en-Provence, has long been famous for the
production of a vin cuit, or fortified wine, used in the traditional Provence Christmas dessert, the Thirteen
desserts, and the Christmas cake called pompo ‡ l'oli, or the olive-oil pump. This production was nearly
abandoned, but is now being recreated. The main grapes for red wine are grenache, mourv€dre, and cinsaut; for
the white wines clairette.
„ AOC Les Baux de Provence; was established as an AOC for red and ros‚ wines in 1995.
South of Avignon, it occupies the north and south slopes of the Alpilles, up to an altitude of 400 metres, and extends
about thirty kilometres from east to west. The principal grapes for the red wines are the grenache, mourv€dre, and
syrah. For the ros‚s, the main grapes are the syrah and cinsault.
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Provence
118
Pastis
Pastis is the traditional liqueur of Provence, flavoured with anise and typically
containing 40•45% alcohol by volume. When absinthe was banned in France in
1915, the major absinthe producers (then Pernod Fils and Ricard, who have since
merged as Pernod Ricard) reformulated their drink without the banned
wormwood and with more aniseed flavour, coming from star anise, sugar and a
lower alcohol content, creating pastis. It is usually drunk diluted with water,
which it turns a cloudy color. It is especially popular in and around Marseille.
P€tanque or boules
P‚tanque, a form of boules, is a popular sport played in towns and villages all
over Provence. The origins of the game are said to be ancient, going back to the
Egyptians, ancient Greeks, and Ancient Romans, who are said to have introduced
it to Provence first. The sport was very popular during the Middle Ages
throughout Europe, known as bowls or lawn bowling in England, and as boules
in France.
A more athletic version of the sport called jeu proven€al was popular throughout
Provence in the 19th century • this version is featured in the novels and
memoires of Marcel Pagnol; players ran three steps before throwing the ball, and
it resembled at times a form of ballet. The modern version of the game was
created in 1907 at the town of La Ciotat by a former champion of jeu proven€al
named Jules Hugues, who was unable to play because of his rheumatism. He
devised a new set of rules where the field was much smaller, and players did not
run before throwing the ball, but remained inside a small circle with their feet
together. This gave the game its name, lei peds tancats, in the Proven…al dialect
of occitan, 'feet together.' The first tournament was played in La Ciotat in 1910.
The first steel boules were introduced in 1927.
A glass of diluted pastis
Men playing p‚tanque next to the
Port St. Louis in Toulon
The object is to throw a ball (boule) as close as possible to a smaller ball, called
the cochonnet, (this kind of throw is called to faire le point or pointer); or to
knock away a boules of the opponent that is close to the cochonnet (this is called
Cochonnet next to the boule
to tirer). Players compete one-on-one (t…te-†-t…te), in teams of two (doublettes)
or teams of three (triplettes). The object is to accumulate thirteen points. The point belongs to the ball the closest to
the cochonnet. A player pitches balls until he can regain the point (reprenne le point) by having his ball closest to the
cochonnet. Each ball from a single team, if there are no other balls from the other team closer to the cochonnet,
counts as a point. The points are counted when all of the balls have been tossed by both teams.[41]
Genetics
A recent genetic study in 2011 analysed 51 southern French individuals from Provence and 89 Anatolian Greek
subjects whose paternal ancestry derives from Smyrna and Asia Minor Phokaia, the ancestral embarkation port to the
6th century BCE ancient Greek colonies of Massalia (Marseilles) and Alalie (Aleria, Corsica). The study found that
17% of the Y-chromosomes of Provence may be attributed to Greek colonisation. The study also concluded that
"estimates of colonial Greek vs indigenous Celto-Ligurian demography predict a maximum of a 10% Greek
contribution, suggesting a Greek male elite-dominant input into the Iron Age Provence population." This evidence
supports the persistence of the gene pool of the Ancient Greeks among the modern southern French.
Provence
Sources and references
[1] See article on Provence in the French-language Wikipedia.
[2] Le Petit Robert, Dictionnaire Universel des Noms Propres (1988).
[3] Eduouard Baratier (editor), Histoire de la Provence, Editions Privat, Toulouse, 1990, Introduction.
[4] Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, article in Histoire de la Provence, edited by Edouard Baratier, Editions Privat, Toulouse,
1990. Pg. 14 See also Henry de Lumley, La Grand Histoire des premiers hommes europ•ens, Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010
[5] Max Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, pg. 15
[6] Escalon de Fonton, L'Homme avant l'histoire, pg. 16•17
[7] Aldo Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, Editions Ouest-France, 2001
[8] J.R. Palanque, Ligures, Celts et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence. Pg. 33.
[9] J. Cited by R. Palanque, Ligures, Celts et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence. Pg. 34.
[10] J. R. Palanque, Ligures, Celts et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence. Pg. 34.
[11] J. R. Palanque, Ligures, Celts et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence. Pg. 34
[12] J.R. Palanque, Ligures, Celtes et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence, pg. 39.
[13] R. Palanque, Ligures, Celtes et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence, pg. 41.
[14] R. Palanque, Ligures, Celtes et Grecs, in Histoire de la Provence, pg. 44.
[15] Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, pg. 9
[16] Aldo Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, (pg. 13.)
[17] Histoire de la Provence, pg. 16
[18] Bastiª, Histoire de la Provence
[19] Bastiª, Histoire de la Provence, pg. 20.
[20] Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, (pg. 35)
[21] Edward Baratier, Histoire de la Provence, 6•7.
[22] See Mediterranean climate.
[23] Precipitations a Toulon (http:/ / www. infoclimat. fr/ climatologie/ index. php?s=07660& aff=details).
[24] M‚t‚o-France. site
[25] from the article "Provence" in the French-language Wikipedia.
[26] Atlantic Brief Lives, A Biographical Companion to the Arts, pg. 204, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1971.
[27] "Troika: Russia‚s westerly poetry in three orchestral song cycles" (http:/ / www. amazon. fr/ dp/ B005USB24A), Rideau Rouge Records,
ASIN: B005USB24A, 2011.
[28] Aldo Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, Editions Ouest-France, 2001.
[29] Fixot, Michel, and Sauze, Elisabeth, 2004: La cath•drale Saint-L•once et le groupe •piscopale de Fr•jus. Monum, •ditions du patrimoine.
[30] The cult of Mary Magdalene was very important in medieval Provence; What was believed to be her sarcophagus had been found in a
Gallo-Roman crypt in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in 1279, and the construction of a large church, the Basilica Sainte Marie-Madeleine,
was begun on the spot in 1295.
[31] See exhibition "Van Gogh • Monticelli" in Marseille's Centre de la Vieille Charit•, Sep 2008 • Jan 2009 (http:/ / www. rmn. fr/
Van-Gogh-et-Monticelli-Centre-de)
[32] * Complete film (http:/ / www. youtube. com/ watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk) on YouTube
„ The Lumiere Institute, Lyon, France (http:/ / www. institut-lumiere. org/ )
[33] "...Onze autres projections en France (Paris, Lyon, La Ciotat, Grenoble) et en Belgique (Bruxelles, Louvain) auront lieu avec un programme
de films plus ‚toff‚ durant l'ann‚e 1895, avant la premi€re commerciale du 28 d‚cembre, remportant ‡ chaque fois le mŠme succ€s." From the
site of the Institut Lumiere in Lyon. see Site of the Institut Lumiere (http:/ / www. institut-lumiere. org/ )
[34] See the Michelin Guide Vert, CŒte d'Azur, pg.31 (in French), for this classic version. There are countless others.
[35] Ratatouille. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd edition.
[36] Socca
[37] Targe trop‚zienne
[38] Cicero, Book III Chapter 9 of De Republica, quoted in Histore sociale et culturelle du Vin, Gilbert Garrier, Larousse, 1998.
[39] Martial, Epigrams X-36, cited by Garrier, op.cit.
[40] Hugh Johnson, The World Atlas of Wine, Mitchell Beazley Publishers, 1971
[41] Marco Foyot, Alain Dupuy, Louis Dalmas, P•tanque • Technique,Tactique, Entrainement Robert Laffont, Paris 1984. This seems to be the
definitive book on the subject, co-written by p‚tanque champion Marco Foyot.
119
Provence
Bibliography
„
„
„
„
„
Edouard Baratier (editor), Histoire de la Provence, Editions Privat, Toulouse, 1990 (ISBN 2-7089-1649-1)
Aldo Basti‚, Histoire de la Provence, Editions Ouest-France, 2001.
Michel Verg‚-Franceschi, Toulon • Port Royal (1481•1789). Tallandier: Paris, 2002.
Cyrille Roumagnac, L'Arsenal de Toulon et la Royale, Editions Alan Sutton, 2001
Jim Ring, Riviera, The Rise and Fall of the C„te d'Azur, John Murray Publishers, London 2004
„ Marco Foyot, Alain Dupuy, Louis Dalmas, P•tanque • Technique, Tactique, Entrainement, Robert Laffont, Paris,
1984.
„ Denizeau, Gerard, Histoire Visuelle des Monuments de France, Larousse, 2003
„ LeMoine, Bertrand, Guide d'architecture, France, 20e siecle, Picard, Paris 2000
„ Jean-Louis Andr‚, Jean-Fran…ois Mallet, Jean daniel Sudres, Cuisines des pays de France, •ditions du ChŠne,
Hachette Livre, Paris 2001
„ Prosper M‚rim‚e, Notes de voyages, ed. Pierre-Marie Auzas (1971)
„ Martin Garrett, Provence: a Cultural History (2006)
„ James Pope-Hennessy, Aspects of Provence (1988)
„ Laura Raison (ed.), The South of France: an Anthology (1985)
External links
Media related to Provence at Wikimedia Commons
„ Official Provence area Tourist Board (http://www.provenceguide.co.uk/) Provence area Tourist Board
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„ Tours of Provence (http://onedayinprovence.com) Tours in Provence
„ Visit Provence (http://www.visitprovence.com/en) Visit Provence
120
Alsace
121
Alsace
For other uses, see Alsace (disambiguation).
"Elsa¬" redirects here. For the battleship, see SMS Elsa¬.
Alsace
Region of France
Flag
Coat of arms
Country
Prefecture
‘France
Strasbourg
Departments
Government
‚€‚President
Philippe Richert (2010•) (UMP)
Area
‚€‚Total
2
8,280‘km (3,200‘sq‘mi)
Population (2006)
‚€‚Total
1,815,488
‚€‚Density
220/km2 (570/sq‘mi)
Demonym
Alsatian
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
‚€‚Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code
FR-A
GDP‚(2012)
Ranked 12th
Total
ƒ53.6 billion (US$69.0 bn)
Per capita
ƒ28,849 (US$37,105)
NUTS Region
FR4
Website
region-alsace.eu
[1]
Alsace
Alsace (French: Alsace [al.zas]‘(
); Alsatian: €s Elsass [’‰ls•s]; German: Elsass, pre-1996: Elsaœ [’‰lzas]‘(
);
2
Latin: Alsatia) is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area (8,280‘km ), and the smallest in
metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated
region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km2 (total population in 2006: 1,815,488; 1 January 2008
estimate: 1,836,000).
Alsace is located on France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and
Switzerland. Historical decisions, wars, and strategic politics have resulted in Alsace being administered as a
"region" within the Republic of France. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace
is Strasbourg. Because that city is the seat of dozens of international organizations and bodies, Alsace is politically
one of the most important regions in the European Union.
The name "Alsace" can be traced to the Old High German Ali-saz or Elisaz, meaning "foreign domain". An
alternative explanation is from a Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "seated on the Ill",[2] a river in Alsace. The region, as
part of Lorraine, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, and then was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century,
and formalized as one of the provinces of France. The Calvinist manufacturing republic of Mulhouse, known as
Stadtrepublik M•lhausen, become a part of Alsace after a vote by its citizens on 4 January 1798. Alsace is frequently
mentioned with and as part of Lorraine and the former duchy of Lorraine, since it was a vital part of the duchy, and
later because German possession as the imperial province (Alsace-Lorraine, 1871•1918) was contested in the 19th
and 20th centuries; France and Germany exchanged control of parts of Lorraine (including Alsace) four times in 75
years.
The historical language of Alsace is Alsatian, a Germanic (mainly Alemannic) dialect spoken in Lorraine and across
the Rhine, but today most Alsatians speak French, the official language of France. 43% of the adult population, and
3% of children (3•17 years old), stated in 2012 that they speak Alsatian.[3][4] The place names used in this article are
in French; for the German place names, see German place names (Alsace).
History
Roman Alsace
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters, but by 1500 BC,Wikipedia:Citation needed Celts
began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established
Alsace as a center of viticulture. To protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military
camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day. While part
of the Roman Empire, Alsace was part of Germania Superior.
Frankish Alsace
Main article: Duchy of Alsace
With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were
agricultural people, and their language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine
(Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD,
culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis'
Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the
Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the
grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was
ruled by the youngest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The
part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers
Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The
Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the
122
Alsace
Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of
Swabia.
Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire
At about this time the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number
of feudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the Holy Roman Empire. Alsace experienced
great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors. Frederick I set up Alsace as a
province (a procuratio, not a provincia) to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was
that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The
province had a single provincial court (Landgericht) and a central administration with its seat at Hagenau. Frederick
II designated the Bishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by Count
Rudolph of Habsburg, who received his rights from Frederick II's son Conrad IV. Strasbourg began to grow to
become the most populous and commercially important town in the region. In 1262, after a long struggle with the
ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of free imperial city. A stop on the Paris-Vienna-Orient trade route, as
well as a port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and
Scandinavia, it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as Colmar and Hagenau also
began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the "Decapole" or "Dekapolis", a
federation of ten free towns.
As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace came to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad
harvests, and the Black Death. These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to the pogroms of 1336 and 1339. In
1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning the wells with plague, leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews
during the Strasbourg pogrom. Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster
was the Rhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins of Basel. Prosperity returned to
Alsace under Habsburg administration during the Renaissance.
German central power had begun to decline following years of
imperial adventures in Italian lands, ceding hegemony in Europe to
France, which had long since centralized power. France began an
aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the RhŒne and Meuse
Rivers, and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In
1299, the French proposed a marriage alliance between Philip IV of
France's sister Blanche and Albert I of Germany's son Rudolf, with
Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the
town of Belfort was first chartered by the Counts of Montb‚liard.
Petite-France, Strasbourg
During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by the
Hundred Years' War, which prevented for a time any further tendencies
in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in
1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz
and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel.
In 1469, following the Treaty of St. Omer, Upper Alsace was sold by Archduke Sigismund of Austria to Charles the
Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to Frederick III, Holy Roman
Emperor. The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of
Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of the demesne of the
Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation in
1515, where it was to remain until 1798.
By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its
inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His
123
Alsace
124
efforts were countered by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result,
Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, M¨mpelgard
(Montb‚liard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of W¢rttemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant
enclave in France until 1793.
Incorporation into France
This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace was conquered by France so as to keep it out of the hands
of the Spanish Habsburgs, who wanted a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the Spanish
Netherlands. The French in the context of the Thirty Years' War (1618•48). Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a
free hand in Hungary, the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which
had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2‘million Thalers. When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of
Westphalia, most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The
treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex; although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and
customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain it customs boundary along the
Vosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking
lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran) University of
Strasbourg, which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau,
by which the French king ordered the suppression of French Protestantism, was not applied in Alsace. France did
endeavour to promote Catholicism; Strasbourg Cathedral, for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681,
was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate of religious
tolerance.
The warfare that had partially depopulated the region created opportunities for a stream of immigrants from
Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Lorraine, Savoy and other lands that continued until the mid-18th
century.Wikipedia:Citation needed Between 1671 and 1711 Anabaptist refugees came from Switzerland, notably
from Bern.Wikipedia:Citation needed Strasbourg became a main centre of the early Anabaptist
movement.Wikipedia:Citation needed
France consolidated its hold with the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen,
which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized
Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes
were recognised in the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the War of
the Grand Alliance.
Louis XIV receiving the keys of Strasbourg in
1681
Alsace
125
French Revolution
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first
division of Alsace into the d‚partements of Haut- and Bas-Rhin.
Alsatians played an active role in the French Revolution. On 21 July
1789, after receiving news of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, a
crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city
administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal
system in Alsace. In 1792, Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the
Revolutionary marching song "La Marseillaise" (as Marching song for
the Army of the Rhine), which later became the anthem of France. "La
Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front
of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Fr‚d‚ric de Dietrich. Some of the
most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace,
notably Kellermann, the victor of Valmy, Kl‚ber, who led the armies
of the French Republic in Vend‚e and Westermann, who also fought in
the Vend‚e.
Alsatian sign, 1792:
Freiheit Gleichheit Br•derlichk. od. Tod (Liberty
Equality Fraternity or Death)
At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins
and sympathetic to the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who
Tod den Tyranen (Death to Tyrants)
Heil den V•lkern (Long live the Peoples)
sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic. Many of the
residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein
Abbey, near Basel, in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the French Revolutionary Army of the Rhine
was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not
until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration
by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803•4 and again in 1808. A poignant
retelling of this event based on what Goethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem Hermann and
Dorothea.
In response to the restoration of Napoleon I of France in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France
[5]
was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818, including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin
alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were
switched to newly opened Mediterranean and Atlantic seaports.
The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of
economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is
not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris • where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with
famous members such as Baron Haussmann • but also for more distant places like Russia and the Austrian Empire,
to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from the
Ottoman Empire and offered generous terms to colonists as a way of consolidating its hold on the new territories.
Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850.[6] In 1843 and
1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in
Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing ships Sully (in May 1843)
and Iowa (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian
immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development. Others ventured to Canada
to settle in southwestern Ontario, notably Waterloo County.
Alsace
126
Jews
Main article: History of the Jews in Alsace
By 1790, the Jewish population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They
were highly segregated and subject to long-standing anti-Jewish regulations. They maintained their own customs,
Yiddish language, and historic traditions within the tightly-knit ghettos; they adhered to Talmudic law enforced by
their rabbis. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services,
and especially in money lending. They financed about a third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew
during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and
Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews. In the 1830-1870 era
most Jews moved to the cities, where they made enormous progress toward integration and acculturation, as
antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and 1846 a special legal
oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of
1848. Merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871-1918 lessened antisemitic violence.[7]
Between France and Germany
Main article: Alsace-Lorraine
France started the Franco-Prussian War (1870•71), and was defeated
by the Kingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of the
war led to the unification of Germany. Otto von Bismarck annexed
[8]
Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871;
unlike other members states of the German federation, which had
governments of their own, the new Imperial territory of
Alsace-Lorraine was under the sole authority of the Kaiser,
administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between
100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million
Traditional costumes of Alsace
and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland
Elsaœ-Lothringen, many of them resettling in French Algeria as
Pied-Noirs. Only in 1911 was Alsace-Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which was manifested also in a
flag and an anthem (Els-ssisches Fahnenlied). In 1913, however, the Saverne Affair (German: Zabern-Aff-re)
showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity.
An Alsatian woman in traditional
costume, photographed by Adolphe
Braun
During World War I, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians
served as sailors in the Kaiserliche Marine and took part in the Naval mutinies
that led to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918, which left
Alsace-Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and
tried to found a republic. While Jacques Peirotes, at this time deputy at the
Landrat Elsass-Lothringen and just elected mayor of Strasbourg, proclaimed the
forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic, a
self-proclaimed government of Alsace-Lorraine declared independence as the
"Republic of Alsace-Lorraine". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks
later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established soviets and
revolutionaries from power. At the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians
and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the
re-establishment of order (which can be seen and is described in detail in the
reference video below).[9] Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had
Alsace
127
insisted that the r•gion was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority
of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France tolerated no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to
some eastern German territories at this time, because Alsatians were considered by the French public as fellow
Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles.
After World War I, the establishment of German identity in Alsace was reversed, as all Germans who had settled in
Alsace since 1871 were expelled.Wikipedia:Citation needed Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring that
[10]
of French were introduced.
However, in order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to
some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the 1905 French Law of
Separation of Church and State.
Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during World War II.
Although Germany never formally annexed Alsace-Lorraine, it was incorporated
into the Greater German Reich, which had been restructured into Reichsgaue.
Alsace was merged with Baden, and Lorraine with the Saarland, to become part
of a planned Westmark. During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and
Lorraine were inducted into the German army and in some cases, the Waffen
SS.[11]
Today the territory enjoys laws in certain areas that are significantly different
from the rest of France • this is known as the local law.
German stamps of Hindenburg
marked with "Elsa¬" (1940)
In more recent years, Alsatian is again being promoted by local, national and
European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but not mandatory) as one
of the regional languages of France. German is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools.
However, the Constitution of France still requires that French be the only official language of the Republic.
Timeline
Year(s)
Event
Ruled by
Official or common language
€
None
2300•750 BC Bell Beaker cultures
€
None; Proto-Celtic spoken
750•450 BC
Halstatt early Iron Age culture (early Celts)
€
None; Old Celtic spoken
450•58 BC
Celts/Gauls firmly secured in entire Gaul, Alsace; trade with Celts/Gauls
None; Gaulish variety of Celtic
Greece is evident (Vix)
widely spoken
5400•4500
Bandkeramiker/Linear Pottery cultures
BC
58 / 44 BC•
Alsace and Gaul conquered by Caesar, provinciated to
AD 260
Germania Superior
Roman Empire
Latin; Gallic widely spoken
260•274
Postumus founds breakaway Gallic Empire
Gallic Empire
Latin, Gallic
274•286
Rome reconquers the Gallic Empire, Alsace
Roman Empire
Latin, Germanic (only in
Argentoratum)
286•378
Diocletian divides the Roman Empire into Western and
Roman Empire
Eastern sectors
around 300
Beginning of Germanic migrations to the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
378•395
The Visigoths rebel, precursor to waves of German, and Hun Roman Empire
invasions
395•436
Death of Theodosius I, causing a permanent division
between Western and Eastern Rome
Western Roman Empire
436•486
Germanic invasions of the Western Roman Empire
Roman Tributary of Gaul
Alsace
128
486•511
Lower Alsace conquered by the Franks
Frankish Realm
Old Frankish, Latin
531•614
Upper Alsace conquered by the Franks
Frankish Realm
614•795
Totality of Alsace to the Frankish Kingdom
Frankish Realm
795•814
Charlemagne begins reign, Charlemagne crowned Emperor
of the Romans on 25 December 800
Frankish Empire
Old Frankish
814
Death of Charlemagne
Carolingian Empire
Old Frankish, Old High German
847•870
Treaty of Verdun gives Alsace and Lotharingia to Lothar I
Middle Francia (Carolingian
Frankish, Old High German
Empire)
870•889
Treaty of Mersen gives Alsace to East Francia
East Francia (German
Frankish, Old High German
Kingdom of the Carolingian
Empire)
889•962
Carolingian Empire breaks up into five Kingdoms, Magyars
Kingdom of Germany
Old High German, Frankish
and Vikings periodically raid Alsace
962•1618
Otto I crowned Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Empire
Old High German, Modern High
German (Alemannic spoken widely)
1618•1674
Louis XIII annexes portions of Alsace during the Thirty
Holy Roman Empire
German
Kingdom of France
French
Years' War
1674•1871
Louis XIV annexes the rest of Alsace during the
Franco-Dutch War, establishing full French sovereignty over
the region
1871•1918
1919•1940
(Alsatian and German tolerated)
Franco-Prussian war causes French cession of Alsace to
German Empire
German Empire
German
Treaty of Versailles causes German cession of Alsace to
France
French
France
1940•1944
Nazi Germany conquers Alsace
Nazi Germany
German
1945•present
French control
France
French
Tourism
Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages,
churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered
throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany.
Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170‘km of the Route des Vins d'Alsace from
Marlenheim to Thann) and the Vosges mountains with their thick and green forests and picturesque lakes.
„ Old towns of Strasbourg, Colmar, S‚lestat, Guebwiller, Saverne,
Obernai
„ Smaller cities and villages: Molsheim, Rosheim, Riquewihr,
Ribeauvill‚, Kaysersberg, Wissembourg, Neuwiller-l€s-Saverne,
Marmoutier, Rouffach, Soultz-Haut-Rhin, Bergheim, Hunspach,
Seebach, Turckheim, Eguisheim, Neuf-Brisach, Ferrette,
Niedermorschwihr and the gardens of the blue house in Uttenhoffen
„ Churches (as main sights in otherwise less remarkable places):
Thann, Andlau, Murbach, Ebersmunster, Niederhaslach,
Sigolsheim, Lautenbach, Epfig, Altorf, Ottmarsheim, Domfessel,
Niederhaslach, Marmoutier and the fortified church at Hunawihr
„ Ch‰teau du Haut-K«nigsbourg
Ch‰teau du Haut-K«nigsbourg
Alsace
129
„ Other castles: Ortenbourg and Ramstein (above S‚lestat),
Hohlandsbourg, Fleckenstein, Haut-Barr (above Saverne),
Saint-Ulrich (above Ribeauvill‚), Lichtenberg, Wangenbourg, the
three Castles of Eguisheim, Pflixbourg, Wasigenstein, Andlau,
Grand Geroldseck, Wasenbourg
„ Mus‚e de l'automobile de Mulhouse
„ Cit‚ du train museum in Mulhouse
„ The EDF museum in Mulhouse
„ Ungersheim's "•comus•e" (open air museum) and "Bioscope"
(leisure park about the environment, closed since September 2012)
The main entrance of the Ouvrage
Schoenenbourg from the Maginot Line
„ Mus‚e historique in Haguenau, largest museum in Bas-Rhin outside
Strasbourg
„ Biblioth€que humaniste in S‚lestat, one of the oldest public libraries in the world
„ Christmas markets in Kaysersberg, Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar
„
„
„
„
„
Departmental Centre of the History of Families (CDHF) in Guebwiller
The Maginot Line: Ouvrage Schoenenbourg
Mount Ste Odile
Route des Vins d'Alsace (Alsace Wine Route)
M‚morial d'Alsace-Lorraine in Schirmeck
„ Natzweiler-Struthof, the only German concentration camp on French territory during WWII
„ Famous mountains: Massif du Donon, Grand Ballon, Petit Ballon, Ballon d'Alsace, Hohneck,
Hartmannswillerkopf
„ National park: Parc naturel des Vosges du Nord
„ Regional park: Parc naturel r‚gional des Ballons des Vosges (south of the Vosges)
Alsace
130
Climate
Alsace has a semi-continental climate with cold and dry winters and hot summers. There is little precipitation
because the Vosges protect it from the west. The city of Colmar has a sunny microclimate; it is the second driest city
in France, with an annual precipitation of just 550‘mm, making it ideal for vin d'Alsace (Alsatian wine).
Topography
2
Alsace has an area of 8,283‘km , making it the smallest r•gion of
metropolitan France. It is almost four times longer than it is wide,
corresponding to a plain between the Rhine in the east and the Vosges
mountains in the west.
It includes the d•partements of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (known
previously as Sundgau and Nordgau). It borders Germany on the north
and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comt‚ on the south, and
Lorraine on the west.
Several valleys are also found in the r•gion. Its highest point is the
Grand Ballon in Haut-Rhin, which reaches a height of 1426‘m.
Topographic map of Alsace
Geology
Alsace is the part of the plain of the Rhine located at the west of the
Rhine, on its left bank. It is a rift or graben, from the Oligocene epoch,
associated with its horsts: the Vosges and the Black Forest.
The Jura Mountains, formed by slip (induced by the alpine uplift) of
the Mesozoic cover on the Triassic formations, goes through the area
of Belfort.
The Grand Ballon, southern face, seen from the
valley of the Thur
Flora
It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin
(Haguenau Forest).
Alsace
131
Politics
Main article: Alsace Regional Council
Alsace is one of the most conservative r•gions of France. It is one of just two r•gions in metropolitan France where
the conservative right won the 2004 r•gion elections and thus controls the Alsace Regional Council. Conservative
leader Nicolas Sarkozy got his best score in Alsace (over 65%) in the second round of the French presidential
elections of 2007. The president of the Regional Council is Philippe Richert, a member of the Union for a Popular
Movement, elected in the 2010 regional election. The frequently changing status of the r•gion throughout history has
left its mark on modern day politics in terms of a particular interest in national identity issues. Alsace is also one of
the most pro-EU regions of France. It was one of the few French regions that voted 'yes' to the European
Constitution in 2005.
Administrative divisions
The Alsace region is divided into 2 departments, 13
departmental arrondissements, 75 cantons (not shown
here), and 904 communes:
Department of Bas-Rhin
(Number of communes in parentheses)
„ Arrondissement of Haguenau (56)
„ Arrondissement of Molsheim (69)
„ Arrondissement of Saverne (128)
„ Arrondissement of S‚lestat-Erstein (101)
„ Arrondissement of Strasbourg-Campagne (104)
[12]
„ Arrondissement of Strasbourg-Ville (1)
„ Arrondissement of Wissembourg (68)
Department of Haut-Rhin
(Number of communes in parentheses)
„ Arrondissement of Altkirch (111)
„ Arrondissement of Colmar (62)
„ Arrondissement of Guebwiller (47)
„ Arrondissement of Mulhouse (73)
„ Arrondissement of Ribeauvill‚ (32)
„ Arrondissement of Thann (52)
Administrative map of Alsace showing d‚partements,
arrondissements and communes
Alsace
132
Economy
According to the Institut National de la Statistique et des Œtudes Œconomiques (INSEE), Alsace had a gross
domestic product of 44.3‘billion euros in 2002. With a GDP per capita of ƒ24,804, it was the second-place r•gion of
France, losing only to le-de-France. 68% of its jobs are in the services; 25% are in industry, making Alsace one of
France's most industrialised r•gions.
Alsace is a r•gion of varied economic activity, including:
„ viticulture (mostly along the Route des Vins d'Alsace between Marlenheim and Thann)
„ hop harvesting and brewing (half of French beer is produced in Alsace, especially in the vicinity of Strasbourg,
notably in Strasbourg-Cronenbourg, Schiltigheim and Obernai)
„ forestry development
„ automobile industry (Mulhouse)
„ life sciences, as part of the trinational BioValley and
„ tourism
„ potassium chloride (until the late 20th century) and phosphate mining
Alsace has many international ties and 35% of firms are foreign companies (notably German, Swiss, American,
Japanese, and Scandinavian).
Demographics
Alsace's population increased to 1,836,000 in 2008. It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime, by both
natural growth and migration. This growth has even accelerated at the end of the 20th century. INSEE estimates that
its population will grow 12.9% to 19.5% between 1999 and 2030.
With a density of 222/km2, Alsace is the third most densely populated r•gion in metropolitan France.
Immigration
Place of birth of residents of Alsace
(at the 1968, 1975, 1982, 1990, 1999, and 2010 censuses)
Census
Born in
Born in the rest
Born in
Alsace
of
Metropolitan
Overseas
France
France
71.6%
15.3%
Immigrants
countries with
French
citizenship at
birth
2010
[b]
Born in foreign
0.4%
[a]
2.3%
10.4%
from
Europe
from the
[c]
Maghreb
from
Turkey
from the
rest of the
world
4.6%
1999
73.6%
15.4%
0.4%
2.4%
1.6%
2.1%
1.8%
8.5%
from
Europe
4.2%
from the
[c]
Maghreb
1.9%
1990
75.9%
13.4%
0.3%
2.4%
7.9%
1982
76.8%
12.5%
0.3%
2.6%
7.8%
from
from the
Turkey
rest of the
world
1.3%
1.1%
Alsace
133
1975
78.3%
11.6%
0.2%
2.6%
7.3%
1968
81.7%
9.8%
0.1%
2.8%
5.6%
^a Persons born abroad of French parents, such as Pieds-Noirs and children of French expatriates.
^b An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant
may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born
in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
^c Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria
Source: INSEE
Transportation
Roads
Most major car journeys are made on the A35 autoroute, which links
Saint-Louis on the Swiss border to Lauterbourg on the German border.
The A4 toll road (towards Paris) begins 20‘km northwest of Strasbourg
and the A36 toll road towards Lyon, begins 10‘km west from
Mulhouse.
Spaghetti-junctions (built in the 1970s and 1980s) are prominent in the
comprehensive system of motorways in Alsace, especially in the
outlying areas of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. These cause a major
buildup of traffic and are the main sources of pollution in the towns,
notably in Strasbourg where the motorway traffic of the A35 was
170,000 per day in 2002.
Ponts Couverts, Strasbourg
At present, plans are being considered for building a new dual carriageway west of Strasbourg, which would reduce
the buildup of traffic in that area by picking up north- and southbound vehicles and getting rid of the buildup outside
Strasbourg. The line plans to link up the interchange of H«rdt to the north of Strasbourg, with Innenheim in the
southwest. The opening is envisaged at the end of 2011, with an average usage of 41,000 vehicles a day. Estimates
of the French Works Commissioner however, raised some doubts over the interest of such a project, since it would
pick up only about 10% of the traffic of the A35 at Strasbourg. Paradoxically, this reversed the situation of the
1950s. At that time, the French trunk road left of the Rhine not been built, so that traffic would cross into Germany
to use the Karlsruhe-Basel Autobahn.
To add to the buildup of traffic, the neighbouring German state of Baden-W¢rttemberg has imposed a tax on
heavy-goods vehicles using their Autobahnen. Thus, a part of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to
Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses the A5 on the Alsace-Baden-W¢rttemberg border and uses the untolled,
French A35 instead.
The French Assembl‚e Nationale allowed a tax on HGVs using the alsatian road network in 2005. It must be
applicated since beginning 2008.
Alsace
134
Trains
TER Alsace is the rail network serving Alsace. Its network is
articulated around the city of Strasbourg. It is one of the most
developed rail networks in France, financially sustained partly by the
French railroad SNCF, and partly by the r•gion Alsace.
Because the Vosges are surmountable only by the Col de Saverne and
the Belfort Gap, it has been suggested that Alsace needs to open up and
get closer to France in terms of its rail links.
The TGV Est (Paris • Strasbourg) had its first phase brought into
service in June 2007, bringing down the Strasbourg-Paris trip from 4h
to 2h20. Work on its second phase in 2010, which will further bring
down this time to 1h50 started in 2010. Further plans include:
Place de l'Homme de Fer Tram Station
„ the TGV Rhin-RhŒne or a Dijon-Mulhouse line (to start in construction in 2006, with anticipated completion in
2011)
„ an interconnection with the German InterCityExpress, as far as Kehl and/or Ottmarsheim
„ a tram-train system in Mulhouse (May 2006), then Strasbourg (2011)
However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Di‚-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road.
Rivers
Port traffic of Alsace exceeds 15‘million tonnes, of which about three-quarters is centred on Strasbourg, which is the
second busiest French fluvial harbour. The enlargement plan of the Rhine-RhŒne channel, intended to link up the
Mediterranean Sea and Central Europe (Rhine, Danube, North Sea and Baltic Sea) was abandoned in 1998 for
reasons of expense and land erosion, notably in the Doubs valley.
Air traffic
There are two international airports in Alsace:
„ the international airport of Strasbourg in Entzheim
„ the international EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, which is the seventh largest French airport in terms of
traffic
Strasbourg is also two hours away by road from one of the largest European airports, Frankfurt Main, and 2h30m of
Charles de Gaulle Airport through the direct TGV service stopping in Terminal 2.
Cycling network
Crossed by three EuroVelo routes
„ the EuroVelo 5 (Via Francigena from London to Rome/Brindisi),
„ the EuroVelo 6 (V‚loroute des fleuves from Nantes to Budapest (H)) and
„ the EuroVelo 15 (V‚loroute Rhin / Rhine cycle route from Andermatt (CH) to Rotterdam (NL)).
Alsace is the most well equipped region of France with 2 000 kilometers cycle routes. The network is of a very good
standard and well signposted. All the tow pathes of the canals in Alsace (canal des houill€res de la Sarre, canal de la
Marne au Rhin, canal de la Bruche, canal du RhŒne au Rhin) are tarred.
Alsace
Religion
Most of the Alsatian population is Roman Catholic, but, largely
because of the region's German heritage, a significant Protestant
community also exists: today, the EPCAAL (a Lutheran church) is
France's second largest Protestant church, also forming an
administrative union (UEPAL) with the much smaller Calvinist
EPRAL. Unlike the rest of France, the Local law in Alsace-Moselle
still provides for to the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 and the organic
articles, which provides public subsidies to the Roman Catholic,
Lutheran, and Calvinist churches, as well as to Jewish synagogues;
public education in these faiths is offered. This divergence in policy
from the French majority is due to the region having been part of
Imperial Germany when the 1905 law separating the French church
Temple Saint-Œtienne (architect : Jean-Baptiste
and state was instituted (for a more comprehensive history, see:
Schacre), the main Calvinist church of Mulhouse.
Alsace-Lorraine). Controversy erupts periodically on the
appropriateness of this legal disposition, as well as on the exclusion of other religions from this arrangement.
Following the Protestant Reformation, promoted by local reformer Martin Bucer, the principle of cuius regio, eius
religio led to a certain amount of religious diversity in the highlands of northern Alsace. Landowners, who as "local
lords" had the right to decide which religion was allowed on their land, were eager to entice populations from the
more attractive lowlands to settle and develop their property. Many accepted without discrimination Catholics,
Lutherans, Calvinists, Jews and Anabaptists. Multiconfessional villages appeared, particularly in the region of Alsace
bossue. Alsace became one of the French regions boasting a thriving Jewish community, and the only region with a
noticeable Anabaptist population. The schism of the Amish under the lead of Jacob Amman from the Mennonites
occurred in 1693 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The strongly Catholic Louis XIV tried in vain to drive them from
Alsace. When Napoleon imposed military conscription without religious exception, most emigrated to the American
continent.
In 1707, the simultaneum was established, by which many Reformed and Lutheran church buildings were forced to
allow Catholic services. About 50 such "simultaneous churches" still exist in modern Alsace, though they tend to
hold Catholic services only occasionally.
135
Alsace
136
Culture
Alsace historically was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the
German realm of culture. Since the 17th century, the region has
passed between German and French control numerous times,
resulting in a cultural blend. Germanic traits remain in the more
traditional, rural parts of the culture, such as the cuisine and
architecture, whereas modern institutions are totally dominated by
French culture.
Language
Although German dialects were spoken in Alsace for most of its
history, the dominant official language in Alsace today is French.
The traditional language of the r•gion is Alsatian, an Alemannic
dialect of Upper German spoken on both sides of the Rhine and
closely related to Swiss German. Some Frankish dialects of West
Central German are also spoken in the extreme north of Alsace.
Neither Alsatian nor the Frankish dialects have any form of official
status, as is customary for regional languages in France, although
both are now recognized as languages of France and can be chosen
as subjects in lyc‚es.
Although Alsace has been annexed by France several times in the
past, the region had no direct connection with the French state for
several centuries. From the end of the Roman Empire (5th century)
to the French annexation (17th century), Alsace was politically part
Spatial distribution of dialects in Alsace prior to the
expansion of standard French in the 20th century
of the Germanic world.
The towns of Alsace were the first to adopt German language as their official language, instead of Latin, during the
Lutheran Reform. It was in Strasbourg that German was first used for the liturgy. It was also in Strasbourg that the
first German Bible was published in 1466.
From the annexation of Alsace by France in the 17th century and the language policy of the French Revolution up to
1870, knowledge of French in Alsace increased considerably. With the education reforms of the 19th century, the
middle classes began to speak and write French well. The French language never really managed, however, to win
over the masses, the vast majority of whom continued to speak their German dialects and write in German (which we
would now call "standard German").Wikipedia:Citation needed
Between 1870 and 1918, Alsace was annexed by the German Empire in the form of an imperial province or
Reichsland, and the mandatory official language, especially in schools, once again became High German. French lost
ground to such an extent that it has been estimated that only 2% of the population spoke French fluently and only 8%
had some knowledge of it (Maugue, 1970).
After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, and particularly primary schools. After much argument
and discussion and after many temporary measures, a memorandum was issued by Vice-Chancellor Pfister in 1927
and governed education in primary schools until 1939.
During a reannexation by Germany (1940•1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education.
Population was forced to speak German. 'French' family names were Germanized. Following the Second World War,
the 1927 regulation was not reinstated and the teaching of German in primary schools was suspended by a
provisional rectorial decree, which was supposed to enable French to regain lost ground. The teaching of German
Alsace
became a major issue, however, as early as 1946. Following World War II, the French government pursued, in line
with its traditional language policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German as part of a wider Francization
campaign.
In 1951, Article 10 of the Deixonne Law (Loi Deixonne) on the teaching of local languages and dialects made
provision for Breton, Basque, Catalan and old Proven…al, but not for Corsican, Dutch (West Flemish) or Alsatian in
Alsace and Moselle. However, in a Decree of 18 December 1952, supplemented by an Order of 19 December of the
same year, optional teaching of the German language was introduced in elementary schools in Communes where the
language of habitual use was the Alsatian dialect.
In 1972, the Inspector General of German, Georges Holderith, obtained authorization to reintroduce German into 33
intermediate classes on an experimental basis. This teaching of German, referred to as the Holderith Reform, was
later extended to all pupils in the last two years of elementary school. This reform is still largely the basis of German
teaching (but not Alsatian) in elementary schools today.
It was not until 9 June 1982, with the Circulaire sur la langue et la culture r•gionales en Alsace (Memorandum on
regional language and culture in Alsace) issued by the Vice-Chancellor of the Acad‚mie Pierre Deyon, that the
teaching of German in primary schools in Alsace really began to be given more official status. The Ministerial
Memorandum of 21 June 1982, known as the Circulaire Savary, introduced financial support, over three years, for
the teaching of regional languages in schools and universities. This memorandum was, however, implemented in a
fairly lax manner.
Both Alsatian and Standard German were for a time banned from public life (including street and city names, official
administration, and educational system). Though the ban has long been lifted, Alsace-Lorraine is today very French
in language and culture. Few young people speak Alsatian today, although there do still exist one or two enclaves in
the Sundgau region where some older inhabitants do not speak French, and where Alsatian is still used as the mother
tongue. A related Alemannic German survives on the opposite bank of the Rhine, in Baden, and especially in
Switzerland. However, while French is the major language of the region, the Alsatian dialect of French is heavily
influenced by German and other languages such a Yiddish in phonology and vocabulary.
This situation has spurred a movement to preserve the Alsatian language, which is perceived as endangered, a
situation paralleled in other r•gions of France, such as Brittany or Occitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high
schools. Increasingly, French is the only language used at home and at work, whereas a growing number of people
have a good knowledge of standard German as a foreign language learned in school.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic states that French alone is the official language of the Republic. However,
Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of
languages of France. A 1999 INSEE survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the
second most-spoken regional language in the country (after Occitan). Like all regional languages in France,
however, the transmission of Alsatian is on the decline. While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speaks
Alsatian, only one in four children speaks it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
In 1992, the French government signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. However visitors
to Alsace can see indications of renewed political and cultural interest in the language • in Alsatian signs appearing
in car-windows and on hoardings, and in new official bilingual street signs in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
137
Alsace
138
Cuisine
Alsatian cuisine, somewhat based on Germanic culinary traditions, is
marked by the use of pork in various forms. Traditional dishes include
baeckeoffe, flammekueche, choucroute, and fleischnacka. Southern
Alsace, also called the Sundgau, is characterized by carpe frite (that
also exists in Yidish tradition).
The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great
variety of biscuits and small cakes called bredela as well as pain
d'•pices (gingerbread cakes) which are baked around Christmas time.
Flammekueche
Alsace is an important wine-producing r•gion. Vins d'Alsace (Alsace
wines) are mostly white and display a strong Germanic influence.
Alsace produces some of the world's most noted dry rieslings and is the
only r•gion in France to produce mostly varietal wines identified by
the names of the grapes used (wine from Burgundy is also mainly
varietal, but not normally identified as such), typically from grapes
also used in Germany. The most notable example is Gew¢rztraminer.
Alsace is also the main beer-producing r•gion of France, thanks
primarily to breweries in and near Strasbourg. These include those of
Fischer, Karlsbr-u, Kronenbourg, and Heineken International. Hops
are grown in Kochersberg and in northern Alsace. Schnapps is also traditionally made in Alsace, but it is in decline
because home distillers are becoming less common and the consumption of traditional, strong, alcoholic beverages is
decreasing.
Riesling Grapes
The gastronomic symbol of the r•gion is undoubtedly the Choucroute, a local variety of Sauerkraut. The word
Sauerkraut in Alsatian has the form s’rkr’t, same as in other southwestern German dialects, and means "sour
cabbage" as its Standard German equivalent. This word was included into the French language as choucroute. To
make it, the cabbage is finely shredded, layered with salt and juniper and left to ferment in wooden barrels.
Sauerkraut can be served with poultry, pork, sausage or even fish. Traditionally it is served with Strasbourg sausage
or frankfurters, bacon, smoked pork or smoked Morteau or Montb‚liard sausages, or a selection of other pork
products. Served alongside are often roasted or steamed potatoes or dumplings.
Alsace is also well known for its foie gras made in the region since the 17th century. Additionally, Alsace is known
for its fruit juices and mineral waters.
Alsace
139
Architecture
The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of
Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with
walls in timber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. This type of
construction is abundant in adjacent parts of Germany and can be seen
in other areas of France, but their particular abundance in Alsace is
owed to several reasons:
1. The proximity to the Vosges where the wood can be found.
2. During periods of war and bubonic plague, villages were often
burned down, so to prevent the collapse of the upper floors, ground
Colmar's old town
floors were built of stone and upper floors built in half-timberings to
prevent the spread of fire.
3. During most of the part of its history, a great part of Alsace was flooded by the Rhine every year. Half-timbered
houses were easy to knock down and to move around during those times (a day was necessary to move it and a
day to rebuild it in another place).
However, half-timbering was found to increase the risk of fire, which is why from the 19th century, it began to be
rendered. In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements.
To discourage this, the region's authorities gave financial grants to the inhabitants to paint the rendering in various
colors, in order to return to the original style and many inhabitants accepted (more for financial reasons than by firm
belief).Wikipedia:Citation needed
Symbolism
The stork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of many
legends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970,
but re-population efforts are continuing. They are mostly found on
roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace.
The Easter Bunny was first mentioned in Georg Franck von
Franckenau's De ovis paschalibus (About Easter Eggs) in 1682
referring to an Alsace tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter Eggs.
Alsatian stork
Alsace
140
Alsatians
„ Paul •mile Appell
„ Jean Arp
„ Fr‚d‚ric Bartholdi
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Max Bense
Hans Bethe
Karl Brandt
Sebastian Brant
David Emil Bronnert
Henry Bronnert
Martin Bucer
Theodore Deck
Mireille Delunsch
Artur Dinter
Gustave Dor‚
Alfred Dreyfus
Mathieu Dreyfus
Charles de Foucauld
Charles Friedel
Georges Friedel
Charles Fr‚d‚ric Gerhardt
Charles Fr‚d‚ric Girard
„
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Gottfried von Stra¬burg
Albert Kahn
Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg
Xavier Haegy
Alfred Kastler
Fran…ois-Christophe Kellermann
Jean-Baptiste Kl‚ber
Katia and Maurice Krafft
Johann Heinrich Lambert
Pope Saint Leo IX
Bernard Lauth
Julius Leber
Jean-Marie Lehn
S‚bastien Loeb
Philip James de Loutherbourg
Marcel Marceau
Sam Marx, father of the Marx Brothers
Otto Meissner
Hans-Otto Meissner
Johannes Mentelin
Paul Meyer
Germain Muller
Yvan Muller
Charles M¢nch
Viktor Nessler
Statue of Martin Schongauer by
Fr‚d‚ric Bartholdi in front of the
Unterlinden Museum, Colmar
Alsace
141
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
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Jean-Fr‚d‚ric Oberlin
Fran…ois-Joseph Offenstein
Beatus Rhenanus
Claude Rich
Jean Sandherr
The Schlumberger brothers
Martin Schongauer
Albert Schweitzer
Pierre Seel
Charles Spindler
Philipp Jakob Spener
Fran…ois Spoerry
Sebastian Stoskopff
Jacob Sturm von Sturmeck
„
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Marie Tussaud
Tomi Ungerer
Claude Vig‚e
Thomas Voeckler
Jean-Georges Vongerichten
•mile Waldteufel
Jean-Jacques Waltz aka Hansi
Ars€ne Wenger
Alfred Werner
Eugene Wilhelm
Andr‚ Wilms
Bob Wollek
Charles-Adolphe Wurtz
William Wyler
Major communities
German original names in brackets if French names are different
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Bischheim
Colmar (Kolmar)
Guebwiller (Gebweiler)
Haguenau (Hagenau)
Illkirch-Graffenstaden (Illkirch-Grafenstaden)
Illzach
Lingolsheim
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Mulhouse (M¢lhausen)
Saint-Louis (St. Ludwig)
Saverne (Zabern)
Schiltigheim
S‚lestat (Schlettstadt)
Strasbourg (Stra¬burg)
Wittenheim
Alsace
142
Sister provinces
There is an accord de coop•ration internationale between Alsace and the following regions:[13]
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea
Lower Silesia, Poland
Upper Austria, Austria
Quebec, Canada
Jiangsu, China
Moscow, Russia
Vest, Romania
Footnotes
[1] http:/ / www. region-alsace. eu/
[2] Roland Kaltenbach: Le guide de l€Alsace, La Manufacture 1992, ISBN 2-7377-0308-5, page 36
[3] (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ insee_regions/ alsace/ rfc/ docs/ cpar12_1. pdf) "L'alsacien, deuxi€me langue r‚gionale de France" Insee, Chiffres
pour l'Alsace no. 12, December 2002
[4] http:/ / www. olcalsace. org/ fr/ observer-et-veiller/ le-dialecte-en-chiffres
[5] Veve, Thomas Dwight (1992). The Duke of Wellington and the British army of occupation in France, 1815•1818, pp. 20•21. Greenwood
Press, Westport, Connecticut, United States.
[6] http:/ / members. cox. net/ smithgen/ sources/ ships/ ships18201850notes. htm#sully1838match
[7] Vicki Caron, "Alsace," in Richard S. Levy, ed., Antisemitism: A historical Encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution (2005) 1:13-16
[8] In fact, France ceded more than nine-tenths of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine as stipulated in the treaty of Frankfurt. De jure, that wasn't
an annexation any more.
[9] Have a look at this archive video (http:/ / www. ina. fr/ archivespourtous/ popup. php?vue=partenaire&
partenariat=1df07ccad656b16c3f7dcd36ce620f11).
[10] However, propaganda for elections was allowed to go with a German translation from 1919 to 2008.
[11] St‚phane Courtois, Mark Kramer. Livre noir du Communisme: crimes, terreur, r•pression (http:/ / books. google. com/
books?id=H1jsgYCoRioC& pg=PA323). Harvard University Press, 1999. p.323. ISBN 0-674-07608-7
[12] Note: the commune of Strasbourg is not inside the arrondissement of Strasbourg-Campagne but it is nonetheless the seat of the
Strasbourg-Campagne sous-pr•fecture buildings and administration.
[13] Les Accords de coop‚ration entre l‚Alsace et... (http:/ / www. region-alsace. eu/ dn_coopration-internationale1/
accords-cooperation-international. html)
Bibliography
„ Assall, Paul. Juden im Elsass. Z¢rich: Rio Verlag. ISBN 3-907668-00-6.
„ Das Elsass: Ein literarischer Reisebegleiter. Frankfurt a.‘M.: Insel Verlag, 2001. ISBN 3-458-34446-2.
„ Erbe, Michael (Hrsg.) Das Elsass: Historische Landschaft im Wandel der Zeiten. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2002.
ISBN 3-17-015771-X.
„ Faber, Gustav. Elsass. M¢nchen: Artemis-Cicerone Kunst- und Reisef¢hrer, 1989.
„ Fischer, Christopher J. Alsace to the Alsatians? Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870•1939
(Berghahn Books, 2010).
„ Gerson, Daniel. Die Kehrseite der Emanzipation in Frankreich: Judenfeindschaft im Elsass 1778 bis 1848. Essen:
Klartext, 2006. ISBN 3-89861-408-5.
„ Haeberlin, Marc. Elsass, meine groœe Liebe. Orselina, La Tavola 2004. ISBN 3-909909-08-6
• Rezension (http://www.bad-bad.de/buecher/haeberlin.htm) ¢ber das –Schlaraffenland„ Elsass
„ Herden, Ralf Bernd. Straœburg Belagerung 1870. Norderstedt: BoD, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8334-5147-8.
„ Mehling, Marianne (Hrsg.) Knaurs Kulturf•hrer in Farbe Elsaœ. M¢nchen: Droemer Knaur, 1984.
„ Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine: From Cžsar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.•1871 A.D. New York: 1915.
„ Schreiber, Hermann. Das Elsaœ und seine Geschichte, eine Kulturlandschaft im Spannungsfeld zweier V•lker.
Augsburg: Weltbild, 1996.
Alsace
143
„ Schwengler, Bernard. Le Syndrome Alsacien: d'Letschte? Strasbourg: •ditions Oberlin, 1989. ISBN
2-85369-096-2.
„ Ungerer, Tomi. Elsass. Das offene Herz Europas. Stra¬burg: •dition La Nu‚e Bleue, 2004. ISBN 2-7165-0618-3.
„ Ungerer, Tomi, Dani€le Brison, and Tony Schneider. Die elsŸssische K•che. 60 Rezepte aus der Weinstube
L'Arsenal. Stra¬burg: •dition DNA, 1994. ISBN 2-7165-0341-9.
„ Vogler, Bernard and Hermann Lersch. Das Elsass. Morstadt: •ditions Ouest-France, 2000. ISBN 3-88571-260-1.
External links
„ Alsace : at the heart of Europe (http://www.france.fr/en/regions-and-cities/alsace-heart-europe) • Official
French website (in English)
„ Tourism-Alsace.com (http://www.tourism-alsace.com/) Info from the Alsace Tourism Board
„ Official website of the Alsace regional council (http://www.region-alsace.eu/index.php?lg=en)
„ Rhine Online • life in southern Alsace and neighbouring Basel and Baden Wuerrtemburg (http://rhine-online.
com/html/alsace-france-english.htm)
„ Alsatourisme (http://www.alsatourisme.fr/) Tourism in Alsace (French)
„ Alsace (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/France/Regions/Alsace) at DMOZ
„ Statistics and figures on Alsace (http://www.insee.fr/fr/insee_regions/alsace/home/home_page.asp) on the
website of the INSEE (French)
„ Alsace.net: Directory of Alsatian Websites (http://www.alsace.net/) (French)
„ "Museums of Alsace" (http://www.musees-alsace.org/) (French)
„ Churches and chapels of Alsace (http://www.photo-alsace.com/thematique/architecture/
„
„
„
„
„
architecture_religieuse.php) (pictures only) (French)
Medieval castles of Alsace (http://www.photo-alsace.com/thematique/chateaux/index.php) (pictures only)
(French)
"Alsatian language Wiki" (http://els.assisch.eu/) (Elsassisch)
"Origins of Alsace" (http://decouverte.orgue.free.fr/) (French)
The Alsatian Library of Mutual Credit (http://www.bacm.creditmutuel.fr/) (French)
The Alsatian Artists (http://www.alsace-culture.com/) (French)
Coordinates: 48Ž30‹N 7Ž30‹E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Alsace&
params=48_30_N_7_30_E_region:FR_type:adm1st)
County of Flanders
144
County of Flanders
County of Flanders
Graafschap Vlaanderen (nl)
Fiefdom of France, then
State of the Holy Roman Empire
part of the Burgundian Netherlands (1384•1482)
part of the Habsburg Netherlands (1482•1584)
part of the Southern Netherlands (1584•1795)
—
˜
˜
862•1795
Flag
Coat of arms
County of Flanders in northern France, 1350
Capital
Bruges, later Ghent and Lille
Languages
Old Frisian, Old Dutch, Middle Dutch, Dutch, Flemish, Old French, Middle French, Picard
Religion
Catholic Church Protestantism
Government
Feudal monarchy
Historical era
Middle Ages
- Fief granted to
‘‘‘‘Count Baldwin I
862
- Acquired by
‘‘‘‘Duke Philip the Bold 1384
County of Flanders
145
- To Maximilian I
‘‘‘‘of Habsburg
1477
- Burgundian Circle
1512
- Renounced by France
1526
- Annexed by France
1795
The County of Flanders (Dutch: Graafschap
Vlaanderen, French: Comt• de Flandre) was one
of the territories constituting the Low Countries.
The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of
the original secular fiefs of France and for
centuries was one of the most affluent regions in
Europe.
The area under the French crown was located
completely west of the Scheldt river and was called
"Royal Flanders" (Kroon-Vlaanderen). This fief
was finally removed from French control after the
Peace of Madrid in 1526 and the Peace of Ladies
in 1529. Aside from this the count of Flanders also
held land east of the Scheldt river from the 11th
Topographic map of the county of Flanders at the end of the 14th century,
century on, as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire;
the French-Imperial border marked in red
this area was called "Imperial Flanders"
(Rijks-Vlaanderen). Except for French Flanders,
Flanders is the only part of the medieval French kingdom that is not part of modern-day France.
Etymology
Flanders and Flemish (Dutch: Vlaanderen, Vlaams) are likely derived from the Frisian *fl ndra and *fl misk (in Old
Frisian flamsk), the roots of which are Germanic *flaumaz meaning "overflow, flooding". The coastal area of
Flanders was flooded twice per day from the 3rd century to the 8th century by the North Sea at the time when the
coast was frequently visited by Frisian (cattle) traders and probably partly inhabited by Frisians.
The Flemish people are first mentioned in the biography of Saint Eligius (ca. 590-660), the Vita sancti Eligii. This
work was written before 684, but only known since 725. This work mentions the "Flanderenses", who lived in
"Flandris".
Geography
The geography of the historic County of Flanders only partially overlaps with present-day region of Flanders in
Belgium, though even there it extends beyond West Flanders and East Flanders. Some of the historic county is now
part of France and the Netherlands. The land covered by the county is spread out over:
„ Belgium:
„ two of the five Flemish provinces: West-Flanders and East-Flanders
„ part of the Flemish province Antwerp: the land of Bornem
„ part of the Walloon province Hainaut: Tournaisis and the region around Moeskroen (that belonged to
West-Flanders until 1962)
„ France:
County of Flanders
„ French Flanders (in the Nord departement)
„ the French westcorner: the region around Dunkirk, Bergues and Bailleul, an area where Flemish used to be
the main language
„ Lilloise Flanders, where the Picard language, closely related to French, was spoken.
„ Artois (in the Pas-de-Calais department): removed from Flanders in 1191 and created as independent county in
1237
„ Netherlands:
„ Zeelandic Flanders, a region between Belgium and the Western Scheldt, in the southern part of the province of
Zeeland
Flag and arms
Main article: Coat of arms of Flanders
The arms of the County of Flanders were allegedly
created by Philip of Alsace, count of Flanders from
1168 to 1191; a climbing or rampant black lion on
a gold field. In the story about the
Guldensporenslag, the arms and its corresponding
battlecry Vlaendr'n den leeuw ("Flanders, the
Lion!") plays a crucial role in the forming of a
Flemish consciousness, which was popularised in
recent times by the book De Leeuw van
Vlaanderen by Hendrik Conscience. As a result,
the arms of the county live on as arms of the
Flemish Community.
It is said that Philip of Alsace brought the lion flag
with him from the Holy land, where in 1177 he
Count Philip (2nd from right) as swordbearer at the coronation of King
Philip II of France,
supposedly conquered it from a Saracen knight, but
Jean Fouquet, 1455
this is a myth. The simple fact that the lion
appeared on his personal seal since 1163, when he
had not yet set one step in the Levant, disproves it. In reality Philip was following a West-European trend. In the
same period lions also appeared in the arms of Brabant, Luxembourg, Holland, Limburg and other territories. It is
curious that the lion as a heraldic symbol was mostly used in border territories and neighbouring countries of the
Holy Roman Empire. It was in all likelihood a way of showing independence from the emperor, who used an eagle
in his personal arms. In Europe the lion had been a well-known figure since Roman times, through works such as the
fables of Aesop.
146
County of Flanders
History
Ancient and Roman times
The future county of Flanders had been inhabited since prehistory. During the Iron Age the Kemmelberg formed an
important Celtic settlement. During the times of Julius Caesar, the inhabitants were part of the Belgae, a collective
name for all Celtic and Germanic tribes in the north of Gallia. For Flanders in specific these were the Menapii, the
Morini, the Nervii and the Atrebates.
Julius Caesar conquered the area around 54 b.c. and the population was partially romanised from the 1st to the 3rd
century. The Roman road that connected Cologne with Boulogne-sur-Mer was used as a defense perimeter. In the
south the Gallo-Romanic population was able to maintain itself, while the north became a no-mans land that also
suffered from regular floods from the North sea.
In the coastal and Scheldt areas Saxon tribes gradually appeared. Saxon was a general term for the Romans, and
included Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Erules. The coastal defense around Boulogne and Oudenburg, the 'Litus
Saxonicum', remained functional until about 420. These forts were manned by Saxon soldiers.
From their base land Toxandria the Salic Franks further expanded into the Roman empire. The first incursion into the
lands of the Atrebates was turned away in 448 at Vicus Helena. But after the murder of the Roman general Flavius
Aˆtius in 454 and Roman emperor Valentinianus III in 455, the Salic Franks encounterd hardly any resistance. From
Duisburg, king Chlodio conquered Cambrai and Tournai, and he reached the Somme. After his death two Salic
kingdoms emerged. Childeric is recorded in 463 as king of Tournay and ally of the Romans against the Visigoths. He
was also administrator of the province of Belgica Secunda. His son Clovis I conquered from 486 on all of Northern
France.
6th century
The abandoned coast and Scheldt region had been partially repopulated since the 4th century by Saxonian groups
that retained their Germanic culture and language. In the 5th century Salic Franks settled in present day
Northern-France and Wallonia, primarily around the cities of Courtrai, Tournai and Bavay. They adapted to the local
Gallo-Romanic population. From the 6th century on the no-mans-land farther north was filled by Franks from the
Rhinelands and other Germanic groups from the Netherlands and Germany.
The first wave of immigration in the present day Flemish territory was accompanied by limited Christianisation. In
the wake of the immigrants, missionaries tried to convert the heathen population, but they had little success. The
bishoprics were reinstated, usually with the same natural borders of the Late-Roman era; the Silva Carbonaria
separated the Bishopric of Cambrai from the Bishopric of Tongeren, while the Scheldt again became the border
between the bishoprics of Cambrai and Tournai. Vedastus and Eleutherius of Tournai were assigned to reinstate the
bishoprics of Arras and Tournai. However, these bishoprics failed to survive independently. In the late 6th century
the bishopric of Atrecht was connected to that of Cambrai, and at the start of the 7th century the same was done to
the bishoprics of Tournai and Noyon.
At the end of the 6th century the duchy of Dentelinus was created in the north of what would later constitute
Neustria. This duchy presumably included the bishoprics Boulogne, Terwaan, Atrecht, Tournai, Cambrai and Noyon,
thus the northwestern region between the North Sea and the Silva Carbonaria, an area whose outlines were very
similar to the later Flanders. The duchy of Dentelinus was primarily meant as a military and strategical deterrent
against Frisian and Saxon invasions. It was a cornerstone in the military defense of the Merovingian Empire. In 600
Chlotar II (584-628) was forced to temporarily cede the duchy of Dentelinus to Austrasia, but after restoration of
Austrasian dual-monarchy in 622/623 the duchy was returned.
147
County of Flanders
7th century
At the end of the 6th and the 7th century a new inflow emerged from the western Pas-de-Calais. This area had been
germanised in the 5th century and descendants of the Saxons and Franks had settled in future Flanders and the
Duchy of Brabant. New groups of germanic settlers also came in from the Netherlands and Germany. Their new
settlements often received the name of their germanic leader, with '-inga haim' added. -Inga haim meant 'the
settlement of the tribe of X'. For example: Petegem comes from Petta-inga-haim, which meant 'the settlement of the
tribe of Petta'.
The colonisation and germanisation of Flanders took place primarily in the 6th and 7th centuries. In the 7th century
the population-level had risen sufficiently to start rebuilding the religious, military and administrative infrastructure.
In the area of linguistics, the situation stabilised so that a large, bilingual region with a linear language border could
emerge in the 8th century. In Pas-de-Calais, which had been densely populated a long time, a language barrier had
emerged in the 6th-7th century, but in the 9th century a romanisation-movement started that has continued until the
present day.
The Christianisation attempts in the 6th century by bishops like Eleutherius and Vedastus had largely failed. Thus, in
the 8th century a different strategy was chosen. A new Christianisation attempt was made under influence from king
Dagobert I. He appointed several devoted missionaries from the southern parts of his kingdom to his royal domains
in the northern parts of his kingdom. The missionaries were tasked with founding monasteries and abbeys there, that
were to serve as centers of Christianity in a pagan region. From these centers, the conversion of the local populace
could be started.
In 649 Audomar founded an abbey at Sithiu (the Abbey of Saint Bertinus) and in 680 Aubertus founded the Abbey
of St. Vaast near Arras. The Christianisation of the population was mainly the work of missionaries like Amandus
(St. Bavo's Abbey and St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent) and Eligius (coastal region and Antwerp). In his 'vita', Eligius
makes the first mention of the word 'Flanders', when he toured the area around 650.
During the 7th century the first Gaue or pagi were created in the Flemish territories. Gaue were administrative
subdivisions of the civitates. The Gaue from the 7th and 8th century would form the basis of the county of Flanders.
The pagus Tornacensis dates from ca. 580, and from the 7th century we know of the 'pagus Cambracinsis' in 663, the
pagus Taroanensis from 649 and the pagus Bracbatensis at the end of the century. From the 8th century we know of
the pagus Rodaninsis from 707, the pagus Gandao from the first quarter of the 8th century, the pagus Mempiscus
from 723 and the pagus Flandrensis from around 745. Lastly, the pagus Austrebatensis and the pagus Curtracensis
are also counted as Merovingian gaue.
148
County of Flanders
The Carolingians
In 751 the Carolingian Mayors of the
Palace succeeded in removing the
Merovingians from power and
obtaining the throne for themselves.
The last Merovingian king, Childeric
III, was placed in captivity at the later
Abbey of Saint Bertinus in St. Omer,
and his long hair, a symbol of royal
power, was cut off.
Charlemagne succeeded his father
Pippin the Short in Neustria and
Austrasia, and after the death of his
brother Karloman he was able to
reunite the entire Frankish Empire.
Though he resided in Aachen, he spent
map of the county of Flanders from 1609 by Matthias Quad, cartographer, and Johannes
much time travelling through his
Bussemacher, engraver and publisher, Cologne
territories. In 811 he inspected the fleet
that he had ordered built in Boulogne
and Ghent, to protect against Viking invasions.
The region comprising future Flanders was, from an economic point of view, a flourishing region, with a series of
ports along the Scheldt river: Ghent, Tournai, Valenciennes, Cambrai and Lambres at Douai on the Scarpe and a
number of seaports: Quentovic, Boulogne and Is€re portus, a port at the mouth of the Yser. Moreover, the region
included a number of rich abbeys, such as Abbey of St. Bertin, St. Bavo's Abbey, Saint-Amand Abbey and the
Abbey of St. Vaast.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious. Even during Louis' life his three sons started fighting over
his heritage. They eventually concluded multiple treaties, of which the Treaty of Verdun, signed in 843, would be the
definitive treaty. These treaties created East Francia, Middle Francia and West Francia. West Francia, inherited by
Charles the Bald, included the original county of Flanders, that spanned roughly between Oudenburg, Aardenburg
and Torhout.
After the Middle-Frankish kings died out, the rulers of the West and East-Frankish Kingdoms divided the
Middle-Frankish kingdom amongst themselves in the treaty of Meerssen in 870. Now Western Europe had been
divided into two sides: the solid West Francia (the later France) and the loose confederation of principalities of East
Francia, that would become the Holy Roman Empire.
In the north these two powers were separated by the Scheldt river, which had previously separated West Francia
from Middle Francia. This separation remained unchanged until the times of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
149
County of Flanders
150
Growth in the 9th, 10th and 11th centuries (864•1071)
Militarily, economically and politically, Europe went through a deep
crisis. The Vikings invaded from the north, the Magyar from the east
and the Saracens from the south. All left trails of destruction. The
central authorities of the two Frankish kingdoms were unable to
organise an effective defensive, causing the population to lose faith and
trust in their far-removed rulers. In the wake of this power vacuum,
local powerful individuals saw their chance. Often these individuals
were the descendants of people associated with Charlemagne.
The county of Flanders originated from the Gau of Pagus Flandrensis,
led by the Forestiers dynasty, who had been appointed by
Charlemagne, who had made a small contribution by uniting small
feudal territories in the higher parts of the Flemish Valley. The
forestiers dynasty also strengthened the hold of the church on the
relatively desolate area.
Institution of Baldwin I, the first count of
Flanders by Charles the Bald, the Frankish king.
The first Count of Flanders was Baldwin I of Flanders, who became count in 862, and a romantic anecdote is
connected to this: Baldwin eloped with the daughter of the Frankish king Charles the Bald, Judith of West Francia.
Judith, who had previously been married to two English kings, refused her father's command to return to him. After
mediation by the pope, the Frankish king reconciled with his son-in-law, and gave him the title of count, and the
corresponding feudal territories as dowry.
Initially the French kings meant to secure the safety of the northern French border from Viking invasions with this
act. The counts, however, made good use of the crisis situation by incorporating the surrounding plundered territories
into the county. The counts expanded the influence of the original Flemish pagus over the years over all territories
south and west of the Scheldt river, including presentday the lordship of the Four Amts, Zeelandic Flanders, the
burgraviate of Aalst to the east and the County of Artois to the south, which remained part of Flanders until it
became a separate county in 1237. After that date, the county of Artois at various times still came under the
dominion of the count of Flanders as a separate title, until it was absorbed by the French crown.
County of Flanders
Prosperity in the 12th and 13th century (1071•1278)
The House of Flanders stayed in power
until 1119, when Baldwin VII of
Flanders died heirless, and the county
was inherited by Charles the Good, of
the House of Denmark. After a short
interlude under William Clito of
Normandy (1127 to 1128), the county
went to Thierry of Alsace of the House
of Alsace. Under Thierry (1128•1168)
and his successor Philip of Alsace,
Flanders' importance and power
increased.
In the second half of the 12th century,
the county went through a period of
great prosperity when Philip of Alsace
The Gravensteen at Ghent, Built by Philip of Alsace
managed to incorporate the County of
Vermandois into Flanders through the
inheritance of his wife. The territories he controlled now came to within 25 kilometers of Paris, and were larger than
the territories his Feudal Lord, the French King, directly controlled.
During the rule of the House of Alsace, cities developed and new institutions were formed. The ports of Gravelines,
Nieuwpoort, Damme, Biervliet, Dunkirk, and Mardijk were founded, as well as Calais by Philip's brother Matthew
of Alsace. Aside for colonisation, the ports also functioned to reduce the silting of the Aa, Yser and Zwin rivers,
which were endangering the accessibility of Saint-Omer, Ypres and Bruges. Biervliet also served as a counter to
Hollandic influence.
Trade partners included England, the Baltic countries and France over sea, and the Rhineland and Italy over land.
The wool trade with England was of special importance to the rising cloth industry in Flanders. The wealth of many
Flemish cities (as their Belltowers and cloth halls testify) came from the drapery industry. Aside from this, the grain
trade with England and through Holland with Hamburg were also important. Saint-Omer became the most important
transit-port for French wine in the 12th century. These were the centuries of the breakthrough of the Flemish
merchants, with their trade with England, the Baltic area and South-West France, as well as the landrouters to the
Rhineland and Italy, though later only the yearly fairs of Champagne. Flanders' flourishing trading towns made it one
of the most urbanised parts of Europe.
In 1194, Baldwin I of Constantinople of the House of Hainaut, succeeded the House of Alsace.
The crisis of the 14th century (1278•1384)
In 1278 Guy of Dampierre, of the House of Dampierre, became count of Flanders. The king of France wanted to
definitively conquer Flanders, and started the Franco-Flemish War (1297•1305). Increasingly powerful in the 12th
century, the territory's autonomous urban centres were instrumental in defeating the French invasion attempt,
defeating the French at the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. But finally the French prevailed at the battle of
Mons-en-P‚v€le and with the subsequent treaty of Athis-sur-Orge (1305) Flanders lost Lille, Douai, and Orchies to
France and had to pay exorbitant fines but retained their independence as a fief of the French kingdom. During this
period, Flanders experienced a period of relative prosperity with its strong cloth industry and diverse artwork. Trade
in Flanders was so extensive that statues of the Madonna and Child were made in Flanders with ivory, which was
only accessible on the Indian Ocean trade networks.
151
County of Flanders
Flemish prosperity waned in the following century, however, owing to widespread European population decline
following the Black Death of 1348, the disruption of trade during the Anglo-French Hundred Years' War
(1338•1453), and increased English cloth production. Flemish weavers had gone over to Worstead and North
Walsham in Norfolk in the 12th century and established the wool industry.
The Burgundian 15th century (1384•1506)
Through his marriage with Margaret of Dampierre in
1369, Philip the Bold, duke of Burgundy, made an end
to the independence of Flanders. Flanders became the
possession of the House of Valois-Burgundy, that ruled
over the Duchy of Burgundy. In 1449 the city of Ghent
revolted against duke Philip the Good. In 1453 Philip
crushed the rebels at the battle of Gavere, ending the
revolt.
The cities of Ghent and Bruges had previously operated
:49
virtually as city-states, and upon the death of duke
Charles the Bold attempted to re-assert this position by
means of the Great Privilege that they wrested from
Wijnendale Castle with a view of the medieval part
Mary of Burgundy, Charles' daughter and successor. In
1482 this last Burgundian ruler died, making her young
son Philip I of Castile of the House of Habsburg the new count, and her husband Maximilian I of Austria the regent.
The Flemish cities staged two more revolts, but these were ultimately subdued by the armies of the Holy Roman
Empire.
The 1493 Treaty of Senlis established peace between France and the Habsburgs; per the terms of the treaty, Flanders
would henceforth be a territory of the Holy Roman Empire.
The seventeen provinces in the 16th century (1506•1598)
Under Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Flanders became a member of the Burgundian Circle. The county was later
involved in the Guelderian Wars.
Through the Pragmatic Sanction of 1549, the County of Flanders was officially detached from France. It became an
independent territory of the Holy Roman Empire. This constitutional act made Flanders part of the Seventeen
Provinces, that constituted the Low Countries and from then on would be inherited as a whole.
The Low Countries held an important place in the Empire. For Charles personally, they were the region where he
spent his childhood. Because of trade and industry and the rich cities, they were also important for the treasury.
Lordship transferred to the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg with Philip II of Spain, and after 1556
belonged to the Kings of Spain.
It was in Steenvoorde (In French Flanders) in 1566 that the Beeldenstorm broke loose. The Beeldenstorm spread
through all of the Low Countries and eventually led to the outbreak of the Eighty Years' war and the secession of the
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Originally Flanders cooperated with the northern provinces as a member
of the Union of Utrecht, and also signed the Act of Abjuration in 1581, but from 1579 to 1585, in the period known
as the "Ghent (Calvinist) Republic", it was reconquered by the Spanish army.
See also: Eighty Years' war
152
County of Flanders
The Spanish 17th century (1598•1713)
Flanders stayed under Spanish control. Through the efforts of the French king Louis XIV, the entire southern part of
Flanders was annexed by France, and became known as South-Flanders or French Flanders. This situation was
formalised in 1678 at the Treaty of Nijmegen.
The Austrian 18th century (1713•1789)
After the extinction of the Spanish branch of the
Habsburgs, the Austrian branch of the Habsburgs
became counts of Flanders. Under Maria Theresa of
Austria, the Austrian Netherlands flourished.
Last years (1789-1795)
In 1789 a revolution broke out against emperor Joseph
II. In 1790 the county of Flanders and a separate
province called West-Flanders (1713), which
constituted the territories given back by France to the
Emperor, were two of the founding members of the
Austrian soldiers at Neerwinden during the Revolutionary Wars,
1793
United States of Belgium. Just like the other parts of
the Austrian Netherlands, the county of Flanders
declared its independence. This took place on the Friday-market at Ghent on 4 January 1790. The "Manifest van
Vlaenderen" was drawn up by Charles-Joseph de Graeve and Jan Jozelf Raepsaet.
The county of Flanders officially ceased to exist in 1795, when it was annexed by France, and divided into two
departments: Lys (present day West Flanders) and Escaut (present day East Flanders and Zeelandic Flanders).
After the French Revolution the county was not restored, and instead the two departments continued their existence
as the provinces of East- and West-Flanders in the Unitarian United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and later after the
Belgian Revolution in Belgium.
Count of Flanders title
From 1840 onwards, the title "Count of Flanders" has been appropriated by the monarchy of Belgium. As a rule it
was given to the second in line of succession to the Belgian throne. The title of count of Flanders was abolished by
royal decision on 16 October 2001.
Important treaties and battles which involved the County of Flanders
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
„
Battle of Cassel (1071)
Battle of Axpoele in 1128
Peace of Peronne in 1199
Battle of Bouvines in 1214
Peace of Melun in 1226
Battle of West-Kapelle in 1253
Guldensporenslag in 1302
Battle of Arke in 1303
Battle of Zierikzee in 1304
Battle of Mons-en-Pevele in 1304
Treaty of Athis-sur-Orge in 1305
153
County of Flanders
„
„
„
„
„
„
Battle of Cassel (1328)
Battle of Westrozebeke in 1382
Eighty Years' War from 1568 to 1648
Pacification of Ghent in 1576
Union of Utrecht in 1579
Act of Abjuration in 1581
References
Bibliography
„ Gysseling, M. en Dhondt, J. (1948): Vlaanderen, oorspronkelijke ligging en etymologie, in Album Prof. Dr. Frank
Baur p.‘192-220, Leuven,
„ De Mallie/de Maille, Jonathan Robert (1955 a.d.) ' ' "Kingdom of Flanders" ' '
„ Gysseling, M. (1960): Toponymisch woordenboek van Belgi‡, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en
West-Duitsland (voor 1226), Tongeren,
„ Blok, D.P. (red) et al (1977•1983): Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Fibula-Van Dishoeck, Haarlem,
ISBN 90-228-3800-5
„ Blom, J.C.H., Lamberts, E., redactie (2006): Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, HBuitgevers, Baarn, ISBN
90-5574-474-3
„ Dhondt, J. (1943): Korte geschiedenis van het ontstaan van het graafschap Vlaanderen van Boudewijn de IJzeren
tot Robrecht den Fries, Brussel • Den Haag.
„ Dhondt, J. (1941•1942): Het ontstaan van het vorstendom Vlaanderen, Belgisch tijdschrift voor filologie en
„
„
„
„
geschiedenis, XX, 553-572 en XXI, 53-93.
Ganshof, F.-L. (1944): Vlaanderen onder de eerste graven, Antwerpen.
Nicolas, D. (1992): Medieval Flanders, Londen, ISBN 0-582-01679-7
Niermeyer, J.F., Presser, J., Van Houtte, J.A. (1949•1958): Algemene Geschiedenis der Nederlanden, Haarlem •
Antwerpen.
Voet, L. (1942): De graven van Vlaanderen en hun domein, 864-1191, Wetenschappelijke Tijdingen, VII, 25-32.
External links
„ Maps (900-1350) (http://www.wazamar.org/Nederlanden/graafschap-vl.htm)
„ Summary of the French expansionism into Flanders (http://www.nordpasdecalais.fr/reperes/France/Histoire/
05/05-04.htm) (French)
154
Lorraine (duchy)
155
Lorraine (duchy)
Duchy of (Upper) Lorraine
Duch• de (Haute-)Lorraine (fr)
Herzogtum (Ober-)Lothringen (de)
State of the Holy Roman Empire
—
959•1766
Flag
˜
Coat of arms
Duchy of Lorraine (pink) within France
Capital
Nancy
Government
Feudal monarchy
Duke
-
959•978
Frederick I of Bar
-
1737•1766
Stanis®aw Leszczy¯ski
Lotharingia divided
959
History
-
Joined
‘‘‘‘Upper Rhenish Circle 1500
-
Annexed by France
1766
The Duchy of Lorraine (French: Lorraine, IPA:‘[lŒ†‰n]; German: Lothringen), originally Upper Lorraine
Haute-Lorraine; Oberlothringen), was a duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day region of Lorraine in
northeastern France. Parts of the former duchy are now also in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. The historic
Lorraine (duchy)
156
capital was Nancy. Other important centres were Metz, Verdun and •pinal.
History
Lotharingia
Main article: Lotharingia
Lorraine's predecessor Lotharingia was an independent Carolingian kingdom under the rule of King Lothair II
(855•869). Its territory had originally been a part of Middle Francia, created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun, when
the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious. Middle Francia was allotted to
Emperor Lothair I, therefore called Lotharii Regnum. Upon his death in 855, it was further divided into three parts,
of which his son Lothair II took the northern one. His realm then comprised a larger territory stretching from the
County of Burgundy in the south to the North Sea. In French, this area became known as Lorraine, while in German,
it was eventually known as Lothringen. In the Alemannic language once spoken in Lorraine, the -ingen suffix
signified a propertyWikipedia:Citation needed; thus, in a figurative sense, "Lotharingen" can be translated as "Land
belonging to Lothair".
As Lothair II had died without heirs, his territory was divided by the 870 Treaty of Meerssen between East and West
Francia and finally came under East Frankish rule as a whole by the 880 Treaty of Ribemont. After the East Frankish
Carolingians became extinct with the death of Louis the Child in 911, Lotharingia once again attached itself to West
Francia, but was conquered by the German king Henry the Fowler in 925. Stuck in the conflict with his rival Hugh
the Great, King Louis IV of France in 942 renounced all claims to Lotharingia.
Duchy of Upper Lorraine
In 953 the German king Otto I had appointed his brother Bruno the
Great Duke of Lotharingia. In 959, Bruno divided the duchy into
Upper and Lower Lorraine which became permanent following his
death in 965. The Upper Duchy was further "up" the river system, that
is, it was inland and to the south. Upper Lorraine was first
denominated as the Duchy of the Moselle, both in charters and
narrative sources, and its duke was the dux Mosellanorum. The usage
of Lotharingia Superioris and Lorraine in official documents begins
later, around the fifteenth century. The first duke and deputy of Bruno
was Frederick I of Bar, son-in-law of Bruno's sister Hedwig of Saxony.
Cross of Lorraine, symbol of Lorraine since the
15th century
Lorraine (duchy)
157
Lower Lorraine disintegrated into several smaller territories and only
the title of a "Duke of Lothier" remained, held by Brabant. After the
duchy of the Moselle came into the possession of Ren‚ of Anjou the
name "Duchy of Lorraine" was adopted again, only retrospectively
called "Upper Lorraine". At that time several territories had already
split off, like the County of Luxembourg and the Electorate of Trier, or
the County of Bar and the "Three Bishoprics" of Verdun, Metz and
Toul.
Lorraine (blue) about 1400
The border between the Empire and the Kingdom of France remained
relatively stable throughout the Middle Ages. In 1301 Count Henry III
of Bar had to receive the western part of his lands (Barrois mouvant) as
a fief by King Philip IV of France. The Burgundian duke Charles the
Bold in 1475 campaigned for the Duchy of Lorraine, but finally was
defeated and killed at the 1477 Battle of Nancy. In 1552 a number of
insurgent Protestant Imperial princes around Elector Maurice of
Saxony by the Treaty of Chambord ceded the Three Bishoprics to King
Henry II of France in turn for his support.
In the 17th century, the French kings began to covet Lorraine. While the central Imperial authority decayed in the
course of the Thirty Years' War, Chief Minister Cardinal Richelieu urged the occupation of the duchy in 1641.
France again had to vacate it after the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, which however won France several positions in
Alsace, east of Lorraine. In 1670, the French invaded again, forcing Duke Charles V to flee to a Viennese exile,
where he formed strong ties to the Imperial House of Habsburg. France occupied the Duchy for almost thirty years,
only giving it up in the Treaty of Ryswick which ended the Nine Years' War in 1697. During the War of the Spanish
Succession, parts of Lorraine, including the capital Nancy, were again occupied by France, but Duke Leopold Joseph
continued to reign at the Ch‰teau de Lun‚ville.
In 1737, after the War of the Polish Succession, Lorraine was part of
an agreement between France, the House of Habsburg and the Lorraine
House of Vaud‚mont: The Duchy was given to Stanis®aw Leszczy¯ski,
the former king of Poland and father-in-law to King Louis XV of
France, who despite French support had lost out to a candidate backed
by Russia and Austria in the War of the Polish Succession. The
Lorraine duke Francis Stephen, betrothed to the Emperor's daughter
Archduchess Maria Theresa, was compensated with the Grand Duchy
of Tuscany, where the last Medici ruler had recently died without
issue. France also promised to support Maria Theresa as heir to the
Habsburg possessions under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713.
Leszczy¯ski received Lorraine with the understanding that it would fall
to the French crown upon his death. When Stanis®aw died on 23
February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France and reorganized as a
province by the French government.
Full coat of arms of the Duchy, Siebmachers
Wappenbuch, 1703
Lorraine (duchy)
Between France and Germany
Lorraine remained a part of France, but its northern part known as
Moselle, along with Alsace, largely German-speaking regions, were
annexed by the newly founded German Empire, following the
Franco-Prussian War, and French language was forbidden. The
territories were not annexed by any state of the Empire or organised
into a separate state, but were governed as the Reichsland
Elsass-Lothringen under a governor directly appointed by the German
Emperor. Alsace-Lorraine remained a part of Germany until after the
end of World War I, when France occupied the area and annexed it.
Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring that of French
were then begun, as well as expulsions of Germans who had moved to
the region after 1871.
In 1940, Nazi Germany re-annexed Alsace-Lorraine during World War
Coat of arms of the Duchy (1697)
II combining Moselle with the Saarland and Alsace with Baden. The
French language was again proscribed and education at German schools made compulsory. The war-torn area
returned to France in November 1944. Because of the fighting in the area, Lorraine is home to the Lorraine
American Cemetery and Memorial, the largest American war cemetery in France.
Culture
Two regional languages survive in the region.
Lorraine Franconian, known as francique or platt (lorrain) in French, is a Germanic dialect spoken by a minority in
the northern part of the region. This is distinct from the neighbouring Alsatian language, although the two are often
confused. Neither has any form of official recognition.
Lorrain is a Romance dialect spoken by a minority in the southern part of the region.
Like most of France's regional languages (such as Breton, Proven…al, Alsatian and Basque) Lorrain and Lorraine
Franconian were largely replaced by French with the advent of mandatory public schooling in the 19th and 20th
centuries.
Foodstuffs and dishes associated with Lorraine include quiche lorraine, Mirabelle plum, baba au rhum, bergamotes,
macarons, and madeleines.
158
Lorraine (duchy)
159
References
Further reading
Publications in English
„ Herrick, Linda & Wendy Uncapher. Alsace-Lorraine: The Atlantic Bridge to Germany. Janesville, WI: 2003.
„ Hughes, S. P. (2005) "Bilingualism in North-East France with specific reference to Rhenish Franconian spoken
by Moselle Cross-border (or frontier) workers." (http://www.ruc.dk/isok/skriftserier/mobility/mobility2/
Hughes/)
„ Putnam, Ruth. Alsace and Lorraine: From Cžsar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.-1871 A.D. New York: 1915.
External links
„ Alsace-Lorraine.info (http://www.alsace-lorraine.info/)
„ Lotharingia (http://www.lotharingia.de/)
Corsica
"Corse" redirects here. For other uses, see Corse (disambiguation) and Corsica (disambiguation).
Corsica
Corse (French)
Corsica (Corsican)
Region of France
Flag
Coat of arms
Country
Prefecture
‘France
Ajaccio
Departments
Government
‚€‚President
Paul Giacobbi (PRG)
Area
‚€‚Total
2
8,680‘km (3,350‘sq‘mi)
Corsica
160
Population (Jan. 2013)
‚€‚Total
322,120
‚€‚Density
37/km (96/sq‘mi)
Time zone
CET (UTC+1)
2
‚€‚Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code
FR-H
GDP‚(2012)
Ranked 24th
Total
ƒ8.17 billion (US$10.5 bn)
Per capita
ƒ25,523 (US$32,827)
NUTS Region
FR8
Website
www.corse.fr
[1]
Corsica (/’kŒrs™k‡/; French: Corse [kŒ†s]; Corsican: Corsica) is a French island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is
located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the Italian island of Sardinia. Mountains make
up two-thirds of the island, forming a single chain. Before French annexation, Corsica was under the ownership of
the Republic of Genoa.
Corsica is one of the 27 r•gions of France, although it is designated as a territorial collectivity (collectivit•
territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, Corsica enjoys some greater powers than other French r•gions but is
referred to as a r•gion in common speech and is almost always listed among them. Although the island is separated
from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea and is closer to Italy than to the French mainland, politically
Corsica is part of Metropolitan France.
Corsica is split into two departments, Haute-Corse (Upper Corsica) and Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica), with its
regional capital in Ajaccio, the prefecture city of Corse-du-Sud. Bastia, the prefecture city of Haute-Corse, is the
second-largest settlement in Corsica.
After rule from the Republic of Genoa starting in 1282, Corsica was briefly an independent Corsican Republic from
1755 until its conquest by France in 1769. Corsica's culture contains both French and Italian elements, and its
constitution while a Republic was written in Italian. The native Corsican language is recognised as a regional
language by the French government.
The French emperor Napol‚on Bonaparte was born in 1769 in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. His ancestral home,
Casa Buonaparte, is today used as a museum. The northern town of Calvi claims to be the birthplace of the explorer
Christopher Columbus.
Corsica
161
History
Main articles: Prehistory of Corsica, History of Corsica and Medieval Corsica
The origin of the name Corsica is subject to much debate and remains a
mystery. To the Ancient Greeks it was known as Kalliste, Corsis,
Cyrnos, Cernealis, or Cirn•. The latter Greek names are based on the
Phoenician word for 'peninsula' (kir).
Corsica has been occupied continuously since the Mesolithic era. It
acquired an indigenous population that was influential in the
Mediterranean during its long prehistory.
After a brief occupation by the Carthaginians, colonization by the
ancient Greeks, and an only slightly longer occupation by the
Etruscans, it was incorporated by the Roman Republic at the end of the
First Punic War and, with Sardinia, became a province of the Roman
Empire.
In the 6th century, the Roman Empire collapsed, and the island was
invaded by the Vandals, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, the Lombards
and the Saracens. Pepin the Short, king of the Franks and
Charlemagne's father, expelled the invaders and granted Corsica to
Pope Stephen II through the exarchate of Ravenna (756), which was
the starting point of the temporal power of the papacy.
The medieval influence of Pisa in Corsica can be
seen in the Romanesque-Pisan style of the
Church of Aregno
The Genoese took possession of the island in 1347, and governed it until 1729 • interrupted only by a brief
occupation by forces of a Franco-Ottoman alliance in the Invasion of Corsica (1553).Wikipedia:Citation needed The
[2]
Barbary pirates from North Africa frequently attacked Corsica, resulting in many Genoese towers being erected.
Independent Corsica
In 1729 the Corsican Revolution for independence began. After 26
years of struggle against the Republic of Genoa, the independent
Corsican Republic was formed in 1755 under the leadership of
Pasquale Paoli and remained sovereign until 1769 when it was
conquered by France. The first Corsican Constitution was written in
Italian (the language of culture in Corsica until the end of the 19th
century) by Paoli. He proclaimed that Italian was the official language
of Corsica.
Seafront boulevard in Ajaccio, the island's capital
and Napoleon I's birthplace
The Corsican Republic was unable to eject the Genoese from the major
coastal bodies. Following French losses in the Seven Years' War,
Corsica was purchased by France from the Republic of Genoa in 1764.
After an announcement and brief war in 1768•69 Corsican resistance was largely ended at the Battle of Ponte Novu.
Despite triggering the Corsican Crisis in Britain, whose government gave secret aid, no foreign military support
came for the Corsicans. Corsica was incorporated into France in 1770, marking the end of Corsican sovereignty.
However, nationalist feelings still ran high.
Following the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, Pasquale Paoli was able to return to Corsica from exile in
Britain. In 1794 he invited British forces under Lord Hood to intervene to free Corsica from French rule.
Anglo-Corsican forces drove the French from the island and established an Anglo-Corsican Kingdom. Following
Spain's entry into the war the British decided to withdraw from Corsica in 1796. Corsica then returned to French
Corsica
rule.
In 1814, near the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the island was briefly occupied again by British troops. The Treaty of
Bastia gave the British crown sovereignty over the island, but it was later repudiated by Lord Castlereagh who
insisted that the island should be returned to a restored French monarchy.
The code of vendetta required Corsicans to seek deadly revenge for offences against their family's honor. Between
1821 and 1852, no fewer than 4,300 murders were perpetrated in Corsica.[3]
Modern Corsica
After the collapse of France to the German Wehrmacht in 1940, Corsica came under the rule of the Vichy French
regime, which was collaborating with the Nazis. Following its liberation by Italian and Free French Forces shortly
after the Italian armistice in 1943, the US military established 17 airfields on Corsica, nicknamed "USS Corsica"
during the war, which served as bases for American tactical bomber groups attacking targets in German-occupied
Italy.
During the May 1958 crisis, French paratroopers landed on Corsica on 24 May, garrisoning the French island in a
bloodless action called "Operation Corse."
In recent decades, Corsican nationalism has been a feature of the island's politics, with calls for greater autonomy
and protection for Corsican culture and the Corsican language.
In 2013, Corsica hosted the first three stages of the 100th Tour de France, which passed through the island for the
first time in the event's 110-year history.
Geography
Corsica was formed approximately 250
million years ago with the uplift of a
granite backbone on the western side.
About 50 million years ago
sedimentary rock was pressed against
The Bay of Calvi: Corsica is the most mountainous Mediterranean island.
this granite, forming the schists of the
eastern side. It is the most mountainous
island in the Mediterranean, a "mountain in the sea".
It is 183 kilometres (114‘mi) long at longest, 83 kilometres (52‘mi) wide at widest, has 1,000 kilometres (620‘mi) of
coastline, more than 200 beaches, and is very mountainous, with Monte Cinto as the highest peak at 2,706 metres
(8,878‘ft) and 20 other summits of more than 2,000 metres (6,600‘ft). Mountains comprise two-thirds of the island,
forming a single chain. Forests make up 20% of the island.
Approximately 3,500‘km2 (1,400‘sq‘mi) of the total surface area of 8,680‘km2 (3,350‘sq‘mi) is dedicated to nature
reserves (Parc Naturel R‚gional de Corse), mainly in the interior. Corsica contains the GR20, one of Europe's most
notable hiking trails.
The island is 90 kilometres (56‘mi) from Tuscany in Italy and 170 kilometres (110‘mi) from the CŒte d'Azur in
France. It is separated from Sardinia to the south by the Strait of Bonifacio, a minimum of 11 kilometres (6.8‘mi)
wide.
162
Corsica
163
Major communities
Main articles: Communes of the Haute-Corse department and Communes of the Corse-du-Sud department
In 2005 the population of Corsica was settled in approximately 360 communities.
Climate
Under K¨ppen climate classification: hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).
Climate data for Ajaccio, central-western part of island
Month
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Average high
…C (…F)
13.3
(55.9)
13.7
(56.7)
15.0
(59)
17.4
(63.3)
20.9
(69.6)
24.5
(76.1)
27.6
(81.7)
27.7
(81.9)
25.4
(77.7)
22.0
(71.6)
17.5
(63.5)
14.4
(57.9)
19.95
(67.91)
Daily mean
…C (…F)
8.6
(47.5)
9.0
(48.2)
10.1
(50.2)
12.3
(54.1)
15.7
(60.3)
19.1
(66.4)
21.9
(71.4)
22.1
(71.8)
19.9
(67.8)
16.7
(62.1)
12.6
(54.7)
9.6
(49.3)
14.80
(58.64)
Average low
…C (…F)
3.9
(39)
4.3
(39.7)
5.3
(41.5)
7.3
(45.1)
10.6
(51.1)
13.8
(56.8)
16.2
(61.2)
16.5
(61.7)
14.4
(57.9)
11.4
(52.5)
7.7
(45.9)
4.8
(40.6)
9.68
(49.42)
69.7
58.1
52.0
40.2
19.0
11.0
19.9
43.6
87.0
95.9
75.5
645.7
Precipitation 73.8
(2.906)
(2.744)
(2.287)
(2.047)
(1.583)
(0.748)
(0.433)
(0.783)
(1.717)
(3.425)
(3.776)
(2.972)
(25.421)
mm (inches)
Avg.
precipitation
days (‚ 1‚mm)
8.9
8.7
8.3
7.2
5.7
2.8
1.3
2.4
4.3
7.3
8.6
9.1
74.6
Mean
monthly
sunshine
hours
133.3
145.0
189.1
225.0
282.1
321.0
365.8
331.7
264.0
210.8
150.0
127.1
2,744.9
Source: Hong Kong Observatory
[4]
Climate data for Bastia, north-eastern part of island
Month
Average high …C (…F)
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
13.6
13.8
15.6
(56.5) (56.8) (60.1)
17.8
(64)
22.0
25.8
29.1
29.3
25.8
21.9
17.4
14.5
20.55
(71.6) (78.4) (84.4) (84.7) (78.4) (71.4) (63.3) (58.1) (68.97)
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Year
Daily mean …C (…F)
9.1
9.4
10.8
12.9
16.3
(48.4) (48.9) (51.4) (55.2) (61.3)
Average low …C (…F)
5.1
4.9
6.7
8.8
12.4
16.0
19.0
19.4
16.5
13.3
9.2
6.3
11.47
(41.2) (40.8) (44.1) (47.8) (54.3) (60.8) (66.2) (66.9) (61.7) (55.9) (48.6) (43.3) (52.63)
Precipitation mm (inches)
Mean monthly sunshine
hours
20.0
(68)
Jul
23.2
23.3
20.6
17.1
12.9
10.1
15.48
(73.8) (73.9) (69.1) (62.8) (55.2) (50.2) (59.85)
67
57
60
76
50
41
13
21
81
(2.64) (2.24) (2.36) (2.99) (1.97) (1.61) (0.51) (0.83) (3.19)
134
158
192
214
268
296
345
304
232
Source: Quid 2004, page 618 and M•t•o-France, data for 1981•2010
127
(5)
176
114
93
800
(4.49) (3.66) (31.49)
133
128
2,580
Corsica
164
Ecology
Corsica
Native name: Corsica
Nickname: L€‚le de Beaut•
The Isle of Beauty
Topography of Corsica
Corsica (France)
Geography
Location
Mediterranean Sea
Area
8,680‘km (3,350‘sq‘mi)
Length
184‘km (114.3‘mi)
Width
83‘km (51.6‘mi)
Coastline
1,000‘km (600‘mi)
2
Highest‚elevation 2,706‘m (8,878‘ft)
Highest‚point
Monte Cinto
Country
France
R€gion
Corsica
Largest city
Ajaccio‘(pop. 63,723)
Demographics
Corsica
165
Population
322,120 (as of January 2013)
Density
37‘/km (96‘/sq‘mi)
2
Zones by altitude
The island is divided into three major ecological zones by altitude. Below 600 metres (2,000‘ft) is the coastal zone,
which features a Mediterranean climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. The natural vegetation is
Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and shrubs. The coastal lowlands are part of the Tyrrhenian-Adriatic
sclerophyllous and mixed forests ecoregion, in which forests and woodlands of evergreen sclerophyll oaks
predominate, chiefly Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) and Cork Oak (Quercus suber). Much of the coastal lowlands have
been cleared for agriculture, grazing and logging, which have reduced the forests considerably.
There is considerable birdlife in Corsica. In some cases Corsica is a delimited part of the species range. For example,
the subspecies of Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix ssp cornix occurs in Corsica, but no further south.[5]
From 600 to 1,800 metres (2,000 to 5,900‘ft) is a temperate montane zone. The mountains are cooler and wetter, and
home to the Corsican montane broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion, which supports diverse forests of oak, pine,
and broadleaf deciduous trees, with vegetation more typical of northern Europe. The population lives predominantly
below 900 metres (3,000‘ft), with only shepherds and hikers at 600 to 900 metres (2,000 to 3,000‘ft).
From 1,800 to 2,700 metres (5,900 to 8,900‘ft) is a high alpine zone. Vegetation is sparse. This zone is uninhabited.
Parc Naturel R€gional de Corse
The island has a natural park (Parc Naturel R‚gional de Corse, Parcu di Corsica), which protects rare animal and
plant species. The Park was created in 1972 and includes the Golfe de Porto, the Scandola Nature Reserve (a
UNESCO World Heritage Site), and some of the highest mountains on the island. Scandola cannot be reached on
foot, but people can gain access by boat from the village of Gal‚ria and Porto (Ota). Two endangered subspecies of
hoofed mammals, the mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) and Corsican red deer (Cervus elaphus corsicanus) inhabit the
park. The Corsican red deer was re-introduced after it was extinct due to overhunting. This Corsican subspecies was
the same that survived on Sardinia, so it's endemic. There are other species endemic to Corsica especially in the
upper mountain ranges, i.e. Corsican Nuthatch, Corsican Fire Salamander and Corsican Brook Salamander and many
plant subspecies.
Extinct animals
Corsica, like all the other Mediterranean islands, was home to indigenous animals of the Pleistocene, some endemic
to it and some to it and Sardinia (as Sardinia was joined to Corsica for much of the Pleistocene). After the
proliferation of humans in the Mesolithic, these began to disappear, partly from extinction of the species, and partly
from eradication only in Corsica. However, it is now known that many species managed to survive the Mesolithic,
and many were still present well into recorded history.
The totally extinct species are Cynotherium sardous, Megaloceros cazioti, Asoriculus corsicanus, Talpa tyrrhenica,
Prolagus sardus, Tyrrhenicola henseli, Rhagamys orthodon, Bubo insularis and Athene angelis. Birds were
especially hard-hit. Some that were eradicated from the vicinity are Haliaeetos albicilla and Aquila heliaca.
Corsica
166
Demographics
See also: Corsican people
Corsica has a population of 322,120 inhabitants (Jan. 2013 estimate).
In the 1999 census, 87.1% of the population of Corsica were of French nationality[6] while 10% (26,018) had been
born outside of France. The majority of immigrants were from the Maghreb region, particularly Moroccans (41.9%
of immigrants) but also Italians (18.7%) and Portuguese (12.3%).
Immigration
Place of birth of residents of Corsica
(at the 1982, 1990, 1999, and 2010 censuses)
Census Born‚in‚Corsica
Born in
Born‚in
Born‚in‚foreign
Immigrants‡
Continental‚France Overseas‚France countries‚with‚French
citizenship‚at‚birth†
2010
56.8%
28.1%
0.3%
5.1%
9.7%
3
1999
59.5%
24.8%
0.3%
from‚the‚Maghreb
from‚Southern‚Europe
4.4%
3.7%
5.5%
4
from‚the‚rest‚of‚the‚world
1.6%
10.0%
3
from‚the‚Maghreb
from‚Southern‚Europe
5.3%
3.3%
1990
62.0%
21.3%
0.2%
6.0%
10.5%
1982
61.6%
20.4%
0.2%
6.0%
11.8%
4
from‚the‚rest‚of‚the‚world
1.4%
°Essentially Pieds-Noirs who resettled in Corsica after the independence of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, many of whom had Corsican ancestry.
•An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who didn't have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired
French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the
children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
3
4
Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria
Portugal, Italy, Spain
Source: INSEE
Corsica
Culture
Language
Main article: Corsican language
Corsica is one of the few regions of France that retains its own
language in everyday usage: Corsican, which is more closely
related to Italian than to French. However, since its takeover by
France in the 18th century, French has dominated the media and
commerce, and today it is estimated that only 10% of Corsica's
population speak Corsican natively, with only 50% having some
sort of proficiency in Corsican.
Cuisine
From the mountains to the plains and sea, many ingredients play a
role. Game such as wild boar (Cingale, Singhjari) is popular.
There also is seafood and river fish such as trout. Delicacies such
as ficatellu (also named as ficateddu), coppa, ham (prizuttu), lonzu
are made from Corsican pork (porcu nustrale). Cheeses like
Chart of the dialects of the Corsican language, which
also extends into northern Sardinia.
brocciu, casgiu merzu, casgiu veghju are made from goat or sheep
milk. Chestnuts are the main ingredient in the making of pulenta.
A variety of alcohol also exists ranging from aquavita (brandy), red and white Corsican wines (Vinu Corsu), muscat
wine (plain or sparkling), and the famous "Cap Corse" ap‚ritif produced by Mattei. Maquis, the brush that grows in
the area, is eaten by local animals and grows near certain plants, resulting in the noticeable taste in the food there.
Art
Corsica has produced a number of known artists : Alizee, A Filetta (polyphonic chant group), Canta U Populu Corsu
(band), Laetitia Casta (model/actress), Julien de Casabianca (cineast), J‚rŒme Ferrari (writer), Patrick Fiori (singer),
Petru Guelfucci (singer), I Muvrini (band), Jenifer (singer), Fran…ois Lanzi (painter), Ange Leccia (visual art), Henri
Padovani (musician, original guitarist from Police), Thierry de Peretti (cineast), Marie-Claude Pietragalla (dancer),
Jean-Paul Poletti (singer), Robin Renucci (comedian), Tino Rossi (singer), C‚sar Vezzani (opera singer).
167
Corsica
168
Administration
Before 1975, Corsica was a d•partment of the French region of
Provence-Alpes-CŒte d'Azur. In 1975 two new d‚partements, Haute-Corse
and Corse-du-Sud, were created by splitting the hitherto united departement
of Corsica.
On 2 March 1982, a law was passed that gave Corsica the status of
territorial collectivity (collectivit• territoriale), abolishing the Corsican
Regional Council which had existed before. Unlike the regional councils,
the Corsican Assembly has executive powers over the island.
In 1992, three institutions were formed in the territorial collectivity of
Corsica:
„ The Executive Council of Corsica, which exercises the type of executive
functions held in other French regions by the presidents of the Regional
Councils. It ensures the stability and consistency needed to manage the
affairs of the territory;
„ The Corsican Assembly, a deliberative, unicameral legislative body with
greater powers than the regional councils on the mainland;
„ The Economic, Social and Cultural Council of Corsica, an advisory
body.
A local referendum held in 2003, aimed at abolishing the two d•partements
Map of Corsica
to leave a territorial collectivity with extended powers, was voted down by
a narrow margin. However, the issue of Corsican autonomy and greater powers for the Corsican Assembly continues
to hold sway over Corsican politics.
Economy
Corsica is the least economically developed region in
Metropolitan France. Tourism plays a big part in the
Corsican economy. The island's climate, mountains, and
coastlines make it popular among tourists. The island has not
had the same level of intensive development as other parts of
the Mediterranean and is thus mainly unspoiled. Tourism is
particularly concentrated in the area around Porto-Vecchio
and Bonifacio in the south of the island and Calvi in the
northwest.
In 1584 the Genoese governor ordered all farmers and
landowners to plant four trees yearly; a chestnut, olive, fig,
and mulberry tree. Many communities owe their origin and
former richness to the ensuing chestnut woods.[7] Chestnut
Corsica's coastline is a major driver for tourism • coastline by
the town of Propriano
[8]
bread keeps fresh for as long as three weeks. Corsica produces gourmet cheese, wine, sausages, and honey for sale
in mainland France and for export. Corsican honey, of which there are six official varieties, is certified as to its
origin (Appellation d'origine contrŒl‚e) by the French National Institute of Origin and Quality (Institut National des
Appellations d'Origine • INAO).
Corsica's main exports are granite and marble, tannic acid, cork, cheese, wine, citrus fruit, olive oil and cigarettes.
Corsica
169
Transport
Railway
Corsica has 232 kilometres (144 miles) of metre gauge railway. The main line runs between Bastia and Ajaccio and
there is a branch line from Ponte-Leccia to Calvi. Chemins de Fer de la Corse (CFC) is the name of the regional rail
network serving the French island of Corsica. For a list of stations, see Railway stations in Corsica. The railroad
retains the air of a friendly local railroad and is an excellent way to get around the island, for both the inhabitants and
[9]
tourists.
There is a third line along the east coast that is not in use due to heavy damage during World War II. There has been
talk of restoration, but no progress has occurred.
Politics
There are several nationalist movements on the island calling for some degree of Corsican autonomy from France or
even full independence. Generally speaking, autonomist proposals focus on the promotion of the Corsican language,
more power for local governments, and some exemptions from national taxes in addition to those already applying to
Corsica.
The French government is opposed to full independence but has at times shown support for some level of autonomy.
There is support on the island for proposals of greater autonomy, but polls show that a large majority of Corsicans
[10]
are opposed to full independence.
In 1972, the Italian company Montedison dumped toxic waste off the Corsican coast, creating what looked like red
mud in waters around the island with the poisoning of the sea, the most visible effects being cetaceans found dead on
the shores. At that time the Corsican people felt that the French government did not support them since it did not
complain to Italy to make this situation change. To stop the poisoning, one ship carrying toxic waste from Italy was
bombed.
Organisations started to seek money, acting like the Mafia, to fund
violence. Some groups that claim to support Corsican
independence, such as the National Liberation Front of Corsica,
have carried out a violent campaign since the 1970s that includes
bombings and assassinations, usually targeting buildings and
officials representing the French government or Corsicans
themselves for political reasons. A war between two rival
independence groups led to several deaths in the 1990s. The
peaceful occupation of a pied-noir vineyard in Al‚ria in 1975
marked a turning point when the French government responded
with overwhelming force, generating sympathy for the
independence groups among the Corsican population.
Corsican nationalists have used means such as the
removal of French names on road signs.
In 2000, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin agreed to grant increased autonomy to Corsica. The proposed autonomy for
Corsica would have included greater protection for the Corsican language (Corsu), the island's traditional language
(similar to Italian), whose practice and teaching, like other regional or minority languages in France, had been
discouraged in the past. According to the UNESCO classification, the Corsican language is currently in danger of
becoming extinct. However, plans for increased autonomy were opposed by the Gaullist opposition in the French
National Assembly, who feared that they would lead to calls for autonomy from other r•gions (such as Brittany,
Alsace, or Provence), eventually threatening France's unity as a country.
In a referendum on 6 July 2003, a narrow majority of Corsican voters opposed a project from the government of
Jean-Pierre Raffarin and then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy that would have suppressed the two d•partements of
Corsica
170
the island and granted greater autonomy to the territorial collectivity of Corsica.
Notes
[1] http:/ / www. corse. fr
[2] " Ancient Corsica beckons with deserted beaches and historic structures (http:/ / articles. baltimoresun. com/ 1992-03-01/ features/
1992061173_1_maquis-corsica-french-resistance/ 2)". The Baltimore Sun. 1 March 1992
[3] " Wanderings in Corsica: its history and its heroes (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=udhEAAAAYAAJ& pg=PA196& dq&
hl=en#v=onepage& q=& f=false)". Ferdinand Gregorovius (1855). p.196.
[4] "Climatological Information for Ajaccio, France" (http:/ / www. weather. gov. hk/ wxinfo/ climat/ world/ eng/ europe/ fr_sw/ ajaccio_e. htm)
• Hong Kong Observatory
[5] C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Hooded Crow: Corvus cornix, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed, N. Stromberg (http:/ / www. globaltwitcher. com/
artspec_information. asp?thingid=26307)
[6] 2004 statistics: Atlas des populations immigr‚es en Corse (http:/ / www. insee. fr/ fr/ insee_regions/ corse/ themes/ dossiers/ atlasimmig/
atlasimmig. pdf) (French)
[7] The Chestnut Tree (http:/ / www. terracorsa. info/ chestnut/ chestnut. html) in terracorsa.
[8] The Grocer's Encyclopedia • Encyclopedia of Foods and Beverages (http:/ / digital. lib. msu. edu/ projects/ cookbooks/ books/
grocersencyclopedia/ ency. html). By Artemas Ward. New York. 1911.
[9] For a detailed description of the railroad system see Simms, Wilfrid S., "The Railways of Corsica" (1997)(ISBN 0952888122).
[10] EnquŠte: la Corse vue par les Corses - Rue89, Le nouvel observateur (http:/ / www. rue89. com/ rue89-politique/ 2012/ 08/ 06/
quoi-pensent-les-corses-quand-ils-pensent-la-corse-234434)
Bibliography
„ Loughlin, John. 1989. "Regionalism and Ethnic Nationalism in France: A Case-study of Corsica". Thesis. San
Domenico, Italy: European University Institute.
„ Loughlin, John, and Claude Olivesi (eds.). 1999. Autonomies insulaires: vers une politique de diff•rence pour la
Corse. Ajaccio: Editions Albiana. ISBN 2-905124-47-4
„ Saul, John Ralston. 1992. Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West. New York: Free Press;
Maxwell Macmillan International. ISBN 0-02-927725-6
External links
„ Corsica : a mountain in the sea (http://www.france.fr/en/regions-and-cities/corsica-mountain-sea) • Official
French website (in English)
„ Costa, L.J.; C‚cile Costa (2005). "Pr‚histoire de la Corse" (http://www.prehistoire-corse.org/). Kyrnos
Publications pour l'arch‚ologie. Retrieved 26 April 2008. (French)
„ "TerraCorsa,I Muvrini and much more Corsican music" (http://www.terracorsa.info). TerraCorsa. Retrieved 22
August 2011.
„ Dumas, Alexandre (2003) [1845]. "The Corsican Brothers" (http://web.archive.org/web/20080419073755/
http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/dumas/corsic10.html). Arthur's Classical Novels. Archived from the
original (http://arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/dumas/corsic10.html) on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 27 April
2008.
„ Corsica (http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/France/Regions/Corsica) at DMOZ (English)
„ "National Geographic Magazine: Corsica Map" (http://yellowbordermagazine.com/ngm/0304/feature3/map.
html). National Geographic Society. 2003. Retrieved 5 May 2008.
„ "Corsica rejects autonomy offer by Paris" (http://web.archive.org/web/20080408111248/http://www.cnn.
com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/06/corsica.poll/index.html). CNN. 6 July 2003. Archived from the original
(http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/07/06/corsica.poll/index.html) on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 26
April 2008.
„ Keyser, Will. "Corsica from the inside!" (http://www.corsica-isula.com). Corsica Isula. Retrieved 26 April
2008.
Corsica
171
„ jabro. "Getting around in Corsica by bicycle" (http://www.jabro.net/photos-fotky/by-bicycle/category/
2-korsika-corsica-corse). jabro.net. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
„ Guiderdoni, jf. "A different visit of Corsica" (http://www.corsicaexperience.com). corsica_experience.
Retrieved 5 June 2011.
„ Ferries to Corsica (http://www.traghettiper-corsica.it/Navi_per_la_Corsica.pdf) Detailed technical
specifications of the various ferry vessels, history, deckplans. (Italian)
Coordinates: 42Ž9‹N 9Ž5‹E (http:/ / tools. wmflabs. org/ geohack/ geohack. php?pagename=Corsica&
params=42_9_N_9_5_E_region:FR_type:adm1st)
Savoy
This article is about the historical region of Savoy. For other uses, see Savoy (disambiguation). For the two French
d‚partements of the region of Savoy, see Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
Savoy
Savoie (French)
Savou€ (Arpitan)
Savoia (Italian)
Sapaudia (Latin)
Flag
Anthem:‚Le Chant des Allobroges
The Song of the Savoyards/Allobroges
Capital
and largest city
Official languages
Ethnic‚groups
Chamb‚ry
French
French, Savoyard
Savoy
172
[1]
Demonym
Savoyard (in widespread use nowadays),
Savoyan(historic; today uncommon)
Legislature
Sovereign Senate of Savoy(dissolved in 1860)
Savoisian (name before annexation),
Annexed‚Annexed to France on June 14, 1860
‘-‘
Savoy raised to a duchy by Emperor
Sigismund
February 19, 1416‘
Area
‘-‘
Total
10,416‘km2
4,022‘sq‘mi
Population
‘-‘
2008‘estimate
Time zone
‘-‘
Summer‘(DST)
1,125,119
CET (UTC+1)
CEST‘(UTC+2)
Drives on the
right
Calling code
33
Savoy (/s‡’vŒ™/; Arpitan: Savouƒ, IPA:‘[sa’vw‰]; French: Savoie, IPA:‘[savwa]; Italian: Savoia) is a region of France.
It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps between Lake Geneva in the north and Dauphin‚ in the south.
The historical land of Savoy emerged as the feudal territory of the House of Savoy during the 11th to 14th centuries.
The historical territory is shared between the modern republics of France, Italy, and Switzerland.
Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving
royal house in Europe.[2] It ruled the County of Savoy to 1416 and then the Duchy of Savoy from 1416 to 1714.
The territory of Savoy was annexed to France in 1792 under the French First Republic, before being returned to the
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1815. Savoy, along with the county of Nice, was finally annexed to France by a
plebiscite, under the Second French Empire in 1860, as part of a political agreement (Treaty of Turin) brokered
between the French emperor Napoleon III and King Victor Emmanuel II of the Kingdom of Sardinia that began the
process of unification of Italy. Victor Emmanuel's dynasty, the House of Savoy, retained its Italian lands of
Piedmont and Liguria and became the ruling dynasty of Italy.
Geography
In modern France, Savoy is part of the RhŒne-Alpes region. Following
its annexation to France in 1860 by a plebiscite, the territory of Savoy
was divided administratively into two separate departments, Savoie
and Haute-Savoie.
The traditional capital remains Chamb‚ry (Ciamber±), on the rivers
Leysse and Albane, hosting the castle of the House of Savoy and the
Savoyard senate. The state included six districts:
„ Savoie Propre, sometimes known as Ducal Savoy (capital
Chamb‚ry)
„ Chablais (capital Thonon-les-Bains)
„ Faucigny (capital Bonneville)
„ Tarentaise (capital Mo•tiers)
„ Maurienne (capital Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne)
Alpine landscape of Les Saisies, as seen from
Mont Bisanne.
Savoy
173
„ Genevois (capital Annecy)
The County and Duchy of Savoy incorporated Turin and other territories in Piedmont, a region in northwestern Italy
that borders Savoy, which were also possessions of the House of Savoy. The capital of the Duchy remained at the
traditional Savoyard capital of Chamb‚ry until 1563, when it was moved to Turin.
History
Early history
The region occupied by the Allobroges, a Celtic people became part of the Roman Empire. The name Savoy stems
[3]
from the Late Latin Sapaudia, referring to a fir forest. It is first recorded in Ammianus Marcellinus (354), to
[4]
describe the southern part of Maxima Sequanorum. According to the Gallic Chronicle of 452, it was separated
[5]
from the rest of Burgundian territories in 443, after the Burgundian defeat by Flavius Aetius.
Early and High Middle Ages
Further information: County of Savoy
By the 8th century, the territory that would later become known as Savoy was part of the Kingdom of the Franks,
and at the division of Francia at the Treaty of Verdun in 843, it became part of the short-lived kingdom of Middle
Francia. After only 12 years, at the death of Lothair I in 855, Middle Francia was divided into Lotharingia north of
the Alps, Italy south of the Alps, and the parts of Burgundy in the Western Alps, inherited by Charles son of Lothair.
This latter territory comprised what would become known as Savoy and Provence.
From the 10th to 14th century, parts of what would ultimately become Savoy remained within the Kingdom of Arles.
Beginning in the 11th century, the gradual rise to power of the House of Savoy is reflected in the increasing territory
of their County of Savoy between 1003 and 1416.
The County of Savoy was detached de jure from the Kingdom of Arles by Emperor Charles IV in 1361. It acquired
the County of Nice in 1388, and in 1401 added the County of Genevois, the area of Geneva except for the city
proper, which was ruled by its prince-bishop, nominally under the duke's rule: the bishops of Geneva, by unspoken
agreement, came from the House of Savoy; this agreement came to an end in 1533.[6]
Duchy of Savoy
Main article: Duchy of Savoy
Duchy of Savoy (red) and other Italian states in
1494.
Savoy
On February 19, 1416, Sigismund, Holy
Roman Emperor, made the County of
Savoy an independent duchy, with
Amadeus VIII as the first duke.
Straddling the Alps, Savoy lay within
two competing spheres of influence, a
French sphere and a North Italian one.
At the time of the Renaissance, Savoy
[7]
showed only modest development. Its
[8]
towns were few and small.
Savoy
derived
its
subsistence
from
[9]
agriculture. The geographic location
of Savoy was also of military
importance.[10] During the interminable
wars between France and Spain over the
Map of Savoy in the 16th century, white lines are modern borders
control of northern Italy, Savoy was
important to France because it provided access to Italy.[11] Savoy was important to Spain because it served as a
buffer between France and the Spanish held lands in Italy.[12] In 1563 Emmanuel Philibert moved the capital from
Chamb‚ry to Turin, which was less vulnerable to French interference.[13]
Vaud was annexed by Bern in 1536, and Savoy officially ceded Vaud to Bern in the Treaty of Lausanne of 30
October 1564.
In 1714, as a consequence of the War of the Spanish Succession, Savoy was technically subsumed into the Kingdom
of Sicily, then (after that island was traded to Austria for Sardinia) the Kingdom of Sardinia from 1720. While the
heads of the House of Savoy were known as the Kings of Sardinia, Turin remained their capital.
French Revolutionary Wars
Savoy was occupied by French revolutionary forces between 1792 and 1815. The region was first added to the
d‚partement of Mont-Blanc, then in 1798 was divided between the d‚partements of Mont-Blanc and L‚man (French
name of Lake Geneva.) In 1801, Savoy officially left the Holy Roman Empire.[14] On September 13, 1793 the
combined forces of Savoy, Piedmont and Aosta Valley fought against and lost to the occupying French forces at the
Battle of M‚ribel (Sallanches). Two-thirds of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the First Restoration
of 1814 following Napoleon's abdication; approximately one-third of Savoy, including the two most important cities
of Chamb‚ry and Annecy, remained in France. Following Napoleon's brief return to power during the Hundred Days
and subsequent defeat at Waterloo, the remaining one-third of Savoy was restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia at the
Congress of Vienna to strengthen Sardinia as a buffer state on France's southeastern border.
174
Savoy
175
Modern history
From 1815 until 1860 Savoy was part of the Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia.
Annexation to France
The French Second Republic first attempted to annex Savoy in 1848.
Corps were dispatched from Lyons and invaded the capital of Savoy
[Chamb‚ry] and proclaimed the annexation to France. On learning
about the invasion countrymen rushed to Chamb‚ry. The corps were
chased away by the local population and many were massacred.[15]
Robert L‚opold Leprince - View of Savoy
(Walters Art Museum).
In order to secure an alliance against Austria in the wars of unification
of Italy, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia Camillo
Cavour met in secret with the French emperor Napoleon III on July 21,
1858 in Plombi€res (Vosges). During the discussion, Cavour promised
that Sardinia would cede the County of Nice and Duchy of Savoy to
France in exchange for military support in a planned war against
Austria. Though this was a secret arrangement, it quickly became
widely known.[16]
The treaty annexing Nice and Savoy to France was signed in Turin on
March 24, 1860 (Treaty of Turin). In the northern provinces of the
Chablais and Faucigny, there was some sympathy for annexation to
neighboring Switzerland, with which the northern provinces had
longstanding economic ties. To help reduce the attractiveness of
Switzerland, the French government conceded a free-trade Zone that
Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (blue) and other
Italian states in 1843.
maintained the longstanding duty-free relationship of northern
Savoyard communes to Geneva. The treaty was followed on April
22•23 by a plebiscite employing universal male suffrage, in which voters were offered the option of voting "yes" to
approve the treaty and join France or rejecting the treaty with a no vote. The disallowed options of either joining
Switzerland, remaining with Italy, or regaining its independence, were the source of some opposition. With a 99.8%
vote in favour of joining France, there were allegations of vote-rigging, notably by the British government, which
opposed continental expansion by its traditional French enemy.
The correspondent of The Times in Savoy who was in Bonneville on April 22 called the vote "the lowest and most
immoral farce(s) which was ever played in the history of nations".[17] He finished his letter with those words:
I leave you to draw your own conclusions from this trip, which will show clearly what the vote was in
this part of Savoy. The vote was the bitterest irony ever made on popular suffrage. The ballot-box in the
hands of those very authorities who issued the proclamations; no control possible; even travellers
suspected and dogged lest they should pry into the matter; all opposition put down by intimidation, and
all liberty of action completely taken away. One can really scarcely reproach the Opposition with having
given up the game; there was too great force used against them. As for the result of the vote, therefore,
no one need trouble himself about it; it will be just as brilliant as that in Nice. The only danger is lest the
Savoy authorities in their zeal should fare as some of the French did in the vote of 1852, finding to their
surprise rather more votes than voters inscribed on the list.
Savoy
176
In his letter to the ambassador of Vienna Lord A. Loftus, the then Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell said "Voting
in Savoy and Nice a farce ... we are neither entertained or edified".[18]
The annexation was promulgated on June 14, 1860. On August 23,
1860 and March 7, 1861, two agreements were signed between the
French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia to settle the remaining
issues concerning the annexation.
French annexation in 1860 (black) after the
signing of the Treaty of Turin and a regional
referendum in favor of the attachment to France.
20th century
In 1919, France officially (but contrary to the annexation treaty) ended
the military neutrality of the parts of the country of Savoy that had
originally been agreed to at the Congress of Vienna, and also
eliminated the free trade zone - both treaty articles having been broken
unofficially in World War I. France was condemned in 1932 by the
international court for noncompliance with the measures of the Treaty
of Turin regarding the provinces of Savoy and Nice.
The Ch‰teau de Chamb‚ry, seat of government,
was given a grand new fa…ade following
In 1960, the term annexation having acquired negative connotations in
France, particularly after Germany's 1871 annexation of
annexation
Alsace-Lorraine, the annexation was renamed Rattachement de la
[19]
Savoie † la France (Incorporation of Savoy to France).
It was the
latter term which was used by the French authorities during the festivities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the
[20]
annexation.
Daniel Rops of the French Academy justified the new title with these words:
Savoy has begun to solemnize the feasts in 1960, commemorating the centenary of its incorporation
(rattachement) to France. It is on purpose that the word incorporation (rattachement) is highlighted here:
the Savoyards attach great value to it, and it is the only one they have resolved to use in the official
terminology of the Centenary. In that, they are infinitely right. Yesterday another term that was used:
annexation. Looking at it more closely it was wrong! Can we say annexation when we talk about a
decision which was approved by 130,889 voters over 135,449? [...]. Savoy was not annexed [...] but
actually incorporated freely and by the will of its inhabitants.
A former French deputy, P. Taponnier, spoke of the annexation:
In late March 1860, the betrothal ceremony of Savoy to France took place in Tuileries Palace [...], a
ceremony which was a pact of love and fidelity [...] it is with free consent that she [Savoy] gave itself to
France by a solemn plebiscite which our leaders can ignore neither the terms nor the commitments. [...]
Savoy
177
May the bells of our cities [...] in Savoy vibrate in unison to glorify, in this magnificent Centenary, the
indefectible commitment of Savoy to France. The Savoyards did not feel Italian. Besides, they spoke
French. This explains why in 1858-1859 when rumours ran of the Plombi€res secret agreement, where
Napoleon III and Cavour decided of the fate of Savoy, the Savoyards themselves took the initiative to
ask for the incorporation (rattachement). [...] Incorporation, not annexation [...] The incorporation was
an act of free will, in the logical order of geography and history [...].
Modern regionalist politics
Since the mid twentieth-century, regionalist movements have appeared in Savoy much as in other historic provinces
of France. The Mouvement R•gion Savoie (Savoy Regional Movement) was founded in December 1971 as a
'movement' (rather than a traditional political party) in favour of regional autonomy. Unlike other historic provinces,
including Alsace and Brittany, Savoy does not currently have its own region within France and is part of the
RhŒne-Alpes region. In the 1996 local elections, the Savoy Regional Movement received 19,434 votes; it received
4,849 in the 1998 regional elections. A new non-party organisation, La R•gion Savoie, j€y crois ! (I believe in the
Savoy Region!), was founded in 1998. The organisation campaigns for the replacement of the Savoie and
Haute-Savoie departments with a regional government, separate from the RhŒne-Alpes region, with greater devolved
powers.
A very marginal separatist movement has also appeared in Savoy within the past twenty years, most prominently
represented by the Ligue Savoisienne, founded in 1994. In the March 1998 regional elections, 1 seat (out of 23) was
won by Patrice Abeille, leader of the Ligue, which won a total of 17,865 votes across the two departments. In 2004,
Waiting for Freedom in Savoy[21] was founded to promote the peaceful separatist cause to young people.
According to surveys conducted in 2000, between 41% and 55% of the population were in favour of the proposal for
a separate Savoy region, while 19% to 23% were in favour of separation from France. Towards the end of 2005,
Herv‚ Gaymard called for Savoie to be given special status, similar to a French region, under his proposed "Conseil
des Pays de Savoie".[22]
Modern historiographical debates
In recent years, sparked by the admittedly tiny Savoyard separatist movement, much attention has been focused on
questioning the validity of the 1860 annexation. The Ligue Savoisienne, for example, rejects the Treaty of Turin and
subsequent plebiscite as null and void, arguing that the plebiscite did not meet the standards of a free and fair vote.
Today, historians generally acknowledge that the plebiscite of 1860 did feature irregularities, but they also affirm
that the annexation instrument was the Treaty of Turin and not the plebiscite, whose main purpose was to
demonstrate favorable public opinion in Savoy for the annexation after the signature of the treaty.[23] In an interview
for the newspaper Le Dauphin• Lib•r•, Sylvain Milbach, a historian at the University of Savoy, qualifies the vote as
Napoleonic, but also argues that a completely free and fair vote would not have dramatically changed the outcome,
[24]
as the majority of Savoyards wished to become French.
This is today the official stance of the General Council of
Savoie.
Savoy
178
Notes
[1] Jack D. Street. "The Independence of Savoy and the Autonomy of the Valle d'Aosta", The French Review, Vol 71, No 3, Feb. 1998, pp
396-404 accessed 4 Oct 2008.
[2] The Romance of the House of Savoy;(Vol.1)Weil,Alethea.Putnam,New York(1898)openlibrary.org/books/ol23330616m,Intro.pg.1
[3] Modern French sapin; sapini€re signifies "fir forest".
[4] The territory, which has no modern counterpart, was perhaps bounded by the rivers Ain and RhŒne, Lac L‚man, the Jura and the Aar, though
historians differ, and there seems to be insufficient evidence: see Norman H. Baynes, reviewing A. Coville, Recherches sur l'Histoire de Lyon
du Ve au IXe Siƒcle (450-800) in The English Historical Review 45 No. 179 (July 1930:470-474) p 471.
[5] Sapaudia Burgundionum reliquiis datur cum indigenis dividenda. (in T. Mommsen, Chronica Minora II:660, 128.
[6] See the career of the last prince-bishop Pierre de La Baume.
[7] Henry S. Lucas, The Renaissance and the Reformation (Harper & Bros. Publishers: New York, 1960) p. 42.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Henry S. Lucas, The Renaissance and the Reformation (Harper & Bros. Publishers: New York, 1960) p. 42.
[11] Henry S. Lucas, The Renaissance and the Reformation, p. 42.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Robert Katz, The Fall of the House of Savoy (The MacMillan Company: New York, 1971) p. 18.
[14] Heiliges R¨misches Reich
[15] [Journal de Gen€ve], 22 avril 1860. Le Temps, Archives historiques (http:/ / www. letempsarchives. ch/ ) Articles (http:/ / docs. google.
com/ View?id=dhkjtttj_128n72dfwcq)
[16] Lord John Russell address to the House of Common, July 5, 1861, HC Deb 05 July 1861 vol 164 cc436-61 (http:/ / hansard.
millbanksystems. com/ commons/ 1861/ jul/ 05/ question-2)
[17] The Times (http:/ / archive. timesonline. co. uk/ tol/ archive/ ), April 28, 1860, Universal Suffrage In Savoy (http:/ / blog. regionleman. com/
post/ annexion-rattachement-reunion-annexation-savoie-savoy-150-ans-anniversaire).
[18] PRO 30/22/98 Austria. Vol 1. Legation (from Nov. 1860) embassy in Vienna. Private correspondence (drafts). Lord John (from 1861 earl)
Russell, foreign secretary to Hon. Julian Fane, legation later embassy secretary; Lord Augustus Loftus, envoy; Lord Bloomfield, ambassador.
Document conserved at The National Archives (http:/ / www. nationalarchives. gov. uk/ )
[19] The word rattachement (incorporation) was preferred to r•union which may remind of the Anschluss.
[20] La Savoie au miroir du Centenaire de son Rattachement ‡ la France (http:/ / doc-iep. univ-lyon2. fr/ Ressources/ Documents/ Etudiants/
Memoires/ MFE2001/ lacharmea/ these. html), Lacharme Amandine
[21] Waiting for Freedom in Savoy (http:/ / www. wffis. org/ )
[22] R‚gion Savoie (http:/ / www. regionsavoie. com/ fichiers/ CDP_du_031105. pdf).
[23] 1860, La Savoie de l'Annexion (http:/ / www. savoie. fr/ archives73/ expo_annexion/ pano_5_/ thumb. html), Archives D‚partementales de
la Savoie
[24] Savoie Fran…aise: Sylvain Milbach: •Le "oui" ‚tait acquisƒ (http:/ / www. ledauphine. com/
savoie-francaise-sylvain-milbach-le-oui-etait-acquis--@/ index. jspz?article=122676)
External links
„ The History of the Annexation of Savoy and Nice to France according to the United Kingdom, Switzerland and
the others... (http://sites.google.com/site/savoyannexation/)
„ Universal Suffrage under Napoleon III by Adams, Charles Kendall (http://digital.library.cornell.edu/cgi/t/
text/pageviewer-idx?c=nora;cc=nora;q1=savoy;rgn=full
text;idno=nora0117-2;didno=nora0117-2;view=image;seq=364;page=root;size=s;frm=frameset;)
„ Savoy Region Movement (http://www.regionsavoie.fr) (in French)
„ Ligue Savoisienne (in English) (http://notre.savoie.free.fr/)
„ Francia Media}: a territorial and genealogical disambiguation of Lorraine and Burgundy, with a section on Savoy
(http://www.friesian.com/lorraine.htm)
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Lorraine (duchy) ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=604568720 ‘Contributors: Aaker, AceInTheHole, Andrwsc, Baronnet, Bjung, Black Widow, Blaue Max, BlueMars,
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Corsica ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=611880116 ‘Contributors: *drew, 1-555-confide, 16@r, 2001:db8, 209.232.151.xxx, 62.11.66.xxx, Abecaglia, Abhijitsathe, Acatauro,
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181
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
182
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image:Eugƒne Delacroix - La libert€ guidant le peuple.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Eug€ne_Delacroix_-_La_libert‚_guidant_le_peuple.jpg ‘License: Public
Domain ‘Contributors: 1970gemini, Aavindraa, Alvaro qc, Anetode, Arnomane, Berrucomons, Better than Hustler, Bibi Saint-Pol, Bzh-99, Cantons-de-l'Est, Crisco 1492, Dbenbenn,
Didactohedron, DutchHoratius, Encephalon, FoeNyx, Graphium, Husky, J JMesserly, Jarekt, Jean-Fr‚d‚ric, Julia W, JÛNNICK J‚r‚my, Kelson, M0tty, Makthorpe, Marianika, Martin H., Mattes,
Mglanznig, Miniwark, Mmxx, NguyŠn LŠ, Olivier, Oursana, Paris 16, Pawe®MM, Plindenbaum, Pline, Pyb, Ranveig, Soerfm, The art master, Thierry Caro, Thuresson, Trycatch, Tsui, Warburg,
Zolo, ˆ ‰ , Š ‹ Œ • Ž • , 20 anonymous edits
File:Flag of France.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_France.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Anomie
File:Facade de la Cath€drale de Reims - Parvis.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Facade_de_la_Cath‚drale_de_Reims_-_Parvis.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported ‘Contributors: Ludovic P‚ron
File:Mosque Paris Aug 2006 002.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mosque_Paris_Aug_2006_002.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 ‘Contributors:
Gryffindor
Image:Crˆpe opened up.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:CrŠpe_opened_up.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Bbullot, Nightscream,
ÜÇ×ÁÃÒÑ Ý¿ÁÊËÞËÉ, 7 anonymous edits
File:Gwenn ha du.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Gwenn_ha_du.svg ‘License: unknown ‘Contributors: File:COA fr BRE.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:COA_fr_BRE.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: User:Brieg
File:Localisation Duch€ de Bretagne.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Localisation_Duch‚_de_Bretagne.svg ‘License: unknown ‘Contributors: GwenofGwened,
VIGNERON
File:Speaker Icon.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Speaker_Icon.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Blast, G.Hagedorn, Jianhui67, Mobius, Tehdog, 3
anonymous edits
File:4735.1099 Menhire,bis zu 4 Meter hoch,von OstnachWest in 1167 Meter Langen Alignements(Granit-Steinreihen) in einem Halbkreis endend Le M€nec,Carnac ,Departement
Morbihan,Bretagne Steffen Heilfort.JPG ‘Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:4735.1099_Menhire,bis_zu_4_Meter_hoch,von_OstnachWest_in_1167_Meter_Langen_Alignements(Granit-Steinreihen)_in_einem_Halbkreis_endend_Le_M‚nec,Carnac_,D
‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Steffen Heilfort
File:Peuples celtes en armorique.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Peuples_celtes_en_armorique.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 ‘Contributors: Foxpry
File:Corseul - Temple de Mars 03.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Corseul_-_Temple_de_Mars_03.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
‘Contributors: User:Pymouss
File:Nominoe triumphant.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nominoe_triumphant.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Jeanne Malivel - died 1926
File:Ren€ d'Anjou Livre des tournois France Provence XVe siƒcle Barth€lemy d'Eyck.jpg ‘Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ren‚_d'Anjou_Livre_des_tournois_France_Provence_XVe_si€cle_Barth‚lemy_d'Eyck.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Jheald, Johnbod,
Petrusbarbygere, Pp.paul.4, Shakko
File:BNF - Latin 9474 - Jean Bourdichon - Grandes Heures d'Anne de Bretagne - f. 3r - Anne de Bretagne entre trois saintes (d€tail).jpg ‘Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:BNF_-_Latin_9474_-_Jean_Bourdichon_-_Grandes_Heures_d'Anne_de_Bretagne_-_f._3r_-_Anne_de_Bretagne_entre_trois_saintes_(d‚tail).jpg
‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Kaho Mitsuki
File:R€volte Fouesnant.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:R‚volte_Fouesnant.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Anne97432, Bzh-99, Ecummenic, Fab5669,
Hsarrazin, Khaerr, Millevache, Radarm, VIGNERON, 2 anonymous edits
File:RAF attack Saint Malo 31 Jul 1942.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:RAF_attack_Saint_Malo_31_Jul_1942.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Image
source: British official photo from OWI.
File:Amoco Cadiz 1 edit1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Amoco_Cadiz_1_edit1.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Amoco_Cadiz_1.jpg: noaa.gov
derivative work: Mfield (talk)
File:Ch‰teau de Nantes 3.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ch‰teau_de_Nantes_3.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors:
User:Guiguilacagouille
File:Bretagne historique 2.png ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bretagne_historique_2.png ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors: Foxpry
File:Bienvenue en Bretagne historique.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bienvenue_en_Bretagne_historique.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike
3.0 ‘Contributors: Ex-Smith
File:Bretagne Cote granit rose 01.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bretagne_Cote_granit_rose_01.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0
Generic ‘Contributors: Original uploader was Calips at fr.wikipedia
File:L'ELLez prƒs de sa source.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:L'ELLez_pr€s_de_sa_source.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
‘Contributors: User:Moreau.henri
File:Bretagne Finistere PointeduRaz15119.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bretagne_Finistere_PointeduRaz15119.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors:
User:S.moeller
File:Poissonlune mole2.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Poissonlune_mole2.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Fab5669, Janderk, Kilom691, Lin‚1,
Renebeto, R¢diger W¨lk, ßberraschungsbilder, 1 anonymous edits
File:Horse trait breton 5622.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Horse_trait_breton_5622.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 ‘Contributors:
Daniel Vaulot
File:First Battalion ESM Bastille Day 2007 n1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:First_Battalion_ESM_Bastille_Day_2007_n1.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution 2.5 ‘Contributors: Badzil, Blaue Max, Jastrow
File:Queen Mary 2 05 KMJ.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Queen_Mary_2_05_KMJ.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: User:KMJ
File:Chalutier bigouden Eridan P1050865.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Chalutier_bigouden_Eridan_P1050865.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 ‘Contributors: Pline
File:Rennes place de la R€publique DSC 4521.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Rennes_place_de_la_R‚publique_DSC_4521.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0 ‘Contributors: Pline
File:FIL 2009 - Coiffes bretonnes - bigoudƒnes - cercle ar vro vigoudenn.JPG ‘Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:FIL_2009_-_Coiffes_bretonnes_-_bigoud€nes_-_cercle_ar_vro_vigoudenn.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
‘Contributors: XIIIfromTOKYO
File:Breton dialectesiji2009.gif ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Breton_dialectesiji2009.gif ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Lotusfleurie
File:Road signs bilingual Breton in Quimper.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Road_signs_bilingual_Breton_in_Quimper.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors:
Alexandrin, BrokenSphere, Dch, Docu, Kilom691, Maelor, Man vyi, Moonik, Moreau.henri, Nick Name Two, Olivier, Pmx, SPQRobin
File:Parc€ - panneau D23.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Parc‚_-_panneau_D23.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0
‘Contributors: Pymouss
File:Calvaire de TronoŠn, vue d'ensemble sud.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Calvaire_de_Tronoˆn,_vue_d'ensemble_sud.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Zero
‘Contributors: User:Havang(nl)
File:FRANCE - Bretagne - Locronan - Chapelle.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:FRANCE_-_Bretagne_-_Locronan_-_Chapelle.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution ‘Contributors: Jean-Marc Aubelle Original uploader was Jim l'Auvergnat at fr.wikipedia
File:002 Ploudiry ossuaire 2 ankou.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:002_Ploudiry_ossuaire_2_ankou.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
‘Contributors: User:Moreau.henri
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Fr Josselin Castle from river with flowers.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fr_Josselin_Castle_from_river_with_flowers.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors: User:Pethrus
File:Cahire.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cahire.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors: User:St‚phane Batigne
File:B€nodet - Le Minaret.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:B‚nodet_-_Le_Minaret.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors:
User:Citizen lambda
File:Paul Gauguin 078.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Paul_Gauguin_078.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: EDUCA33E, Emijrp, Mjrmtg, Palam€de,
Vriullop, XIIIfromTOKYO, Zolo
File:Bagad.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bagad.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors: Marine nationale/Baud Val‚rie
File:Botrel.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Botrel.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 Generic ‘Contributors: Original uploader was Chat
mauve at fr.wikipedia
File:Tonnerres de Brest 2012 - G‹theborg - 003.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tonnerres_de_Brest_2012_-_G¨theborg_-_003.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors: Thesupermat
File:Galette Œuf saucisse.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Galette_«uf_saucisse.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors:
User:DocteurCosmos
File:Borne N786.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Borne_N786.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 ‘Contributors: ZeroFour
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Jastrow, Natl1, Urban, Wst
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File:Jersey arms on Piquet House in St Helier.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Jersey_arms_on_Piquet_House_in_St_Helier.jpg ‘License: Public Domain
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File:Guy de Maupassant fotograferad av F€lix Nadar 1888.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Guy_de_Maupassant_fotograferad_av_F‚lix_Nadar_1888.jpg ‘License:
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File:Claude Monet - Branch of the Seine near Giverny.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Claude_Monet_-_Branch_of_the_Seine_near_Giverny.JPG ‘License:
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File:Robert Antoine Pinchon, Un aprƒs-midi Ž l'Ile aux Cerises, Rouen, oil on canvas, 50 x 61.2 cm.jpg ‘Source:
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Tºrelio
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File:France Arles Place Republique.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:France_Arles_Place_Republique.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5
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File:Moustiers Sainte Marie 1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Moustiers_Sainte_Marie_1.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: User:Nepomuk (also on
fr:Utilisateur:Nepomuk)
File:Provence street.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Provence_street.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 ‘Contributors: Joseph Plotz. Original uploader
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File:Camargueflamingos.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Camargueflamingos.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: User Jjshapiro on
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File:Calanque de Morgiou 2.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Calanque_de_Morgiou_2.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: User:Grafikm
fr
File:Celtic Stone in Draguignan - Provence - France.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Celtic_Stone_in_Draguignan_-_Provence_-_France.JPG ‘License: Creative
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File:Marseille Ancient Harbor.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Marseille_Ancient_Harbor.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
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File:Pont du gard.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pont_du_gard.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Bernard bill5, ClemRutter, Cyr,
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File:Arlesarena.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Arlesarena.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: J Malik
File:Frejus Cathedral Baptistery.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Frejus_Cathedral_Baptistery.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: SiefkinDR
File:King Boson of Provence.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:King_Boson_of_Provence.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0
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File:Ramon Berenguer III.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ramon_Berenguer_III.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Bocachete, CommonismNow, Friviere,
Iradigalesc, Jordi Roqu‚, Jordiferrer, Kilom691, Mattes, Mavi16, Mhmrodrigues, Sevela.p, Vincent Steenberg, Vriullop, 4 anonymous edits
File:Provence Arms.png ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Provence_Arms.png ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 ‘Contributors: Provence Arms.svg:
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File:Blason province fr Provence.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Blason_province_fr_Provence.svg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
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File:Arles kirche st trophime fassade.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Arles_kirche_st_trophime_fassade.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License
‘Contributors: AnRo0002, Bibi Saint-Pol, Edelseider, Fagairolles 34, GeorgHH, Hpschaefer, Kurpfalzbilder.de, Mattis, Olivier, Ronaldino
File:Fa•ade du Palais des Papes.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Fa…ade_du_Palais_des_Papes.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0
‘Contributors: User:Chimigi
File:Nicolas Froment 004.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nicolas_Froment_004.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Acoma, Aristeas, Edelseider, Erlisitz,
K¢rschner, Leyo, Mattis, Mel22, Olivier, Sir Gawain, 1 anonymous edits
File:Tarascon Le Chateau.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tarascon_Le_Chateau.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 ‘Contributors: G‚rard MARIN
File:Vernet-toulon-1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vernet-toulon-1.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Hsarrazin, Paris 16, Rama, Wst,
Zolo
File:Vernet-marseille-1754.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vernet-marseille-1754.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: AndreasPraefcke, Fagairolles 34,
Hsarrazin, Infrogmation, Man vyi, Martin H., Olivier, Palam€de, Rama, Rsberzerker, TCY
File:Marche-des-marseillois.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Marche-des-marseillois.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: FastilyClone
File:Marseille port c1825.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Marseille_port_c1825.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: McLeod
File:Seconde-guerre-mondiale-dragoon-cavalaire-15aout1944.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Seconde-guerre-mondiale-dragoon-cavalaire-15aout1944.jpg
‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: User Greudin on fr.wikipedia
File:Map Gallia Tribes Towns.png ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_Gallia_Tribes_Towns.png ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: David
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185
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:County of Provence.png ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:County_of_Provence.png ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 ‘Contributors:
self-created
File:France Avignon Total 1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:France_Avignon_Total_1.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Ampon,
Auntof6, Fagairolles 34, H‚g‚sippe Cormier, JPS68, Olivier, Para, Rsuessrb, Semnoz, 1 anonymous edits
File:Grand Canyon du Verdon.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Grand_Canyon_du_Verdon.JPG ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: File:Vallon de Molliƒres 2004 07.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vallon_de_Molli€res_2004_07.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported ‘Contributors: Felix91, Olivier
File:Alpilles landscape.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alpilles_landscape.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: MPF, Marianne
Casamance, Mats Halldin, Olivier, 1 anonymous edits
File:Mont ventoux from mirabel.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mont_ventoux_from_mirabel.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Gemini1980, Marianne
Casamance
File:Paul C€zanne 107.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Paul_C‚zanne_107.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Boo-Boo Baroo, Bukk, EDUCA33E, Ham,
Jmdesbois, Leyo, Okki, Olivier, Oxxo, Rlbberlin, Scewing, 1 anonymous edits
File:Massif-des-Maures-3.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Massif-des-Maures-3.JPG ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Civodule
File:Calanques2.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Calanques2.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: User:Grafikm_fr
File:Garrigue 2007-09-20.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Garrigue_2007-09-20.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 ‘Contributors: Piarou
File:Mistral sur le Frioul.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mistral_sur_le_Frioul.JPG ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Vincent
File:Sisteron August2007 2.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sisteron_August2007_2.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Marion Schneider & Christoph
Aistleitner --- Contact: Mediocrity
File:Forcalquier 1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Forcalquier_1.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 ‘Contributors: Charles Roman et Sami
Bizet Original uploader was Forcalquier at fr.wikipedia
File:Raimbaut de Vaqueiras.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Raimbaut_de_Vaqueiras.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Original uploader was
Silverwhistle at en.wikipedia
File:Folquet de Marseilla.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Folquet_de_Marseilla.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Original uploader was Srnec at
en.wikipedia
File:Alphonse Daudet.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alphonse_Daudet.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: User:Gabor
File:SidonieGabrielleColette.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SidonieGabrielleColette.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Chico, Ecummenic, Olivier,
Thuresson
File:Frejus Cathedral Cloister Ceiling.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Frejus_Cathedral_Cloister_Ceiling.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: SiefkinDR
File:Nicolas Froment 003.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nicolas_Froment_003.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Aristeas, Atlantia, Boo-Boo Baroo,
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Ionutzmovie, Olivier
File:Vincent Willem van Gogh 015.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Vincent_Willem_van_Gogh_015.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Aavindraa,
AndreasPraefcke, Badzil, Dinsdagskind, EDUCA33E, Emijrp, Leyo, Mattes, Olivier, Rlbberlin, Temely, Vincent Steenberg, W., Zolo, 1 anonymous edits
File:Paul Signac - The Port of Saint-Tropez - Google Art Project.jpg ‘Source:
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File:Allioli.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Allioli.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Ralph Sperling
File:Pissaladiera.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Pissaladiera.jpg ‘License: GNU General Public License ‘Contributors: Abeliere, AnRo0002, Aubadaurada,
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File:Ratatouille02.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ratatouille02.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 ‘Contributors: TomØá Zeleninskâ
File:Socca in Nice.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Socca_in_Nice.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 ‘Contributors: Paul Downey from Berkhamsted,
UK
File:Calisson.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Calisson.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Mathsci
File:Montagne St.Victoire.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Montagne_St.Victoire.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
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File:Toulon Playing Boules.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Toulon_Playing_Boules.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: David Siefkin
File:Boule.kugel.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Boule.kugel.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Original uploader was Brevity at de.wikipedia
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File:Absolute Petite France 02.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Absolute_Petite_France_02.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Jonathan
M
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File:Alsace4.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alsace4.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: P.KAUFFMANN (1877-1937) for original watercolors. Scan by
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File:Adolphe Braun Alsace costume.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Adolphe_Braun_Alsace_costume.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: AndreasPraefcke,
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File:Maginot line 1.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Maginot_line_1.jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: John C. Watkins V, uploaded to en.wikipedia.org by
en:User:Jorge1767
File:Alsaceregionsnaturelles.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alsaceregionsnaturelles.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors:
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File:Grandballonsud.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Grandballonsud.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Vosges Freeride
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File:Absolute ponts couverts 02.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Absolute_ponts_couverts_02.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0
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186
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Place de l Homme de Fer.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Place_de_l_Homme_de_Fer.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Kpalion
File:St Stephen's Church Mulhouse FRA 001.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:St_Stephen's_Church_Mulhouse_FRA_001.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons
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File:Alsace Dialects.PNG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Alsace_Dialects.PNG ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Rosss, Rudloff
File:Tarte flamb€e alsacienne 514471722.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tarte_flamb‚e_alsacienne_514471722.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
‘Contributors: Lulu Durand
File:Riesling grapes leaves.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Riesling_grapes_leaves.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported
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File:Colmar - Alsace.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Colmar_-_Alsace.jpg ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported ‘Contributors: Tizianok
File:Cegonha alsaciana.jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Cegonha_alsaciana.jpg ‘License: GNU Free Documentation License ‘Contributors: Dysmorodrepanis, Jeriby,
Kersti Nebelsiek, Maksim, Tm, WikipediaMaster
File:Martin Schongauer.JPG ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Martin_Schongauer.JPG ‘License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike ‘Contributors: Bourrichon
File:Flag of South Korea.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_South_Korea.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Various
File:Flag of Poland.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Poland.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Anomie, Mifter
File:Flag of Austria.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Austria.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: User:SKopp
File:Flag of Canada.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Canada.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Anomie
File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors:
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File:Flag of Romania.svg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Flag_of_Romania.svg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: AdiJapan
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File:County of Flanders (topogaphy).png ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:County_of_Flanders_(topogaphy).png ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Sir Iain
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File:Bataille de Neerwinden (1793).jpg ‘Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bataille_de_Neerwinden_(1793).jpg ‘License: Public Domain ‘Contributors: Bukk, Khaerr
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