History of Europe

• The wine of the kings of France

  “Drink for the King shouted by the cupbearer signifies that the wine and water ceremony can begin at the Grand Couvert table. It is customary to cut wine with water and the King appreciates this drink. But what is this ceremony? How was the wine obtained? Where was it stored? What wine was at the Ki

• A short history of the Tour de France and some anecdotes

  The Tour de France is the oldest and most famous cycling race in the world. It takes place every year in July for three weeks and traditionally ends on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The history of the Tour de France cyclist is a small part of the history of France in the 20th century. This

• The court of the King of France, roaming at Versailles

  Since Charlemagne, the Kings Court travel, sometimes for long months, from towns to villages, from residences to palaces, for economic or political reasons or for pleasure, having no fixed place until Louis XIV and his court settled definitively at the castle of Versailles in 1682, the palace taking

• Plaques and street numbering in France

  Nowadays it is simple to go to a defined address. We have the street name as well as the house number . All this was made compulsory by a decree of 1805. We thank the instigator of this decree, because there was a time, the journey was more epic to get to an individual. In the 17th century, to look

• History of the Elysée Palace, presidential residence

  The Élysée Palace is an 18th century private mansion located at the bottom of the avenue des Champs-Élysées, in Paris, which became the residence of the presidents of the French Republic in 1873. Several times transformed, enlarged and embellished over the centuries, the palace of the Élysée has how

• Legion of honor and orders of chivalry

  To be admitted to the list and to receive the insignia of the Légion dhonneur is the greatest and most estimable French honorary distinction, rewarding military or civilian merits rendered to the Nation. Under the Old Regime, the orders of chivalry were reserved almost exclusively for people of high

• The providential man, a figure in French political life

  French political life was born in the debates that marked the revolutionary period of 1789. They gave birth to a political division, which has become traditional, the separation between left and right. Over the course of the evolution of French society through the 19th and 20th centuries, new charac

• History of the Black Frame of Saumur

  Founded in 1764, the prestigious Cadre Noir de Saumur perpetuates a French tradition of equestrian art. Originally an equestrian military academy, the school lost its primary vocation after the two world wars. Having become a civilian, she joined the French Institute for Horses and Riding. In 2011,

• The education of girls in the 17th and 18th centuries

  Historians have long considered that when it comes to girls education , the royal house of education of St Cyr was both an example and a uniqueness within a society where educational priorities go to the male sex. Recent historical research on the subject has, however, demonstrated the desire to edu

• Eleanor of Austria, second wife of Francis I

  Eleonora of Austria , widow of the King of Portugal, second wife of Francis I , was really an instrument of negotiation for his brother Charles Quint and of revenge for the King of France. During the seventeen years of her life as a wife and French queen, this sister of the enemy will feel the animo

• Elisabeth of Austria, wife of Charles IX

  The penultimate queen of the Valois, wife of Charles IX, Elisabeth of Austria (1554-1592) was a wife gentle, kind, dominated by Catherine de Medici, self-effacing like Claudius and Eleanor; a discreet queen who is not talked about much; a queen as we loved them at that time, a queen who especially d

• Louise de Lorraine, wife of Henry III

  Louise of Lorraine-Vaudémont is the last queen of France from 1575 to 1589, in the time of the Valois, without posterity. Her marriage to Henry III was the only one not carried out for politics, but inspired by a true and sincere inclination. Sweet, beautiful, unpretentious, without fortune, an ally

• Princess Palatine (Elisabeth-Charlotte of Bavaria)

  Charlotte-Elizabeth of Bavaria (1652-1722), known as the Princess Palatine , is the second wife of Monsieur Philippe dOrléans, brother of Louis XIV. A great recognized epistolary, she is also nicknamed Madame Europe or the Gossip of the Grand Siècle. Thanks to some 60,000 letters written by Elisabe

• Charlotte Corday, the swaddle who assassinated Marat

  Charlotte Corday (1768-1793) is a French aristocrat known for having assassinated the revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat. “I killed a man to save a hundred thousand.” she will say. By this very symbolic act, accomplished by herself and in the name of the principles of 1789, she became the most famous wom

• Eleanor of Aquitaine, Duchess and Twice Queen

  Alienor of Aquitaine , also known as Éléonore de Guyenne, was queen of France from 1137 to 1152 after her marriage to Louis VII, then queen of England from 1154 to 1204 after marrying Henri II Plantagenêt. Young “turbulent” girl, then mother of three kings, she overturned the male tradition of power

• Queen Margot (Marguerite de Valois)

  Daisy of Valois (1553-1615), known as Queen Margot , Queen of France and Navarre, was the daughter of King Henry II and Catherine de Medici and the sister of Charles IX and Henry III. In 1572, she married the leader of the Huguenots, Henri de Navarre (future Henri IV), symbolizing an attempt at reco

• Diane de Poitiers, favorite of King Henry II

  Diane de Poitiers (1499-1566), favorite of King Henry II of France, imposed herself on the royal court at the expense of Queen Catherine de Medici, and surrounded herself with a brilliant court. An independent woman, she knew how to preserve the youth of her body and her mind. She never forgot her p

• Madame de Pompadour, favorite of Louis XV

  Her real name Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764) was the mistress of King Louis XV, who gave her the title of marquise . She participated in the political life of the kingdom, for example by promoting the rise of certain ministers like Choiseul and by contributing to the reve

• The Belle Époque in France (1890-1914)

  Nostalgic expression born after the shock of the First World War, the Belle Époque refers to the carefree years that lead French society from 1890 to 1914, described as a golden age. Despite some upheavals, the Third Republic ended up imposing itself in France and unifying the nation around a common

• Attachment of Savoy and Nice to France (1860)

  The attachment of Savoy and Nice to France is the result of a long process that began during the Revolution and which materialized during the Second Empire. In exchange for French aid against the Austrian occupation, the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia proposed, by the Treaty of Turin of March 24, 1860