Though many excellent tomes have been written about the various periods of Paris' history, we present for you the following capsulized version:
ca.
250 B.C.
The Parisii settle in an area they called Loukteih (Celtic for "a marsh"), during the second Iron Age.
53 B.C.
Julius Caesar mentions the area (whose name is Latinized as "Lutetia") in De Bello Gallico, his accounts of the Gallic Wars. The settlement prospers through extensive river trading and spreads to the left bank.
A.D.
250
Christianity is introduced by St. Denis, who was later executed by the Romans at Montmartre.
ca.
280
The city is raided by barbarians and the Parisii take refuge on the island.
360
Julian the Apostate proclaimed emperor of Rome; Lutetia is renamed Paris (Civitas Parisiorum, City of the Parisians).
451
Attila the Hun, having pillaged Metz and Reims, sweeps northward toward Paris. A young girl, called Geneviève, exhorts panicked Parisians to hold their ground and pray. Attila and half a million Huns avoid Paris, ultimately meeting their defeat at Châlons. Geneviève later becomes the patron saint of the city.
508
Clovis, king of the Franks, converted to Christianity by Geneviève and baptized at Reims, chooses Paris as his capital. Clovis defeated the Roman governor of Gaul and founded the Merovingian Dynasty.
786
After Charlemagne becomes king of the Franks (768), Carolingians move their capital to Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, in present-day Germany). Paris slowly declines.
800
The pope crowns Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor in Rome. Charlemagne expands the French kingdom far beyond its present borders.
885-86
30,000 Norman pirates in 700 ships sail up the Seine; Comte Eudes defends Paris.
987
Eudes' grand-nephew, Hugues Capet, is proclaimed king; coronation is held at Noyon. He establishes the principle of hereditary rule for his descendants, the Capetians.
1066
William the Conqueror invades England.
1140
St. Denis, the first Gothic cathedral, is built just north of Paris. Gothic architecture becomes more fully developed at cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens, and Paris' Notre-Dame.
1163
Construction of Notre-Dame begins, conceived and directed by Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris.
1180
Philippe Auguste ascends the throne; he builds a fortified castle just outside Paris' ramparts (later to become the Louvre).
1215
The University of Paris is founded, boasting scholars like Guillaume de Champeaux and Abélard; the Latin Quarter is born on the Left Bank.
1253
Foundation of the Sorbonne.
1357
Etienne Marcel's revolt.
1420
At the height of the Hundred Years' War, Paris is occupied by English forces led by Henry V. Joan of Arc besieges Paris in 1429 but fails to dislodge the English.
1430
Henry VI of England is crowned king of France. The next year, English burn Joan of Arc at the stake in Rouen.
1436
Charles VII recaptures the city. End of English occupation.
1515-47
Reign of François I, who rebuilt the Louvre in the brand new Renaissance style imported from Italy.
1517
Leonardo da Vinci arrives in Paris, carrying the Mona Lisa in his baggage.
1530
Foundation of the Collège de France, the kingdom's first secular educational institution. Age of Rabelais, Montaigne, Robert Estienne, Marguerite de Navarre, Diane de Poitiers.
1562-98
The Wars of Religion, a period dominated by Catherine de Médecis, mother of the last three Valois kings (François II, Charles IX, Henri III).
1572
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre: 3000 Protestants strangled and knifed, their corpses thrown into the Seine.
1593
"Paris is well worth a mass," uttered by Henri IV, the first Bourbon king, abjuring his Protestant faith and converting to Catholicism at St. Denis. Entering Paris in 1594, Henri sets about reorganizing the city with new squares, bridges and a hospital.
1598
Henry IV signs the Edict of Nantes, defining the rights of French Protestants (Huguenots) to public worship and liberty of conscience. (Edict revoked in 1685 following Louis IV's anti-Protestant measures.)
1604
The Pont Neuf is completed, becoming one of the most popular promenades in Paris. Still admired, it is the oldest bridge in the city.
1605
The place Royale (now the place des Vosges) built.
1606
The Hospital of St. Louis built to treat victims of the plague. Still in use, the oldest hospital in Paris.
1610
Henri IV, en route in his open coach from the Louvre to the Arsenal, assassinated by a deranged Jesuit, Ravaillac.
1635
Cardinal Richelieu, chief minister to Louis XIII, founds the Académie Française, a venerable and protectionist institution overseeing the standards of the French language.
1643-1715
Reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who lives to the age of 77. The king's philosophy "L'état, c'est moi" (I am the state) aptly reflects his insistence on overseeing every minute aspect of his monarchy, governing as he did without a prime minister. He does, however, rely on the dour, workaholic Colbert to implement many grandiose architectural projects. By force of arms, Louis turns France into the most powerful nation-state in Europe. He persecutes the Huguenots, who emigrate in great numbers, nearly ruining the French economy.
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26th October 2006, 06:01 PM
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