HISTORY 



111 



been borne aloft for the first time on this occa- 

 sion as the national standard. Louis VII. 

 (1137-80) was almost incessantly engaged in 

 war with Henry II. of England. His son and 

 -or, Philippe Auguste (1180-1223), recov- 

 ered Normandy, Maine, Touraine, and Poitou 

 from John of England. He took an active per- 

 sonal share in the Crusades. Philippe was the 



to levy u tax for the maintenance of the 



ling army. Many noble institutions date 

 their origin from this reign, as the University of 

 Paris the Louvre, etc. St. Louis IX. effected 

 many modifications in the fiscal department, 

 and, before his departure for the Crusades, se- 



1 t he rights of the Gallican Church by special . 



;te. in order to counteract the constantly J 



.ising assumptions of the papal power. 

 Philippe IV. i 1JX5-1314), surnamed Le Bel, 

 acquired Navarre, Champagne, and Brie by | 

 marriage. Charles IV. (Le Bel) (1321-28) was. 

 the last direct descendant of the Capetian line. 

 Philippe VI., the first of the House of Valois 

 JS-50), succeeded in right of the Salic law. 

 i. and those of nis successors, Jean ' 

 (1350-64) and Charles V. (Le Sage) (1364-80), ! 



disturbed by constant wars with Edward 

 III. of England. Hostilities began in 1339; 

 in 13-Ui the battle of Cre"cy was fought; at the 

 battle of Poitiers (1356) Jean was made captive; 

 and before the final close, after the death of 



ard (1377), the state was reduced to bank- 

 1 taring the regency for the minor, 

 Charles VI. Le Bien Aime) (138O-1422), the 

 war was 'renewed with increased vigor on the i 



of the English nation. The signal victory 

 won by the English at Agincourt in 1415 aided 

 Henry in his attempts upon the throne. But 



extraordinary influence exercised over her 

 countrymen by the Maid of Orleans aided in 

 bringing about a thorough reaction, and, after 

 a period of murder, rapine, and anarchy, Charles 

 VII. /.. \ turieux) (1422-61) was crowned at 

 Rheims. His successor, Louis XL (1461-83), 

 > eded in recovering for the crown the terri- 



- of Maine, Anjou, and Provence, while he 

 le himself master of some portions of the 



tries of Charles the Bold, Duke of Bur- 

 ' harles VIII. (1483-98), by his mar- 

 riage with Anne of Hrittany, secured that pow- 

 .-tatc. With him ended the direct male 

 succession of the House of Valois. Louis XII. , 

 'i Peuple) was the only 



^representative of the Valois-Orleans family ; , 

 pis successor, Francis I. (1547), was of the 

 Valois-AngoultTTie bran eh. The defeat of Fran- 

 battle of Pa via, in 1525, and his sub- 

 se.|uent imprisonment at Madrid, threw the 

 at: irs of the nation into the greatest disorder. 

 In the reign of Henri II. began the persecutions 

 of the Protestants. Henri III. ii:,7l v. 



Mbe last of llu- branch of the Valois. The : 



sacre of St. Bartholomew (1572) was perpetrated 

 under tin- direction of the queen-mother, Cat ha 

 be de' Medici, and the confederation of tin 

 BjtagiK'. at the head of which were the Guises. 

 The wars of the League, which were carried on 

 b\ the latter against the Bourbon branches of 

 the princes of the blood-royal, involved 

 whole nation in their vortex. The succession of 

 Henri IV. of Navarre (1589-1610), a Bourbon 



prince, descended from a younger son of St. 

 Louis, allayed the fury of these religious wars, 

 but his recantation of Prote>iantiMii in favor of 

 Catholicism disappointed his own partv. Dur- 

 ing the minority of his son, Louis XI li. (1610- 

 43), Cardinal Richelieu, under the nominal 

 regency of Marie de' Medici, the queen-mother, 

 ruled with a firm hand. Cardinal Ma/.arin. 

 under the regency of the queen-mother, Anne of 

 Austria, exerted nearly equal power for some 

 time during the minority of Louis XIV. 

 1715). The wars of the Fronde, the misconduct 

 of the parliament, and the humbling of the no- 

 bility gave rise to another civil war, but with 

 the assumption of power by young Louis a new 

 era commenced, and till near the close of his 

 long reign the military successes of the French 

 were most brilliant. Louis XV. (1715-75) suc- 

 ceeded to a heritage whose glory was tarnished, 

 and whose stability was shaken to its very 

 foundations during his reign. The Peace of 

 Paris, 1763, by which the greater portion of the 

 colonial possessions of France were given up to 

 England, terminated an inglorious war, in which 

 the French had expended 1,350 millions of 

 francs. In 1774 Louis XVI., a well-meaning, 

 weak prince, succeeded to the throne. The 

 American war of freedom had disseminated 

 republican ideas among the. lower orders, while 

 the Assembly of the Notables had discussed and 

 made known to all classes the incapacity of the 

 government and the wanton prodigality of the 

 court. The nobles and the tiers ttat were alike 

 clamorous for a meeting of the states, the 

 former wishing to impose new taxes on the na- 

 tion, and the latter determined to inaugurate 

 a thorough and systematic reform. After much 

 opposition on the part of the king and court the 

 Hats Ginfraux, wnich had not met since 1614, 

 assembled at Versailles on May 25, 1789. The 

 resistance made by Louis and his advisers to 

 the reasonable demands of the deputies on the 

 17th of June, 1789, led to the constitution of the 

 National Assembly. The consequenee \\:i- the 

 outbreak of insurrectionary movements a' 

 where blood was shed on the Uth of .lul 

 the following day the national guard was con- 

 voked, and on the 14th the people took posses- 

 sion of the Bastile. The royal princes and all 

 the nobles who could escape sought Ka:< 

 flight. The royal family, having attempted in 

 vain to follow their example, tried to conciliate 

 the people by the feigned assumption of repub- 

 lican sentiment; but on the .".th of October the 

 rabble, followed by number- of the national 

 guard, attacked Versailles and coiujK-lled the 

 king and his family to remove to Pan-, \\hither 

 the Assembly also 1 1 loved. A \\ar \\ith \ 



Was begun in April. 17!L': and the deteat ot the 

 French \\as \iHl.d ,.n I OUk, who \\a- confined 

 in August with his familv in the Temple. In 

 hecember the king was drought to trial. On 

 January L'<>. 17'.'.;. , ,,t, nrr ,-i d<- :t tli was passed 

 upon him. and on the following day be was 

 beheaded. Marie Antoinette, the widowed 

 won guillotined; I lie dauphin and his 



mnriving relatives suffered < :,IMHI\ that 



malignity could de\W. A rvign of Mood ami 

 terror succeeded. The brilliant exploit- of the 



young general, Napoleon Bonaparte, in Italy, 



