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231-644: Territorially, the jurisdiction of the French Inquisition extended beyond the borders of the Kingdom of France . French inquisitors also had authority over the western, French-speaking regions that were part of the Holy Roman Empire . The structure of the French Inquisition can be divided into four major areas: Although the division between northern and southern parts of the Kingdom of France

462-648: A Parliament and a constitutional Charter , usually known as the " Charte octroyée " ("Granted Charter"). His reign was characterized by disagreements between the Doctrinaires , liberal thinkers who supported the Charter and the rising bourgeoisie , and the Ultra-royalists , aristocrats and clergymen who totally refused the Revolution's heritage. Peace was maintained by statesmen like Talleyrand and

693-438: A centralized state governed from the capital of Paris. He sought to eliminate the remnants of feudalism still persisting in parts of France and, by compelling the noble elite to regularly inhabit his lavish Palace of Versailles , built on the outskirts of Paris, succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many members of which had participated in the earlier " Fronde " rebellion during Louis' minority. By these means he consolidated

924-545: A revolt led by Eleanor and three of their four sons, Henry had Eleanor imprisoned, made the Duke of Brittany his vassal, and in effect ruled the western half of France as a greater power than the French throne. However, disputes among Henry's descendants over the division of his French territories, coupled with John of England 's lengthy quarrel with Philip II , allowed Philip to recover influence over most of this territory. After

1155-678: A Franciscan named Maurin is documented as an inquisitor in the region as early as 1264. Provence became the only French inquisitorial district assigned to the Franciscans rather than the Dominicans. Before 1330, little is known about the activities of the Franciscan inquisitors in this region, despite it being a major center of the Waldensian sect. The most notable event was the trial of 25 Franciscan Spirituals (Beguins), members of

1386-531: A Genoese fleet captured Beirut . In the same month, Muhammad I Tapar , sultan of the Seljuk Empire, sent an army to recover Syria, but a Frankish defensive force arrived at Edessa, ending the short siege of the city. On 4 December, Baldwin captured Sidon , aided by a flotilla of Norwegian pilgrims led by Sigurd the Crusader . Next year, Tancred's extortion from Antioch's Muslim neighbours provoked

1617-540: A Turkish ambush at the Battle of Civetot . Conflict with Urban II meant that King Philip I of France and Holy Roman Emperor Henry   IV declined to participate. Aristocrats from France, western Germany, the Low Countries , Languedoc and Italy led independent contingents in loose, fluid arrangements based on bonds of lordship, family, ethnicity and language. The elder statesman Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse

1848-663: A bishop, but sources do not provide information about trials against heretics. It was only in 1399 that proceedings against the Waldensians took place in the Diocese of Lausanne . Inquisitorial activity in the Burgundy-Lorraine province intensified in the 1420s, particularly with witch trials. Appointed in 1424, inquisitor Ulric de Torrenté  [ pl ] from the Lausanne convent, whose jurisdiction covered

2079-422: A cardinal commission to investigate the charges against Bernard Castanet and the inquisitors. The investigation confirmed the use of torture and inhumane conditions for prisoners, who were kept in chains in dark and damp cells. As a result, Bishop Bernard Castanet was transferred to the less significant Diocese of Le Puy . However, the suspects were not released, with some remaining in prison for many years, although

2310-678: A dissident wing of the order, in Marseille in 1318. Four of them were burned at the stake, becoming the first martyrs of this movement. The sentence was passed by the Franciscan Michel Le Moine. In 1321, Inquisitor Jacques Bernard tasked two of his deputies with investigating the Waldensians in Valence . Both were killed by the Waldensians, halting the persecution for a time. Repressions against this religious group resumed only after 1335. In 1247, Pope Innocent IV instructed

2541-526: A focal point of European history for centuries. Crusading declined rapidly after the 15th century. In 1095, after a Byzantine request for aid, Pope Urban II proclaimed the first expedition at the Council of Clermont . He encouraged military support for Byzantine emperor Alexios   I Komnenos and called for an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Across all social strata in Western Europe, there

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2772-420: A group of about a dozen heretics, primarily among the canons, was discovered. They denied, among other things, the reality of Christ's suffering and resurrection. Most of them were burned at the stake by order of King Robert II of France . This was the first known instance of such a penalty being applied to heretics in Western Europe. A few years later, Bishop Gerard of Cambrai and Arras discovered and arrested

3003-490: A group of heretics in his diocese who rejected the sacrament of marriage , but they submitted to his authority and made an Orthodox confession of faith . In the first half of the 12th century, unorthodox preachers like Henry the Monk, Pierre de Bruys (died circa 1140), and Éon de l'Étoile (died in prison shortly after 1148) gathered followers in various parts of France. However, their movements did not survive their deaths. From

3234-562: A hunting accident. On Christmas Day 1143, their son Baldwin III of Jerusalem was crowned co-ruler with his mother. That same year, having prepared his army for a renewed attack on Antioch, John II Komnenos cut himself with a poisoned arrow while hunting wild boar. He died on 8 April 1143 and was succeeded as emperor by his son Manuel I Komnenos . Following John's death, the Byzantine army withdrew, leaving Zengi unopposed. Fulk's death later in

3465-835: A larger force, led by the Seljuk Ridwan of Aleppo . He was then able to secure Antioch's borders and push back his Greek and Muslim enemies. Under Paschal's sponsorship, Bohemond launched a version of a crusade in 1107 against the Byzantines, crossing the Adriatic and besieging Durrës . The siege failed; Alexius hit his supply lines, forcing his surrender. The terms laid out in the Treaty of Devol were never enacted because Bohemond remained in Apulia and died in 1111, leaving Tancred as notional regent for his son Bohemond II . In 1007,

3696-792: A long-standing dispute over the rights to Gascony in the south of France, and the relationship between England and the Flemish cloth towns, led to the Hundred Years' War of 1337–1453. The following century was to see devastating warfare, the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War , peasant revolts (the English peasants' revolt of 1381 and the Jacquerie of 1358 in France) and the growth of nationalism in both countries. The losses of

3927-461: A matter of debate among contemporary historians. At the time of the First Crusade , iter , "journey", and peregrinatio , "pilgrimage" were used for the campaign. Crusader terminology remained largely indistinguishable from that of Christian pilgrimage during the 12th   century. A specific term for a crusader in the form of crucesignatus —"one signed by the cross"—emerged in

4158-584: A part of France. West Frankish kings were initially elected by the secular and ecclesiastical magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established the principle of male primogeniture , which became codified in the Salic law . During the Late Middle Ages , rivalry between the Capetian dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of France and their vassals

4389-673: A power struggle. This gave the Crusaders a crucial opportunity to consolidate without any pan-Islamic counter-attack. Urban II died on 29 July 1099, fourteen days after the capture of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, but before news of the event had reached Rome. He was succeeded by Pope Paschal II who continued the policies of his predecessors in regard to the Holy Land. Godfrey died in 1100. Dagobert of Pisa , Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and Tancred looked to Bohemond to come south, but he

4620-582: A precedent for the use of the armed instrument of the crusade against heretics, whereas previously it had been reserved for the fight against infidels, primarily to liberate or defend the Holy Land. In 1184, at the Synod of Verona , Pope Lucius III once again condemned the Cathars and established rules for episcopal courts to handle cases of heresy. Bishops were required to visit their dioceses to search for heretics. If suspects were identified, an investigation

4851-541: A public debate with the heretics at the synod in Lombez , trying to persuade them to abandon their heresy. However, the effects of these initiatives were, at best, temporary. In Languedoc, there were no attempts to bring heretics to trial. Unlike in northern and eastern France, there were no lynchings (such as in Soissons circa 1114 or Vézelay in 1167), indicating that the lower classes were also favorably disposed towards

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5082-512: A ransom for his and Raymond's freedom. John II Komnenos , emperor since 1118, reasserted Byzantine claims to Cilicia and Antioch , compelling Raymond of Poitiers to give homage. In April 1138, the Byzantines and Franks jointly besieged Aleppo and, with no success, began the Siege of Shaizar , abandoning it a month later. On 13 November 1143, while the royal couple were in Acre, Fulk was killed in

5313-527: A significant role in the initial phase of the Knights Templar trials, legitimizing the king's actions against the order by supporting the accusations of heresy. Additionally, in 1310, he presided over the trial of the mystic Marguerite Porete , who was burned at the stake as the first victim accused of the “ heresy of the Free Spirit ”, later condemned by the Council of Vienne in 1312. In 1323,

5544-597: A similar role concerning the inquisitorial tribunals in Toulouse and Carcassonne. Several significant heresy trials in the 15th century took place before episcopal courts. In 1411, Bishop of Cambrai Pierre d’Ailly investigated the sect called homines intelligentiæ in Brussels . In 1431, Joan of Arc was tried before the tribunal of Bishop Pierre Cauchon in Rouen and was burned at the stake. Twenty-five years later, she

5775-594: A small number of mercenaries he could direct. Alexios had restored the Empire's finances and authority but still faced numerous foreign enemies. Later that year at the Council of Clermont , Urban raised the issue again and preached a crusade. Almost immediately, the French priest Peter the Hermit gathered thousands of mostly poor in the People's Crusade . Traveling through Germany, German bands massacred Jewish communities in

6006-664: A superpower from 1643 until 1815; from the reign of King Louis XIV until the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars . The Spanish Empire lost its superpower status to France after the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees (but maintained the status of Great Power until the Napoleonic Wars and the Independence of Spanish America ). France lost its superpower status after Napoleon 's defeat against

6237-428: A synod was held in Toulouse, presided over by Bishop Folquet de Marselha and Papal Legate Cardinal Romano Bonaventura . Many witnesses and suspects of heresy were interrogated during the sessions, and detailed regulations for dealing with heretics were enacted. All the suspects confessed and renounced heresy before the bishop and the legate, and as penance, they had to wear two penitential crosses on their clothing. In

6468-578: A system of absolute monarchy in France that endured 150 years until the French Revolution . McCabe says critics used fiction to portray the degraded Turkish court, using "the harem, the Sultan court, oriental despotism, luxury, gems and spices, carpets, and silk cushions" as an unfavorable analogy to the corruption of the French royal court. The king sought to impose total religious uniformity on

6699-534: A trial of two necromancers and the clergy who employed them took place in Paris. There is no clear evidence of division into inquisitorial districts in Northern France. The area was generally under the jurisdiction of the inquisitor general in Paris, with inquisitors for smaller districts appointed only as needed. In the first half of the 14th century, a separate inquisitor for the metropolitan area of Tours

6930-441: A woman's remains from the local cemetery. On Good Friday in 1235, many people in Toulouse voluntarily approached the inquisitors to testify about heretics. This information led to an expanded investigation in the Diocese of Carcassonne and summons of 12 respected citizens in Toulouse, who refused to appear. The city authorities supported them and expelled the Dominicans from Toulouse in autumn 1235. Pope Gregory IX intervened, and

7161-467: Is known about his practical activities. Better documented are witch trials in the north led by the deputies of the inquisitor general Roland le Cozic, such as the trial in Évreux in 1453 or in Arras between 1459 and 1462. In the latter, 12 out of 34 accused were burned, with many suspects brutally tortured. These actions provoked strong protests and were interrupted by the intervention of the bishop of Arras,

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7392-706: The Reconquista and Northern Crusades are also sometimes associated with this Crusade. The aftermath of the Crusade saw the Muslim world united around Saladin , leading to the fall of Jerusalem . Eugene III , recently elected pope, issued the bull Quantum praedecessores in December 1145 calling for a new crusade, one that would be more organized and centrally controlled than the First. The armies would be led by

7623-608: The Alpine valleys of Valpute, Argentiere, Valculson, and Freyssiniere. These areas, since 1288, were part of the inquisitorial province of Provence, entrusted to the Franciscans. However, for a long time, the Waldensians were not significantly troubled by the Inquisition, especially after two deputies of the inquisitor Jacques Bernard were killed by them in 1321. In 1335, Pope Benedict XII demanded intensified repression. Since

7854-655: The Archdiocese of Narbonne since 1229. The synod of Narbonne in 1243 refined inquisitorial procedures. A military expedition led by the Archbishop of Narbonne resulted in the capture of Montségur in March 1244. Around 210 Perfects, including the Cathar Bishop of Toulouse Bertrand Marty  [ pl ] , were captured and burned at the stake for refusing to convert to Catholicism. The fall of Montségur and

8085-571: The Battle of the Meander . Louis was not as lucky at the Battle of Mount Cadmus on 6 January 1148 when the army of Mesud inflicted heavy losses on the Crusaders. Shortly thereafter, they sailed for Antioch, almost totally destroyed by battle and sickness. The Crusader army arrived at Antioch on 19 March 1148 with the intent on moving to retake Edessa, but Baldwin III of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar had other ideas. The Council of Acre

8316-623: The British , Prussians and Russians in 1815 . Following the French Revolution , which began in 1789, the Kingdom of France adopted a written constitution in 1791, but the Kingdom was abolished a year later and replaced with the First French Republic . The monarchy was restored by the other great powers in 1814 and, with the exception of the Hundred Days in 1815, lasted until the French Revolution of 1848 . During

8547-556: The Capetian dynasty on the throne. With its offshoots, the houses of Valois and Bourbon , it was to rule France for more than 800 years. The old order left the new dynasty in immediate control of little beyond the middle Seine and adjacent territories, while powerful territorial lords such as the 10th- and 11th-century counts of Blois accumulated large domains of their own through marriage and through private arrangements with lesser nobles for protection and support. The area around

8778-643: The County of Edessa ; the Principality of Antioch ; the Kingdom of Jerusalem ; and the County of Tripoli . A European presence remained in the region in some form until the fall of Acre in 1291. After this, no further large military campaigns were organised. Other church-sanctioned campaigns include crusades against Christians not obeying papal rulings and heretics , those against the Ottoman Empire , and ones for political reasons. The struggle against

9009-666: The Crusade of Varna . Popular crusades , including the Children's Crusade of 1212, were generated by the masses and were unsanctioned by the Church. The term "crusade" first referred to military expeditions undertaken by European Christians in the 11th, 12th, and 13th   centuries to the Holy Land . The conflicts to which the term is applied have been extended to include other campaigns initiated, supported and sometimes directed by

9240-422: The Diocese of Autun , conducted by a Dominican inquisitor from Lyon, without specifying the exact dates or details. Spanish Franciscan Alonso de Espina in 1459 alluded to witches burned for participating in sabbaths by the tribunal in Toulouse, without providing further details. Jean Vineti, inquisitor of Carcassonne from 1451, wrote a theological treatise arguing for the reality of witchcraft crimes, but nothing

9471-694: The Duke of Richelieu , as well as the King's moderation and prudent intervention. In 1823, the Trienio Liberal revolt in Spain led to a French intervention on the royalists' side, which permitted King Ferdinand VII of Spain to abolish the Constitution of 1812 . However, the work of Louis XVIII was frustrated when, after his death on 16 September 1824, his brother the Count of Artois became king under

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9702-440: The Fatimids who were Shi'ite . The Seljuks were nomadic, Turkic speaking and occasionally shamanistic, very different from their sedentary, Arabic speaking subjects. This difference and the governance of territory based on political preference, and competition between independent princes rather than geography, weakened existing power structures. In 1071, Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes attempted confrontation to suppress

9933-536: The Franco-Dutch War , 1672–1678) brought further territorial gains ( Artois and western Flanders and the free County of Burgundy , previously left to the Empire in 1482), but at the cost of the increasingly concerted opposition of rival royal powers, and a legacy of an increasingly enormous national debt . An adherent of the theory of the "Divine Right of Kings" , which advocates the divine origin of temporal power and any lack of earthly restraint of monarchical rule, Louis XIV continued his predecessors' work of creating

10164-414: The Genoese to Jaffa tilted the balance. Two large siege engines were constructed and the one commanded by Godfrey breached the walls on 15 July. For two days the crusaders massacred the inhabitants and pillaged the city. Historians now believe the accounts of the numbers killed have been exaggerated, but this narrative of massacre did much to cement the crusaders' reputation for barbarism. Godfrey secured

10395-456: The House of Plantagenet , who also ruled the Kingdom of England as part of their so-called competing Angevin Empire , resulted in many armed struggles. The most notorious of them all are the series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453) in which the kings of England laid claim to the French throne. Emerging victorious from said conflicts, France subsequently sought to extend its influence into Italy , but after initial gains

10626-415: The Hundred Days . When a Seventh European Coalition again deposed Napoleon after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the Bourbon monarchy was once again restored. The Count of Provence - brother of Louis XVI, who was guillotined in 1793 - was crowned as Louis XVIII , nicknamed "The Desired". Louis XVIII tried to conciliate the legacies of the Revolution and the Ancien Régime, by permitting the formation of

10857-471: The Industrial Revolution that was beginning in Britain, the rising middle class of the cities felt increasingly frustrated with a system and rulers that seemed silly, frivolous, aloof, and antiquated, even if true feudalism no longer existed in France. Upon Louis XV's death, his grandson Louis XVI became king. Initially popular, he too came to be widely detested by the 1780s. He was married to an Austrian archduchess, Marie Antoinette . French intervention in

11088-498: The Jansenists , a group that denied free will and had already been condemned by the popes. In this, he garnered the friendship of the papacy, which had previously been hostile to France because of its policy of putting all church property in the country under the jurisdiction of the state rather than that of Rome. In November 1700, King Charles II of Spain died, ending the Habsburg line in that country. Louis had long planned for this moment, but these plans were thrown into disarray by

11319-432: The July Revolution . The King abdicated, as did his son the Dauphin Louis Antoine , in favour of his grandson Henri, Count of Chambord , nominating his cousin the Duke of Orléans as regent. However, it was too late, and the liberal opposition won out over the monarchy. On 9 August 1830, the Chamber of Deputies elected Louis Philippe, Duke of Orléans as "King of the French": for the first time since French Revolution,

11550-470: The Loire , the Seine , and other inland waterways increased. During the reign of Charles the Simple (898–922), Vikings under Rollo from Scandinavia settled along the Seine, downstream from Paris, in a region that came to be known as Normandy . The Carolingians were to share the fate of their predecessors: after an intermittent power struggle between the two dynasties, the accession in 987 of Hugh Capet , Duke of France and Count of Paris, established

11781-418: The Moors in the Iberian Peninsula–the Reconquista – ended in 1492 with the Fall of Granada . From 1147, the Northern Crusades were fought against pagan tribes in Northern Europe. Crusades against Christians began with the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century and continued through the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century. Crusades against the Ottomans began in the late 14th century and include

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12012-420: The Peace and Truce of God movements restricted conflict between Christians from the 10th   century; the influence is apparent in Urban II's speeches. Other historians assert that the effectiveness was limited and it had died out by the time of the crusades. Pope Alexander II developed a system of recruitment via oaths for military resourcing that his successor Pope Gregory VII extended across Europe. In

12243-407: The Reformation were conducted by parliamentary courts, with only auxiliary participation from the inquisitor. The last inquisitor general appointed under the old rules was Dominican Mathieu d’Ory, who died in 1557. After the extermination of the Cathars, the only substantial dissident movement in the French-speaking territories was the Waldensians, primarily residing in the Dauphiné , especially in

12474-448: The Rhineland massacres during wide-ranging anti-Jewish activities. Jews were perceived to be as much an enemy as Muslims. They were held responsible for the Crucifixion , and were more immediately visible. People wondered why they should travel thousands of miles to fight non-believers when there were many closer to home. Quickly after leaving Byzantine-controlled territory on their journey to Nicaea , these crusaders were annihilated in

12705-458: The Seljuks' sporadic raiding , leading to his defeat at the battle of Manzikert . Historians once considered this a pivotal event but now Manzikert is regarded as only one further step in the expansion of the Great Seljuk Empire . The evolution of a Christian theology of war developed from the link of Roman citizenship to Christianity, according to which citizens were required to fight the empire's enemies. This doctrine of holy war dated from

12936-498: The Spanish model , i.e., as an organized state-church institution. Pope Paul IV agreed and in 1557 appointed three general inquisitors of France to organize the new tribunal. These were the French cardinals Odet de Coligny , Charles de Lorraine , and Charles de Bourbon . However, the project ended in complete failure as the Parlement of Paris did not approve it, and after the death of Henry II in 1559, it had no further development. Furthermore, in 1561, Cardinal Odet de Coligny, one of

13167-427: The Third Republic , the French monarchy has not restored. Before the 13th century, only a small part of what is now France was under control of the Frankish king; in the north there were Viking incursions leading to the formation of the Duchy of Normandy ; in the west, the counts of Anjou established themselves as powerful rivals of the king, by the late 11th century ruling over the " Angevin Empire ", which included

13398-446: The University of Toulouse , suspected of Lutheranism. Most fled, but 23 were captured and tried, with one burned at the stake. The then-inquisitor of Toulouse, Arnaud de Badet, refused to participate in the trial, and it soon emerged that some of the arrested were his friends. Consequently, the parlement accused the inquisitor of favoring heretics, leading to his resignation in 1536. His successor, Louis de Rochette  [ pl ] ,

13629-400: The War of the Polish Succession from 1733 to 1735. Large-scale warfare resumed with the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). But alliance with the traditional Habsburg enemy (the " Diplomatic Revolution " of 1756) against the rising power of Britain and Prussia led to costly failure in the Seven Years' War (1756–63) and the loss of France's North American colonies. On the whole,

13860-481: The War of the Three Henrys in which Henry III assassinated Henry de Guise , leader of the Spanish-backed Catholic League , and the king was murdered in return. After the assassination of both Henry of Guise (1588) and Henry III (1589), the conflict was ended by the accession of the Protestant king of Navarre as Henry IV (first king of the Bourbon dynasty ) and his subsequent abandonment of Protestantism (Expedient of 1592) effective in 1593, his acceptance by most of

14091-590: The conquest of Algeria . The absolutist tendencies of the King were disliked by the Doctrinaire majority in the Chamber of Deputies , that on 18 March 1830 sent an address to the King, upholding the rights of the Chamber and in effect supporting a transition to a full parliamentary system. Charles X received this address as a veiled threat, and in 25 July of the same year, he issued the St. Cloud Ordinances , in an attempt to reduce Parliament's powers and re-establish absolute rule. The opposition reacted with riots in Parliament and barricades in Paris, that resulted in

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14322-451: The kingdom of England . It was only with Philip II of France that the bulk of the territory of Western Francia came under the rule of the Frankish kings, and Philip was consequently the first king to call himself "king of France" (1190). The division of France between the Angevin (Plantagenet) kings of England and the Capetian kings of France would lead to the Hundred Years' War , and France would regain control over these territories only by

14553-454: The 11th   century, Christian conflict with Muslims on the southern peripheries of Christendom was sponsored by the Church, including the siege of Barbastro and the Norman conquest of Sicily . In 1074, Gregory   VII planned a display of military power to reinforce the principle of papal sovereignty. His vision of a holy war supporting Byzantium against the Seljuks was the first crusade prototype, but lacked support. The First Crusade

14784-421: The 11th century and increased intermittently throughout the Middle Ages, with multiple expulsions and returns. Crusades In the Holy Land (1095–1291) Later Crusades (1291–1717) Northern (1147–1410) Against Christians (1209–1588) Popular (1096–1320) The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by

15015-405: The 1520s, the first trials against supporters of the Reformation took place in Lorraine and Franche-Comté , involving inquisitors. However, by 1534, the parlement of Franche-Comté stripped ecclesiastical courts (both bishops and inquisitors) of jurisdiction over heresy cases. The office of the inquisitor in Besançon survived but became purely honorary. In Geneva , the Inquisition lasted only until

15246-444: The 17th century under Louis XIV . Throughout the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries, France was Europe's richest, largest, most populous, powerful and influential country. In parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. In the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over 10,000,000 square kilometres (3,900,000 sq mi),

15477-448: The 18th century saw growing discontent with the monarchy and the established order. Louis XV was a highly unpopular king for his sexual excesses, overall weakness, and for losing New France to the British. The writings of the philosophes such as Voltaire were a clear sign of discontent, but the king chose to ignore them. He died of smallpox in 1774, and the French people shed few tears at his death. While France had not yet experienced

15708-431: The 4th-century theologian Saint Augustine . He maintained that aggressive war was sinful, but acknowledged a " just war " could be rationalised if it was proclaimed by a legitimate authority, was defensive or for the recovery of lands, and without an excessive degree of violence. Violent acts were commonly used for dispute resolution in Western Europe, and the papacy attempted to mitigate this. Historians have thought that

15939-471: The American War of Independence was also very expensive. With the country deeply in debt, Louis XVI permitted the radical reforms of Turgot and Malesherbes , but noble disaffection led to Turgot's dismissal and Malesherbes' resignation in 1776. They were replaced by Jacques Necker . Necker had resigned in 1781 to be replaced by Calonne and Brienne , before being restored in 1788. A harsh winter that year led to widespread food shortages, and by then France

16170-418: The Ancien Régime were the result of years of state-building, legislative acts (like the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts ), internal conflicts and civil wars, but they remained a confusing patchwork of local privilege and historic differences until the French Revolution brought about a radical suppression of administrative incoherence. For most of the reign of Louis XIV (1643–1715), ("The Sun King"), France

16401-452: The Bald with the Treaty of Verdun (843). A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty . The territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum ('king of the Franks') well into the High Middle Ages . The first king calling himself rex Francie ('King of France') was Philip II , in 1190, and officially from 1204. From then, France

16632-866: The Cathars, also known as Albigensians from their main center in Albi. The Cathar heresy was condemned at the council in Tours in 1163 and again at the Third Council of the Lateran in 1179. In 1178, papal legate Cardinal Pietro da Pavia visited Languedoc, and in 1181, Cardinal Henry of Marcy . These legates were the first to take, albeit on a small scale, repressive measures against the Cathars of Languedoc. Henry of Marcy led an armed expedition against Lavaur and only retreated when two Cathar Perfect were handed over to him. Both heretics converted to Catholicism and became canons in Toulouse. Cardinal Henry's expedition set

16863-687: The Catholic establishment (1594) and by the Pope (1595), and his issue of the toleration decree known as the Edict of Nantes (1598), which guaranteed freedom of private worship and civil equality. France's pacification under Henry IV laid much of the ground for the beginnings of France's rise to European hegemony. France was expansive during all but the end of the seventeenth century: the French began trading in India and Madagascar , founded Quebec and penetrated

17094-621: The Catholic majority and a Protestant minority, the Huguenots , which led to a series of civil wars, the Wars of Religion (1562–1598). The Wars of Religion crippled France, but triumph over Spain and the Habsburg monarchy in the Thirty Years' War made France the most powerful nation on the continent once more. The kingdom became Europe's dominant cultural, political and military power in

17325-619: The Christian Latin Church in the medieval period . The best known of these military expeditions are those to the Holy Land between 1095 and 1291 that had the objective of reconquering Jerusalem and its surrounding area from Muslim rule after the region had been conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate centuries earlier. Beginning with the First Crusade , which resulted in the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099 , dozens of military campaigns were organised, providing

17556-588: The Crusader states in the Levant By the end of the 11th   century, the period of Islamic Arab territorial expansion had been over for centuries. The Holy Land's remoteness from focus of Islamic power struggles enabled relative peace and prosperity in Syria and Palestine. Muslim-Western European contact was only more than minimal in the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula . The Byzantine Empire and

17787-458: The Crusaders retreated before the arrival of a relief army led by Nūr-ad-Din. Morale fell, hostility to the Byzantines grew and distrust developed between the newly arrived Crusaders and those that had made the region their home after the earlier crusades. The French and German forces felt betrayed by the other, lingering for a generation due to the defeat, to the ruin of the Christian kingdoms in

18018-600: The Dominican inquisitors was the Franciscan Bernard Délicieux . These accusations intensified with the anti-heretical campaign in Albi in 1299 led by Bishop Bernard Castanet, with active involvement from the inquisitors. Many wealthy citizens of Albi were arrested and tortured. In 1302, under public pressure, the inquisitor of Toulouse, Foulques of St. George, was dismissed. In 1306, due to complaints from Carcassonne and Albi, Pope Clement V appointed

18249-473: The Dominican order also played a role, particularly the emergence of reformed, so-called observant congregations, which were exempt from the authority of the provincials. In northern France, the Dutch Congregation began to operate around the mid-15th century, setting up inquisitorial tribunals in the southern Netherlands, previously under the direct jurisdiction of the inquisitor general in Paris. In

18480-487: The Dominican provincial of Paris the right to appoint and dismiss inquisitors in the Kingdom of France. A few documentary references indicate that such appointments were indeed made, for instance, the Dominican Simon Duval is recorded as the inquisitor of France between 1277 and 1278. In the early 14th century, William of Paris, the confessor of King Philip IV , was the inquisitor general of France. He played

18711-605: The Dominicans returned in 1236. John of Bernin appointed another inquisitor, the Franciscan Stephen of Narbonne  [ pl ] . In 1236, Raymond Gros, a senior Cathar Perfect, unexpectedly surrendered to the inquisitors in Toulouse and provided extensive testimonies implicating many individuals. Over the next two years, based on his testimonies, the remains of dozens of deceased Cathars were exhumed and burned, and many living ones were condemned, mostly in absentia. In 1238, under pressure from Count Raymond VII, who

18942-504: The Empire, not the Kingdom of France. Evidence of inquisitorial activity in Burgundy and Lorraine at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries is very sparse. It is not even known how many inquisitors actually operated in this area. Testimonies from Waldensians interrogated in 1320 by the Toulouse inquisitor Bernard Gui indicate that members of this community were persecuted in Burgundy, but these accounts do not provide much information about

19173-458: The Fatimids had recaptured Jerusalem. The Franks offered to partition conquered territory in return for the city. Refusal of the offer made it imperative that the crusade reach Jerusalem before the Fatimids made it defensible. The first attack on the city, launched on 7 June 1099, failed, and the siege of Jerusalem became a stalemate, before the arrival of craftsmen and supplies transported by

19404-591: The Frankish army was defeated by the Seljuk rulers of Mosul and Mardin at the battle of Harran . Baldwin II and his cousin, Joscelin of Courtenay , were captured. Bohemond and Tancred retreated to Edessa where Tancred assumed command. Bohemond returned to Italy, taking with him much of Antioch's wealth and manpower. Tancred revitalised the beleaguered principality with victory at the battle of Artah on 20 April 1105 over

19635-519: The Frankish position by defeating an Egyptian force at the Battle of Ascalon on 12 August. Most of the crusaders considered their pilgrimage complete and returned to Europe. When it came to the future governance of the city it was Godfrey who took leadership and the title of Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri , Defender of the Holy Sepulchre. The presence of troops from Lorraine ended the possibility that Jerusalem would be an ecclesiastical domain and

19866-619: The Franks. The dismal failures of this Crusade then set the stage for the fall of Jerusalem, leading to the Third Crusade. In the first major encounter after the Second Crusade, Nūr-ad-Din's forces then destroyed the Crusader army at the Battle of Inab on 29 June 1149. Raymond of Poitiers , as prince of Antioch, came to the aid of the besieged city. Raymond was killed and his head was presented to Nūr-ad-Din, who forwarded it to

20097-553: The French monarchy maintained a significant degree of autonomy, namely through its policy of " Gallicanism ", whereby the king selected bishops rather than the papacy. During the Protestant Reformation of the mid 16th century, France developed a large and influential Protestant population, primarily of Reformed confession; after French theologian and pastor John Calvin introduced the Reformation in France,

20328-522: The French monarchy was effectively abolished by the proclamation of the French First Republic . The role of the King in France was finally ended with the execution of Louis XVI by guillotine on Monday, January 21, 1793, followed by the " Reign of Terror ", mass executions and the provisional " Directory " form of republican government, and the eventual beginnings of twenty-five years of reform, upheaval, dictatorship, wars and renewal, with

20559-510: The French victory at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy of Aquitaine . The death of Charles IV of France in 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line. Under Salic law the crown could not pass through a woman (Philip IV's daughter was Isabella , whose son was Edward III of England ), so the throne passed to Philip VI , son of Charles of Valois . This, in addition to

20790-602: The Holy Land while the pagan Wends were a more immediate problem. The resulting Wendish Crusade of 1147 was partially successful but failed to convert the pagans to Christianity. The disastrous performance of this campaign in the Holy Land damaged the standing of the papacy, soured relations between the Christians of the kingdom and the West for many years, and encouraged the Muslims of Syria to even greater efforts to defeat

21021-599: The Holy Land. In the spring of 1147, Eugene III authorised the expansion of his mission into the Iberian Peninsula, equating these campaigns against the Moors with the rest of the Second Crusade. The successful Siege of Lisbon , from 1 July to 25 October 1147, was followed by the six-month siege of Tortosa , ending on 30 December 1148 with a defeat for the Moors. In the north, some Germans were reluctant to fight in

21252-550: The Islamic world were long standing centres of wealth, culture and military power. The Arab-Islamic world tended to view Western Europe as a backwater that presented little organised threat. By 1025, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had extended territorial recovery to its furthest extent. The frontiers stretched east to Iran. Bulgaria and much of southern Italy were under control, and piracy was suppressed in

21483-460: The King of France continued to use the title "King of Navarre" through the end of the monarchy). France in the Middle Ages was a decentralised, feudal monarchy. In Brittany and Catalonia (the latter now a part of Spain), as well as Aquitaine , the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine , Provence and East Burgundy were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet

21714-563: The King was designated as the ruler of the French people and not the country. The Bourbon white flag was substituted with the French tricolour , and a new Charter was introduced in August 1830. The conquest of Algeria continued, and new settlements were established in the Gulf of Guinea , Gabon , Madagascar , and Mayotte , while Tahiti was placed under protectorate . However, despite

21945-589: The Kingdom of France. In subsequent years, the inquisition continued its work in Languedoc uninterrupted, enjoying the support of bishops and Count Alphonse of Poitiers. After Alphonse's death in 1271, the County of Toulouse came under the direct rule of the King of France. From then on, the confiscation of property from convicted heretics primarily benefited the crown. In 1279, the King of France declared an amnesty for 278 descendants of convicted heretics, guaranteeing

22176-468: The Latin Church with varying objectives, mostly religious, sometimes political. These differed from previous Christian religious wars in that they were considered a penitential exercise, and so earned participants remittance from penalties for all confessed sins. What constituted a crusade has been understood in diverse ways, particularly regarding the early Crusades, and the precise definition remains

22407-476: The League of Augsburg") had just concluded. The reign (1715–1774) of Louis XV saw an initial return to peace and prosperity under the regency (1715–1723) of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , whose policies were largely continued (1726–1743) by Cardinal Fleury , prime minister in all but name. The exhaustion of Europe after two major wars resulted in a long period of peace, only interrupted by minor conflicts like

22638-745: The Mediterranean Sea. The empire's relationships with its Islamic neighbours were no more quarrelsome than its relationships with the Slavs or the Western Christians. The Normans in Italy; to the north Pechenegs , Serbs and Cumans ; and Seljuk Turks in the east all competed with the Empire and the emperors recruited mercenaries—even on occasions from their enemies—to meet this challenge. The political situation in Western Asia

22869-476: The Middle East. The Seljuk hold on the city was weak and returning pilgrims reported difficulties and the oppression of Christians. Byzantine desire for military aid converged with increasing willingness of the western nobility to accept papal military direction. In 1095, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military aid from Pope Urban II at the Council of Piacenza . He was probably expecting

23100-712: The Muslim world mistook the crusaders for the latest in a long line of Byzantine mercenaries, not religiously motivated warriors intent on conquest and settlement. The Muslim world was divided between the Sunnis of Syria and Iraq and the Shi'ite Fatimids of Egypt. The Turks had found unity unachievable since the death of Sultan Malik-Shah in 1092, with rival rulers in Damascus and Aleppo . In addition, in Baghdad, Seljuk sultan Barkiyaruq and Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir were engaged in

23331-730: The North American Great Lakes and Mississippi , established plantation economies in the West Indies and extended their trade contacts in the Levant and enlarged their merchant marine . Henry IV's son Louis XIII and his minister (1624–1642) Cardinal Richelieu , elaborated a policy against Spain and the Holy Roman Empire during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) which had broken out in Germany. After

23562-486: The Parlement of Paris, and inquisitor Jean Bréhal. In 1491, the Parlement of Paris rehabilitated all the condemned. In the 1520s, Lutheran ideas began to spread in France, but the main burden of combating them was taken up by the parlements, not the papal inquisitors, some of whom were humanists open to new intellectual currents. In 1532, the Parlement of Toulouse ordered the arrest of 55 people, mostly associated with

23793-483: The Seljuk army in 1115 against an alliance of the Franks, Toghtekin, his son-in-law Ilghazi and the Muslims of Aleppo. Bursuq feigned retreat and the coalition disbanded. Only the forces of Roger and Baldwin of Edessa remained, but, heavily outnumbered, they were victorious on 14 September at the first battle of Tell Danith . In April 1118, Baldwin I died of illness while raiding in Egypt. His cousin, Baldwin of Edessa,

24024-463: The Spanish territory of Roussillon after the crushing of the ephemeral Catalan Republic and ushered a short period of peace. The Ancien Régime , a French term rendered in English as "Old Rule", or simply "Former Regime", refers primarily to the aristocratic, social and political system of early modern France under the late Valois and Bourbon dynasties. The administrative and social structures of

24255-426: The Waldensians almost ceased, as the archbishop adopted a strategy of converting them through pastoral work rather than repression. During this time, the inquisitors mainly dealt with suspicions of false conversions among Provençal Jews to Christianity. However, after the death of Archbishop Guillaume de Bordes in 1363, the repressive approach towards the Waldensians resurfaced. In 1366, several Waldensians were burned at

24486-522: The Waldensians and in February 1533 sentenced 7 of them to be burned. However, shortly afterward, he was summoned by the parlement to respond to complaints about the cruel torture of suspects. His activities were suspended, and he soon died from the plague . His death marked the end of the Inquisition's history in those parts of the Provençal province belonging to the Kingdom of France. This did not mean

24717-466: The Waldensians and the church were primarily disciplinary, but from that point on, they increasingly diverged from Rome doctrinally as well. The establishment of the principles of episcopal inquisition in 1184 had almost no immediate consequences in Languedoc. The local bishops were mainly interested in the income from their dioceses, some of which (especially Toulouse) were in financial trouble, rather than their pastoral duties. The situation changed with

24948-594: The Waldensians in Fribourg between 1429 and 1430, and again conducted witch trials in Lausanne and Neuchâtel between 1438 and 1439. Around the mid-15th century, the province was definitively divided into smaller inquisitorial districts. Initially, there were probably three districts: Lorraine (including the dioceses of Metz, Toul, and Verdun), the archdiocese of Besançon, and the Franco-Swiss district, including

25179-422: The Waldensians lived in mountainous regions where they formed tight-knit communities and did not hesitate to use violence in their defense, inquisitors had to seek help from secular authorities and organize armed expeditions against their settlements. The effectiveness of these actions was low, as the Waldensians usually hid in the mountains, and few were captured by the inquisitors. These expeditions often ended with

25410-457: The Waldensians. If this was their belief, they were soon proven wrong. In 1432, inquisitor Pierre Fabre wrote to the Council of Basel that he had just imprisoned six Waldensians who identified over 500 fellow believers in the Alpine valleys. However, there is no indication that attempts were made to arrest the other suspects. The next reports of Waldensian persecution come from 1475. The decline in

25641-706: The activities of the inquisition in this region did not show any significant differences from those in the rest of the French monarchy. In Northern France, the first inquisitor was the Dominican Robert le Bougre, appointed in April 1233. However, his nomination was protested by Archbishop Walter Cornuti of Sens , as Robert was to be subject only to the Dominican provincial in Paris. Under pressure from Walter and other bishops, Pope Gregory IX revoked Robert’s inquisitorial authority in February 1234. Nevertheless, influenced by Robert's reports of heretics in Northern France,

25872-452: The assistance of the crusaders after the deserting Stephen of Blois told them the cause was lost. Alexius retreated from Philomelium , where he received Stephen's report, to Constantinople. The Greeks were never truly forgiven for this perceived betrayal and Stephen was branded a coward. Losing numbers through desertion and starvation in the besieged city, the crusaders attempted to negotiate surrender but were rejected. Bohemond recognised that

26103-581: The caliph al-Muqtafi in Baghdad. In 1150, Nūr-ad-Din defeated Joscelin II of Edessa for a final time, resulting in Joscelin being publicly blinded, dying in prison in Aleppo in 1159. Later that year, at the Battle of Aintab , he tried but failed to prevent Baldwin III's evacuation of the residents of Turbessel . The unconquered portions of the County of Edessa would nevertheless fall to the Zengids within

26334-426: The cardinals enforced improvements in their conditions. The abuses confirmed by the cardinals prompted the decrees of the Council of Vienne in 1312, which limited the independence of the inquisitors. From then on, certain actions, such as the use of torture, had to be consulted with the local bishop. Ultimately, the long-standing battle between the Dominican inquisitors and their opponents in Languedoc ended in favor of

26565-567: The century of war were enormous, particularly owing to the plague (the Black Death , usually considered an outbreak of bubonic plague ), which arrived from Italy in 1348, spreading rapidly up the Rhône valley and thence across most of the country: it is estimated that a population of some 18–20 million in modern-day France at the time of the 1328 hearth tax returns had been reduced 150 years later by 50 percent or more. The Renaissance era

26796-426: The church authorities the rehabilitation of those murdered during the 1488–1489 crusade and the annulment of the confiscations made then. Although it was acknowledged that the deceased were heretics, they were not given a chance to convert, making it impossible to consider their executions and property confiscations as lawful. The areas under the jurisdiction of Provençal inquisitors (Dauphiné, Aosta Valley) also became

27027-647: The citadel. After a brief counter-siege, Nūr-ad-Din took the city. The men were massacred, with the women and children enslaved, and the walls razed. The fall of Edessa caused great consternation in Jerusalem and Western Europe, tempering the enthusiastic success of the First Crusade. Calls for a new crusade – the Second Crusade  – were immediate, and was the first to be led by European kings. Concurrent campaigns as part of

27258-560: The city, killing all those who were unable to flee. All the Frankish prisoners were executed, but the native Christians were allowed to live. The Crusaders were dealt their first major defeat. Zengi was assassinated by a slave on 14 September 1146 and was succeeded in the Zengid dynasty by his son Nūr-ad-Din . The Franks recaptured the city during the Second Siege of Edessa of 1146 by stealth but could not take or even properly besiege

27489-439: The claims of Raymond. Godfrey was left with a mere 300 knights and 2,000 infantry. Tancred also remained with the ambition to gain a princedom of his own. The Islamic world seems to have barely registered the crusade; certainly, there is limited written evidence before 1130. This may be in part due to a reluctance to relate Muslim failure, but it is more likely to be the result of cultural misunderstanding. Al-Afdal Shahanshah and

27720-581: The combined efforts of the Toulouse inquisitor Bernard Gui (1307–1323), the Carcassonne inquisitor Geoffroy d'Ablis (1303–1316), and the Bishop of Pamiers Jacques Fournier eventually suppressed this movement. Peire Autier was burned at the stake in 1310, and in 1321, Guillaume Bélibaste , the last Cathar Perfect in Languedoc, was executed by burning on the orders of the Archbishop of Narbonne, Bernard de Farges. Languedoc inquisitors continued to capture

27951-438: The country, repealing the Edict of Nantes in 1685. It is estimated that anywhere between 150,000 and 300,000 Protestants fled France during the wave of persecution that followed the repeal, (following " Huguenots " beginning a hundred and fifty years earlier until the end of the 18th century) costing the country a great many intellectuals, artisans, and other valuable people. Persecution extended to unorthodox Roman Catholics like

28182-588: The crown unrivalled power in senior ecclesiastical appointments, France was deeply affected by the Protestant Reformation 's attempt to break the hegemony of Catholic Europe. A growing urban-based Protestant minority (later dubbed Huguenots ) faced ever harsher repression under the rule of Francis I's son King Henry II . After Henry II's death in a joust, the country was ruled by his widow Catherine de' Medici and her sons Francis II , Charles IX and Henry III . Renewed Catholic reaction headed by

28413-453: The crusade without a spiritual leader. Raymond failed to capture Arqa and in May led the remaining army south along the coast. Bohemond retained Antioch and remained, despite his pledge to return it to the Byzantines. Local rulers offered little resistance, opting for peace in return for provisions. The Frankish envoys returned accompanied by Fatimid representatives. This brought the information that

28644-465: The crusade. The armed expedition failed against the guerrilla forces near Prali , turning into a bloody pacification of Waldensian settlements. About 160 people were murdered, accounting for 1/10 of the Waldensian population, but most managed to seek refuge in the mountains. In 1489, the troops left the Dauphiné, failing to achieve their goals. In 1509, the Waldensians obtained from King Louis XII and

28875-485: The crusaders proved to the Muslim world that the crusaders were not invincible, as they appeared to be during the First Crusade. Within months of the defeat, the Franks and Fatimid Egypt began fighting in three battles at Ramla, and one at Jaffa : Baldwin of Edessa , later king of Jerusalem as Baldwin II, and Patriarch Bernard of Valence ransomed Bohemond for 100,000 gold pieces. Baldwin and Bohemond then jointly campaigned to secure Edessa's southern front. On 7 May 1104,

29106-429: The death of Innocent IV on 7 December 1254. At the beginning of 1255, the Paris provincial of the Dominicans, under orders from Pope Alexander IV , appointed two inquisitors for the Toulouse region, and in 1259, two more Dominicans became inquisitors in Carcassonne. The Languedoc tribunals were thus subordinated to the Paris provincial of the Dominicans, who since 1253 had the authority to appoint and dismiss inquisitors in

29337-574: The death of both king and cardinal, the Peace of Westphalia (1648) secured universal acceptance of Germany's political and religious fragmentation, but the Regency of Anne of Austria and her minister Cardinal Mazarin experienced a civil uprising known as the Fronde (1648–1653) which expanded into a Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659) . The Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) formalised France's seizure (1642) of

29568-589: The destruction of the Cathar elite marked the end of their stronghold in Languedoc. The inquisition intensified, encompassing nearly the entire Languedoc society. The long coexistence of Catholics, Cathars, and Waldensians meant almost everyone had some knowledge of heretics, which they were obliged to share with the inquisitors. After the Avignonet murders, inquisitors slightly changed their modus operandi . Instead of personally visiting areas under their jurisdiction,

29799-478: The dioceses of Toulouse and Cahors . A month later, Papal Legate John of Bernin, Archbishop of Vienne , appointed another Dominican, Arnold the Catalan, as inquisitor for the Diocese of Albi . These inquisitors promptly began their work. Initially, they supported the inquisitorial activities of Bishop Raymond in Toulouse but took the initiative in other areas such as Albi, Moissac , and Cahors . However, most of

30030-569: The dioceses of Lausanne, Sion, and Geneva, with the main center initially in Lausanne and after 1476 in Geneva. Some of these districts later underwent further subdivisions. In the 1520s, each of the three Lorraine dioceses had its own inquisitor. Between 1472 and 1476, the Diocese of Geneva constituted an independent inquisitorial district, separate from the tribunal in Lausanne. More information regarding inquisitorial activities has been preserved for

30261-479: The dissolution of Dominican monasteries during the Reformation. The last inquisitor in Lorraine, Jean Beguinet, died in 1558. Despite the repression of Protestants by local parlements, the Reformation continued to gain more supporters in France, who, with support from Geneva, became increasingly organized. These supporters were known as Huguenots . Seeking new tools to combat Protestantism, King Henry II of France wanted to establish an inquisition in France similar to

30492-563: The documentation of other independent inquisitors in France as early as 1451/1452. The number of inquisitorial appointments in the second half of the 15th century even increased, but this was due to the transformation of the role into an honorary distinction rather than an intensification of anti-heretical activities. Alongside the permanent tribunals in Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Paris, tribunals were established (permanently or temporarily) in cities such as Lyon , Cambrai , Tournai , Rouen , Bourges , and Bordeaux . The internal situation within

30723-444: The early 12th century. This led to the French term croisade —the way of the cross. By the mid 13th   century the cross became the major descriptor of the crusades with crux transmarina —"the cross overseas"—used for crusades in the eastern Mediterranean, and crux cismarina —"the cross this side of the sea"—for those in Europe. The use of croiserie , "crusade" in Middle English can be dated to c.  1300 , but

30954-400: The early verdicts were in absentia condemnations of those who did not appear upon summons and the deceased heretics, as the Cathars still had strongholds like Montségur where the inquisitors could not reach. The practice of exhuming and burning the bones of the deceased caused significant outrage, such as the expulsion of Arnold the Catalan from Albi in 1234 after he ordered the exhumation of

31185-422: The emperor's hand convinced the Germans to move quickly to Asia Minor. Without waiting for the French contingent, Conrad III engaged the Seljuks of Rûm under sultan Mesud I , son and successor of Kilij Arslan , the nemesis of the First Crusade. Mesud and his forces almost totally destroyed Conrad's contingent at the Second Battle of Dorylaeum on 25 October 1147. The French contingent departed in June 1147. In

31416-510: The emperor. Alexios persuaded many of the princes to pledge allegiance to him and that their first objective should be Nicaea, the capital of the Sultanate of Rum . Sultan Kilij Arslan left the city to resolve a territorial dispute, enabling its capture after the siege of Nicaea and a Byzantine naval assault in the high point of Latin and Greek co-operation. The first experience of Turkish tactics, using lightly armoured mounted archers, occurred when an advanced party led by Bohemond and Robert

31647-415: The end of repression against the Waldensians. In 1545, by order of the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence, a bloody pacification of Waldensian villages in Provence took place. In papal Avignon, a tribunal of the reformed Roman Inquisition was established in 1541, led by the Dominicans, which conducted very intensive activities against suspected Protestants in the 16th century. The activities of the Inquisition in

31878-402: The end of the Hundred Years' War: Prior to the French Revolution , the Catholic Church was the official state religion of the Kingdom of France. France was traditionally considered the Church's eldest daughter (French: Fille aînée de l'Église ), and the King of France always maintained close links to the Pope, receiving the title Most Christian Majesty from the Pope in 1464. However,

32109-484: The entire province, was one of the co-authors of the first major witch hunt in history. This took place in the Diocese of Sion (southwestern Switzerland ) between 1427 and 1436 and claimed several hundred victims. Until recently, this witch hunt was considered solely the work of secular judges. However, the discovery of new documentation revealed that some trials in 1428 were conducted under the direction of inquisitor Ulric de Torrenté. The same inquisitor led trials against

32340-542: The exhumation and burning of heretics' remains from local cemeteries and the confiscation of modest property left in the valleys by the Waldensians. Captured heretics generally declared conversion to Catholicism, but after the troops and inquisitor left, they returned to heresy, which meant death by burning at the stake if they were prosecuted again. Executions of Waldensians took place in 1347 in Qirieu and in 1348 in Embrun . From 1352 to 1363, when Guillaume de Bordes served as Archbishop of Embrun , inquisitorial activity against

32571-462: The feet of Bernard in order to take the cross. Conrad and his nephew Frederick Barbarossa also received the cross from the hand of Bernard. Conrad III and the German contingent planned to leave for the Holy Land at Easter, but did not depart until May 1147. When the German army began to cross Byzantine territory, emperor Manuel I had his troops posted to ensure against trouble. A brief Battle of Constantinople in September ensued, and their defeat at

32802-406: The field to oppose him, he captured several important Syrian towns. He defeated Fulk at the battle of Ba'rin of 1137, seizing Ba'rin Castle . In 1137, Zengi invaded Tripoli , killing the count Pons of Tripoli . Fulk intervened, but Zengi's troops captured Pons' successor Raymond II of Tripoli , and besieged Fulk in the border castle of Montferrand . Fulk surrendered the castle and paid Zengi

33033-435: The following years, repression continued. Local feudal lords became much more involved in pursuing heretics. Several armed expeditions by the count and his vassals after 1229 are recorded in sources, resulting in the capture and burning of Cathar Perfects, including the execution of one of the main Cathar leaders from Agenais , Vigouroux de la Bacone, in Toulouse in 1233. The new (since 1232) Bishop of Toulouse, Raymond of Fauga,

33264-602: The former. In 1316, the new Pope John XXII provided decisive support to the inquisitors. In 1319, the citizens of Albi, Carcassonne, and Cordes had to submit to the inquisitors, which took the form of humiliating, collective penance ceremonies. Bernard Délicieux died in 1319 in the papal prison in Avignon . The early 14th century saw a resurgence of heresy in southern France. The Cathar Perfect Peire Autier achieved great success in gaining new followers and managed to avoid arrest for many years. The centers of faithful were mainly in remote Pyrenean villages like Montaillou . However,

33495-541: The general inquisitors, officially converted to Calvinism and joined the Huguenots. A decree by Regent Catherine de' Medici in 1560 removed heresy from the list of crimes, effectively ending judicial repression for heresy (though it briefly resumed between 1568 and 1570, as well as between 1585 and 1589). In 1562, religious wars between Catholics and Huguenots broke out in France, lasting intermittently until 1598. During these wars, many acts of violence and extralegal repression occurred on both sides. The most famous of these

33726-424: The heretics captured in Soissons in 1114 likely belonged to it, though its influence was less significant there compared to Languedoc. The development of the Cathar heresy in Languedoc was facilitated by the low moral and intellectual standards of the local clergy and the favorable attitude of a considerable portion of local feudal lords. The asceticism of the Cathar Perfect (the elite of the sect) contrasted with

33957-426: The importance and authority of the Inquisition at this time is evidenced by the fact that the Waldensians successfully appealed to King Louis XI . A royal ordinance on 18 May 1478 declared that the residents of the Alpine valleys were good Catholics and prohibited royal officials from assisting the inquisitors in persecuting them. Protests from Pope Sixtus IV were to no avail. Only the death of Louis XI in 1483 allowed

34188-431: The inconclusive battle of Shaizar between the Franks and an Abbasid army led by the governor of Mosul, Mawdud . Tancred died in 1112 and power passed to his nephew Roger of Salerno . In May 1113, Mawdud invaded Galilee with Toghtekin , atabeg of Damascus . On 28 June this force surprised Baldwin, chasing the Franks from the field at the battle of al-Sannabra . Mawdud was killed by Assassins . Bursuq ibn Bursuq led

34419-418: The initial reforms, Louis Philippe was little different from his predecessors. The old nobility was replaced by urban bourgeoisie, and the working class was excluded from voting. Louis Philippe appointed notable bourgeois as Prime Minister , like banker Casimir Périer , academic François Guizot , general Jean-de-Dieu Soult , and thus obtained the nickname of "Citizen King" ( Roi-Citoyen ). The July Monarchy

34650-428: The inquisition renounced heresy. As penance, they were sentenced to imprisonment, pilgrimages, or wearing penitential crosses on their clothing. However, many judgments were still in absentia. Due to numerous appeals to Pope Innocent IV and bishops, the sentences declared by inquisitors were often further mitigated. In protest against these mitigations, the Dominicans resigned from inquisitorial activities in Languedoc at

34881-402: The inquisition. In May 1242, the inquisitors were treacherously murdered at Avignonet castle by knights belonging to the Cathar sect, who then sought refuge at Montségur , the main Cathar stronghold. The murder of the inquisitors backfired significantly. Investigations resumed in December 1242 under the leadership of the uncompromising Dominican Ferrier, who had been an episcopal inquisitor in

35112-457: The inquisitorial province of Besançon (Burgundy and Lorraine) during the 14th century are among the least documented. It is unclear whether there was one inquisitor or several. In 1356, Dominican Jean de Fontaine, titled as the Inquisitor of Lorraine , was dismissed by the general chapter of the Dominican Order. The names of several other inquisitors from this area are also known, including one ( Martin d'Amance  [ pl ] ) who even became

35343-423: The inquisitorial tribunal in these regions occurred in 1290 when Pope Nicholas IV created a new inquisitorial province comprising the Archdiocese of Besançon and the dioceses of Metz , Verdun , Toul , Sion , as well as Lausanne and Geneva . Inquisitors in this province, no more than three in number, were to be appointed by the prior of the French (Parisian) Dominican province, even though these areas belonged to

35574-470: The jurisdiction of the parlements in 1539, marginalizing the inquisitors who, while retaining some autonomy (especially in trials against clergy), effectively became mere theological advisors to the parliamentary courts. In northern France, this process occurred even earlier, as in 1525, with the consent of Pope Clement VII , a special commission for combating heresy was created within the Parlement of Paris. Practically all heresy trials in northern France during

35805-399: The king died during the expedition, his forces continued the conquest. Ultimately, in 1229, a peace treaty was signed in Paris , under which the new Count Raymond VII renounced a large part of his lands in favor of the king or the church, with the remaining portion to pass to Alphonse , brother of King Louis IX , upon Raymond's death. The count also pledged to combat heretics. That same year,

36036-405: The kingdom of France. Charles the Bald was also crowned King of Lotharingia after the death of Lothair II in 869, but in the Treaty of Meerssen (870) was forced to cede much of Lotharingia to his brothers, retaining the Rhône and Meuse basins (including Verdun , Vienne and Besançon ) but leaving the Rhineland with Aachen , Metz , and Trier in East Francia . Viking incursions up

36267-501: The late 17th century by Louis XIV . The resulting exodus of Huguenots from the Kingdom of France created a brain drain , as many of them had occupied important places in society. Jews have a documented presence in France since at least the early Middle Ages . The Kingdom of France was a center of Jewish learning in the Middle Ages, producing influential Jewish scholars such as Rashi and even hosting theological debates between Jews and Christians. Widespread persecution began in

36498-435: The later years of Charlemagne 's rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of the Kingdom of the Franks . After Charlemagne's death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 divided the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with Charles the Bald ruling over West Francia , the nucleus of what would develop into

36729-451: The lifestyle of many Catholic priests, including bishops . The rulers of Toulouse tolerated the sect's growth, and some members of the ruling family even supported it. Local ecclesiastical authorities also did not take any remedial actions for a long time, especially since there were no prominent figures in the episcopate at that time. In 1145, Bernard of Clairvaux preached against the heretics in Toulouse, and in 1165, Catholic bishops held

36960-479: The lower Seine became a source of particular concern when Duke William of Normandy took possession of the Kingdom of England by the Norman Conquest of 1066, making himself and his heirs the king's equal outside France (where he was still nominally subject to the Crown). Henry II inherited the Duchy of Normandy and the County of Anjou , and married France's newly single ex-queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine , who ruled much of southwest France, in 1152. After defeating

37191-479: The meantime, Roger II of Sicily , an enemy of Conrad's, had invaded Byzantine territory. Manuel I needed all his army to counter this force, and, unlike the armies of the First Crusade, the Germans and French entered Asia with no Byzantine assistance. The French met the remnants of Conrad's army in northern Turkey, and Conrad joined Louis's force. They fended off a Seljuk attack at the Battle of Ephesus on 24 December 1147. A few days later, they were again victorious at

37422-418: The mid 15th century. What is now eastern France (Lorraine, Arelat) was not part of Western Francia to begin with and was only incorporated into the kingdom during the early modern period . Territories inherited from Western Francia: Acquisitions during the 13th to 14th centuries: Acquisitions from the Plantagenet kings of England with the French victory in the Hundred Years' War 1453 Acquisitions after

37653-404: The mid-12th century, the dualist sect of the Cathars is noted for its presence in Languedoc , where it gained exceptionally strong standing. Following the Council of Saint-Félix (circa 1167 or circa 1175), it established its own church structures in Languedoc with bishops in Albi , Toulouse , Carcassonne , and Agen . The sect may have reached the northern part of the country even earlier, as

37884-431: The modern English "crusade" dates to the early 1700s. The Crusader states of Syria and Palestine were known as the " Outremer " from the French outre-mer , or "the land beyond the sea". Period post-First Crusade Second Crusade Period post-Second Crusade Third Crusade Period post-Third Crusade Fourth Crusade Fifth Crusade Sixth Crusade and aftermath Seventh Crusade End of

38115-415: The most famous is the trial of Pierre Valin, sentenced to death by the inquisitorial tribunal in La Tour-du-Pin in 1438. The decisions made in 1509 did not favor further inquisitorial activities against the Waldensians. However, in 1528, the Dominican Jean de Roma (died 1533) became the inquisitor in this area. Initially supported by the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence , in 1532, he resumed the persecution of

38346-405: The name of Charles X . Charles X was a strong reactionary who supported the ultra-royalists and the Catholic Church . Under his reign, the censorship of newspapers was reinforced, the Anti-Sacrilege Act passed, and compensations to Émigrés were increased. However, the reign also witnessed the French intervention in the Greek Revolution in favour of the Greek rebels, and the first phase of

38577-441: The number of French Protestants ( Huguenots ) steadily swelled to 10 percent of the population, or roughly 1.8 million people. The ensuring French Wars of Religion , and particularly the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre , decimated the Huguenot community; Protestants declined to seven to eight percent of the kingdom's population by the end of the 16th century. The Edict of Nantes brought decades of respite until its revocation in

38808-400: The only option was open combat and launched a counterattack. Despite superior numbers, Kerbogha's army—which was divided into factions and surprised by the Crusaders' commitment—retreated and abandoned the siege. Raymond besieged Arqa in February 1099 and sent an embassy to al-Afdal Shahanshah , the vizier of Fatimid Egypt , seeking a treaty. The Pope's representative Adhemar died, leaving

39039-447: The people of Tell Bashir ransomed Joscelin and he negotiated Baldwin's release from Jawali Saqawa , atabeg of Mosul, in return for money, hostages and military support. Tancred and Baldwin, supported by their respective Muslim allies, entered violent conflict over the return of Edessa leaving 2,000 Franks dead before Bernard of Valence, patriarch of both Antioch and Edessa, adjudicated in Baldwin's favour. On 13 May 1110, Baldwin II and

39270-444: The persecution of the Waldensians ceased for a time. It is possible that church authorities believed that through Borel's actions and later missionary work by Vincent Ferrer (1399–1403), they had forced all to convert and eliminated the resistant ones. This might be inferred from the appointment letter for inquisitor Ponce Feugeyron in 1409, where Alexander V lists several offenses for the new inquisitor to address but does not mention

39501-406: The pontificate of Innocent III (1198–1216), who dismissed several bishops and appointed new ones (e.g., he replaced Archbishop Berengar of Narbonne in 1212 with Papal Legate Arnaud Amalric ) and sent Cistercian missions to Languedoc to convert heretics. From 1205, Dominic de Guzmán , the founder of the Dominican Order , also worked in the Toulouse area with the same purpose, although his order

39732-490: The pope personally appointed Robert le Bougre  [ pl ] from the Dominican convent in Besançon as papal inquisitor for the metropolises of Sens , Rouen , Bourges , and Tours , as well as the County of Flanders . Thus, France came under the activity of papal inquisitors. In January 1234, Romeu de Llivia, the Dominican provincial superior of Provence , appointed the prior of Toulouse, Pons of St. Gilles, along with Peter Cell and William Arnold as inquisitors for

39963-426: The pope reversed his decision. In August 1235, Robert le Bougre was appointed as the inquisitor general of France. He quickly became known as a zealous and strict inquisitor. In Northern Champagne and Flanders, he burned 60 heretics within 3 months in 1236. In 1239, he presided over a mass trial of several hundred heretics from 16 different dioceses, resulting in over 180 people, including a Cathar bishop, being burned at

40194-429: The powerful dukes of Guise culminated in a massacre of Huguenots (1572), starting the first of the French Wars of Religion , during which English, German, and Spanish forces intervened on the side of rival Protestant and Catholic forces. Opposed to absolute monarchy, the Huguenot Monarchomachs theorized during this time the right of rebellion and the legitimacy of tyrannicide . The Wars of Religion culminated in

40425-484: The prior of the Dominican convent in Besançon to select several monks as inquisitors in the Burgundy and Lorraine regions to combat the Waldensian sect. This initiative failed as John, Count of Chalon, acting as regent of the County of Burgundy , did not provide the promised financial support for the new tribunal. As a result, in 1255, the Dominicans from Besançon requested to be relieved from this task, and Pope Alexander IV granted their request. The reorganization of

40656-466: The remaining Cathar followers until around 1330. In the 1320s, the main target of the inquisition became the heretical wing of the Franciscan order known as the Spiritual Franciscans or Beguins , condemned by Pope John XXII in 1317. About a hundred Beguins were burned at the stake in Languedoc between 1319 and 1330 by inquisitorial and episcopal courts. By around 1330, all major heretical movements in Languedoc had been eradicated, and from that time on,

40887-412: The resources to fully invest the city; the residents lacked the means to repel the invaders. Then Bohemond persuaded a guard in the city to open a gate. The crusaders entered, massacring the Muslim inhabitants and many Christians amongst the Greek Orthodox, Syrian and Armenian communities. A force to recapture the city was raised by Kerbogha , the effective ruler of Mosul . The Byzantines did not march to

41118-416: The rest of the 14th century only in 1337 (Toulouse), 1347 (Toulouse and Carcassonne), 1357 (Carcassonne), 1374 (Toulouse), and 1383 (Carcassonne). In the north, sporadic trials of alleged adherents of the so-called "heresy of the Free Spirit" took place, but they were much rarer than, for example, in Germany . Moreover, from 1332, there was a gradual dependency of the inquisition on the Parlement of Paris . In

41349-482: The resumption of repression. In 1486, Archbishop of Embrun, Jean Bayle, called on all Waldensians from the valleys of Valpute, Argentiere, Valculson, and Freyssiniere to submit to the church or leave these lands. They ignored this call. In response, Pope Innocent VIII proclaimed a crusade . It was organized in 1488, led by the Archdeacon of Cremona , Alberto Cattaneo, and the Count of Saint-Paul-de-Varax , Hugo de La Palu. The Parlement of Grenoble officially supported

41580-434: The return of confiscated property. Despite this, the inquisitors' practices related to confiscations caused the most controversy in the following years. In the 1280s, public accusations against the inquisitors in Toulouse, Albi, and Carcassonne of fabricating evidence (often through torture) against wealthy residents, particularly the deceased, to allow royal officials to seize their estates, became widespread. The main critic of

41811-441: The ruler of Toulouse, but Simon was killed during the siege of Toulouse in 1218. The crusade, formally aimed at fighting heretics, effectively turned into a struggle for control over southern France. After Simon's death, Count Raymond VI (died 1222) regained control over Languedoc for a few years. A second "crusade" in 1219 ended in failure. However, in 1226, another campaign was organized, led by King Louis VIII of France . Although

42042-418: The same time, the advent of Imad ad-Din Zengi saw the Crusaders threatened by a Muslim ruler who would introduce jihad to the conflict, joining the powerful Syrian emirates in a combined effort against the Franks. He became atabeg of Mosul in September 1127 and used this to expand his control to Aleppo in June 1128. In 1135, Zengi moved against Antioch and, when the Crusaders failed to put an army into

42273-458: The scale or details of these repressions. Around 1330, the activity of the Dominican inquisition in the Kingdom of France significantly declined. In Languedoc, the Cathar sect was completely exterminated. Sporadic trials of Waldensians and Beguines occurred in this region until the late 1340s, but these movements were eventually eliminated. Public sermones fidei (ceremonies announcing the inquisition's verdicts) were recorded in this area throughout

42504-430: The scene of some of the earliest witch hunts in European history. As early as 1409, Pope Alexander V mentioned a supposedly new sect of sorcerers in the Alps in a letter to inquisitor Ponce Feugeyron. Although the major witch hunts in the Dauphiné between 1428 and 1447 were conducted by secular courts, especially Judge Claude Tholosan, trials for these offenses also took place before inquisitors or episcopal officials. One of

42735-413: The second half of the 15th century, the Parlement of Paris became the superior court to the inquisition and could intervene in its activities, also acting as a court of second instance. The collaboration between the Parlement of Paris and the theological faculty of the Sorbonne provided competent personnel for handling heresy cases. In Languedoc, from the mid-15th century, the Parlement of Toulouse played

42966-450: The second-largest empire in the world at the time behind the Spanish Empire . Colonial conflicts with Great Britain led to the loss of much of its North American holdings by 1763. French intervention in the American Revolutionary War helped the United States secure independence from King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain , but was costly and achieved little for France. France through its French colonial empire , became

43197-435: The secular and ecclesiastical leaders of the Outremer gathered at the Council of Nablus . The council laid a foundation of a law code for the kingdom of Jerusalem that replaced common law. The council also heard the first direct appeals for support made to the Papacy and Republic of Venice . They responded with the Venetian Crusade , sending a large fleet that supported the capture of Tyre in 1124. In April 1123, Baldwin II

43428-446: The south, the French Observant Congregation claimed the right to staff the tribunals in Toulouse and Carcassonne, leading to factional disputes among the Dominicans and competition for inquisitorial positions. The struggle for the position of the inquisitor of Toulouse was especially intense between 1531 and 1538. During this time, inquisitorial appointments required approval by the king and the parlements in Paris and Toulouse (depending on

43659-465: The stake in Montwimer. Robert’s activities likely led to the destruction of the Cathar church structures in Northern France and the physical elimination of the sect's elite. Robert remained in the inquisitorial office until at least 1244 but was later dismissed and imprisoned for disobedience to the order’s authorities. After Robert le Bougre’s dismissal, little is known about the inquisition's activities in Northern France. In 1253, Pope Innocent IV granted

43890-445: The stake, and their properties were confiscated. In 1371, François Borel became the inquisitor of Provence, gaining a particularly bad reputation among locals. In 1380, he issued death sentences in absentia for 169 people and led many armed expeditions until 1393 to capture and execute the condemned. Many captured complied with the church and were only fined. The rest were burned at the stake, and their properties confiscated. After 1393,

44121-403: The stake, whom church courts had only sentenced to imprisonment. The repressions from 1249 to about 1255 proved to be even harsher than those led by papal inquisitors between 1244 and 1248. The last Cathar stronghold, Château de Quéribus , much smaller and less significant than Montségur, was captured by the seneschal of Carcassonne in 1255. The papal inquisition was restored in Languedoc after

44352-413: The strongest kings of Europe and a route that would be pre-planned. The pope called on Bernard of Clairvaux to preach the Second Crusade, granting the same indulgences which had accorded to the First Crusaders. Among those answering the call were two European kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany . Louis, his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine , and many princes and lords prostrated themselves at

44583-487: The synod of Narbonne established permanent tribunals in Carcassonne and Toulouse. While field visits continued, summoning suspects and witnesses to the tribunal's headquarters for interrogation became the norm. From 1243 to 1248, Dominican inquisitors conducted large-scale investigations across Languedoc, likely interrogating all adult residents in many localities (men over 14 and women over 12). These investigations were quite successful, as nearly all suspects who appeared before

44814-430: The throne would end up recreating the grand multi-national Empire of Charles V ; of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and the Spanish territories in Italy, which would also grossly upset the power balance. However, the rest of Europe would not stand for his ambitions in Spain, and so the long War of the Spanish Succession began (1701–1714), a mere three years after the War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697, a.k.a. "War of

45045-438: The town of Banias during the Crusade of 1129 . Defeat at Damascus and Marj al-Saffar ended the campaign and Frankish influence on Damascus for years. The Levantine Franks sought alliances with the Latin West through the marriage of heiresses to wealthy martial aristocrats. Constance of Antioch was married to Raymond of Poitiers , son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine . Baldwin II's eldest daughter Melisende of Jerusalem

45276-443: The tribunal of the Lausanne-Geneva-Sion district. Throughout the 15th century, witch trials regularly occurred there. These trials usually targeted small groups of suspects, with no witch hunts on a scale comparable to the 1427–1436 period. There are also scant mentions of witch trials from the other two districts of the Burgundy-Lorraine province, although these come from a slightly later period (late 15th and early 16th centuries). In

45507-439: The tribunal's location). Despite the general decline in the inquisition's activity and importance in France in the 15th century, some French inquisitors were involved in witch hunts . However, the evidence is scarce, as few trial records from this period have survived, and some trials are known only from narrative sources or theological treatises. The Dominican theologian Johannes Nider , writing in 1437, mentioned witch trials in

45738-568: The turn of 1248 and 1249. The resignation of the Dominicans did not halt the repression of heretics. The inquisitorial activities were continued (personally or through appointed officials) by the Archbishop of Narbonne and the bishops of Toulouse, Albi, Rodez, Cahors, and Carcassonne. Secular authorities were also heavily involved, often acting more ruthlessly than the church courts. In 1249, Count Raymond VII burned 80 Cathars in Agen , despite their voluntary confessions and willingness to convert. His successor, Alphonse of Poitiers, sent many heretics to

45969-401: The various Napoleonic Wars . Following the French Revolution (1789–99) and the First French Empire under Napoleon (1804–1814), the monarchy was restored when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the House of Bourbon in 1814. However the deposed Emperor Napoleon I returned triumphantly to Paris from his exile in Elba and ruled France for a short period known as

46200-418: The way for France to undertake the long Italian Wars (1494–1559), which marked the beginning of early modern France. French efforts to gain dominance resulted only in the increased power of the House of Habsburg . Barely were the Italian Wars over, when France was plunged into a domestic crisis with far-reaching consequences. Despite the conclusion of a Concordat between France and the Papacy (1516), granting

46431-464: The will of King Charles, which left the entire Spanish Empire to Louis's grandson Philip, Duke of Anjou , (1683–1746). Essentially, Spain was to become a perpetual ally and even obedient satellite of France, ruled by a king who would carry out orders from Versailles. Realizing how this would upset the balance of power, the other European rulers were outraged. However, most of the alternatives were equally undesirable. For example, putting another Habsburg on

46662-413: The year left Joscelin II of Edessa with no powerful allies to help defend Edessa. Zengi came north to begin the first siege of Edessa , arriving on 28 November 1144. The city had been warned of his arrival and was prepared for a siege, but there was little they could do. Zengi realised there was no defending force and surrounded the city. The walls collapsed on 24 December 1144. Zengi's troops rushed into

46893-452: Was Bishop Hugo of Auxerre . In 1208, a knight of Count Raymond VI of Toulouse murdered Papal Legate Pierre de Castelnau . Pope Innocent III, who had already accused the count of supporting heresy, took this as a provocation and declared a crusade against the Cathars . Crusader armies, led by Simon de Montfort , committed numerous massacres, the most infamous being the Massacre at Béziers in 1209. In 1215, Innocent III recognized Simon as

47124-478: Was a powder keg ready to explode. On the eve of the French Revolution of July 1789, France was in a profound institutional and financial crisis, but the ideas of the Enlightenment had begun to permeate the educated classes of society. On September 3, 1791, the absolute monarchy which had governed France for 948 years was forced to limit its power and become a provisional constitutional monarchy. However, this too would not last very long and on September 21, 1792,

47355-415: Was ambushed and captured by Belek Ghazi while campaigning north of Edessa, along with Joscelin I, Count of Edessa . He was released in August 1024 in return for 80,000 gold pieces and the city of Azaz . In 1129, the Council of Troyes approved the rule of the Knights Templar for Hugues de Payens . He returned to the East with a major force including Fulk V of Anjou . This allowed the Franks to capture

47586-494: Was ambushed at the battle of Dorylaeum . The Normans resisted for hours before the arrival of the main army caused a Turkish withdrawal. The army marched for three months to the former Byzantine city Antioch , that had been in Muslim control since 1084. Starvation, thirst and disease reduced numbers, combined with Baldwin's decision to leave with 100 knights and their followers to carve out his own territory in Edessa . The siege of Antioch lasted eight months. The crusaders lacked

47817-418: Was an enthusiastic response. Participants came from all over Europe and had a variety of motivations. These included religious salvation, satisfying feudal obligations, opportunities for renown, and economic or political advantage. Later expeditions were conducted by generally more organised armies, sometimes led by a king. All were granted papal indulgences . Initial successes established four Crusader states :

48048-401: Was an unexpected event for contemporary chroniclers, but historical analysis demonstrates it had its roots in earlier developments with both clerics and laity recognising Jerusalem's role in Christianity as worthy of penitential pilgrimage . In 1071, Jerusalem was captured by the Turkish warlord Atsiz , who seized most of Syria and Palestine as part of the expansion of the Seljuks throughout

48279-481: Was antagonistic toward the Dominicans, Gregory IX agreed to suspend the inquisition in Toulouse. The count's support was needed by the pope in his dispute with Emperor Frederick II . The suspension lasted until 1241 when William Arnold and Stephen of Narbonne resumed their activities around Montauban . This time, over 700 heretics voluntarily came forward and confessed in exchange for leniency. However, Cathars who did not surrender felt threatened and decided to counteract

48510-414: Was beset by corruption scandals and financial crisis. The opposition of the King was composed of Legitimists , supporting the Count of Chambord , Bourbon claimant to the throne, and of Bonapartists and Republicans , who fought against royalty and supported the principles of democracy. The King tried to suppress the opposition with censorship, but when the Campagne des banquets ("Banquets' Campaign")

48741-421: Was captured by the Danishmends . The Lorrainers foiled the attempt to seize power and enabled Godfrey's brother, Baldwin I , to take the crown. Paschal II promoted the large-scale Crusade of 1101 in support of the remaining Franks. This new crusade was a similar size to the First Crusade and joined in Byzantium by Raymond of Saint-Gilles . Command was fragmented and the force split in three: The defeat of

48972-446: Was changed by later waves of Turkic migration , in particular the arrival of the Seljuk Turks in the 10th   century. Previously a minor ruling clan from Transoxania , they had recently converted to Islam and migrated into Iran. In two decades following their arrival they conquered Iran, Iraq and the Near East. The Seljuks and their followers were from the Sunni tradition. This brought them into conflict in Palestine and Syria with

49203-402: Was continuously ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines under the Valois and Bourbon until the monarchy was abolished in 1792 during the French Revolution . The Kingdom of France was also ruled in personal union with the Kingdom of Navarre over two time periods, 1284–1328 and 1572–1620, after which the institutions of Navarre were abolished and it was fully annexed by France (though

49434-514: Was defeated by Spain and the Holy Roman Empire in the ensuing Italian Wars (1494–1559). France in the early modern era was increasingly centralised; the French language began to displace other languages from official use, and the monarch expanded his absolute power in an administrative system, known as the Ancien Régime , complicated by historic and regional irregularities in taxation, legal, judicial, and ecclesiastic divisions, and local prerogatives. Religiously, France became divided between

49665-489: Was embroiled in an even greater scandal. In 1538, the Parlement of Toulouse arrested him for heresy and, after a swift trial, sentenced him to be burned at the stake. The charges against Rochette were likely a drastic manifestation of internal factional rivalry over the position of the inquisitor of Toulouse, with one of his accusers being his successor, Vidal de Becanis. The scandals shaking the inquisition in Languedoc led to King Francis I formally transferring heresy cases to

49896-598: Was foremost, rivaled by the relatively poor but martial Italo-Norman Bohemond of Taranto and his nephew Tancred . Godfrey of Bouillon and his brother Baldwin also joined with forces from Lorraine , Lotharingia , and Germany . These five princes were pivotal to the campaign, which was augmented by a northern French army led by Robert Curthose , Count Stephen II of Blois , and Count Robert II of Flanders . The total number may have reached as many as 100,000 people including non-combatants. They traveled eastward by land to Constantinople where they were cautiously welcomed by

50127-425: Was formally approved only by the next pope, Honorius III , in 1216. In 1208, a group of Waldensians led by Durand of Huesca submitted to the church, founding a community of "poor Catholics". In northern France, several bishops took inquisitorial action against the Cathars. Between 1197 and 1208, numerous trials took place in Champagne , resulting in the burning of several people. The most active in combating heresy

50358-436: Was from the Dominican Order. In 1233, Pope Gregory IX decided to introduce a new repressive instrument in France to support the previously ineffective episcopal courts. In April 1233, he sent a letter to the French bishops informing them of the assignment of the task of combating heresy to the Dominicans, instructing the provincial superior of the Dominicans in Toulouse to select several monks for this task. In northern France,

50589-442: Was held on 24 June 1148, changing the objective of the Second Crusade to Damascus, a former ally of the kingdom that had shifted its allegiance to that of the Zengids. The Crusaders fought the Battle of Bosra with the Damascenes in the summer of 1147, with no clear winner. Bad luck and poor tactics of the Crusaders led to the disastrous five-day siege of Damascus from 24 to 28 July 1148. The barons of Jerusalem withdrew support and

50820-436: Was married to Fulk of Anjou in 1129. When Baldwin II died on 21 August 1131, Fulk and Melisende were consecrated joint rulers of Jerusalem. Despite conflict caused by the new king appointing his own supporters and the Jerusalemite nobles attempting to curb his rule, the couple were reconciled and Melisende exercised significant influence. When Fulk died in 1143, she became joint ruler with their son, Baldwin III of Jerusalem . At

51051-432: Was not formally maintained beyond the first two decades of the inquisition's existence in France, the local conditions in Languedoc were significantly different from those in the north. By around 1330, this division lost its importance. In the late Middle Ages , France was one of the countries most affected by the presence of non-Orthodox religious movements that opposed the Catholic Church . As early as 1022, in Orléans ,

51282-425: Was noted for the emergence of powerful centralized institutions, as well as a flourishing culture (much of it imported from Italy ). The kings built a strong fiscal system, which heightened the power of the king to raise armies that overawed the local nobility. In Paris especially there emerged strong traditions in literature, art and music. The prevailing style was classical . The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts

51513-400: Was one of the most powerful states in Europe from the High Middle Ages to 1848 during its dissolution. It was also an early colonial power , with colonies in Asia and Africa, and the largest being New France in North America centred around the Great Lakes. The Kingdom of France was descended directly from the western Frankish realm of the Carolingian Empire , which was ceded to Charles

51744-494: Was posthumously rehabilitated by Pope Callixtus III after a reinvestigation led by Inquisitor Jean Bréhal . Pope Nicholas V tried to counteract the decline of the inquisition's importance in France. In 1451, he granted the inquisitor of Toulouse, Hugh le Noir, a range of extraordinary powers and extended his jurisdiction to the entire Kingdom of France. However, this decree largely remained theoretical. Even Nicholas V and his successors did not always adhere to it, as evidenced by

51975-407: Was regularly designated. The French-speaking areas east of the Rhône until 1349 were part of the Holy Roman Empire , but not the Kingdom of France, with the coast under the Kingdom of Naples . However, ecclesiastically, these lands were always considered part of Gaul . An independent, permanent tribunal for these areas, based in Marseille , was established by Pope Nicholas IV in 1288, although

52206-412: Was repressed in February 1848, riots and seditions erupted in Paris and later all France, resulting in the February Revolution . The National Guard refused to repress the rebellion, resulting in Louis Philippe abdicating and fleeing to England. On 24 February 1848, the monarchy was abolished and the Second Republic was proclaimed. Despite later attempts to re-establish the Kingdom in the 1870s, during

52437-591: Was signed into law by Francis I in 1539. Largely the work of Chancellor Guillaume Poyet , it dealt with a number of government, judicial and ecclesiastical matters. Articles 110 and 111, the most famous, called for the use of the French language in all legal acts, notarised contracts and official legislation. After the Hundred Years' War, Charles VIII of France signed three additional treaties with Henry VII of England , Emperor Maximilian I , and Ferdinand II of Aragon respectively at Étaples (1492), Senlis (1493) and Barcelona (1493). These three treaties cleared

52668-416: Was the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre in 1572, when Catholics in Paris killed about 2,000 Huguenots. The culmination of these wars was the Edict of Nantes in 1598, which guaranteed the Huguenots freedom of worship. Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. It

52899-423: Was the dominant power in Europe, aided by the diplomacy of Cardinal Richelieu's successor as the King's chief minister, (1642–61) Cardinal Jules Mazarin , (1602–1661). Cardinal Mazarin oversaw the creation of a French Royal Navy that rivalled England's , expanding it from 25 ships to almost 200. The size of the French Royal Army was also considerably increased. Renewed wars (the War of Devolution , 1667–1668 and

53130-412: Was to be conducted, and the guilty were to be summoned to convert. If they refused, the heretics were to be handed over to secular authorities, who were obliged to cooperate with the bishops in combating heresy. The synod also condemned the Waldensian evangelical movement ("the Poor of Lyon") that was growing in southeastern France, for preaching without authorization. At that time, the differences between

53361-451: Was unanimously elected his successor. In June 1119, Ilghazi, now emir of Aleppo , attacked Antioch with more than 10,000 men. Roger of Salerno 's army of 700 knights, 3,000 foot soldiers and a corps of Turcopoles was defeated at the battle of Ager Sanguinis , or "field of blood". Roger was among the many killed. Baldwin II's counter-attack forced the offensive's end, after an inconclusive second battle of Tell Danith . In January 1120

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