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171-406: [REDACTED] Revolutionary militias [REDACTED] French Royal Army The Women's March on Versailles , also known as the October March , the October Days or simply the March on Versailles , was one of the earliest and most significant events of the French Revolution . The march began among women in the marketplaces of Paris who, on the morning of 5 October 1789, were nearly rioting over

342-401: A drummer . A garrison company had a captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, a corporal, two lance-corporals, 44 privates and a drummer. A colonel's company in garrison had an additional ensign , while a grenadier company in garrison had an additional sub-lieutenant. The tactical formation was the field battalion of 16 companies with an authorized strength of 800 men. A garrison battalion had

513-420: A mestre de camp and a lieutenant-colonel with company and a major without a company. Each company had a captain, a lieutenant, a cornet , a quartermaster, two brigadiers, two carabineers and 35 troopers. In addition each regiment had a company of carabineers outside the squadrons, filling the same elite role as the grenadier company of a foot regiment. In 1767 the cavalry contained 35 regiments. One of these

684-421: A tricorn like the fusiliers , rather than a mitre or a bearskin . Bearskins came into full use by about 1770. During the 18th century a series of revised dress regulations made for repeated changes in the facing colours of individual infantry regiments. The Swiss and Irish mercenary regiments retained their red coats throughout this period, while other foreign units generally wore medium blue. Cavalry wore

855-400: A trumpeter . The carabineer regiment had a different organization. In 1690 the dragoons contained 33 regiments, of which two were foreign, as well as 50 independent dragoon companies. Each regiment had three squadrons; each squadron had four companies . The regimental staff included a colonel and a lieutenant-colonel with companies, and a major without company. Each company had a captain,

1026-805: A French invasion of the Electoral Palatinate , the Nine Years' War broke out in 1689 and pitted France against the League of Augsburg and other European states. The war ended with no major territorial gains or losses for either side, and the two alliances were at war again by 1701. Despite initial French successes at Friedlingen and Hochstadt , the allied armies under the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy inflicted major defeats on French troops at Blenheim , Ramillies , and Oudenarde . In Spain (the succession to that nation's throne

1197-600: A campaign the artillery train and the siege batteries . Otherwise the gunnery cadre contained a number of ordinary commissaires (captains), extraordinary commissaries (lieutenants) and officier-pointeurs (sub-lieutenants). At the disposal of the artillery stood in 1690, a fusilier regiment , a bombardier regiment, two companies of miners , three of galiots and two of boatmen on the Rhine . The King's Fusiliers contained 88 companies with 272 officers and 4,720 men. There were five battalions and twelve gunnery companies outside

1368-495: A captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant, as well as four quartermasters, one fourier, eight brigadiers, eight lancepessades (lance-corporals), 24 dragoons and a drummer. Of a troops 46 members, 16 served on foot. In 1690 the artillery consisted of a cadre of gunnery officers stationed at the fortresses. The organization was under the Grand Master of Artillery and contained two lieutenant-generals of artillery commanding

1539-661: A cathedral destroyed by a fire in 561. Saint Martin's monastery benefited from its inception, at the very start of the 6th century from patronage and support from the Frankish king, Clovis I , which increased considerably the influence of the saint, the abbey and the city in Gaul. In the 9th century, Tours was at the heart of the Carolingian Renaissance , in particular because of Alcuin , of York in Northumbria,

1710-740: A colonel and a lieutenant-colonel with companies and a major without. Each company had a captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant and contained four sergeants, one fourier, eight corporals, eight lance-corporals, 40 fusiliers and two drummers. In 1767 the French army also had five mixed legions of light troops. Each legion had eight dragoon companies, eight fusilier companies and a grenadier company. In 1690 there were 112 cavalry regiments, including 105 French and seven foreign. There were also 43 independent companies of horse. 27 regiments had two squadrons and eight companies, and 85 regiments had three squadrons and 12 companies. The regimental staff included

1881-765: A garrison town with a resident general staff. The American presence is remembered today by the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Loire, which was officially opened in July 1918 and bears the name of the President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Three American air force squadrons, including the 492nd, were based at the Parçay-Meslay airfield, their personnel playing an active part in the life of

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2052-604: A genius at siege warfare, oversaw the building or improvement of many fortresses in Flanders and elsewhere. In 1688, the Catholic King of England, James II , was overthrown and William of Orange , the Dutch Stadtholder and old enemy of Louis, was installed as the next king. James fled to France, which he used as his base for an invasion of Ireland in 1690. As a result of James' ouster and, more directly,

2223-450: A gluttonous orgy. Additionally, the papers dwelt scornfully on the reputed desecration of the tricolor cockade ; drunken officers were said to have stamped upon this symbol of the nation and professed their allegiance solely to the white cockade of the House of Bourbon . This tale of the royal banquet was a source of intense public outrage. On the morning of 5 October, a young woman struck

2394-533: A half hours to get to Charles de Gaulle Airport . Tours has two main stations: Gare de Tours , the central station, and Gare de Saint-Pierre-des-Corps , used by trains that do not terminate in Tours. Tours Loire Valley Airport connects the Loire Valley to European cities. Historically, Tours was served by trams and trolleybuses , the trolleybus system lasting from 1949 to 1968. Tram service returned to

2565-408: A lieutenant, a cornet, a quartermaster, two brigadiers, 37 dragoons and a drummer. There were 17 dragoon regiments in 1767. The seven oldest were known by their title; the others by the name of their commanders. Each regiment had four squadrons; each squadron had two troops. The regimental staff included a mestre de camp and a lieutenant-colonel with troops, and a major without a troop. Each troop had

2736-707: A lieutenant-colonel and five chef de brigades (majors). During the 17th and 18th centuries twelve regiments of Swiss mercenaries were employed in the French Royal Army, notably the Swiss Guards . During the 10 August riot of 1792, supporters of the French Revolution , including members of the radical-leaning National Guard marched on the Tuileries Palace . King Louis XVI escaped with his family, but, after fighting broke out in

2907-474: A line of argument that resonated with Lafayette's soldiers. These two popular goals coalesced around a third, which was that the King and his court, and the assembly as well, must all be moved to Paris to reside among the people. Only then would the foreign soldiers be expelled, food supply would be reliable and France served by a leader who was "in communion with his own people". The plan appealed to all segments of

3078-524: A loose sense of order to the proceedings as he led the crowd out of the city in the driving rain. As they left, thousands of National Guardsmen who had heard the news were assembling at the Place de Grève . The Marquis de Lafayette , in Paris as their commander-in-chief, discovered to his dismay that his soldiers were largely in favor of the march and were being egged on by agitators to join in. Even though he

3249-528: A major victory at Denain in 1712, the war had turned into a stalemate and ended in peace that somewhat favored the French in 1714. Louis XV , the great-grandson of Louis XIV, was the only direct heir alive when the elderly king died in 1715. His reign was much more peaceful than his great-grandfather's, although three major wars occurred. First was the War of the Polish Succession of 1733. The second,

3420-556: A marching drum at the edge of a group of market-women who were infuriated by the chronic shortage and high price of bread. From their starting point in the markets of the eastern section of Paris known as the Faubourg Saint-Antoine , the angry women forced a nearby church to toll its bells. Their numbers continued to grow and with restless energy the group began to march. More women from other marketplaces joined in, many bearing kitchen blades and other makeshift weapons, as

3591-576: A mass demonstration at Versailles had already been made; notably, the Marquis of Saint-Huruge , one of the popular orators of the Palais-Royal , had militated for just such a march in August to evict the obstructionist deputies who, he claimed, were protecting the King's veto power. Although his efforts were foiled, revolutionaries held onto the idea of a march on Versailles with the aim of compelling

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3762-441: A priest commonly known as Abbé Lefebvre , who had been strung up on a lamppost for trying to safeguard its gunpowder storage. The City Hall itself was ransacked as the crowd surged through, confiscating its provisions and weapons, but Maillard helped to prevent the crowd from burning down the entire building. In due course, the rioters' attention turned again to Versailles. Maillard deputized a number of women as group leaders and gave

3933-536: A prominent vainqueur of the Bastille, who snatched up his own drum and led with the cry of " à Versailles !" Maillard was a popular figure among the market-women, and was given a leadership role by unofficial acclamation. Although hardly a man of gentle disposition, Maillard helped, by force of character, to suppress the mob's worst instincts; he rescued the Hôtel de Ville's quartermaster, Pierre-Louis Lefebvre-Laroche,

4104-508: A renowned book collector and an abbot of Marmoutier Abbey . In 732, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi and an army of Muslim horsemen from Al-Andalus advanced 500 kilometres (300 miles) deep into France, and were stopped at Moussais-la-Bataille (between Châtellerault and Poitiers ) by Charles Martel and his infantry. This ignited the Battle of Tours . The Muslim army was defeated, preventing an Islamic conquest of France. In 845, Tours repelled

4275-559: A square with busy pubs and restaurants, whose open-air tables fill the centre of the square. The Boulevard Beranger crosses the Rue Nationale at the Place Jean-Jaures and is the location of weekly markets and fairs. Tours is famous for its many bridges crossing the river Loire. One of them, Wilson Bridge, collapsed in 1978 but was rebuilt. In the garden of the ancient Palais des Archevêques (now Musée des Beaux-Arts )

4446-531: A system. Though allegations of his specific actions concerning the October march remain largely unproven, he has long been considered a significant instigator of the events. The Duke was certainly present as a deputy to the Assembly, and he was described by contemporaries as smiling warmly as he walked among the protesters at the height of the siege; many of them are said to have hailed him with greetings like "Here

4617-586: A tenuous peace was established within the palace. Although the fighting ceased and the two commands of troops had cleared the interior of the palace, the mob was still present outside. The rank and file of both the Flanders Regiment and another regular unit present, the Montmorency Dragoons, now appeared unwilling to act against the people. While the guet (watch) of Gardes du Corps on palace duty overnight had shown courage in protecting

4788-440: A traitor, complaining of his resistance to leaving Paris and the slowness of his march. By the first light of morning, it was clear that the national guards and the diverse civilian demonstrators from Paris and Versailles township had formed a vigorous alliance. At about six o'clock in the morning, some of the by now mostly male protesters discovered a small gate to the palace was unguarded. Making their way inside, they searched for

4959-478: A varied number of companies, mostly from different regiments and was commanded by the senior company commander. The French line infantry contained 69 regiments in 1767. The regiments had terrirorial or otherwise permanent titles. The nineteenth most senior regiments had four battalions, most regiments had two battalions while the junior regiments had one battalion. Each battalion had nine companies, eight of fusiliers and one of grenadiers. The regimental staff included

5130-488: A variety of green, blue or red regimental uniforms, largely according to the whim of individual colonels. The regiments of the Royal Household were similarly variegated, although dark blue dominated. The change from the white or off-white uniforms, traditionally associated with the line infantry of the royal army, to dark blue was completed in 1793 after the overthrow of the monarchy. White uniforms were restored after

5301-755: A volleyball club named the Tours VB . Tours is a special place for Catholics who follow the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament . In 1843, Sister Marie of St Peter of Tours reported a vision which started the devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus , in reparation for the many insults Christ suffered in His Passion. The Golden Arrow Prayer was first made public by her. The Venerable Leo Dupont also known as The Holy Man of Tours lived in Tours at about

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5472-630: A war of movement. In 1765 it was replaced by the Gribeauval system , which revolutionized the French artillery; improving its cannons , howitzers , and mortars , by making them lighter, without sacrificing range. The new guns contributed to French military victories even during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars . The Royal Army during the Ancien regime was recruited through volunteer enlistment . Almost 90% of

5643-456: Is a huge cedar tree said to have been planted by Napoleon . The garden also has a stuffed elephant named Fritz. He escaped from the Barnum and Bailey circus during their stay in Tours in 1902. He went mad and had to be shot down, but the city paid to honor him, and he was taxidermied as a result. Tours is home to University of Tours (formerly known as University François Rabelais of Tours),

5814-563: Is a source of great rejoicing for the good people of Paris to have their king in their midst once again. His presence will very quickly do much to change the outward appearance of things, and the poor will no longer die of starvation. But this happiness would soon vanish like a dream if we did not ensure that the sojourn of the Royal Family in our midst lasted until the Constitution was ratified in every aspect. L'Ami du Peuple shares

5985-442: Is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race . A popular folk etymology of the word "Tours" is that it comes from Turonus , the nephew of Brutus . Turonus died in a war between Corineus and the king of Aquitaine , Goffarius Pictus , provoked by Corineus hunting in the king's forests without permission. It is said that Turonus was buried in Tours and the city is founded around his grave. In Gallic times, Tours

6156-520: Is explained by the fact that the court of France lived in Touraine between 1430 and 1530. French, the language of the court, had become the official language of the entire kingdom. A Council of Tours in 813 decided that priests should preach sermons in different languages because the common people could no longer understand classical Latin . This was the first official recognition of an early French language distinct from Latin, and can be considered as

6327-400: Is nicknamed " Le Petit Paris " and its region by its history and culture has always been a land of birth or host to many personalities, international sporting events, and is a university city with more than 30,000 students in 2019. Tours is a popular culinary city with specialties such as: rillettes , rillons, Touraine vineyards , AOC Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine cheeses and nougats . The city

6498-498: Is our king! Long live King Orléans!" Many scholars believe that the Duke paid agents provocateurs to fan the discontent in the marketplaces and to conflate the women's march for bread with the drive to bring the king back to Paris. Others suggest he coordinated in some way with Mirabeau, the Assembly's most powerful statesman at the time, to use the marchers to advance the constitutionalist agenda. Still others go so far as to assert that

6669-473: Is very mild for such a northern latitude. Summers are influenced by its inland position, resulting in frequent days of 25 °C (77 °F) or warmer, whereas winters are kept mild by Atlantic air masses. The entire valley between Orlans and Angers is famous for the luminosity of its air and for its fabulous châteaux, most of them Renaissance (over 600 between Orlans and Angers). The Cathedral of Tours, dedicated to Saint Gatien , its canonized first bishop ,

6840-409: The 2024 Summer Olympics is based on a similar route taken by the women's march. [REDACTED] Media related to The Women's March on Versailles at Wikimedia Commons French Royal Army The first permanent army of France , which was paid with regular wages instead of being supplied by feudal levies , was established in the early 15th century under Charles VII . It was formed due to

7011-709: The Battle of Rossbach in 1757. At the same time as the fighting in Europe, raiding parties composed of French-Canadian militiamen and Indians attacked English settlements in North America. This war, known as the French and Indian War , was the last of four wars that occurred in North America at the same time as a European conflict. However, by 1759, the British had gone onto the offensive in America and captured Quebec ,

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7182-538: The Bourbon Restoration , although modified for a more modern appearance, introducing trousers rather than breeches, taller shakos, and Fleur-de-lis insignia. Dark blue coatees were adopted in 1819. Pikes appeared in France at the beginning of the 16th century. They were used by the army until the end of the 17th century when the pike and shot tactics were abandoned. The matchlock musket (mousquet)

7353-640: The Loire Valley . One important figure in the city was Saint Martin of Tours , a bishop who shared his coat with a naked beggar in Amiens . The importance of Martin in the medieval Christian West made Tours, and its position on the route of pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela , a major centre during the Middle Ages. In the 6th century, Gregory of Tours , author of the Ten Books of History , restored

7524-688: The Merovingians and the Carolingians , with the Capetians making the kingdom's currency the Livre tournois . Saint Martin and Gregory of Tours were from Tours. Tours was once part of Touraine , a former province of France. Tours was the first city of the silk industry. It was taken by Louis XI , as the royal capital under the Valois Kings with its Loire castles and city of art with

7695-529: The National Assembly , which also authorized the creation of the National Guard , which was intended to be used as a counterweight to the royal army. The regular army was weakened by the flight of many aristocratic officers. Faced with the creation of soldiers' clubs ( Jacobin committees), erosion of discipline, loss of their privileges as nobles and political mistrust, perhaps two thirds of

7866-621: The Triple Alliance , Louis returned much of the French conquests in the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle , with the exception of eleven towns and their surrounding areas. Lille , Armentières , Bergues and Douai were considered essential to reinforce France's vulnerable northern border and remain French to this day. The retention of Tournai , Oudenarde , Courtrai , Veurne , Binche , Charleroi and Ath made future offensives much easier, as demonstrated in 1672. From 1672 until 1678, France

8037-707: The War of the Austrian Succession , began when Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg monarchy in 1740. Her father Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor had appointed her as his heir, and other European countries agreed to respect his wishes. However, the new Prussian king, Frederick II , ignored the agreement, known as the Pragmatic Sanction , and annexed Habsburg Silesia . Britain allied itself with Maria Theresa, while Louis XV forged an alliance with Frederick. Louis provided military support in

8208-457: The 11th century. It was the capital of France at the time of Louis XI, who had settled in the castle of Montils (today the castle of Plessis-les-Tours, at the junction of the Loire and the Indre rivers ). Tours and Touraine remained a permanent residence of the kings and court until the 16th century. The Renaissance gave Tours and Touraine many private mansions and castles, joined to some extent under

8379-567: The 1780s, the political balance in France had shifted. The aristocracy had become despised by many lower-and-middle-class citizens who faced famine in the winter of 1788/89 and had almost no political freedom. At an earlier stage in his reign Louis had succumbed to pressure from the nobility and banned promotion to officer status from the lower ranks of the Royal Army. This measure served to embitter long serving non-commissioned officers who could no longer aspire to reach commissioned rank, although

8550-417: The 18th-century architecture. Pierre Patout succeeded Lefèvre as the architect in charge of rebuilding in 1945. At one time, there was talk of demolishing the southern side of the rue Nationale to make it in keeping with the new development. The recent history of Tours is marked by the personality of Jean Royer , who was mayor for 36 years and helped save the old town from demolition by establishing one of

8721-503: The 20th century progressed, Tours became a dynamic conurbation, economically oriented towards the service sector. The city was greatly affected by the First World War . A force of 25,000 American soldiers arrived in 1917, setting up textile factories for the manufacture of uniforms, repair shops for military equipment, munitions dumps, an army post office and an American military hospital at Augustins. Because of this, Tours became

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8892-620: The American victory in the Battle of Saratoga , Louis XVI authorized an expeditionary force under the Count de Rochambeau to sail to America and aid the revolutionaries. The expeditionary force participated in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, which resulted in the colonies' independence. In 1784, Jean-François Coste was appointed Chief Consulting Physician of the Camps and Armies of the King. By

9063-629: The August 1673 Treaty of the Hague which Denmark joined in January 1674. But following English defeat and withdrawal, the French armies from 1674 to 1678, with Sweden as their only effective ally, managed to advance steadily in the southern (Spanish) Netherlands and along the Rhine, defeating the badly coordinated forces of the Grand Alliance with regularity. Eventually the heavy financial burdens of

9234-651: The Catholics returned to power in Angers: the attendant assumed the right to nominate the aldermen. The Massacre of Saint-Barthelemy was not repeated at Tours. The Protestants were imprisoned by the aldermen – a measure which prevented their extermination. The permanent return of the Court to Paris and then Versailles marked the beginning of a slow but permanent decline. Guillaume the Metayer (1763–1798), known as Rochambeau ,

9405-519: The Flanders Regiment (a regular infantry regiment of the Royal Army) was ordered to Versailles in late September 1789 by the king's minister of war, the Comte de Saint-Priest , as a precautionary measure. On 1 October, the officers at Versailles held a welcoming banquet for the officers of the newly arrived troops, a customary practice when a unit changed its garrison. The royal family briefly attended

9576-410: The French . When Austrian , British, Prussian, and Russian armies invaded France in 1814, Napoleon was forced to abdicate. Louis XVI's brother, the Count of Provence , was declared King Louis XVIII. Under Louis XVIII, no major changes were made to the army, beyond the recreation of several regiments of the pre-revolutionary maison militaire du roi . However, when Napoleon returned from exile in 1815,

9747-661: The French colonial capital. Fighting also occurred on the Indian subcontinent during Louis XV's reign. During the War of the Austrian Succession , French troops captured several settlements in India, but its allies were defeated by British troops in 1756. On the whole, the Seven Years' War went badly for the French, who were forced to sign an unfavorable treaty in 1763. When Britain's North American colonies rebelled in 1775, France initially offered limited support. However, after

9918-452: The French conquest of much of the Austrian Netherlands possible; however, this territory was returned to Austria at the end of the war. The situation after the war was almost the same as before, but it set the stage for the Seven Years' War , which officially began in 1756, when Prussia and Austria again went to war. This time, however, France and Austria were allied and Britain and Prussia formed an alliance. French forces were defeated at

10089-443: The French political system. Reformist deputies had managed to pass sweeping legislation in the weeks after the Bastille's fall, including the revolutionary August Decrees (which formally abolished most noble and clerical privileges) and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen . Their attention then shifted to the creation of a permanent constitution. Monarchists and other conservatives had thus far been unable to resist

10260-409: The Fronde ended and Mazarin was permitted to return and appointed chief minister for a second time. The leader of the anti-Mazarin faction, the Prince de Condé , escaped to Spain, which soon, with the Royalists of the British Isles , went to war against France and its new ally, Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth of England . Under the command of Marshal Turenne , the Anglo-French army decisively defeated

10431-426: The Holy Face on Rue St. Etienne in Tours receives many pilgrims every year. Tours was the site of the episcopal activity of St. Martin of Tours and has further Christian connotations in that the pivotal Battle of Tours in 732 is often considered the first decisive victory over the invading Islamic forces, turning the tide against them. The battle also helped lay the foundations of the Carolingian Empire . Tours

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10602-440: The King to accept the Assembly's laws. Speakers at the Palais-Royal mentioned it regularly, fanning suspicions that its proprietor, Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , was secretly fomenting a mass action against Versailles. The idea of a march on Versailles was widespread and was even discussed in the pages of the Mercure de France (5 September 1789). Popular unrest was in the air and many nobles and foreigners fled. Following

10773-412: The Loire to the north and the Cher to the south. The buildings of Tours are white with blue slate (called Ardoise ) roofs; this style is common in the north of France, while most buildings in the south of France have terracotta roofs. Tours is famous for its original medieval district, called le Vieux Tours . Unique to the Old City are its preserved half-timbered buildings and la Place Plumereau ,

10944-422: The Loire, became the economic centre of Tours. Between these two centres were Varennes, vineyards and fields, little occupied except for the Abbaye Saint-Julien established on the banks of the Loire. The two centres were linked during the 14th century. Tours became the capital of the county of Tours or Touraine , a territory bitterly disputed between the counts of Blois and Anjou – the latter were victorious in

11115-479: The President of the Assembly, Jean Joseph Mounier , accompanied a deputation of market-women into the palace to see the king. A group of six women nominated by the crowd were escorted into the king's apartment, where they told him of the crowd's privations. The king responded sympathetically, and using all his charm impressed the women to the point that one of them fainted at his feet. After this brief but pleasant meeting, arrangements were made to disburse some food from

11286-523: The Revolution progressed, he was hounded into exile by the radical leadership. Maillard returned to Paris with his status as a local hero consolidated. He participated in several later journées , but in 1794 fell ill and died at the age of thirty-one. For the women of Paris, the march became the source of apotheosis in revolutionary hagiography. The "Mothers of the Nation" were celebrated upon their return, and they would be praised and solicited by successive Parisian governments for years to come. King Louis XVI

11457-430: The School of Tours. The prefecture was partially destroyed during the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century and again during the Second World War in June 1940. The White and Blue city keeps a historical center registered in the UNESCO , and is home to the Vieux-Tours, a patrimonial site. The garden city has a green heritage and an urban landscape strongly influenced by its natural space. The historic city that

11628-430: The Spanish in Flanders , part of which was a province of Spain. In 1660, Louis married the Spanish princess Marie-Thérèse . In 1667 he claimed the Spanish Netherlands as her dowry, starting another conflict with Spain known as the War of Devolution . Turenne and Conde, who had been pardoned and allowed to return to France, commanded the French army. Their forces seized much of the Spanish Netherlands but, pressured by

11799-468: The Tuileries at a former riding school, the Salle du Manège . However, some fifty-six monarchien deputies did not come with them, believing the mob in the capital to be dangerous. The October journées thus effectively deprived the monarchist faction of significant representation in the Assembly as most of these deputies retreated from the political scene; many, like Mounier , fled the country altogether. In contrast, Robespierre's impassioned defense of

11970-405: The Tuileries. Desperate, he made his abortive flight to Varennes in June 1791. Attempting to escape and join up with royalist armies, the king was once again captured by a mixture of citizens and national guardsmen who hauled him back to Paris. Permanently disgraced, Louis was forced to accept a constitution that weakened his royal power more than any previously put forward. The spiral of decline in

12141-430: The affair, walking amongst the tables set up in the opera house of the palace. Outside, in the cour de marbre (central courtyard), the soldiers' toasts and oaths of fealty to the king grew more demonstrative as the night wore on. The lavish banquet was certain to be an affront to those suffering in a time of severe austerity, but it was reported in the L'Ami du peuple and other firebrand newspapers as nothing short of

12312-521: The archbishops as well as the castle of Tours. The castle of Tours acted as a seat of the authority of the Counts of Tours (later Counts of Anjou) and the King of France. In the west, the "new city" structured around the Abbey of Saint Martin was freed from the control of the city during the 10th century (an enclosure was built towards 918) and became "Châteauneuf". This space, organized between Saint Martin and

12483-408: The area around the railway station in 1944, causing several hundred deaths. A plan for the rebuilding of the central area drawn up by the local architect Camille Lefèvre had been adopted even before the end of the war. The plan was for 20 small quadrangular blocks of housing to be arranged around the main road (la rue Nationale ), which was widened. This regular layout attempted to echo but simplify

12654-682: The army was known as the French Revolutionary Army , and from 1804 to 1814, the Imperial Army , and during the Hundred Days in 1815, was reconstituted before being officially disbanded. Louis XVI was guillotined in 1793. By 1800, the First Republic, at war with much of Europe, had adopted a weak form of government that was overthrown by General Napoleon Bonaparte , who later proclaimed himself Emperor of

12825-424: The army, for the most part, went over to his side, and Louis fled. Napoleon was defeated by a combined Allied army in 1815 at Waterloo , and Louis XVIII was returned to the throne. Realizing that the remains of the existing army had no loyalty to the restored monarchy, the government of Louis XVIII undertook a wholesale disbandment of what had been Napoleon's regiments. In their place a system of Departmental Legions

12996-459: The artillery formed the Royal Corps of Artillery which ranked as the 47th among the foot regiments of the line. It contained seven regiments. Each regiment had five battalions of four companies each, to a total of 20 companies; two of sappers , four of bombardiers and 14 of gunners. Outside the brigades there was a company of artificers in each regiment. The regimental staff included a colonel,

13167-426: The battalions. The 1st and 2nd battalions each had two companies of artificers , one of grenadiers and twelve of fusiliers. The 3rd and 4th battalions had each a grenadier company and 15 fusilier companies. The 5th battalion had 14 fusilier companies. The King's Bombardiers served the mortars and other heavy siege artillery and formed one battalion containing two bombardier companies and 13 fusilier companies. In 1767

13338-629: The birth of French. The Ordinance of Montils-lès-Tours , promulgated by Charles VII in 1454, made it mandatory to write laws and oral customs in the native language of the area. An ordinance of Charles VIII (born in Amboise , near Tours) in 1490 and one of Louis XII (born in Blois , near Tours) in 1510 broaden the scope of the ordinance of Charles VII. Finally, the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts , signed into law by Francis I in 1539, called for

13509-405: The bulk of the royal guards, who had been deployed under arms in the main square for several hours facing a hostile crowd, were withdrawn to the far end of the park of Versailles. In the words of one of the officers: "Everyone was overwhelmed with sleep and lethargy, we thought it was all over." This left only the usual night guard of sixty-one Gardes du Corps posted throughout the palace. Late in

13680-464: The cathedral itself. Before the French Revolution , the inhabitants of Tours ( Les Tourangeaux ) were known for speaking the "purest" form of French in the entire country. The pronunciation of Touraine was traditionally regarded as the most standard pronunciation of the French language, until the 19th century when the standard pronunciation of French shifted to that of the Parisian bourgeoisie. That

13851-487: The cathedral. Another bone of contention was the original Vinci Congress Centre by Jean Nouvel . The project incurred debts although it at least made Tours one of France's principal conference centres. Jean Germain , a member of the Socialist Party, became mayor in 1995 and made debt reduction his priority. Ten years later, his economic management was regarded as much wiser than that of his predecessor because of

14022-487: The city centre. Some architectural masterpieces of the 16th and 17th centuries were lost, as was the monumental entry to the city. The Wilson Bridge, which carried a water main that supplied the city, was dynamited to slow the progress of the German advance. With the water main severed, nobody could extinguish the inferno. That made inhabitants have no option but to flee to safety. More heavy air raids by Allied forces devastated

14193-600: The city in 2013, when a new tram system began operation. Twenty-one Alstom Citadis trams were ordered. There is also a bus service, the main central stop being Jean Jaurès , next to the Hôtel de Ville , and rue Nationale , the high street of Tours. The tram and bus networks are operated by Fil Bleu and they share a ticketing system. A second tram line is scheduled for 2025. The city's football team, Tours FC , currently play in Championnat National 3 ,

14364-671: The city. Americans paraded at funerals and award ceremonies for the Croix de Guerre. They also took part in festivals and their YMCA organised shows for the troops. Some men married women from Tours. In 1920, the city hosted the Congress of Tours, which saw the creation of the French Communist Party . One future consequence of that congress was the presence of Ho Chi Minh , the Vietnamese nationalist, who became one of

14535-457: The commissioned ranks emigrated after June 1791. They were largely replaced by experienced non-commissioned officers. In July 1791, twelve foreign regiments of mostly German mercenaries were amalgamated into the line, followed by the disbanding of the Swiss regiments a year later. Major reorganizations of the army took place in 1791 and 1792. New officers were elected and the structure of the army

14706-468: The crowd cheered, Lafayette stoked their joy by dramatically pinning a tricolor cockade to the hat of the king's nearest bodyguard. After the king withdrew, the presence of the Queen was demanded loudly. Lafayette brought her to the same balcony, accompanied by her young son and daughter. The crowd ominously shouted for the children to be taken away, and it seemed the stage might be set for a regicide. Yet, as

14877-487: The crowd was guided by such important Orléanist allies as Antoine Barnave , Choderlos de Laclos , and the duc d'Aiguillon , all dressed as poissardes in women's clothes. Yet most of the Revolution's foremost histories describe any involvement of the Duke as ancillary to the action, efforts of opportunism that neither created nor defined the October march. The Duke was investigated by the crown for complicity and none

15048-405: The crowd. Even those who were supportive of the monarchy (and there were many among the women) felt the idea of bringing home le bon papa was a good and comforting plan. For revolutionaries, the preservation of their recent legislative victories and the creation of a constitution were of paramount importance and a lockdown of the King within reformist Paris would provide a propitious environment for

15219-453: The demands of regimental discipline and training still fell heavily upon them. Some of the now almost entirely aristocratic officer corps were still dedicated professionals but many neglected their responsibilities, preferring to spend excessive periods of leave as courtiers at Versailles or on their country estates. Many French soldiers sympathised with the masses from which they were drawn, and increasing numbers deserted in 1789. The bulk of

15390-509: The early 1660s but not completed until the late 1670s. Cavalry wore buff leather coats and breeches without specific uniform features until "grey cloth lined in the same colour" and dark blue for royal mounted units was ordered in November 1671. During the 1680s there was a movement towards more standardised dress, although dragoons and foreign infantry still wore coats in a wide range of regimental colours The guards regiments wore blue,

15561-464: The entrance to the Queen's apartments, attempted to face down the crowd and was struck down severely wounded. As battering and screaming filled the halls around her, the queen ran barefoot with her ladies to the king's bedchamber and spent several minutes banging on its locked door, unheard above the din. They escaped through the doorway safely and in time to avoid the crowd. The chaos continued as other royal guards were found and beaten; at least one more

15732-516: The established, privileged orders of the French nobility in favor of the common people, collectively known as the Third Estate . By bringing together people representing the sources of the Revolution in their largest numbers yet, the march on Versailles proved to be a defining moment of the Revolution. Following poor harvests, the deregulation of the grain market in 1774 implemented by Turgot , Louis XVI 's Controller-General of Finances

15903-473: The evening, Lafayette's national guardsmen approached up the Avenue de Paris . Lafayette immediately left his troops and went to see the king, grandly announcing himself with the declaration, "I have come to die at the feet of Your Majesty". Outside, an uneasy night was spent in which his Parisian guardsmen mingled with the marchers, and the two groups sounded each other out. Many in the crowd denounced Lafayette as

16074-513: The fifth level of French football . They also have a second team, CCSP Tours . CCSP's home stadium is the Stade des Tourettes and they play in the Division d'Honneur Regionale de Centre , the seventh tier of the French football league system . Tours has served as the finish location for Paris–Tours , a one-day road cycling classic race held almost every October since 1896. Tours also has

16245-454: The financial stability of the city returning. However, his achievements were criticised by the municipal opposition for a lack of ambition. There were no large building projects instituted under his two terms. That position is disputed by those in power, who affirm their policy of concentrating on the quality of life, as evidenced by urban restoration, the development of public transport and cultural activities. Tours has an oceanic climate that

16416-627: The first Conservation Areas . This example of conservation policy would later inspire the Malraux Law for the safeguarding of historic city centres. In the 1970s, Jean Royer also extended the city to the south by diverting the course of the Cher River to create the districts of Rives du Cher and des Fontaines. At the time, it was one of the largest urban developments in Europe. In 1970, the François Rabelais University

16587-578: The first attack of the Viking chief Haesten . In 850, the Vikings settled at the mouths of the Seine and the Loire. Still led by Haesten, they went up the Loire again in 852 and sacked Angers , Tours and Marmoutier Abbey. During the Middle Ages, Tours consisted of two juxtaposed and competing centres. The "City" in the east, successor of the late Roman ' castrum ', was composed of the cathedral and palace of

16758-492: The first members of the party. Tours was also marked by the Second World War , as the city suffered massive destruction in 1940. For four years it was a city of military camps and fortifications. From 10 to 13 June 1940, Tours was the temporary seat of the French government before its move to Bordeaux . German incendiary bombs caused a huge fire, which blazed out of control from 20 to 22 June and destroyed part of

16929-500: The form of detachments from France's Irish Brigade , in support of Charles Edward Stuart during the Jacobite rising of 1745 . The Pragmatic Allies initially defeated the French in the Battle of Dettingen in 1743 but the battle had little effect on the wider war and has been described as "a happy escape, rather than a great victory". A series of French victories (including Marshal de Saxe 's great triumph at Fontenoy in 1745) made

17100-495: The generic name of the Châteaux of the Loire. It is also at the time of Louis XI that the silk industry was introduced – despite difficulties, the industry still survives to this day. Charles IX passed through the city at the time of his royal tour of France between 1564 and 1566, accompanied by the Court and various noblemen: his brother the Duke of Anjou , Henri de Navarre , the cardinals of Bourbon and Lorraine . At this time,

17271-452: The high price of bread. The unrest quickly became intertwined with the activities of revolutionaries seeking liberal political reforms and a constitutional monarchy for France. The market women and their allies ultimately grew into a crowd of thousands. Encouraged by revolutionary agitators, they ransacked the city armory for weapons and marched on the Palace of Versailles . The crowd besieged

17442-439: The highest standard. Under Louis' two Secretaries of War Michel Le Tellier and his son the Marquis de Louvois , the French Royal Army was restructured into a highly disciplined and professional force made up of permanent regiments under central control. Weapons, promotion, drill, uniforms and organisation were improved or introduced and the army nearly doubled in size. When Louis' father, Louis XIII , died, Anne of Austria ,

17613-484: The issue of food: most workers spent nearly half their income on bread. In the post-Bastille period, price inflation and severe shortages in Paris were commonplace, as were local incidents of violence in the marketplaces. The king's court and the deputies of the National Constituent Assembly resided comfortably in the royal city of Versailles , where they were considering momentous changes to

17784-422: The jubilation of its dear fellow citizens, but it will remain ever vigilant. It would take almost two full years until the first French Constitution was signed on 3 September 1791, and it required another popular intervention to make it happen. Louis attempted to work within the framework of his limited powers after the women's march but won little support, and he and the royal family remained virtual prisoners in

17955-403: The king back home. They spoke less affectionately of the queen, Marie Antoinette , and many called for her death. When the crowd reached Versailles, it was met by another group that had assembled from the surrounding area. Members of the assembly greeted the marchers and invited Maillard into their hall, where he fulminated about the Flanders Regiment and the people's need for bread. As he spoke,

18126-682: The king of France, was the military part of the French royal household or Maison du Roi . The term only appeared in 1671, though such a gathering of military units pre-dates this. Two large foot regiments of the military household participated in the campaigns of the army; the French Guards Regiment and the Swiss Guards . Another well known unit was the Musketeers of the Guard . There were 90 French line infantry regiments in 1690. The companies were not distributed equally between

18297-541: The king to break any promises that had been made. Well aware of the mounting danger, Louis discussed the situation with his advisors. At about six o'clock in the evening, the king made a belated effort to quell the rising tide of insurrection: he announced that he would accept the August decrees and the Declaration of the Rights of Man without qualification. Adequate preparations to defend the palace were not made, however:

18468-424: The king's fortunes culminated at the guillotine in 1793. Even while the women were marching, suspicious eyes looked upon Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans , already behind the July uprisings, as being somehow responsible for the event. The Duke, a cousin of Louis XVI, was an energetic proponent of constitutional monarchy, and it was an open secret that he felt himself to be uniquely qualified to be king under such

18639-587: The late 15th century, Swiss instructors were recruited, and some of the 'Bandes' (Militia) were combined to form temporary 'Legions' of up to 9000 men. The men would be paid, contracted to fight and receive military training. Henry II further regularised the French Army by forming standing infantry regiments to replace the Militia structure. The first of them (regiments Picardie , Piedmont, Navarre and Champagne) were called Les vieux corps (The Old Corps). It

18810-409: The march raised his public profile considerably. The episode gave him a lasting heroic status among the poissardes and burnished his reputation as a patron of the poor. His later rise to become a leading figure in the Revolution was greatly facilitated by his actions during the occupation of the Assembly. Lafayette, though initially acclaimed, found that he had tied himself too closely to the king. As

18981-436: The march, but what started as a search for bread soon took on other goals. Notably, there was common resentment against the reactionary attitudes prevailing in court circles even before the uproar sparked by the notorious banquet precipitated the political aspects of the march. Activists in the crowd spread the word that the King needed to dismiss his royal bodyguards entirely and replace them all with patriotic National Guardsmen,

19152-417: The market women, even sitting for some time with one of them upon his knee. A few other deputies welcomed the marchers warmly, including Maximilien Robespierre who was at that time a relatively obscure political figure. Robespierre spoke strong words of support for the women and their plight; his intervention helped to soften the crowd's hostility towards the assembly. With few other options available to him,

19323-488: The middle and lower nobility and the higher bourgeoisie and one exceptional for promoted sergeants. The high nobility quickly reached high rank, the mean age of promotion to colonel being 36 years. The standard career path was based on seniority and was rather inert; the mean age of promotion to captain was 45 years. Promoted sergeants could normally not reach higher than to substantive lieutenants and captains by brevet although their social background significantly deviated from

19494-529: The minds of radical leaders and he was sent to his execution in November 1793. The women's march was a signal event of the French Revolution, with an effect on par with the fall of the Bastille. For posterity, the march is emblematic of the power of popular movements. The occupation of the deputies' benches in the Assembly created a template for the future, ushering in the mob rule that would frequently influence successive Parisian governments. But it

19665-541: The mutiny of the French Guards a few hours before the storming of the Bastille, the only troops immediately available for the security of the palace at Versailles were the aristocratic Garde du Corps (body guard) and the Cent-Suisses (hundred Swiss). Both were primarily ceremonial units and lacked the numbers and training to provide effective protection for the royal family and the government. Accordingly,

19836-695: The name of their proprietary colonels. The Swiss and German regiments had two battalions, the Irish one. The guard regiments of the Maison du Roi adopted complete uniforms in the early 1660s as a substitute for the cassocks with civilian clothing worn previously. As an example the Garden Francais were reported as wearing grey and red uniforms with silver embroidery shortly after 1661. The line infantry adopted clothing in various regimental colours decided on by their colonels, in an extended process starting in

20007-432: The near mutiny of his men: he was aware that many of them had openly promised to kill him if he did not lead or get out of the way. At four o'clock in the afternoon, fifteen thousand National Guardsmen with several thousand more civilian latecomers set off for Versailles. Lafayette reluctantly took his place at the head of their column, hoping to protect the king and public order. The rioters had already availed themselves of

20178-704: The need for reliable troops during the Hundred Years' War , though the Army was not disbanded because it saw continued use by the Kings of France following the conflict. Upon the outbreak of a conflict, an ordonnance would be issued to govern the length of service, composition and payment of units. The Compagnies d'ordonnance formed the core of the Gendarme well into the 16th century, and were stationed throughout France and summoned into larger armies as needed. There

20349-418: The northeast. The reformist deputies were well aware that the four hundred or more monarchist deputies were working to transfer the Assembly to the distant royalist city of Tours , a place even less hospitable to their efforts than Versailles. Worse, many feared that the King, emboldened by the growing presence of royal troops, might simply dissolve the Assembly, or at least renege on the August decrees. The King

20520-401: The palace and, in a dramatic and violent confrontation, they successfully pressed their demands upon King Louis XVI . The next day, the crowd forced the king and his family to return with them to Paris. Over the next few weeks most of the French assembly also relocated to the capital. These events ended the king's independence and heralded a new balance of power that would ultimately displace

20691-837: The palace courtyard, the Swiss Guards were massacred by the mob. Some Guards, including the commander, were captured, jailed, and later guillotined. In 1690 there were ten Swiss line regiments in French service; six with 16 companies each in three field battalions and one garrison battalion, and four with twelve companies each in three field battalions. Royal-Roussillon was a Catalonian foreign regiment with 18 companies in two battalions. There were also six German foreign regiments, seven Italian foreign regiments, five Walloon foreign regiments and three Irish foreign regiments . There were 23 foreign line regiments in 1767; eleven Swiss, seven German and five Irish. German regiments had permanent titles. The Swiss and Irish regiments were known by

20862-643: The population of the whole metropolitan area was 516,973. Tours sits on the lower reaches of the Loire , between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Formerly named Caesarodunum by its founder, Roman Emperor Augustus , it possesses one of the largest amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, the Tours Amphitheatre . Known for the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, it is a National Sanctuary with connections to

21033-572: The population provoked the Great Fear in the summer of 1789. When the October journées took place, France's revolutionary decade, 1789–1799, had only just begun. The storming of the Bastille had occurred less than three months earlier, but the Revolution's capacity for violence was not yet fully realized. Flush with their newly discovered power, the common citizens of France – particularly in Paris – began to participate in politics and government. The poorest among them focused almost exclusively on

21204-495: The queen stood with her hands crossed over her chest, the crowd – some of whom had muskets leveled in her direction – warmed to her courage. Amid this unlikely development, Lafayette cannily let the mob's fury drain away until, with dramatic timing and flair, he knelt reverently and kissed her hand. The demonstrators responded with a muted respect, and many even raised a cheer which the queen had not heard for some time: "Vive la Reine!" The goodwill generated by these displays defused

21375-453: The queen's bedchamber. The royal guards retreated through the palace, bolting doors and barricading hallways and those in the compromised sector, the cour de marbre , fired their guns at the intruders, killing a young member of the crowd. Infuriated, the rest surged towards the breach and streamed inside. One of the gardes du corps on duty was killed immediately and his body decapitated. A second guardsman Tardivet du Repaire , posted outside

21546-486: The queen, became regent. She and her chief minister, Cardinal Mazarin , ordered the arrest of legislative opponents, causing the enmity of many nobles and common citizens. When the bloody Thirty Years' War , in which France had sided with Protestant -governed countries against other Catholic nations in Europe, concluded, the Fronde civil war broke out and Mazarin was forced to flee. When Louis XIV came of age in 1652,

21717-590: The rank and file of the Gardes Françaises : the largest regiment of the maison militaire du roi de France and the permanent garrison of Paris, refused to obey their officers at a crucial point in the early stages of the Revolution . Some Gardes joined with the Parisian mob on 14 July 1789 and participated in the storming of the Bastille , the medieval fortress-prison thought of as a symbol of governmental repression. King Louis' powers were regulated by

21888-459: The rank and file; over two thirds came from the petty bourgeoisie or higher classes. The different career paths created a lack of social homogeneity in the officer corps. The military reforms after the Seven Years' War attempted to create a professionalized officer corps built on the petty nobility. However, the privileged career of the high nobility being retained caused the failure of

22059-433: The recruits came from the peasantry and the working class , while about 10% came from the petty bourgeoisie . Privates were usually promoted directly to the rank of sergeant and bypassed the rank of corporal . At the time of the French Revolution , a third of the sergeants came from the petty bourgeoisie or higher classes. Three career paths existed for officers; one privileged for the high nobility, one standard for

22230-456: The reforms. In consequence, many noblemen in the officer corps sided with the bourgeoisie in the struggle against the class prerogatives of the high nobility. Tours Tours ( / t ʊər / TOOR , French: [tuʁ] ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire , France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire . The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while

22401-661: The regiments in existence, leaving only the Vieux and a handful of others, which became known as the Petite Vieux and also gained the privilege of not being disbanded after a war When Louis XIV came to the French throne in 1661 he inherited a large but loosely organized force of about 70,000 men. Like the other European armies of the period, it consisted of a mixture of mercenaries, guard units, local militias and levies conscripted only for specific campaigns and then disbanded. Organization, cohesion, training and equipment were not of

22572-533: The regiments; the weakest, the Périgueux, had only 15 companies, while the Picardie had 210. The regimental staff included a colonel and a lieutenant colonel both of which also nominally commanded a company , and a major without company. A field company had a captain, a lieutenant, a sub-lieutenant (or ensign in the colonel's company), two sergeants, three corporals, five lance-corporals, 39 private soldiers and

22743-455: The regular infantry wore gray-white, and the Swiss mercenary regiments in French service wore red. In 1690, during the Nine Years' War , each regiment was given a uniform. Eighty-eight regiments wore gray uniforms with red facings , and fourteen princely regiments wore blue. The first regulations detailing specifics of uniforms is dated to 1704. Unusually, grenadiers for most of the part wore

22914-607: The rest of the country, Tours is a jumping-off point for tourist visits to the Loire Valley and the royal châteaux . Tours is on one of the main lines of the TGV. It is possible to travel to the west coast of Bordeaux in two and a half hours. From there, the line follows the Mediterranean coast via Avignon , and then to Spain and Barcelona . There are also lines to Lyon , Strasbourg and Lille . It takes less than one hour by train to get from Tours to Paris by TGV and one and

23085-474: The restless Parisians came pouring into the Assembly and sank exhausted on the deputies' benches. Hungry, fatigued, and bedraggled from the rain, they seemed to confirm that the siege was a simple demand for food. The unprotected deputies had no choice but to receive the marchers, who shouted down most of the speakers and demanded to hear from the popular reformist deputy Mirabeau . The great orator declined this chance to speak but nonetheless mingled familiarly with

23256-400: The revolution to succeed. The crowd traveled the distance from Paris to Versailles in about six hours. Among their makeshift weaponry they dragged along several cannons taken from the Hôtel de Ville. Boisterous and energetic, they recruited (or impressed into service) more and more followers as they surged out of Paris in the autumn rain. In their poissard slang, they chattered about bringing

23427-405: The royal carriage and some marchers carried pikes bearing the heads of the slaughtered Versailles guards. A sense of victory over the ancien régime animated the parade and the relationship between the King and his people would never be the same. No one understood this so well as the king himself. After arriving at the dilapidated Tuileries Palace , abandoned since the reign of Louis XIV , he

23598-480: The royal family, the main body of the regiment had abandoned their position near the Triannon and retreated to Rambouillet at dawn. Lafayette convinced the king to address the crowd. When the two men stepped out on a balcony an unexpected cry went up: " Vive le Roi! " (Long live the king!) The relieved king briefly conveyed his willingness to return to Paris, acceding "to the love of my good and faithful subjects". As

23769-424: The royal stores, with more promised, and some in the crowd felt that their goals had been satisfactorily met. As rain once again began to pelt Versailles, Maillard and a small cluster of market women trooped triumphantly back to Paris. Most in the crowd, however, were not satisfied. They milled around the palace grounds with rumors abounding that the women's deputation had been duped – the queen would inevitably force

23940-606: The same time as, for example, the Château de Chenonceau . When the 15th-century illuminator Jean Fouquet was set the task of illuminating Josephus 's Jewish Antiquities , his depiction of Solomon's Temple was modelled on the nearly complete cathedral of Tours. The atmosphere of the Gothic cathedral close permeates Honoré de Balzac 's dark short novel of jealousy and provincial intrigues, Le Curé de Tours ( The Curate of Tours ) and his medieval story Maître Cornélius opens in

24111-598: The same time. In 1849 he started the nightly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament , which spread throughout France. Upon hearing of Sister Marie of St Peter 's reported visions, he started to burn a vigil lamp continuously before a picture of the Holy Face of Jesus . The devotion was eventually approved by Pope Pius XII in 1958 and he formally declared the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus as Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday) for all Roman Catholics. The Oratory of

24282-617: The site of one of the most important choral competitions, called Florilège Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition, and is a member city of the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing . The population data in the table and graph below refer to the commune of Tours proper, in its geography at the given years. The commune of Tours absorbed the former commune of Saint-Étienne in 1845 and Sainte-Radegonde-en-Touraine and Saint-Symphorien in 1964. Today, with extensive rail (including TGV ) and autoroute connections linking to

24453-407: The situation, but to many observers the scene on the balcony lacked long-term resonance. However pleased it may have been by the royal displays, the crowd insisted that the king return with them to Paris. At about one o'clock in the afternoon of 6 October 1789, the vast throng escorted the royal family and a complement of one hundred deputies back to the capital, with the armed National Guards leading

24624-475: The stores of the Hôtel de Ville, but they remained unsatisfied: they wanted not just one meal but the assurance that bread would once again be plentiful and cheap. Famine was a real and ever-present dread for the lower strata of the Third Estate, and rumors of an " aristocrats' plot " to starve the poor were rampant and readily believed. The hunger and despair of the market women was the original impetus for

24795-499: The surging strength of the reformers, but by September their position was beginning to improve. During constitutional negotiations they were able to secure a legislative veto power for the king. Many of the reformers were left aghast by this and further negotiations were hobbled by discord. Versailles, the seat of royal power, was a stifling environment for reformers. Their stronghold was in Paris. The bustling metropolis lay within walking distance, less than 21 kilometres (13 mi) to

24966-485: The tocsins rang from church towers throughout several districts. Driven by a variety of agitators, the mob converged on the Hôtel de Ville (the City Hall of Paris) where they demanded not only bread, but arms. As more and more women – and men – arrived, the crowd outside the city hall reached between six and seven thousand, and perhaps as many as ten thousand. One of the men was the audacious Stanislas-Marie Maillard ,

25137-464: The two most important territorial divisions and during the campaign season also the artillery of the French armies in Germany and Flanders respectively; twelve lieutenants of artillery (rank as colonels of infantry) commanding the other territorial divisions including the arsenals ; a number of provincial commissaries (rank as lieutenant-colonels of infantry) commanding the fortress artillery, and during

25308-410: The use of French in all legal acts, notarized contracts and official legislation to avoid any linguistic confusion. Gregory of Tours wrote in the 6th century that some people in the area could still speak Gaulish . The city has a population of 140,000 and is called "Le Jardin de la France" ("The Garden of France"). There are several parks located within the city. Tours is located between two rivers,

25479-675: The war, along with the imminent prospect of England's reentry into the conflict on the side of the Dutch and their allies, convinced Louis to make peace despite his advantageous military position. The resulting Peace of Nijmegen between France and the Grand Alliance left the Dutch Republic intact and France generously aggrandized in the Spanish Netherlands. The famed engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban designed his intricate fortifications during Louis XIV's reign. Vauban,

25650-448: The way. By now the mass of people had grown to over sixty thousand, and the return trip took about nine hours. The procession could seem merry at times, as guardsmen hoisted up loaves of bread stuck on the tips of their bayonets, and some of the market women rode gleefully astride the captured cannon. Yet, even as the crowd sang pleasantries about their "Good Papa", a violent undercurrent was clearly in evidence; celebratory gunshots flew over

25821-484: The well-known counter-revolutionary chief of Mayenne, was shot in Tours. The arrival of the railway in the 19th century saved the city by making it an important nodal point. The main railway station is known as Tours-Saint-Pierre-des-Corps. At that time, Tours was expanding towards the south into a district known as the Prébendes. The importance of the city as a centre of communications contributed to its revival and, as

25992-493: Was a carabineer regiment and four were hussars . All regiments were known by their titles; not by the name of their commanders. Each regiment had four squadrons; each squadron divided into two troops . The regimental staff included a mestre de camp and a lieutenant-colonel, both of which had troops, and a major without a troop. Each troop had a captain, a lieutenant and a sub-lieutenant, as well as four quartermasters, one fourier, eight brigadiers, eight carabineers, 31 troopers and

26163-661: Was a main cause of the famine which led to the Flour War in 1775. At the end of the Ancien Régime , the fear of famine was ever-present for the lower strata of the urban Third Estate, and rumors of the " Pacte de Famine ", ostensibly concluded to starve the poor, were rampant and readily believed. Mere rumors of food shortages led to the Réveillon riots in April 1789. Rumors of a plot to destroy wheat crops in order to starve

26334-419: Was also provisions made for francs-archers , which was a militia of bowmen and foot soldiers raised from the non-noble classes, but the units were disbanded once war ended. Meanwhile, the bulk of infantry was still provided by urban or provincial militias, which were raised from an area or city to fight locally and that were named for their recruiting grounds. Gradually, the units became more permanent, and in

26505-590: Was an important crossing point over the Loire . It became part of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD, and the city was named Caesarodunum ("hill of Caesar"). The name evolved in the 4th century when the original Gallic name, Turones , became Civitas Turonum and then Tours . It was at this time that the Tours Amphitheatre was built. Tours became a metropolis in the Roman province of Lugdunum towards 380–388 AD, dominating Maine , Brittany, and

26676-484: Was asked for his orders and he replied with uncharacteristic diffidence, "Let everyone put himself where he pleases!". He then poignantly asked that a history of the deposed Charles I of England be brought from the library. The rest of the National Constituent Assembly followed the king within two weeks to new quarters in Paris. In short order, the entire body settled in only a few steps from

26847-521: Was begun about 1170 to replace the cathedral that was burnt out in 1166 during the dispute between Louis VII of France and Henry II of England . The lowermost stages of the western towers belong to the 12th century, but the rest of the west end is in the profusely detailed 15th-century Flamboyant Gothic , which were completed just as the Renaissance was affecting the patrons who planned the châteaux of Touraine. The towers were being constructed at

27018-477: Was changed. Battalions of volunteers were authorized and subsequently merged with surviving units of the former royal army, to form amalgamated demi-brigades. This force underwent its first test during the Battle of Valmy in 1792, when an Austro-Prussian army invaded to restore the King's full powers. By now, the army was considered to be loyal to the First Republic , not to the king. From then until 1804,

27189-593: Was created with no historic connections to empire, republic or even the pre-1792 monarchy. His government appointed many aristocratic officers to the new army, which lost much of its morale, much as it had in 1789. In 1823, a French expeditionary force, the Hundred Thousand Sons of Saint Louis , aided Spanish troops loyal to the Bourbon King Ferdinand VII when his regime was threatened by an uprising . In 1830, King Charles X ,

27360-581: Was embroiled in the Franco-Dutch War , with England and its Royal Navy as an ally (from 1672 to 1674). The war began in May 1672 when France invaded the Netherlands and nearly overran it, an event still referred to as het Rampjaar or 'Disaster Year'. By late July, the Dutch position had stabilised, with support from Emperor Leopold , Brandenburg-Prussia and Spain ; this was formalised in

27531-475: Was forced to abdicate in the July Revolution . The army participated in little fighting, and the king's cousin, the Duke of Orléans was installed as Louis-Philippe I in what was supposed to be a constitutional monarchy. The army transferred its allegiance to Louis-Philippe's House of Orléans until his overthrow in 1848, when the short-lived Second Republic was established. The military household of

27702-444: Was founded and centred on the bank of the Loire in the downtown area, not, as was the current practice, in a campus in the suburbs. The latter solution was also chosen by the twin university of Orleans. Royer's long term as mayor was, however, not without controversy, as is exemplified by the construction of the practical but aesthetically unattractive motorway, which runs along the bed of a former canal just 1,500 metres (4,900 feet) from

27873-400: Was indeed considering this, and when, on 18 September, he issued a formal statement giving his approval to only a portion of the decrees, the deputies were incensed. Stoking their anger even further, the King stated on 4 October that he had reservations about the Declaration of the Rights of Man. Contrary to post-revolutionary mythology, the march was not a spontaneous event. Numerous calls for

28044-448: Was introduced in France after the battle of Pavia in 1525. The French army abandoned the musket in 1700 with the appearance of the flintlock musket (fusil) . Different models of the Charleville musket , a .69 caliber standard French infantry musket was made from 1717 and into the 1840s. The Vallière artillery system of 1732 standardized the artillery pieces. The Valliere guns proved good in siege warfare but were less satisfactory in

28215-464: Was killed and his head too appeared atop a pike. Finally, the fury of the attack subsided enough to permit some communication between the former French Guards, who formed the professional core of Lafayette's National Guard militia, and the royal gardes du corps . The units had a history of cooperation and a military sense of mutual respect, and Lafayette, who had been sleeping, awoke and intervened. The two groups of soldiers were reconciled by Lafayette and

28386-403: Was normal policy to disband regiments after a war was over as a cost-saving measure with the vieux corps and the French Royal Guard being the only survivors. Regiments could be raised directly by the King and so be called after the region in which they were raised or by the nobility and so called after the noble or his appointed colonel. When Louis XIII came to the throne, he disbanded most of

28557-437: Was officially welcomed to Paris with a respectful ceremony held by mayor Jean Sylvain Bailly . His return was touted as a momentous turning point in the Revolution, by some even as its end. Optimistic observers such as Camille Desmoulins declared that France would now enter a new golden age, with its revived citizenry and popular constitutional monarchy. Others were more wary, such as journalist Jean-Paul Marat , who wrote: It

28728-424: Was one of France's greatest war heroes, Lafayette could not dissuade his troops and they began threatening to desert. Rather than see them leave as another anarchic mob, the Parisian municipal government told Lafayette to guide their movements; they also instructed him to request that the king return voluntarily to Paris to satisfy the people. Sending a swift horseman forward to warn Versailles, Lafayette contemplated

28899-432: Was proven. Still, the pall of suspicion helped convince him to take on Louis XVI's offer of a diplomatic mission conveniently outside the country. He returned to France the following summer and resumed his place in the Assembly where both he and Mirabeau were officially exonerated of any misdeeds regarding the march. As the Revolution moved forward into the Terror , the Duke's royal lineage and alleged avarice convicted him in

29070-417: Was the crudely decisive invasion of the palace itself that was most momentous; the attack removed forever the aura of invincibility that once cloaked the monarchy. It marked the end of the king's resistance to the tide of reform; he made no further open attempts to push back the Revolution. As one historian states, it was "one of those defeats of royalty from which it never recovered". The marathon course used at

29241-426: Was the war's cause), Spanish forces allied to the French lost Gibraltar . However, the heavy casualties suffered at Malplaquet in 1709 provided an opening for Marlborough's political opponents and after their victory in the 1710 British general election , he was removed from command and Britain sought to end the war. France's fortune returned under the leadership of Marshal Villars and Marshal Vendôme but despite

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