124-448: The livre tournois ( French pronunciation: [livʁ tuʁnwa] ; lit. ' Tours pound ' ; abbreviation: ₶ or £ ) was one of numerous currencies used in medieval France , and a unit of account (i.e., a monetary unit used in accounting) used in early modern France . The 1262 monetary reform established the livre tournois as 20 sous tournois , or 80.88 grams of fine silver . The franc à cheval
248-479: A chief minister: "Up to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the government of my affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself. You [secretaries and ministers] will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no orders except by my command . . . I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport . . . without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to favor no one". Capitalizing on
372-540: A common diplomatic front against France, leading to the Triple Alliance , between England, the Dutch and Sweden . The threat of an escalation and a secret treaty to divide Spanish possessions with Emperor Leopold , the other major claimant to the throne of Spain, led Louis to relinquish many of his gains in the 1668 Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle . Louis placed little reliance on his agreement with Leopold and as it
496-520: A counterweight against his domestic Orangist opponents. Louis provided support in the 1665-1667 Second Anglo-Dutch War but used the opportunity to launch the War of Devolution in 1667. This captured Franche-Comté and much of the Spanish Netherlands ; French expansion in this area was a direct threat to Dutch economic interests. The Dutch opened talks with Charles II of England on
620-479: A cultural prestige which lasted through the subsequent centuries until today. Louis began his personal rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister Cardinal Mazarin , when the King famously declared that he would take over the job himself. An adherent of the divine right of kings , Louis continued his predecessors' work of creating a centralised state governed from the capital. He sought to eliminate
744-461: A favoured few. Financial officials were required to keep regular accounts, revising inventories and removing unauthorized exemptions: up to 1661 only 10 per cent of income from the royal domain reached the king. Reform had to overcome vested interests: the taille was collected by officers of the Crown who had purchased their post at a high price, and punishment of abuses necessarily lowered the value of
868-765: 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
992-533: 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
1116-715: A powerful but war-weary kingdom, in major debt after the War of the Spanish Succession that had raged on since 1701. Some of his other notable achievements include the construction of the Canal du Midi , the patronage of artists , and the founding of the French Academy of Sciences . Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye , to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria . He
1240-412: A result, and Anne was forced, under intense pressure, to free Broussel. Moreover, on the night of 9–10 February 1651, when Louis was twelve, a mob of angry Parisians broke into the royal palace and demanded to see their king. Led into the royal bed-chamber, they gazed upon Louis, who was feigning sleep, were appeased, and then quietly departed. The threat to the royal family prompted Anne to flee Paris with
1364-578: A secret marriage to Queen Anne. However, Louis's coming-of-age and subsequent coronation deprived them of the Frondeurs ' pretext for revolt. The Fronde thus gradually lost steam and ended in 1653, when Mazarin returned triumphantly from exile. From that time until his death, Mazarin was in charge of foreign and financial policy without the daily supervision of Anne, who was no longer regent. During this period, Louis fell in love with Mazarin's niece Marie Mancini , but Anne and Mazarin ended
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#17327731245071488-559: 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 )
1612-489: A strong position and on the Spanish marriage. Additionally, Mazarin's relations with Marie Mancini were not good, and he did not trust her to support his position. All of Louis's tears and his supplications to his mother did not make her change her mind. The Spanish marriage would be very important both for its role in ending the war between France and Spain, because many of the claims and objectives of Louis's foreign policy for
1736-561: A territory bitterly disputed between the counts of Blois and Anjou – the latter were victorious in 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
1860-755: 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
1984-456: 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),
2108-449: Is a popular culinary city with specialties such as: rillettes , rillons, Touraine vineyards , AOC Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine cheeses and nougats . The city 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
2232-520: 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
2356-547: 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 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
2480-659: Is twinned with: Louis XIV of France Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 1638 – 1 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great ( Louis le Grand ) or the Sun King ( le Roi Soleil ), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any sovereign . An emblematic character of the Age of Absolutism in Europe, Louis XIV's legacy
2604-473: 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 ,
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#17327731245072728-462: Is widely characterized by French colonial expansion , the conclusion of Eighty Years' War involving the Habsburgs , and his architectural bequest , marked by commissioned works of art and buildings. His pageantry, opulent lifestyle and ornate cultivated image earned him enduring admiration. Louis XIV raised France to be the exemplar nation-state of the early modern period , and established
2852-416: The livre was worth 240 deniers (the "Tours penny"). These deniers were first minted by the abbey of Saint Martin , in the province of Touraine . Soon after Philip II of France seized the counties of Anjou and Touraine in 1203 and standardized the use of the livre tournois there, the livre tournois began to supersede the livre parisis (Paris pound) which had been up to that point
2976-625: The livre parisis continued to be used for minor uses in and around Paris and was not officially abolished until 1667 by Louis XIV ). Since coins in Europe in the Middle Ages and the early modern period (the French écu , Louis , teston d'argent , denier , double, franc ; the Spanish doubloon , pistole , real ; the Italian florin , ducat or sequin ; the German and Austrian thaler ;
3100-435: The livre parisis having finally been abolished in 1667. With many forms of domestic and international money (with different weights, purities and quality) circulating throughout Europe in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, the use of an accounting currency became a financial necessity. In the world of international banking of the 13th century, it was the florin and ducat that were often used. In France,
3224-542: The livre tournois and the currency system based on it became a standard monetary unit of accounting and continued to be used even when the livre tournois ceased to exist as an actual coin. For example, the Louisiana Purchase treaty of 1803 specified the relative ratios of the franc , dollar and livre tournois . The official use of the livre tournois accounting unit in all contracts in France
3348-653: The Battle of Lens , Mazarin, on Queen Anne's insistence, arrested certain members in a show of force. The most important arrest, from Anne's point of view, concerned Pierre Broussel , one of the most important leaders in the Parlement de Paris . People in France were complaining about the expansion of royal authority, the high rate of taxation, and the reduction of the authority of the Parlement de Paris and other regional representative entities. Paris erupted in rioting as
3472-603: The Battle of Tours . The Muslim army was defeated, preventing an Islamic conquest of France. In 845, Tours repelled 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
3596-485: The Duchess of Longueville ; dukes of legitimised royal descent, such as Henri, Duke of Longueville , and François, Duke of Beaufort ; so-called " foreign princes " such as Frédéric Maurice, Duke of Bouillon , his brother Marshal Turenne , and Marie de Rohan , Duchess of Chevreuse; and scions of France's oldest families, such as François de La Rochefoucauld . Queen Anne played the most important role in defeating
3720-627: The Duke of Beaufort and Marie de Rohan , who conspired against him in 1643. The best example of Anne's loyalty to France was her treatment of one of Richelieu's men, the Chancellor Pierre Séguier . Séguier had brusquely interrogated Anne in 1637 (like a "common criminal", as she recalled) following the discovery that she was giving military secrets to her father in Spain, and Anne was virtually under house arrest for years. By keeping
3844-458: The Dutch gulden , etc.) did not have any indication of their value, their official value was determined by royal edicts. In cases of financial need, French kings could use the official value for currency devaluation . This could be done in two ways: (1) the amount of precious metal in a newly minted French coin could be reduced while nevertheless maintaining the old value in livre tournois or (2)
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3968-613: The Electorate of Cologne . Rapid French advance led to a coup that toppled De Witt and brought William III to power. Leopold viewed French expansion into the Rhineland as an increasing threat, especially after they seized the strategic Duchy of Lorraine in 1670. The prospect of Dutch defeat led Leopold to an alliance with Brandenburg-Prussia on 23 June, followed by another with the Republic on 25th. Although Brandenburg
4092-719: The French Revolution . Louis also enforced uniformity of religion under the Catholic Church . His revocation of the Edict of Nantes abolished the rights of the Huguenot Protestant minority and subjected them to a wave of dragonnades , effectively forcing Huguenots to emigrate or convert, virtually destroying the French Protestant community. During Louis's long reign, France emerged as
4216-971: The Peace of Westphalia , which ended the Thirty Years' War . Its terms ensured Dutch independence from Spain , awarded some autonomy to the various German princes of the Holy Roman Empire , and granted Sweden seats on the Imperial Diet and territories controlling the mouths of the Oder , Elbe , and Weser Rivers . France, however, profited most from the settlement. Austria, ruled by the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand III , ceded all Habsburg lands and claims in Alsace to France and acknowledged her de facto sovereignty over
4340-661: The Secretary of War , helped maintain large field armies that could be mobilised much more quickly, allowing them to mount offensives in early spring before their opponents were ready. The French were nevertheless forced to retreat from most of the Dutch Republic, which deeply shocked Louis; he retreated to St Germain for a time, where no one, except a few intimates, was allowed to disturb him. French military advantages allowed them however to hold their ground in Alsace and
4464-660: The Three Bishoprics of Metz , Verdun , and Toul . Moreover, many petty German states sought French protection, eager to emancipate themselves from Habsburg domination. This anticipated the formation of the 1658 League of the Rhine , which further diminished Imperial power. As the Thirty Years' War came to an end, a civil war known as the Fronde erupted in France. It effectively checked France's ability to exploit
4588-543: 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 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
4712-417: 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
4836-503: 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
4960-651: 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 ,
5084-443: The French crown and nobility: the king might raise taxes on the nation without consent if only he exempted the nobility. Only the "unprivileged" classes paid direct taxes, which came to mean the peasants only, as most bourgeois finagled exemptions in one way or another. The system laid the whole burden of state expenses on the backs of the poor and powerless. After 1700, with the support of Louis's pious secret wife Madame de Maintenon ,
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5208-490: The Fronde because she wanted to transfer absolute authority to her son. In addition, most of the princes refused to deal with Mazarin, who went into exile for a number of years. The Frondeurs claimed to act on Louis's behalf, and in his real interest, against his mother and Mazarin. Queen Anne had a very close relationship with the Cardinal, and many observers believed that Mazarin became Louis XIV's stepfather by
5332-551: 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
5456-467: The King's authority, in a manner that was much more radical than the one proposed by Mazarin. The Cardinal depended totally on Anne's support and had to use all his influence on the Queen to temper some of her radical actions. Anne imprisoned any aristocrat or member of parliament who challenged her will; her main aim was to transfer to her son an absolute authority in the matters of finance and justice. One of
5580-519: 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 ,
5704-520: The Peace of Westphalia. Anne and Mazarin had largely pursued the policies of Cardinal Richelieu, augmenting the Crown's power at the expense of the nobility and the Parlements . Anne was more concerned with internal policy than foreign affairs; she was a very proud queen who insisted on the divine rights of the King of France. All this led her to advocate a forceful policy in all matters relating to
5828-535: The Reunions . Warfare defined Louis's foreign policy, impelled by his personal ambition for glory and power: "a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique". His wars strained France's resources to the utmost, while in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats that their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military. Upon his death in 1715, Louis XIV left his great-grandson and successor, Louis XV ,
5952-630: The Spanish Netherlands while retaking Franche-Comté. By 1678, mutual exhaustion led to the Treaty of Nijmegen , which was generally settled in France's favour and allowed Louis to intervene in the Scanian War . Despite the military defeat, his ally Sweden regained much of what it had lost under the 1679 treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye , Fontainebleau and Lund imposed on Denmark–Norway and Brandenburg. Yet Louis's two primary goals,
6076-408: 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
6200-568: The aristocracy, this rebellion represented a protest for the reversal of their political demotion from vassals to courtiers . It was headed by the highest-ranking French nobles, among them Louis's uncle Gaston, Duke of Orléans and first cousin Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier , known as la Grande Mademoiselle ; Princes of the Blood such as Condé, his brother Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti , and their sister
6324-629: 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
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#17327731245076448-438: The boundaries of his kingdom. Contemporary treaties were intentionally phrased ambiguously. Louis established the Chambers of Reunion to determine the full extent of his rights and obligations under those treaties. Cities and territories, such as Luxembourg and Casale , were prized for their strategic positions on the frontier and access to important waterways. Louis also sought Strasbourg , an important strategic crossing on
6572-479: The capital and the larger strategic picture, with the old military aristocracy ( noblesse d'épée , nobility of the sword) monopolizing senior military positions and the higher ranks. Louvois modernized the army and reorganised it into a professional, disciplined, well-trained force. He was devoted to the soldiers' material well-being and morale, and even tried to direct campaigns. Louis's legal reforms were enacted in his numerous Great Ordinances . Prior to that, France
6696-408: 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
6820-422: 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
6944-434: 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
7068-478: 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 ,
7192-431: 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
7316-414: The creation of a coalition headed mainly by Marie de Rohan and the duchess of Longueville. This aristocratic coalition was strong enough to liberate the princes, exile Mazarin, and impose a condition of virtual house arrest on Queen Anne. All these events were witnessed by Louis and largely explained his later distrust of Paris and the higher aristocracy. "In one sense, Louis's childhood came to an end with
7440-565: The destruction of the Dutch Republic and the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands, had failed. Louis was at the height of his power, but at the cost of uniting his opponents; this increased as he continued his expansion. In 1679, he dismissed his foreign minister Simon Arnauld, marquis de Pomponne , because he was seen as having compromised too much with the allies. Louis maintained the strength of his army, but in his next series of territorial claims avoided using military force alone. Rather, he combined it with legal pretexts in his efforts to augment
7564-417: The direction of religious policy strongly in hand until her son's majority in 1661. She appointed Cardinal Mazarin as chief minister, giving him the daily administration of policy. She continued the policies of her late husband and Cardinal Richelieu , despite their persecution of her, in order to win absolute authority in France and victory abroad for her son. Anne protected Mazarin by exiling her followers
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#17327731245077688-415: The east, successor of the late Roman ' castrum ', was composed of the cathedral and palace of 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
7812-468: The effective Séguier in his post, Anne sacrificed her own feelings for the interests of France and her son Louis. The Queen sought a lasting peace between Catholic nations, but only after a French victory over her native Spain. She also gave a partial Catholic orientation to French foreign policy. This was felt by the Netherlands, France's Protestant ally, which negotiated a separate peace with Spain in 1648. In 1648, Anne and Mazarin successfully negotiated
7936-406: 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
8060-454: 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
8184-427: 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
8308-444: The first knots which tied me to my mother. But attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood." It was his mother who gave Louis his belief in the absolute and divine power of his monarchical rule. During his childhood, he was taken care of by the governesses Françoise de Lansac and Marie-Catherine de Senecey . In 1646, Nicolas V de Villeroy became
8432-426: 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
8556-439: 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,
8680-476: The grace of God, King of the French ]). Other francs were minted under Charles V , Henry III and Henry IV . The use of the name "franc" became a synonym for livre tournois in accounting. The first French paper money, issued between 1701 and 1720, was denominated in livre tournois (see "Standard Catalog of World Paper Money", Albert Pick). This was the last time the name was used officially, as later notes and coins were denominated simply in livres ,
8804-480: The grandson of Louis XIV and Maria Theresa. The War of Devolution did not focus on the payment of the dowry; rather, the lack of payment was what Louis XIV used as a pretext for nullifying Maria Theresa's renunciation of her claims, allowing the land to "devolve" to him. In Brabant (the location of the land in dispute), children of first marriages traditionally were not disadvantaged by their parents' remarriages and still inherited property. Louis's wife
8928-718: 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, 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
9052-498: The king and his courtiers. Shortly thereafter, the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia allowed Condé's army to return to aid Louis and his court. Condé's family was close to Anne at that time, and he agreed to help her attempt to restore the king's authority. The queen's army, headed by Condé, attacked the rebels in Paris; the rebels were under the political control of Anne's old friend Marie de Rohan . Beaufort, who had escaped from
9176-525: The king at the opulent château of Vaux-le-Vicomte , flaunting a wealth which could hardly have accumulated except through embezzlement of government funds. Fouquet appeared eager to succeed Mazarin and Richelieu in power, and he indiscreetly purchased and privately fortified the remote island of Belle Île . These acts sealed his doom. Fouquet was charged with embezzlement; the Parlement found him guilty and sentenced him to exile; and finally Louis altered
9300-421: The king was persuaded to change his fiscal policy. Though willing enough to tax the nobles, Louis feared the political concessions which they would demand in return. Only towards the close of his reign under the extreme exigency of war, was he able, for the first time in French history, to impose direct taxes on the aristocracy. This was a step toward equality before the law and toward sound public finance, though it
9424-515: 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 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
9548-548: The king's infatuation by sending Mancini away from court to be married in Italy. While Mazarin might have been tempted for a short time to marry his niece to the King of France, Queen Anne was absolutely against this; she wanted to marry her son to the daughter of her brother, Philip IV of Spain , for both dynastic and political reasons. Mazarin soon supported the Queen's position because he knew that her support for his power and his foreign policy depended on making peace with Spain from
9672-759: 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 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
9796-483: The leaders of the Parlement of Paris, whom she had jailed, died in prison. The Frondeurs , political heirs of the disaffected feudal aristocracy, sought to protect their traditional feudal privileges from the increasingly centralized royal government. Furthermore, they believed their traditional influence and authority was being usurped by the recently ennobled bureaucrats (the Noblesse de Robe , or "nobility of
9920-529: The leading European power and regularly made war. A conflict with Spain marked his entire childhood, while during his personal rule, Louis fought three major continental conflicts, each against powerful foreign alliances: the Franco-Dutch War , the Nine Years' War , and the War of the Spanish Succession . In addition, France contested shorter wars such as the War of Devolution and the War of
10044-414: The left bank of the Rhine and theretofore a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire , annexing it and other territories in 1681. Although a part of Alsace, Strasbourg was not part of Habsburg-ruled Alsace and was thus not ceded to France in the Peace of Westphalia. Following these annexations, Spain declared war, precipitating the War of the Reunions . However, the Spanish were rapidly defeated because
10168-433: The net outflow of precious metals from France. Louis instituted reforms in military administration through Michel le Tellier and his son François-Michel le Tellier , successive Marquis de Louvois. They helped to curb the independent spirit of the nobility, imposing order on them at court and in the army. Gone were the days when generals protracted war at the frontiers while bickering over precedence and ignoring orders from
10292-519: The next 50 years would be based upon this marriage, and because it was through this marriage that the Spanish throne would ultimately be delivered to the House of Bourbon. Louis XIV was declared to have reached the age of majority on the 7th of September 1651. On the death of Mazarin, in March 1661, Louis personally took the reins of government and astonished his court by declaring that he would rule without
10416-471: The official currency of the Capetian dynasty . The livre tournois was, in common with the original livre of Charlemagne , divided into 20 sols ( sous after 1715), each of which was divided into 12 deniers . Between 1360 and 1641, coins worth one livre tournois were minted, known as francs (the name coming from the inscription Johannes Dei Gratia Francorum Rex , [ Jean, by
10540-454: The official value of a domestic or foreign coin in circulation could be increased. By reversing these techniques, currencies could be reinforced. For example: Royal finance officers faced many difficulties. In addition to currency speculation, forgery and the intentional shaving of precious metal from coins (which was harshly punished), they had the difficult problem of setting values for gold, silver, copper and billon coins, responding to
10664-465: The often large influx of foreign coin and the appearance of inferior foreign coins of intentionally similar design. For more on these issues, see Monetary policy and Gresham's law . A glyph for the livre tournois was added to Unicode 5.2, in the Currency Symbols block at code point U+20B6. Tours Tours ( / t ʊər / TOOR , French: [tuʁ] )
10788-461: The outbreak of the Fronde. It was not only that life became insecure and unpleasant – a fate meted out to many children in all ages – but that Louis had to be taken into the confidence of his mother and Mazarin on political and military matters of which he could have no deep understanding". "The family home became at times a near-prison when Paris had to be abandoned, not in carefree outings to other chateaux but in humiliating flights". The royal family
10912-404: The practice by prohibiting the separation of families. Additionally, in the colonies, only Roman Catholics could own slaves, and these had to be baptised. Louis ruled through a number of councils: The death of Louis's maternal uncle King Philip IV of Spain in 1665 precipitated the War of Devolution . In 1660, Louis had married Philip IV's eldest daughter, Maria Theresa , as one of
11036-437: The prison where Anne had incarcerated him five years before, was the military leader in Paris, under the nominal control of Conti. After a few battles, a political compromise was reached; the Peace of Rueil was signed, and the court returned to Paris. Unfortunately for Anne, her partial victory depended on Condé, who wanted to control the queen and destroy Mazarin's influence. It was Condé's sister who pushed him to turn against
11160-624: The provisions of the 1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees . The marriage treaty specified that Maria Theresa was to renounce all claims to Spanish territory for herself and all her descendants. Mazarin and Lionne , however, made the renunciation conditional on the full payment of a Spanish dowry of 500,000 écus . The dowry was never paid and would later play a part persuading his maternal first cousin Charles ;II of Spain to leave his empire to Philip, Duke of Anjou (later Philip V of Spain ),
11284-485: The purchase. Nevertheless, Colbert achieved excellent results, with the deficit of 1661 turning into a surplus by 1666, with interest on the debt decreasing from 52 million to 24 million livres. The taille was reduced to 42 million in 1661 and 35 million in 1665, while revenue from indirect taxation progressed from 26 million to 55 million. The revenues of the royal domain were raised from 80,000 livres in 1661 to 5.5 million in 1671. In 1661,
11408-411: The queen. After striking a deal with her old friend Marie de Rohan, who was able to impose the nomination of Charles de l'Aubespine, marquis de Châteauneuf as minister of justice, Anne arrested Condé, his brother Armand de Bourbon, Prince of Conti , and the husband of their sister Anne Genevieve de Bourbon, duchess of Longueville . This situation did not last long, and Mazarin's unpopularity led to
11532-402: The receipts were equivalent to 26 million British pounds, of which 10 million reached the treasury. The expenditure was around 18 million pounds, leaving a deficit of 8 million. In 1667, the net receipts had risen to 20 million pounds sterling , while expenditure had fallen to 11 million, leaving a surplus of 9 million pounds. Money was the essential support of
11656-406: The remnants of feudalism persisting in parts of France; by compelling many members of the nobility to reside at his lavish Palace of Versailles , he succeeded in pacifying the aristocracy, many of whom had participated in the Fronde rebellions during his minority. He thus became one of the most powerful French monarchs and consolidated a system of absolute monarchy in France that endured until
11780-489: The reorganized and enlarged army, the panoply of Versailles, and the growing civil administration. Finance had always been the weakness of the French monarchy: tax collection was costly and inefficient; direct taxes dwindled as they passed through the hands of many intermediate officials; and indirect taxes were collected by private contractors called tax farmers who made a handsome profit. The state coffers leaked at every joint. The main weakness arose from an old bargain between
11904-667: 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
12028-417: The robe"), who administered the kingdom and on whom the monarchy increasingly began to rely. This belief intensified the nobles' resentment. In 1648, Anne and Mazarin attempted to tax members of the Parlement de Paris . The members refused to comply and ordered all of the king's earlier financial edicts burned. Buoyed by the victory of Louis, duc d'Enghien (later known as le Grand Condé ) at
12152-516: 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 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
12276-552: 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
12400-598: 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
12524-402: The sentence to life imprisonment. Fouquet's downfall gave Colbert a free hand to reduce the national debt through more efficient taxation. The principal taxes included the aides and douanes (both customs duties ), the gabelle (salt tax), and the taille (land tax). The taille was reduced at first, and certain tax-collection contracts were auctioned instead of being sold privately to
12648-617: 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
12772-567: The sole regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his son's behalf, with Anne at its head. Louis XIII died on 14 May 1643. On 18 May Queen Anne had her husband's will annulled by the Parlement de Paris , a judicial body of nobles and high clergymen, and she became sole regent. She exiled her husband's ministers Chavigny and Bouthilier and appointed the Count of Brienne as her minister of foreign affairs. Anne kept
12896-648: The state's registers, not the church's, and it strictly regulated the right of the Parlements to remonstrate. The Code Louis later became the basis for the Napoleonic code , which in turn inspired many modern legal codes. One of Louis's more infamous decrees was the Grande Ordonnance sur les Colonies of 1685, the Code Noir (black code). Although it sanctioned slavery, it attempted to humanise
13020-451: The time. Contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is highly likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis's journal entries, such as: "Nature was responsible for
13144-411: The treasury verged on bankruptcy. To rectify the situation, Louis chose Jean-Baptiste Colbert as Controller-General of Finances in 1665. However, Louis first had to neutralize Nicolas Fouquet , the powerful Superintendent of Finances . Although Fouquet's financial indiscretions were not very different from Mazarin's before him or Colbert's after him, his ambition worried Louis. He lavishly entertained
13268-410: 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,
13392-484: 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
13516-453: The widespread public yearning for peace and order after decades of foreign and civil strife, the young king consolidated central political authority and at the expense of the feudal aristocracy. Praising his ability to choose and encourage men of talent, the historian Chateaubriand noted: "it is the voice of genius of all kinds which sounds from the tomb of Louis". Louis began his personal reign with administrative and fiscal reforms. In 1661,
13640-502: The young king's tutor. Louis XIV became friends with Villeroy's young children, particularly François de Villeroy , and divided his time between the Palais-Royal and the nearby Hotel de Villeroy. Sensing imminent death in the spring of 1643, King Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order for his four-year-old son Louis XIV. Not trusting the judgement of his Spanish wife Queen Anne, who would normally have become
13764-619: Was Philip IV's daughter by his first marriage, while the new king of Spain, Charles II, was his son by a subsequent marriage. Thus, Brabant allegedly "devolved" to Maria Theresa, justifying France to attack the Spanish Netherlands . During the Eighty Years' War with Spain , France supported the Dutch Republic as part of a general policy of opposing Habsburg power. Johan de Witt , Dutch Grand Pensionary from 1653 to 1672, viewed this as crucial for Dutch security and
13888-502: Was a gold coin of one livre tournois minted in large numbers from 1360. In 1549, the livre tournois was decreed a unit of account, and in 1667 it officially replaced the livre parisis . In 1720, the livre tournois was redefined as 0.31 grams of pure gold, and in 1726, in a devaluation under Louis XV , as 4.50516 grams of fine silver. It was the basis of the revolutionary French franc of 1795, defined as 4.5 grams of fine silver exactly. ( La Rochelle mint) In France,
14012-507: Was a patchwork of legal systems, with as many traditional legal regimes as there were provinces, and two co-existing legal systems— customary law in the north and Roman civil law in the south. The Grande Ordonnance de Procédure Civile of 1667, the Code Louis , was a comprehensive legal code imposing a uniform regulation of civil procedure throughout the kingdom. Among other things, it prescribed baptismal, marriage and death records in
14136-511: 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 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
14260-521: 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
14384-485: Was built towards 918) and became "Châteauneuf". This space, organized between Saint Martin and 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 ,
14508-653: Was driven out of Paris twice in this manner, and at one point Louis XIV and Anne were held under virtual arrest in the royal palace in Paris. The Fronde years planted in Louis a hatred of Paris and a consequent determination to move out of the ancient capital as soon as possible, never to return. Just as the first Fronde (the Fronde parlementaire of 1648–1649) ended, a second one (the Fronde des princes of 1650–1653) began. Unlike that which preceded it, tales of sordid intrigue and half-hearted warfare characterized this second phase of upper-class insurrection. To
14632-852: Was forced out of the war by the June 1673 Treaty of Vossem , in August an anti-French alliance was formed by the Dutch, Spain , Emperor Leopold and the Duke of Lorraine . The French alliance was deeply unpopular in England, and only more so after the disappointing battles against Michiel de Ruyter 's fleet. Charles II of England made peace with the Dutch in the February 1674 Treaty of Westminster . However, French armies held significant advantages over their opponents; an undivided command, talented generals like Turenne , Condé and Luxembourg and vastly superior logistics. Reforms introduced by Louvois ,
14756-444: 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
14880-408: Was legislated in 1549, but it had been one of the standard units of accounting in France since the 13th century. In 1577 the livre tournois accounting unit was officially abolished and accountants switched to the écu , which was at that time the major French gold coin in actual circulation, but in 1602 the livre tournois accounting unit was brought back. (A monetary unit of accounting based on
15004-478: Was named Louis Dieudonné (Louis the God-given) and bore the traditional title of French heirs apparent : Dauphin . At the time of his birth, his parents had been married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631. Leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Louis's relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for
15128-522: Was now clear French and Dutch aims were in direct conflict, he decided to first defeat the Republic , then seize the Spanish Netherlands. This required breaking up the Triple Alliance; he paid Sweden to remain neutral and signed the 1670 Secret Treaty of Dover with Charles, an Anglo-French alliance against the Dutch Republic. In May 1672, France invaded the Republic , supported by Münster and
15252-711: Was predictably diminished by concessions and exemptions won by the insistent efforts of nobles and bourgeois. Louis and Colbert also had wide-ranging plans to grow French commerce and trade. Colbert's mercantilist administration established new industries and encouraged manufacturers and inventors, such as the Lyon silk manufacturers and the Gobelins tapestry manufactory . He invited manufacturers and artisans from all over Europe to France, such as Murano glassmakers, Swedish ironworkers, and Dutch shipbuilders. He aimed to decrease imports while increasing French exports, hence reducing
15376-639: 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 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
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