152-504: The Maréchaussée ( French for 'Marshalcy') were corps of soldiers in the armies of France initially put in charge of military policing and justice during the Middle Ages , and later extended to civilian responsibilities. They gradually coalesced into a police force with jurisdiction over the whole population on almost the entire territory of France. They retained powers of extraordinary justice (known as prévôtale ) until
304-513: A 1699 ordinance, for principal towns to oligarchies or feudal lords who sought the titles from vanity or an interest in the job. The Maréchaussée suffered from numerous problems—an uneven presence, lack of oversight, low number of personnel—aggravated by corruption of the officers and poor salaries. When Louis XIV died in 1714, it was estimated they had only 1,000 men to police all of rural France with companies of Maréchaussée based in larger towns with at times overlapping jurisdictions under
456-744: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
608-569: A Provost at the head of each one, residing in the chief town of the province, who could be placed at the disposal of the Intendant . The provostships ( prévôtés ) were divided into lieutenancies, with a lieutenant in each city heading up a presidial court , which in turn were subdivided into squads ( brigade ) of four to five men distributed along the main roads. Each squad had to watch over about ten kilometers of road on either side of its headquarters. The "arrondissement" or "district" of
760-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
912-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
1064-629: A good man. Other important works commissioned for the royal library were the anonymous legal treatise "Songe du Vergier", greatly inspired by the debates of Philip IV 's jurists with Pope Boniface VIII , the translations of Raol de Presles, which included St. Augustine 's City of God , and the Grandes Chroniques de France edited in 1377 to emphasise the vassalage of Edward III . Charles' kingship placed great emphasis on both royal ceremony and scientific political theory , and to contemporaries and posterity his lifestyle at once embodied
1216-583: A king must have the approval of his subjects and must listen to their advice. This view allowed him to approach the Norman nobles and the reformists, and thus Charles of Navarre. The power of Navarre was such that, on 8 January 1354, he murdered with impunity his rival Charles de la Cerda (the king's favourite), and openly avowed this crime. He even obtained, through the Treaty of Mantes , territorial concessions and sovereignty by threatening to make an alliance with
1368-473: A memorable resistance and ransomed by Charles V, who considered him invaluable. The Black Prince, affected by dysentery , soon withdrew his support from Peter. The English army suffered badly during the retreat. Four English soldiers out of five died during the Castillan Campaign . In 1369, du Guesclin renewed the attack against Peter, defeating him at the decisive Battle of Montiel . Henry stabbed
1520-561: A more emotional side; his marriage to Joan of Bourbon was considered very strong, and he made no attempt to hide his grief at her funeral or those of his children, five of whom predeceased him. His reign was dominated by the war with the English and two major problems: recovering the territories ceded at Brétigny and ridding the land of the Tard-Venus (French for "latecomers"), mercenary companies that turned to robbery and pillage after
1672-460: A more fine-grained and logical coverage of the territory. Nevertheless, in 1779 the Maréchaussée had no more than 3,300 men divided into 34 companies, one for each region (including Corsica), plus one for Paris and the Île-de-France , and another to ensure the king's security when he traveled, and 800 squads for the entire Kingdom . After the reform of 1778, all thirty-three companies formed
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#17327917344271824-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
1976-426: A provost ( prévôt ) who headed a small contingent of sergents (referred to as " archers " after 1501) to police the soldiers under the marshal's command and administer justice. The provosts would quickly take the name "provost of the marshals" to distinguish them from the royal provosts. Rulings were dispensed in separate courts. Judgements on the acts of soldiers such as desertion, treason and disputes with
2128-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
2280-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
2432-604: A result, the Maréchaussée Royale was not disbanded but simply renamed as the gendarmerie nationale . Its personnel remained unchanged, and the functions of the force remained much as before. However, from this point, the gendarmerie, unlike the Maréchaussée , became a fully militarized force. During the revolutionary period, the main force responsible for policing was the National Guard . Although
2584-562: A single corps of six divisions with a total of 4,114 men on the eve of the Revolution, thus forming the first national police force in France. During the revolutionary period , the Maréchaussée commanders generally placed themselves under the local constitutional authorities. Despite their connection with the king, they were therefore perceived as a force favoring the reforms of the French National Assembly . As
2736-427: A squad also included several dozen rural parishes in the area. In 1730, there were 30 companies in as many departments, with 3,288 men in 567 squads. The annual budget was 1,846,300 livres tournois . From 1760, the archers —junior officers under the provosts—became known as " cavaliers ". The Royal Order of 25 February 1768 created 200 additional squads and reorganized their location, in order to achieve
2888-600: A third of western France (mostly in Aquitaine and Gascony ) to the English and lowered the King's ransom to 3 million écus . King John was released the following October. His second son, Louis of Anjou , took his place as a hostage. Though his father had regained his freedom, Charles suffered a great personal tragedy at nearly the same time. His three-year-old daughter Joan and infant daughter Bonne died within two months of each other late in 1360; at their double funeral,
3040-685: A three-year break, the Hundred Years' War with England resumed in 1355, with Edward, The Black Prince , leading an English-Gascon army in a violent raid across southwestern France. After checking an English incursion into Normandy , John led an army of about 16,000 men to the south, crossing the Loire river in September 1356 with the goal of outflanking the Prince's 8,000 soldiers at Poitiers . Rejecting advice from one captain to surround and starve
3192-547: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
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#17327917344273344-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
3496-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
3648-472: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
3800-489: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
3952-652: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
4104-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
4256-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
4408-469: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
4560-828: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
4712-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
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4864-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
5016-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
5168-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
5320-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
5472-533: The Maréchaussée had been the main police force of the ancien regime , the gendarmerie was initially a full-time auxiliary to the National Guard militia. In 1791 the newly named gendarmerie nationale was grouped into 28 divisions, each commanded by a colonel responsible for three départements . In turn, two companies of gendarmes under the command of captains were based in each department. This territorial basis of organization continued throughout
5624-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
5776-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
5928-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and
6080-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
6232-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
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6384-729: The French Revolution . Reforms carried out in the 18th century created the first national police force. In 1791, the force was renamed the Gendarmerie nationale ( National Gendarmerie ). It is now one of the two national police forces of France, along with the National Police . The term marshalcy is from the French maréchaussée , which is derived from Old French mareschaucie , meaning "the marshalcy." This derives from mairichauciée attested in 1287 meaning "royal household", and in 1465 as "the office of
6536-525: The Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). Claims that the origins go back to 1190 under Philip II in the creation of companies of " sergents d'armes " during the Crusades are tenuous at best. Its development began in earnest in the 16th century, reaching its final form under key ordinances in the 1700s. During the Middle Ages and to a lesser extent until the end of the ancien régime , the functions of
6688-877: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
6840-607: The Kingdom of France , because it occupied the Rhône Valley, a major trade route between the Mediterranean and northern Europe since ancient times, putting them in direct contact with Avignon , a papal territory and diplomatic center of medieval Europe . Despite his young age, the dauphin applied to be recognized by his subjects, interceding to stop a war raging between two vassal families, and gaining experience that
6992-626: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
7144-586: The Papal Schism , which would divide Europe for nearly 40 years. Charles' last years were spent in the consolidation of Normandy (and the neutralisation of Charles of Navarre). Peace negotiations with the English continued unsuccessfully. The taxes he had levied to support his wars against the English caused deep disaffection among the working classes. The abscess on the King's left arm dried up in early September 1380 and Charles prepared to die. On his deathbed, perhaps fearful for his soul, Charles announced
7296-655: The Provost of Merchants (a title roughly equivalent to Mayor of Paris today). Marcel demanded the dismissal of seven royal ministers, their replacement by a Council of 28 made up of nobles , clergy and bourgeois , and the release of Charles the Bad, who had been imprisoned by John for the murder of his constable. The Dauphin refused the demands, dismissed the Estates-General, and left Paris. A contest of wills ensued. In an attempt to raise money, Charles tried to devalue
7448-624: The Tard-Venus out of France, Charles first hired them for an attempted crusade into Hungary , but their reputation for brigandage preceded them, and the citizens of Strasbourg refused to let them cross the Rhine on their journey. Charles next sent the mercenary companies (under the leadership of du Guesclin) to fight in a civil war in Castile between King Peter the Cruel and his illegitimate half-brother Henry . Peter had English backing, while Henry
7600-713: The Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by
7752-775: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
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#17327917344277904-416: The marble table in the Palais de Justice in Paris during the late 14th century under Charles V in part through his June 1373 edict. After the betrayal of Constable Louis, Count of Saint-Pol in 1475, then-king Louis XI removed the oft-vacant post of Constable from the head of the constabulary and moved the resolution of points of honor to the Court of Marshals. Sometime thereafter, the courts merged under
8056-399: The papacy , tried to persuade Pope Gregory to remain in France, arguing that "Rome is wherever the Pope happens to be." Gregory refused. The Pope died in March 1378. When cardinals gathered to elect a successor, a Roman mob, concerned that the predominantly French College of Cardinals would elect a French pope who would bring the papacy back to Avignon, surrounded the Vatican and demanded
8208-497: The provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to
8360-529: The provost courts. The act broadened the jurisdiction of the Maréchaussée to include burglary and popular disorder and confirmed their power to arrest any offender. It also sought to combat abuse of their authority by putting enforcement under the supervision of local royal courts. The powers of the Maréchaussée evolved to include policing of cabarets and road and waterway transport. Louis XIV's administration profited from selling lieutenant-general posts to head up policing for Paris (created in 1667) and following
8512-427: The ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in
8664-402: The 15th century. Six provosts of marshals and up to 300 archers for the marshals and Constable would be recorded by the start of the reign of King Francis I in the early 16th century. A consequence of the Hundred Years' War was the formation of " free companies " ( Grandes compagnies ) from unemployed soldiers and mercenaries formerly hired by the king for the war which pillaged
8816-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
8968-472: The 19th and 20th centuries. After the defeat of Napoleon, Dutch king William I, renamed the Dutch branch of the gendarmerie to Marechaussee making the term continue in the Dutch armed forces. Notes Citations French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from
9120-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
9272-420: The Bad , John and Charles of Artois , Charles of Alençon , and Philip of Rouvres . The future king was highly intelligent but physically weak, with pale skin and a thin, ill-proportioned body. This made a sharp contrast to his father, who was tall, strong and sandy-haired. Humbert II, Dauphin of Viennois , ruined due to his inability to raise taxes after a crusade in the Middle East, and childless after
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#17327917344279424-400: The Black Prince fled to England, where he died in 1376. By 1375, Charles recovered much of the English territories in France except Calais and Gascony , effectively nullifying the Treaty of Brétigny . In 1376, Pope Gregory XI , fearing a loss of the Papal States , decided to move his court back to Rome after nearly 70 years in Avignon . Charles, hoping to maintain French influence over
9576-430: The Black Prince refused to answer a summons to Paris to answer the charges, Charles judged him disloyal and declared war in May 1369. Instead of seeking a major battle, as his predecessors had done, Charles chose a strategy of attrition , spreading the fighting at every point possible. The French and Castillan navies destroyed an English fleet at La Rochelle in 1372. Then, du Guesclin launched destructive raids against
9728-510: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
9880-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
10032-499: The Dauphin was said to be "so sorrowful as never before he had been." Charles himself had been severely ill, with his hair and nails falling out; some suggest the symptoms are those of arsenic poisoning. John proved as ineffective at ruling upon his return to France as he had before his capture. When Louis of Anjou escaped from English custody, John announced he had no choice but to return to captivity himself. He arrived in London in January 1364, became ill, and died in April. Charles
10184-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
10336-504: The English the edge in peace negotiations following the Battle of Poitiers . The King signed the Treaty of London in 1359 that ceded most of western France to England and imposed a ruinous ransom of 4 million écus on the country. The Dauphin (backed by his councillors and the Estates General ) rejected the treaty, and English King Edward invaded France later that year. Edward reached Reims in December and Paris in March, but Charles forbade his soldiers from direct confrontation with
10488-548: The English to regain control of large parts of France. Charles was born at the Château de Vincennes outside of Paris, the son of Prince John and Princess Bonne of France. He was educated at court with other boys of his age with whom he would remain close throughout his life: his uncle Philip, Duke of Orléans (only two years older than himself), his three brothers Louis , John , and Philip , Louis of Bourbon , Edward and Robert of Bar , Godfrey of Brabant, Louis I, Count of Étampes , Louis of Évreux , brother of Charles
10640-565: The English, relying on improved municipal fortifications made to Paris by Marcel. He would later rebuild the wall on the Left Bank ( Rive gauche ), and he built a new wall on the Right Bank ( Rive droite ) that extended to a new fortification called the Bastille . Edward pillaged and raided the countryside but could not bring the French to a decisive battle, so he eventually agreed to reduce his terms. This non-confrontational strategy would prove extremely beneficial to France during Charles' reign. The Treaty of Brétigny , signed on 8 May 1360, ceded
10792-424: The English. But in Avignon, the English and French were negotiating a peace that would prevent Charles of Navarre from counting on the support of Edward III. He therefore concluded a treaty with the English in which the Kingdom of France would be partitioned between them. An English landing was planned for the end of the truce, which would expire on 24 June 1355. King John ordered the Dauphin in March 1355 to organize
10944-565: The French bourgeoisie , which was channeled through the Estates-General led by Étienne Marcel ; and with a peasant revolt known as the Jacquerie . Charles overcame all of these rebellions, but in order to liberate his father, he had to conclude the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, in which he abandoned large portions of south-western France to Edward III of England and agreed to pay a huge ransom . Charles became king in 1364. With
11096-484: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
11248-643: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
11400-508: The Maréchaussée in February 1719 to buy back command positions that had been sold or inherited and abolished the old companies and titles in favor of a more structured and hierarchical system. The Maréchaussée was symbolically placed under the administrative authority of the marshals and the elite Gendarmerie de la Maison du Roi , a heavy cavalry corps integrated into the household of the king and later dissolved on 1 April 1788. However, it
11552-451: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
11704-426: The Prince, a tactic Edward feared, John attacked the strong enemy position. In the subsequent Battle of Poitiers (19 September 1356), English archery all but annihilated the French cavalry, and John was captured. Charles led a battalion at Poitiers that withdrew early in the struggle; whether the order came from John (as he later claimed), or whether Charles himself ordered the withdrawal, is unclear. The outcome of
11856-516: The Western Roman Empire , officials in charge of police disappeared. With the rise of feudalism in France , policing powers formerly held by Roman officials were dispersed among a multitude of seigneurs . Lords of their fiefs , the seigneurs were all-powerful, including holding the power of justice over the peasants they controlled. The origins of the Maréchaussée are difficult to determine exactly, but occurred sometime during
12008-579: The abolition of the hearth tax , the foundation of the government's finances. The ordinance would have been impossible to carry out, but its terms were known, and the government's refusal to reduce any of the other taxes on the people sparked the Maillotin revolt in 1381. The King died on 16 September 1380 and was succeeded by his 11-year-old son, Charles VI . He is buried in the Basilica of St Denis , about five miles north of Paris. Charles' reputation
12160-623: The bailiffs and seneschals. Whereas the maréchaussée had been historically mobile, the ongoing problems spurred Louis XII to create the first provincial constabularies on 20 January 1514, at the urging of the provinces. The temporary deputy positions changed to official titles, which depending on the size of the province they were attached to were called "Provosts General" and "Provincial Provosts" or " Prévôts Particuliers ." Their judicial powers remained limited to soldiery. His successor, Francis I , went further, establishing such constabularies throughout France. These special military forces roamed
12312-481: The battle left many embittered with the nobility. Popular opinion accused the nobles of betraying the king, while Charles and his brothers escaped blame – he was received with honor upon his return to Paris. The Dauphin summoned the Estates-General in October to seek money for the defense of the country. Furious at what they saw as poor management, many of those assembled organized into a body led by Étienne Marcel ,
12464-679: The captive Peter to death in du Guesclin's tent, thereby gaining the throne of Castile. Bertrand was made Duke of Molina, and the Franco-Castillan alliance was sealed. Charles V could now resume the war against England under favorable conditions. After the Castillan campaign, the Black Prince was invalid and heavily in debt. His rule in Gascony became increasingly autocratic. Nobles from Gascony petitioned Charles for aid, and when
12616-523: The charge of commanders holding a variety of venal titles. These and other problems led to a series of reforms (1720, 1731, 1768, 1769, 1778) beginning on 9 March 1720 propelled by the Secretary of State for War Claude Le Blanc to make it more effective, reinforce its military character, and improve coverage in the countryside. A decree issued the day after his first edict by the Regency that followed
12768-451: The coasts of England, naval reprisals to the English chevauchées . Bertrand du Guesclin, appointed Constable of France in 1370, beat back a major English offensive in northern France with an unnerving combination of raids , sieges , and pitched battles . He notably crushed Robert Knolles at the Battle of Pontvallain . Most of the major English leaders were killed in a few months and
12920-596: The community charter and confirmed the liberties and franchises of Humbert II, which were summed up in a solemn statute before he signed his abdication and granted a last amnesty to all prisoners, except those facing the penalty of death. On 8 April 1350 at Tain-l'Hermitage , the Dauphin married his cousin Joanna of Bourbon at the age of 12. The prior approval of the pope was obtained for this consanguineous marriage (both were descended from Charles of Valois ). The marriage
13072-555: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Charles V of France Charles V (21 January 1338 – 16 September 1380), called the Wise ( French : le Sage ; Latin : Sapiens ), was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380. His reign marked an early high point for France during the Hundred Years' War as his armies recovered much of
13224-417: The countryside for up to two days at a time, catching and sentencing evildoers from among the military, and later, among the civilian population as well. They also had the power to sentence perpetrators they had caught, with no possibility of appeal. The power of the provosts and their archers was limited to the military and the écorcheur bands, leaving out oppressive gangs of civilians who wandered
13376-517: The countryside. France was finally liberated of these companies when future Constable of France Bertrand du Guesclin led them into Spain in 1366. With continued war between France and her neighbors, organized gang violence involving disbanded soldiers ( écorcheurs ) lingered and grew into the 16th century. In 1445, Charles VII recruited suitable members of these groups to help form the first paid standing army in Europe (the compagnies d'ordonnance ) to prosecute war. However, after 1464 and into
13528-593: The cross- Channel trade was vital. A brilliant orator, and accustomed to a monarchy controlled by the Cortes of Navarre (the equivalent of the States General), Charles the Bad championed the reform of a state considered too arbitrary, leaving no voice to the nobility or the cities (John the Good governed with a circle of favorites and officers sometimes of humble extraction). Unlike his father, Charles V thought that
13680-561: The crowd, but sent his family away and left the capital as quickly as he could. Marcel's action destroyed support for the Third Estate among the nobles, and the Provost's subsequent backing of the Jacquerie undermined his support from the towns. He was murdered by a mob on 31 July 1358. Charles was able to recover Paris the following month and later issued a general amnesty for all, except close associates of Marcel. John's capture gave
13832-490: The currency; Marcel ordered strikes, and the Dauphin was forced to cancel his plans and recall the Estates in February 1357. The Third Estate presented the Dauphin with a Grand Ordinance , a list of 61 articles that would have given the Estates-General the right to approve all future taxes, assemble at their own volition, and elect a Council of 36 (with 12 members from each Estate) to advise the king. Charles eventually signed
13984-531: The death of Louis XIV further focused the Maréchaussée on the suppression of mendicity and vagabondage. Although the level of these problems had reduced at least in part due to the economic recovery after the end of the wars and the 1709-10 famine as well as existing Maréchaussée efforts, the Ordinance expressed concern about the great number remaining who "beg with insolence, more often through idleness than genuine necessity. Le Blanc appointed two paymasters in
14136-539: The death of his only son, decided to sell the Dauphiné, which was a fief of the Holy Roman Empire . Neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to buy and the transaction was concluded with Charles' grandfather, the reigning King Philip VI . Under the Treaty of Romans , the Dauphiné of Viennois was to be held by a son of the future king John the Good . So it was Charles, the eldest son of the latter, who became
14288-454: The defense of Normandy , which required raising the necessary taxes. The task was difficult because of the growing influence of Charles the Bad, who had acquired a status similar to that of a "Duke" under the Treaty of Mantes. He was likely to ally with Edward III and could at any time open the gateway to Normandy to the English. The Dauphin avoided war by reconciling Navarre with the king, which
14440-519: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
14592-462: The early 1500s, the army as well as the marshals' provosts would be called on to also put down the remaining écorcheurs as the ordinary means of policing by bailiffs ( bailli ) and seneschals was ineffective. With a limited number of marshals' provosts, lieutenants had to be sent to temporarily represent the provost in the provinces to not only enforce military discipline but apprehend the itinerant looters and robbers and hand them over for judgement by
14744-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
14896-486: The election of a Roman. On 9 April, the cardinals elected Bartolomeo Prigamo, Archbishop of Bari , and a commoner by birth, as Pope Urban VI . The new pope quickly alienated his cardinals by criticising their vices, limiting the areas where they could receive income and even rising to strike one cardinal before a second restrained him. The French cardinals left Rome that summer and declared Urban's election invalid because of mob intimidation (a reason that had not been cited at
15048-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
15200-521: The first Dauphin. At the age of twelve, he was suddenly vested power while in Grenoble (10 December 1349 to March 1350). A few days after his arrival, the people of Grenoble were invited to the Place Notre-Dame, where a platform was erected. Young Charles took his place next to Bishop John of Chissé and received the oath of allegiance of the people. In exchange, he publicly promised to respect
15352-462: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
15504-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
15656-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
15808-536: The general population were rendered along with punishments in the Court of the Marshals which existed by 1317. These special forces would eventually be known as the maréchaussée since they worked for the various army marshals. These courts were itinerant, as they followed the army, lacked territorial jurisdiction and were composed of the marshal's particular provost and sergents . A second court that existed by 1321
15960-513: The help of talented advisers, his skillful management of the kingdom allowed him to replenish the royal treasury and to restore the prestige of the House of Valois. He established the first permanent army paid with regular wages, which liberated the French populace from the companies of routiers who regularly plundered the country when not employed. Led by Bertrand du Guesclin , the French Army
16112-454: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
16264-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
16416-612: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
16568-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
16720-525: The malcontents. He was supported by his relatives and allies: the House of Boulogne (and their kin in Auvergne ), the barons of Champagne loyal to Joan II of Navarre (heir of Champagne , had it not merged into the crown of France ), and by the followers of Robert of Artois , driven from the kingdom by Philip VI. He also had the support of the University of Paris and the northwestern merchants where
16872-400: The marshal". One account in the history of a small town in western France reports how the terminology was undergoing a change there at the beginning of the 17th century. At that time, one could refer indistinguishably either to the " archer of the provost" or " archer of the maréchaussée " for example, but by 1720 invariably the latter expression was used. With the Fall of
17024-440: The monetary changes needed to support the royal finances. The royal clan had to cope with opposition from all sides in the kingdom. The first of these was led by Charles II of Navarre , called "the Bad", whose mother Joan II of Navarre had renounced the crown of France for that of Navarre in 1328. Charles II of Navarre was the eldest of a powerful lineage. Ambitious of attaining the crown of France, he managed to gather around him
17176-510: The most significant ones commissioned for the library were those of Nicole Oresme, who translated Aristotle 's Politics , Ethics , and Economics into eloquent French for the first time (an earlier attempt had been made at the Politics , but the manuscript is now lost). If the Politics and Economics served as a manual for government, then the Ethics advised the king on how to be
17328-564: The name of Constabulary and Marshalcy Tribunal , which name was retained even after the post of Constable was abolished in 1627. In this new court, the marshals rendered sentences alone. The provosts' ambit expanded to include policing vagabonds and rendering justice in the provinces. Their decisions could be appealed to the marshals and the Constable. In the 14th century, only one marshal and marshal's provost existed until around 1357, when war and unrest began to increase their numbers through
17480-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
17632-446: The nobility of the day. While he was in many ways a typical medieval king, Charles V has been praised by historians for his pragmatism, which led to the recovery of the territories lost at Brétigny . His successes, however, proved ephemeral. Charles' brothers, who dominated the regency council that ruled in the king's name until 1388, quarrelled among themselves and divided the government. Charles VI, meanwhile, preferred tournaments to
17784-472: The ordinance, but his dismissed councillors took news of the document to King John, imprisoned in Bordeaux . The King renounced the ordinance before being taken to England by Prince Edward. Charles made a royal progress through the country that summer, winning support from the provinces, and winning Paris back. Marcel, meanwhile, enlisted Charles the Bad, who asserted that his claim to the throne of France
17936-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
18088-483: The police and the justice system were closely intertwined. Kings, lords, and high dignitaries rendered justice. The Constable of France succeeded the Grand Seneschal in 1191 in the exercise of military powers and military justice on behalf of the king. The Constable gathered under him lieutenants bearing the title Marshal of France who led royal troops into battle and judged their actions. Each marshal had
18240-471: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
18392-660: The reflective life advised by Aristotle and the model of French kingship derived from St. Louis , Charlemagne , and Clovis which he had illustrated in his Coronation Book of 1364, now in the British Library . Charles V was also a builder king, and he created or rebuilt several significant buildings in the late 14th century style including the Bastille , the Louvre Palace , Château de Vincennes , and Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye , which were widely copied by
18544-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
18696-461: The roads or encamped in the land. Francis I addressed the problem in a royal decision on 25 January 1536 (Edict of Paris) that extended the judicial authority of the maréchaussée to policing the countryside and main roads of the kingdom, taking on all highway crime regardless of whether the perpetrators were French soldiers or foreigners, military or civilian, vagabonds or residents. The variety of crimes falling under their jurisdiction increased over
18848-529: The succeeding fifty years. The expanded commissions were temporary at first until the 3 October 1544 edict put them into permanent competition with the local courts of the bailiffs and seneschals. However, the maréchaussées' ambit remained limited to the country outside the cities. The transformation of the role of the marshals' provosts to a provincial authority necessitated the appointment of new officers ( prévôts des armées ) to take over their former role of traveling with troops to repress military offenses. After
19000-737: The suppression of the Constabulary in 1626 by Louis XIII , the Constabulary and Marshalcy Tribunal was placed under the command of the Marshal of France . According to the Criminal Ordinance of 1670 under Louis XIV , certain crimes identified as "royal cases" were investigated by the Maréchaussée but judged by a chamber of the Parliament dealing with criminal matters, while the others, identified as "provost cases" ( cas prévôtaux ), were judged in first and last instance by
19152-404: The territory held by the English and successfully reversed the military losses of his predecessors. Charles became regent of France when his father John II was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. To pay for the defense of the kingdom, Charles raised taxes. As a result, he faced hostility from the nobility , led by Charles the Bad , King of Navarre ; the opposition of
19304-460: The time of the election) and elected Cardinal Robert of Geneva as Pope Clement VII that September. The French cardinals quickly moved to get Charles' support. The theology faculty of the University of Paris advised Charles not to make a hasty decision, but he recognised Clement as Pope in November and forbade any obedience to Urban. Charles' support allowed Clement to survive as pope and led to
19456-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
19608-536: The treaty was signed. In achieving these aims, Charles turned to a minor noble from Brittany named Bertrand du Guesclin . Nicknamed "the Black Dog of Brocéliande ", du Guesclin fought the English during the Breton War of Succession and was an expert in guerrilla warfare . Du Guesclin also defeated Charles II of Navarre at the Battle of Cocherel in 1364 and eliminated his threat to Paris. In order to lure
19760-754: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
19912-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
20064-485: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
20216-410: The work of Nicole Oresme (who translated Aristotle 's moral works into French) and Giles of Rome . Philippe de Mézières , in his allegorical "Songe du Vieil Pèlerin", attempts to persuade the dauphin (later King Charles VI) to follow the example of his wise father, notably in piety, though also to pursue reforming zeal in all policy considerations. Of great importance to Charles V's cultural program
20368-599: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
20520-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
20672-503: The world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in
20824-447: Was able to turn the tide of the Hundred Years' War to Charles' advantage, and by the end of Charles' reign, they had reconquered almost all the territories ceded to the English in 1360. Furthermore, the French fleet, led by Jean de Vienne , managed to attack the English coast for the first time since the beginning of the Hundred Years' War . Charles V died in 1380. He was succeeded by his son Charles VI , whose disastrous reign allowed
20976-523: Was at least as good as that of King Edward III of England , who had used his claim as the pretext for initiating the Hundred Years' War . Marcel used the murder of a citizen seeking sanctuary in Paris to make an attack close to the Dauphin. Summoning a group of tradesmen, the Provost marched at the head of an army of 3,000, entered the royal palace, and had the crowd murder two of the Dauphin's marshals before his eyes. Charles, horrified, momentarily pacified
21128-517: Was crowned King of France in 1364 at the Cathedral of Reims . The new king was highly intelligent, but closed-mouthed and secretive, with sharp eyes, a long nose and a pale, grave manner. He suffered from gout in the right hand and an abscess in his left arm, possibly a side-effect of an attempted poisoning in 1359. Doctors were able to treat the wound but told him that if it ever dried up, he would die within 15 days. His manner may have concealed
21280-518: Was delayed by the death of his mother Bonne of Luxembourg and his grandmother Joan the Lame , swept away by the plague (he no longer saw them after he left for the Dauphiné). The dauphin himself had been seriously ill from August to December 1349. Gatherings were limited to slow the spread of the plague then raging in Europe, so the marriage took place in private. The control of Dauphiné was valuable to
21432-763: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
21584-400: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
21736-431: Was his vast library, housed in his expanded Louvre Palace , and described in great detail by the nineteenth-century French historian Leopold Delisle . Containing over 1,200 volumes, it was symbolic of the authority and magnificence of the royal person, but also of his concern with government for the common good . Charles was keen to collect copies of works in French, in order that his counsellors had access to them. Perhaps
21888-487: Was in practice answerable to Le Blanc's office. The edict of March 1720 profoundly reorganized the Maréchaussée and accentuated its territorial nature. It created a provost court and a company of marshalcy in each of the thirty-six governments or provinces ( généralités ). Maréchaussée companies were separate with one in Lorraine being independent until 1767 after the region's incorporation into France. Le Blanc placed
22040-429: Was in the personal jurisdiction of the Constable and oversaw cases involving a point of honor ( point d'honneur ) or quarrels between soldiers regarding reputation, personal cases of the king's sergents d'armes and the conduct and service of the provosts of the marshals and their archers . The jurisdictions of the Constable and the marshals were itemized in the Ordinance of 1356. The tribunals were seated at
22192-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
22344-451: Was of great significance for posterity, especially as his conception of governance was one that courtiers wished his successors could follow. Christine de Pizan 's biography, commissioned by Philip the Bold , Duke of Burgundy , in 1404, is a source of most of the intimate details of the king's life of which we are aware, but also provides a moral example for his successors. It draws heavily on
22496-445: Was sealed with a ceremony at the court on 24 September 1355. Edward III was offended at the latest betrayal of Charles of Navarre, and the promised landing did not occur. King John was considered by many as a rash ruler, much in the same style as the feudal kings who came before which by then was becoming outdated, who alienated his nobles through arbitrary justice and elevated associates that were sometimes considered questionable. After
22648-522: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
22800-404: Was supported by the French. Du Guesclin and his men were able to drive Peter out of Castile in 1365 after the capture of the fortresses of Magallón and Briviesca and the capital Burgos . The Black Prince , now serving as his father's viceroy in southwestern France, took up Peter's cause. At the Battle of Nájera in April 1367, the English defeated Henry's army. Du Guesclin was captured after
22952-437: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
23104-404: Was very useful to him. Charles was recalled to Paris at the death of his grandfather Philip VI and participated in the coronation of his father John the Good on 26 September 1350 in Reims . The legitimacy of John the Good, and that of the Valois in general, was not unanimous. His father, Philip VI, had lost all credibility with the disasters of Crécy , Calais , the ravages of the plague , and
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