From then on, Paris must defend itself, usually under the authority of its Bishop. Already in 451 there was great panic because Attila the Hun menaced the city. Genevieve, a Parisian of barbarian origin, convinced the Parisians not to abandon the city to the Huns, who in the end by-passed Paris. She became the patron saint of Paris.
Clovis, king of the Franks – another in-comer from the East - took control of the city in 508. He then conquered a large area which later became the kingdom of France. Clovis chose to settle in Paris to direct his kingdom. He was baptised, which was very important for the assimilation of the two peoples. Eventually he decided to be buried by the side of Saint Genevieve in Paris in 511. The descendants of Clovis, the Merovingians, continued to consider Paris as their principal city.
The dynasty which replaced the Merovingians after 751 had their origins in the Rhine area. Paris thus became just one of many towns when the centre of power moved towards the East (Metz or Aix-la-Chapelle). But the Carolingians decided to be buried at St Denis, with the exception of Charlemagne. From then on, kings of France were buried in the same place, in the basilica of St Denis in the North of Paris.
At the end of the ninth century a second wave of invaders (Vikings and Hungarians) weakened the power of the Carolingians. Paris could not count on them to battle against the numerous Viking raids. Five times the Vikings attacked the city because of its strategic position. Paris commanded the route towards the rich abbeys of Burgundy. In 885AD seven hundred Drakkars attacked Paris. Eudes, Count of Paris, found renown in defending the city. Tired of the weakness of the last Carolingians (the last is Charles VI le Gros see ALBUM), the nobles of the kingdom of France elected Eudes, who became king of western France (more or less the France of today). In 987 the great grandson of Eudes, Hugh Capet, became King of France. He founded the Capetian dynasty, which went on to reign until Louis-Philippe, last king of France, who abdicated in 1848.
The Capetians made Paris their principal seat: the royal domain (the estate of land, rights and taxes which were in the hands of the king) extended around Paris. From the 12th century onwards, the kings of France came to restore their power over the whole of France. Because of invasions, a multitude of local lords developed to be able to defend the country at a local level. The kings restored their power over France by using Paris and its region as the hub of power.
The French court remained itinerant throughout the Middle Ages. The king went from estate to estate to hunt or to make war, but the birth of the State was accompanied by the development of a central administration in Paris. Some key points of this development were:
- In 1146 King Louis VII established his treasury in Paris while he was away on Crusade. From then on the royal treasure remained in Paris.
- In 1194, at the battle of Freteval, King Philippe-Auguste was robbed of his archives by the English. The archives after that were kept in Paris.
Meanwhile, it seems that it was above all in financial matters that the King wanted to establish a permanent seat. With the growth of the royal domain, the king`s tax collectors couldn`t continue to follow the king around the country from chateau to chateau. It was King Philippe-Auguste who endowed Paris with its institutions. Paris thus became a city of officials, lawyers and students.
It was thus in the 12th century under the influence of the first Capetians that Paris became the capital of France. Certain constructions symbolised the attachment of the dynasty to the City. The Louvre was constructed in the Ile de la Cité. For the moment it was solely used as a fortress.
Saint Louis also had built there the Sainte-Chapelle from 1243-1248. The crown of thorns of Christ, which had been given by the Emperor of Constantinople, was kept there. With the founding of the cathedral of Notre- Dame between 1163-1270, a unique artistic and religious ensemble was formed in the heart of Paris.
The city grew throughout the Middle Ages and became the largest town in France. Under the Roman Empire the administrative capital was Lyon. During this period, this growth of Paris solved some problems but also raised others:
From the beginning the city had evolved on three sites: the Ile de la Cité, the right bank and the left bank. From this initial reality it was necessary to try and create a single town. This was only partly realised. In 1420 there were five bridges in Paris. The enclosure of Philippe-Auguste brought together the three sites. But another problem arose: how to pass from a closed city to an open one. This problem remained for Paris until the 19th century, because two other enclosures were realised during the following centuries.
During mediaeval times the city had oscillated between the right and left banks. The Romans had constructed their town on the left bank. Then this bank was practically forgotten when the city developed near the port on the right bank. The foundation of the University of Paris in the 13th century allowed the re-establishment of the left bank. Towards 1500 it was noticeable that the two banks were once more in balance thanks to the Latin Quarter – so named at that epoch because of the presence of students who studied in Latin.
At the end of the Middle Ages Paris had achieved a size and importance exceptional in the kingdom. In the 13th century Paris was, with Naples, the largest city in Europe (two hundred thousand inhabitants). After a setback due to the Plague epidemics of the 14th and 15th centuries, Paris regained its level of population in 1500 AD.
Text: PJ - Director History Department of www.parisrama.com
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