French History and Culture (PRAXIS)

Denis de Diderot

Enlightenment writer; contributed to l'Encyclopédie. Wrote Jacques le Fataliste.

Guy de Maupassant

Boule de Suif, des contes, Bel Ami

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

Regarded as one of the founders of impressionism. Did paintings, sculptures, prints, and drawings.

Colette (20th century)

Gigi

René Descartes (1596-1650)

"Cogito ergo sum." A French philosopher, mathematician, and writer who spent most of his adult life in the Dutch Republic. He has been dubbed the 'Father of Modern Philosophy', and much subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. In particular, his Meditations on First Philosophy continues to be a standard text at most university philosophy departments. He is credited as the father of analytical geometry. He was also one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution and has been described as an example of genius. La méthode cartésienne.

Maximilien Robespierre

"L'Incorruptible." Was leader of Revolution and was eventually executed. Represented the Third Estate in Les États Généraux .A French lawyer, politician, and one of the best-known and most influential figures of the French Revolution. As a member of the Estates-General, the Constituent Assembly and the Jacobin Club, he advocated against the death penalty and for the abolition of slavery, while supporting equality of rights, universal suffrage and the establishment of a republic. He opposed war with Austria and the possibility of a coup by La Fayette. As a member of the Committee of Public Safety, he was an important figure during the period of the Revolution commonly known as the Reign of Terror, which ended a few months after his arrest and execution in July 1794.

Henri Matisse (1869-1944)

Impressionist painter

Chrétien de Troyes (Moyen Âge)

12th century French poet known for his Arthurian work and for beginning the character Lancelot.

Louis 14th

Built Versailles and moved French court there.

Samuel de Champlain ( 1574-1631)

"The Father of New France", was a French navigator, cartographer, draughtsman, soldier, explorer, geographer, ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He founded New France and Quebec City on July 3, 1608. He is important to Canadian history because he made the first accurate map of the coast and he helped establish the settlements. He was later ordered by King Louis XIII to cease exploration in order to act as chief administrator of New France.

l'Édit de Nantes

(edict) pour pacifier, l'acceptation des religions

Tristan et Iseult

12th century tale of romance and tragedy. Tells about the love of Tristan, and the Irish princess Iseult. It has been retold and rewritten so many times that the original author is not known. It had a substantial impact on the western idea of love and romance literature.

Auguste Rodin

19th century French sculptor. Sculpted The Thinker and The Kiss.

Jacques Cartier (1491-1557)

A French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec City) and at Hochelaga (Montreal Island).

Charles de Gaulle

A French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969. A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s, de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of mobile armoured divisions, which he considered would become central in modern warfare. During World War II, he earned the rank of brigadier general (retained throughout his life), leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Battle of France in May in Montcornet, and then briefly served in the French government as France was falling. De Gaulle was the most senior French military officer to reject the June 1940 armistice to Nazi Germany right from the outset. He escaped to Britain and gave a famous radio address, broadcast by the BBC on 18 June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany and organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in Britain. As the war progressed, de Gaulle gradually gained control of all French colonies except Indochina. By the time of the Allied invasion of France in 1944 he was heading what amounted to a French government in exile.

Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)

A conflict that was the culmination of years of tension between Prussian kingdoms and France. Prussia's win and the unification of Germany shaped Europe for the century to come.

Massacre de Barthélémy (1572)

A massacre of Protestants in the palace during Marguerite's marriage to Henri IV. Coligny, leader of the Huguenots, was murdered as well as hundreds of other Protestants.

Roman de la Rose

A medieval french poem styled as an allegorical dream vision where the "rose" is usually interpreted as representing female sexuality. First part was written by Guillaume de Lorris, and the second part was written by John de Meun. Describes the attempts of a courtier to woo his lover. Allegorical characters such as La Raison, La Génie give advice.

Règne de Terreur

A period of violence that occurred after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution". The death toll ranged in the tens of thousands, with 16,594 executed by guillotine (2,639 in Paris), and another 25,000 in summary executions across France. Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terror's leaders exercised broad dictatorial powers and used them to instigate mass executions and political purges. The repression accelerated in June and July 1794, a period called la Grande Terreur (the Great Terror), and ended in the coup of 9 Thermidor Year II (27 July 1794), leading to the Thermidorian Reaction, in which several protagonists of the Reign of Terror were executed, including Saint-Just and Robespierre.

la Gaule

A region of Western Europe encompassing present-day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and parts of Germany. Fell under Roman rule in the last 2 centuries BC. Roman rule lasted for 5 centuries until it fell to the Franks in AD 468. During this time the Celtic language/culture combined with Gallo-Roman culture.

L'Affaire Dreyfus

A scandal that rocked in France in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Alfred Dreyfus, a French artillery man was falsely convicted of passing military secrets to the Germans. He was sentenced to life in prison en Guyane. Highlighted antisemitism in France.

Napoleonic Wars

A series of conflicts fought between France and Europe under the leadership of Napoleon Bonaparte from 1799 to 1815, beginning with the War of the First Coalition.

Jean-Jacques Rosseau (1712-1778)

A writer whose philosophy influenced the French Enlightenment and French Revolution. His work "Julie, ou la Nouvelle Héloïse" was an important influence on pre-romanticism. His work "Émile" explored the idea of education for citizenship. Popular among the Jacobins. Also wrote Discours sur l'inégalité et Le Contrat social.

Catherine de Medicis (1519-15189)

An Italian-born French queen who was very influential, especially during the Wars of Religion. Mother of Margot. Married to Henri II. She orchestrated Marguerite/Margot's marriage as a way to bring peace.

Jean Calvin (1509-1564)

An influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism. Originally trained as a humanist lawyer, he broke from the Roman Catholic Church around 1530. After religious tensions provoked a violent uprising against Protestants in France, Calvin fled to Basel, Switzerland, where he published the first edition of his seminal work The Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536.

le Romanticisme

Artistic and literary movement from 18th century to the mid-19th century. Characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism, and the reverence for nature.

L'Assemblée Nationale (Juin-Juillet 1789)

Assemblée de transition entre les États-Généraux et L'Assemblée Nationale Constitutionnelle

les Jacobins

At its inception during the French Revolution, the term was popularly applied to all supporters of revolutionary opinions. Specifically, it was used to describe members of the Jacobin Club, a revolutionary, far-left political movement that had been the most famous political club of the French Revolution.

Napoleon Bonaparte

Became French emperor in 1804 after many battle victories, especially the Battle of Austerlitz. His victories exported many French ideologies from the Revolution. He established the Napoleonic Code and put many family members in positions of power. Was exiled.

le Réalisme

Began in France in the 1850s, after the 1848 revolution. The painters rejected le romanticisme and wanted to represent subject matter truthfully without artificiality or implausible, supernatural elements.

Andre Guide (1869-1951)

L'Immoraliste, Les Faux-moyanneurs. Symbolist movement and anticolonialism between the two world wars.

Le Contrat social

By Rousseau; explored the idea that monarchs were not divinely empowered to rule. Only the people were.

July Revolution (aka Trois Glorieuses)

Charles X (Bourbon) overthrown in favor of Louis-Philippe (Orléans). It marked the shift from one constitutional monarchy, the Bourbon Restoration, to another, the July Monarchy; the transition of power from the House of Bourbon to its cadet branch, the House of Orléans; and the substitution of the principle of popular sovereignty for hereditary right. Supporters of the Bourbon would be called Legitimists, and supporters of Louis Philippe Orléanists.

Ending a letter informally (but still OK for a business relationship)

Cordialement, Nikki or Bien à vous, Nikki

André Malraux (20th century)

La Condition humaine; L'Espoir

Jules Verne

De la Terre à la lune, Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, Voyage au centre de la Terre, Le tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours

Marie Antoinette

Duchess of Austria. Came to France as part of a marriage deal that represented a reversal of alliances.

Montesquieu (1689-1755)

Enlightenment writer. Believed in the separation of powers, an idea that has influenced many countries' constitutions. Wrote Lettres Persanes.

La Chanson de Roland (Moyen Âge)

Epic poem based on the Battle of Roncevaux in 778, under the rule of Charlemagne. Oldest surviving work of French literature. Recounts a story of Charlemagne and his army fighting the Muslims of Spain.

Commune de Paris (1872)

Formed following the defeat by Prussia in War of 1870 and the collapse of Napoleon III's Second Empire.

Hundred Years' War

France vs. England 1337-1453. Began because of contestation over who should have power over region of Aquitaine. The English were often victorious thanks to their use of the longbow. King John of France was forced to acquiesce a lot of territory in 1360, but his son Charles V reconquered most of the lost territory. In 1429, thanks to Jeanne d'Arc, the siege of Orléans was lifted and l'Île-de-France was regained by the French. The conflict eventually fizzled out and the English gave up most of their territory in France.

Charles Martel (688-741)

Frankish ruler; reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm. He stopped the Muslim invasion at Poitiers. AKA "the Hammer" (le marteau). Also known for defeating the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Tours (732).

Candide (1759)

French satire published by Voltaire, a writer of the French Enlightenment. The young man, Candide, lives in a paradise before being introduced to the idea of optimism. After that, he faces the harsh realities of the world and becomes disillusioned.

César (1921-1998)

French sculptor. Nouveau Réalisme movement. Used welded metal and junk metal and created fantastical sculptures.

Jean-Paul Sartre

La Nausée, L'Âge de raison, L'Existentialisme est un humanisme. Wrote about the conflict between mauvaise foi and the authentic self.

Georges Sand

La Petite Fadette

Georges Perec (20th century)

La vie mode d'emploi

Alexandre Dumans

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo,

Gaston Leroux (20th century)

Le Fantôme de l'Opéra

Ending a letter a little less formally

Je vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes meilleures salutations

Ending a formal letter

Je vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations distinguées

Ending a formal letter when you are providing the service

Je vous prie d'agréer, Monsieur, l'expression de mes salutations dévouées

Charlemagne (742-814)

King of the Franks (Germanic tribe in modern-day France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany). Pope Leo III crowned him emperor of the Romans (750-814). He was a skilled military strategist and spent most of his rule at war. He ensured the survival of Christianity in the West. He waged thirty years of war against the Saxons to convert his kingdom to Christianity. He ruled after Pepin the Short.

Pepin le Petit

King of the Franks from 752 until his death. He was the first of the Carolingians to become not only de facto but also de jure ruler of Francia and the younger son of Frankish strongman, Charles Martel.

Louis XV

Lost seven years' war with England and died an unpopular king.

Napoleon III

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte; president of first French Republic and ruler of the Second French Empire. Nephew of Napoléon Bonaparte I. He was elected president in 1848, and executed a coup d'état in 1852 where he became emperor until 1870. He was both the first president and the last monarch. Known for reasserting French power in Europe and the colonial world. Was a nationalist. Established French rule in Cochinchine (Vietnam).

Ending a letter less formally but still business-like (especially in an email)

Meilleures salutations, Nikki

Huguenots

Reached their peak in mid 1500s. Were members of the French Reformed Church (Protestants) who were inspired by John Calvin.

Andre Breton (20th century)

Nadja

Jeanne d'Arc

Nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" (La Pucelle d'Orléans), is a folk heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. She was born a peasant girl in what is now eastern France. Claiming divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the coronation of Charles VII of France. She was captured by the Burgundians, transferred to the English in exchange for money, put on trial by the pro-English Bishop of Beauvais Pierre Cauchon for charges of "insubordination and heterodoxy", and was burned at the stake for heresy when she was 19 years old

Victor Hugo

Notre Dame de Paris, Les Misérables

Louis Capet (Louis 16th)

Of the Bourbon family (grandson of Louis XV). Was 15 years old when it was time for him to become king. Was indecisive and easily persuaded. Was married to Marie Antoinette of Austria to symbolize the end of a rivalry. Had trouble producing an heir/consummating the marriage.

Battle of Austerlitz

On December 2nd, 1805 this important engagement of the Napoleonic Wars was won by Napoléon. La Grande Armée de France defeated the Austrian and Russian forces. Gave Napoléon credibility, power.

Édouard Manet (1832-1883)

Pivotal figure in the transition from realism to impressionism.

les Girondins

Played a leading role in the French Assembly in 1792. Group of merchants, businessmen, financiers. Harsh critics of la cour.

Paul Cézanne (1861-1839)

Post-impressionist painter. Said to have formed the bridge between impressionism and Cubism of the 20th century.

Vichy France (2e guerre mondiale)

Ruled by Pétain. La zone libre du sud de la France (le nord étant la zone occupée). French rulers were little more than puppets and were still under German control.

L'Ingénu (1767)

Satirical novel by Voltaire. Tells the story of Huron, un amérindien, who travels across the Atlantic to England then France in the 1690s. He's wrongfully imprisoned as a jansenist after showing empathy for those fleeing religious persecution. He views European society through a more "natural" way, causing confusion especially in terms of religion. This lends to satirical commentary on religion and society.

Bataille de Tours (732)

The battle pitted Frankish and Burgundian forces under Austrasian Mayor of the Palace Charles Martel, against an army of the Umayyad Caliphate led by 'Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, Governor-General of al-Andalus. Notably, the Frankish troops won the battle without cavalry. There is little dispute that the battle helped lay the foundations of the Carolingian Empire and Frankish domination of Europe for the next century.

Clovis I (466-511)

The first king of the Franks to unite all of the Frankish tribes under one ruler, changing the form of leadership from a group of royal chieftains to rule by a single king and ensuring that the kingship was passed down to his heirs. He was also the first Christian king to rule Gaul, known today as France.

États-Généraux de 1789

The first meeting since 1614 of the French Estates-General, a general assembly representing the French estates of the realm: the clergy (First Estate), the nobles (Second Estate), and the common people (Third Estate). Summoned by King Louis XVI to propose solutions to his government's financial problems, the Estates-General sat for several weeks in May and June 1789 but came to an impasse as the three estates clashed over their respective powers. It was brought to an end when many members of the Third Estate formed themselves into a National Assembly, signaling the outbreak of the French Revolution

Storming of the Bastille (14 juillet 1789)

The medieval fortress and prison in Paris known as the Bastille represented royal authority in the center of Paris. While the prison only contained seven inmates at the time of its storming, its fall was the flashpoint of the French Revolution. In France, Le quatorze juillet (14 July) is a public holiday, formally known as the Fête de la Fédération (Federation Holiday). It is usually called Bastille Day in English.

Gustave Flaubert

Un Coeur Simple, Madame Bovary, L'Education sentimentale

Marquis de Sade (1740-1814)

Writer and philosopher famous for his libertine sexuality. Wrote "Justine." Proponent of extreme freedom and unrestrained morality. Works were very scandalous.

François de Rabelais (~1490-1553)

Wrote Gargantua et Pantagruel. Tells the story of the two giants (a father and son). Pantagruel grows to be very scholarly. The books are filled with satire, crudity, and violence and were stigmatized just before the Wars of Religion.

Émile Zola (1840-1902)

Wrote Thérèse Raquin and Les Rougons-Macquart. Part of the schools of naturalism and theatrical naturalism. A major figure in the liberalization of France and the Dreyfus Affair.

l'Impressionisme

a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subject matter, inclusion of movement as a crucial element of human perception and experience, and unusual visual angles.

une coquette

a woman who flirts, is vain, obsessed with her looks, seduces men

Honoré de Balzac

a écrit "La Comédie Humaine," a multivolume collection of short novels about people during the Restoration and the July Monarchy. Explored how society after the Revolution became dominated by money

Margot

catholique; elle s'est mariée par force avec Henri de Navarre (Henri IV)

Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen (1789)

déclaration des droits, les idées fondamentales de la révolution qui ont lancé la lutte contre la tyrannie de la monarchie. Les droits correspondent à la nature de l'homme et sont inévitables, indéniables et NATURELLES.

Le Code Noir

l'esclavage; un homme est comme un marchandise; l'objectification de l'homme

le thaumaturge

l'idée des pouvoirs presque magiques du roi : si le roi vous touche, dieu vous guérit

Henri de Navarre

le chef des Protestants; il est devenu Henri IV quand il s'est converti au catholicisme

Storming of Palais de Tuileries (1792)

monarchy was overthrown as part of the Revolution, monarchs were captured

François 1er

premier roi de la Renaissance, catholique, s'est marié avec Catherine de Medicis

Louise Labé

un poète femme de la Renaissance; she wrote love poetry which was scandalous at the time; she used l'objectification in her poetry on the male body

Princesse de Clèves par Madame de Lafayette

un récit qui s'agit de la cour d'Henri II (le mari de Catherine de Medicis); les idees du "trouble" et de contact impossible

François-René de Chateaubriands

wrote "René" and Atala

Marcel Proust (1871-1902)

À la recherche du temps perdu

Voltaire (18th century)

écrivain de Lumières; outspoken advocate of civil liberties. Notable works include: Lettres philosophiques sur les Anglais, Éléments de la philosophie de Newton, Zadig, Candide, Idées républicaines, L'Ingénu.