Paris

Paris begins with the founding of the Parisians by the Celtic tribe on an island in the Seine (Île de la Cité), where the Notre Dame cathedral now stands.

It was a fishing village that fell under the power of the Romans in the year 52 BC, who started to call it Lutetia.

The name Paris came only in the fourth century. Paris resisted Attila’s invasion through the intervention of Santa Genoveva, who became the patron saint of the city.

Clovis, king of the Franks, in 508 made Paris the capital of his reign.

The city gained importance throughout the 11th century, thanks to the silver trade and because it formed part of the route for pilgrims and traders.

Through the ages the city went through many revolutions, wars and diseases such as:

At the beginning of the 12th century, when students and professors confronted the Pope and ended up authorizing the creation of a “university” corporation.

Louis IX granted Robert de Sorbon the founding of the college “La Sorbona” and thus Paris also became a university town.

In the 14th century, at least three revolts:

The Merchants’ Rebellion of 1358, the Maillots’ Revolt of 1382, and the Caboche Rebellion of 1413, where a merchant led a mob that ended up taking the Bastille. This period became known as the Hundred Years’ War.

In 1328, Paris, once the most populous city in Europe, saw its population decimated by the Black Death.

At the end of the Hundred Years’ War, Paris was devastated and Joan of Arc was unable to liberate the city from the English and their allies, the Bourguignons.

On August 24, 1572, the “Massacre of the night of Saint Bartholomew” took place, promoted by the French kings, against the Protestants (Huguenots).

That same year, Marguerite de Valois, sister of the King of France, marries Henry of Navarre (head of the Huguenot dynasty), which promised to reduce conflicts, but in 1588 French Catholics rose against King Henry III in the ” Day of the Barricades.” The king is assassinated and Henry of Navarre is crowned.

In 1648, the second “Day of the Barricades” takes place, this event marks the beginning of the “Fronde”, a series of civil wars that took place in the country between 1648 and 1662. Fifteen years later, King Louis XVI decides to transfer the court to Versailles.

As a consequence of the “Fronde”, poverty spread throughout the city.

The prevailing current of thought at that time was also based on reason, equality and freedom.

On July 14, 1789, Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress, and on September 3, 1791, the first constitution in the history of France was approved.

On August 17, a new Constitution was approved, which granted executive power to a Directory.

The new Constitution met with much opposition with several revolts, culminating on November 9, 1799 when General Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the Directory and installed a Consulate.

Paris experienced a time of great expansion during the fifteen years of Napoleon’s empire, ending on November 20, 1815, after the final defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and the Second Treaty of Paris of 1815.

In 1851, a coup d’état took place and Napoleon II came to power, remaining at the helm of the government for 17 years, when he promoted growth.

The city is conquered by Prussian troops in 1871 and a few years later (at the end of 1800) the Third Republic was proclaimed.

A time of economic growth began, which promoted the construction, in 1889, of the Eiffel Tower, symbol of the city known internationally.

Already in the twentieth century, the city begins to undergo several changes.

The First and Second World Wars caused a lot of destruction, but it was an opportunity for rebuilding.

It went through several revolts and in “May 68” a series of protests that were the biggest student revolt in the history of France and, possibly, of Europe.