Langued'oïl
The north of France. A land of heterogenous cultural roots, with Teutonic influence in the east, Frankish influences in the central and east-central regions, Viking influences in the north and west-central, and strongly Celtic spheres in the west. The Langued'oïl (the term refers to the early French version of the word for "yes" - "oiel", now spelled and pronounced "oui") has been at one and the same time a forested backdrop in front of which the Mediterranean cultures played out their roles, but also the region from which centralization and power emanated.

Contains: Alençon, Amboise, Amiens, Anjou, Arras, Artois, Aumale, Auxerre, Bar-le-Duc, Bar-sur-Seine, Bellême, Berry, Blois, Boulogne, Bourbon, Breton March, Brie, Brittany, Bro Erech, Burgundy (all phases), Calais, Champagne, Chartres, Chatillon-sur-Marne, Clermont (en Beauvais), Condé, Conti, Cornouaille (Ys), Domnoneé, Dreux, Etampes, Evreux, Franche Comte, Guines, Guise, Joinville, Leon, Lorraine, Lower Burgundy, Maine, Mortain, Nantes, Nemours, Nevers, Normandy, Orleans, Paris, Perche, Picardy, Ponthieu, Reims, Rennes, Rohan, St. Pol, Sancerre, Soissons, Thouars, Touraine, Tours, Upper Burgundy, Valois, Vaudémont, Vendome, Vermandois, Vexin, and Yvetot.

 
ALENÇON A town in southern Normandy, about 30 miles (50 km.) north of Le Mans and about 60 miles (95 km.) west of Chartres. The site of an old Norman lordship, it became attached to the royal family at an early date, and was long an appanage County and then Duchy within various branches of the House of France.


AMBOISE A town on the Loire, about 15 miles (25 km.) east of Tours. First mentioned in the 6th century, it became a Royal demesne in the later 15th century. Its very extensive Chateau was a favorite residence of Charles VIII and Francis I, and was the place that Leonardo da Vinci died while in the employ of the latter monarch.


ANJOU The Counts of Anjou were noted for their ferocity and avariciousness, and thus have had a much larger impact on the development of France and Europe in general than the size of this quite small region southwest of Normandy would imply.


ARTOIS A district in northern France, just inland from the coast between Calais and Abbeville, with it's capital at Arras. A Mediaeval county, it was normally associated with Flanders.


AUMALE A small town in northern France, at the conjunction of the départements of Seine-Maritime, Somme, and Oise; it is 26 miles (42 km.) southwest of Amiens, and 36 miles (58 km.) northeast of Rouen.


AUXERRE A city in north-central France, some 95 miles (153 km.) southeast of Paris and 77 miles (124 km.) east of Orléans. It was generally on the frontier between France proper and Burgundy during the Middle Ages.


BAR (-le-Duc) A district in eastern France, on the frontier between Lorraine and Champagne. During most of the Middle Ages it was a border region between France and the Empire (Germany) and, as such, the loyalties of it's various lords have wavered - at times within French spheres of influence and at other times within German.


BAR-sur-SEINE A county in northeastern France, about 18 miles (30 km.) southeast of Troyes. Not to be confused with the Duchy of Bar in Lorraine.


BERRY A region in central France, corresponding closely to the modern départements of Indre and Cher, roughly 125 miles (200 km.) south of Paris. Orléannais is to the northwest, Aquitaine to the southwest, and Bourbonnais to the east and southeast.


BLOIS A county in north-central France, south of Paris. Within its domain was Chartres, site of perhaps the finest Gothic cathedral ever built.


BOULOGNE A town in far northern France, at the eastern end of the English Channel. Always a naval base, it was built by the Romans and called at first Gesoriacum and later Bononia. Destroyed in Viking raids late in the 9th century, it had been reestablished by 912. This was the harbour from which Napoleon intended to invade Great Britain (1808), and it also served as a submarine base and potential embarkation point against Great Britain for Germany during World War II.


BOURBON The region around the town of Bourbon le'Archimbauld in France, centered around the city of Moulins and Vichy. The House of Bourbon originated as a local seigneurial family whose properties were inherited by the Dampierre dynasty, and then came into the hands of Clermont, a cadet branch of the Royal Family.


BRIE A region in northern France between the Seine and Marne watersheds, adjacent to the western edge of Champagne, and roughly 40 miles (65 km.) east of Paris. It is best-known world-wide as the place of origin for the soft white cheese that bears the name of the district.


BRITTANY The ancient region of Armorica saw a huge influx of British refugees in the 6th century as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions, and this created the basis behind Breton culture. This isolated peninsula in the far north-west of France developed it's own traditions and language early, and its rulers, though often vassals to the French Kingdom, were just as often calling themselves Kings. Originally, the region was divided into separate districts; Bro Erech, Cornouaille, and Domnonée - these eventually merged by the end of the 6th century to form Brittany. See also Rennes.


BRO ERECH A Breton kingdom located in eastern Brittany, near the historic border with the Franks. Probably a remnant of the older kingdom of Vannetais.


BURGUNDY Burgundy has a complex history, and the name has manifested itself in European history through a number of different states and provinces. The original Burgundians were a small Teutonic tribe occupying part of eastern Gaul in the 5th century. They were swiftly absorbed by their more aggressive and numerous Frankish neighbors, but the name of their Kingdom survived as a Merovingian state with a sporadic autonomy. In late Carolingian times, two separate Kingdoms, each of short duration, were spawned in southeastern France. Later, the French royal family generated a line of dukes, and when that became extinct, the title was revived a second time. This second creation succeeded in gaining for itself all of the Low Countries, an inheritance which was passed on to the Habsburgs in the 15th century. Additionally, there was a County of Burgundy within the Empire, based at Besancon. See also, Mayors of the Palace.


CALAIS Port city in northern France, across the English Channel from Dover. It was the last English possession on French soil, remaining in English hands until 1558. Here is a fragmentary list of Mediaeval governors.


CHAMPAGNE In eastern France, another famous wine-producing region; politically, the Champagnois have been highly influential in regional and international affairs.


CHARTRES A town in northern France, a County and Royal demesne from the Middle Ages. It is the site of what many regard as the most beautiful and most perfect example of Mediaeval Cathedrals in existence.


CHATILLON-SUR-MARNE A rural region in France, adjacent to Champagne. Chatillon was ruled by a series of seigneurs. Among the region more famous sons was Odo de Lagery, better known as Pope Urban II.


CLERMONT (-en-Beauvasis) A town in northern France within the Département of Oise, about 35 miles (56 km.) north of Paris. It comprised a Countship in the Middle Ages.


CONDÉ A town on the southern border of Normandy, the titular base for a series of very influential Princes of France in early modern times.


CONTI The titular base for a series of very influential lords, closely related to the Condés.


CORNOUAILLE (Caer Ys) Positioned in southwest Armorica, and isolated from major events by a long shoreline and the great Brocéliande forest to the southeast, which was never cleared, almost all of Cornouaille's history is legendary. Its original capital was Caer Ys (now the Bay of Douarnenez, but Gradlon Mur relocated it to Corspotium (Quimper). Because of Cornouaille's isolation behind the Brocéliande, the identities of the princes of the 6th century are highly confused, and some may have ruled in a different order from that shown below, at least up until Budic. Despite Cornouaille's seclusion, in the 5th and 11th centuries it actually supplied the rulers of Brittany. For another "lost city" in this general region, of Romano-British tradition, see Lyonesse.


DOMNONÉE A region in northern Brittany populated largely by settlers and exiles from Dumnonia, in southwestern Britain. It formed one of three early regalities in the area before being absorbed into Brittany as a whole.


DREUX A town in northern France, 20 miles (32 km.) north-northwest of Chartres, and about 45 miles (72 km.) west of Paris. In early times the center of the Durocasses tribe, and a lesser county in Mediaeval times. The place is perhaps best-known as the site of the defeat of Huguenot forces in 1562 by Francois, Duc d'Guise, which sparked the Wars of Religion.


ETAMPES A town in northern France, about 30 miles (48 km.) south of Paris, about 25 miles (40 km.) west of Fontainebleau, and about 32 miles (50 km.) east of Chartres. A County in 1327, it was made a Dukedom in 1536. The residence was in the demesne of the Royal family from an early date, and normally was utilized as an appanage peerage for a variety of close relatives, clients, or mistresses.


EVREUX A town, the seat of a bishopric, in southeastern Normandy about 55 miles (90 km.) west of Paris and about 25 miles (40 km.) northwest of Dreux. Located in a strategically significant valley, it has endured severe damage and sack at least seven times since the end of Roman rule.


GATINAIS A district in northern France, comprising the valley of the River Loing between the Seine to the north and the Loire to the south - it includes the royal demesne of Fontainebleau, and the town of Nemours. In the early Middle Ages the chief city was usually Chateau-Landon, some 50 miles (80 km.) south-southeast of Paris.


GUINES A small town in far northern France, 6 miles (10 km.) south of the port of Calais.