DESCRIPTION

As early as 1000 BC much of this fertile land now called France was occupied by the Celtic Gauls. The powerful Romans arrived, defeated the Gauls by 52 BC, and subsequently Rome ruled for almost 500 years. As the Roman Empire faded, France was overrun by a series of barbarian invaders and shattered into varied factions. The name France is from the Latin word 'Francia' meaning (country of the Franks), a Germanic people who conquered the area during the 5th century. Political fragmentation, wars and countless self-serving rulers followed, and by the end of the 8th century the population of Gaul diminished as its countryside was in ruins and commerce was almost non-existent. In 987, Hugh Capet was chosen by the remaining nobles as king, and the Capetian Dynasty began its 800 year rule from Paris. This marked the birth of France as a separate kingdom, and a long list of kings would soon assume the throne; some good, some not so good. As the influence of the 'King du Jour' expanded outward from Paris, rural towns grew in population, cultural activities returned, and the prestige of France reached across Europe. This brought the inevitable conflicts with others, and especially with England. The Hundred Years' War (actually 116 years) between England and France was a bloody affair, and at its end the English were finally vanquished from the land, and the heroic feats of Joan of Arc (and others) memorialized in the history of France for all time. Religious conflicts and civil wars continued, and then in 1643, Louis XIV assumed the throne.