For the history of the city which preceded Orleans during the Antiquité, to see Cenabum.
The city was always a strategic point of passage of the Loire because it is located on the point of the river more at north, therefore closest to Paris. However the bridges were rare and the dangerous Loire.
The Middle Ages
Accompanied by the Vandals, the Alains cross the the Loire in 408. One their groups, directed by Goar agrees to join the Roman armed forces . Aetius installs it on the the Loire and in Orleans. But these Alains, turbulent, is very badly perceived by the autochtones. One day, estimating not to be paid rather quickly or sufficiently, they do not hesitate to kill out of the senators d' Orléans.
In Orleans always, under the king Sangiban, the Alains unite with the forces of Aetius which are opposed to Attila which had invaded the Gaulle in 451 and take share with the Bataille of the Fields Catalauniques. A hundred localities of the Orléanais remember the installation of these people: Allaines, Allainville, Alaincourt, etc
At the time mérovingienne Orleans was the capital of the Royaume of Orleans following the division of the kingdom of Clovis Ier.
In 851, Orleans is plundered by the chief Viking Hasting; the same cost and again puts the city at bag on August 18th, 856.
At the time capétienne, Orleans was the capital of a county then of a duchy held in Apanage by the house of Valois-Orleans. The family of Valois-Orleans will reach the throne of France by Louis XII then François I {{er}}.
In 1108, Louis VI the Large is crowned in the cathedral of Orleans by the archbishop of Sens. It is about one of the rare sacrings Capétiens not having taken place with Rheims.
With the Middle Ages Orleans is one of the three richer towns of France with Rouen and Paris.
On southern bank a châtelet known as “of the Turrets” protected the access to the bridge. It is there that had place the battle which made it possible Jeanne d' Arc to enter the released city the May 8th 1429, helped of the large generals of the kingdom, Dunois and Florent of Illiers ( to see the article Siège of Orleans ). The inhabitants consequently dedicated an admiration and a fidelity to him who last still today. They named it “the Maid of Orleans” and offered to him a middle-class house in the city. They also took part in the ransom to deliver it when this one was done captive, but in vain because the Dolphin become King thanks to it kept the money for him and Jeanne was not released.
Once the One hundred Year old war finished, the city covered its prosperity. The bridge brought back to him the money of the taxes as well as the economic attractivity of the tradesmen of passage. The king Louis XI largely contributed to his prosperity. He instigated the agriculture of the Orléanais. The exceptional grounds of the Beauce support the cultures. It started again the culture of the saffron with Pithiviers.
The Université of Orleans also contributed to the prestige of the city. Specialized in the right, it was famous in all Europe.
Modern times
With the Renaissance the city profited from the passages of the rich person lords of the manor going in the valley-of-Loire become very with the mode, to even begin with the king him, Chambord, Amboise, Blois, Chenonceau being royal fields. Jean Calvin there was accepted and lodged. He wrote there part of his theses reformists. In thanks of this protection, the king of England Henry VIII, inspired of the thoughts of the reformer for the Religion Anglican, offered a purse to the University. The city sheltered many Protestants.
December 13rd 1560 with the January 31st 1561, the General states were joined together there. It was at that time that the king François II died, the oldest son of Catherine de Médicis and Henri II, the December 5th 1560, in its hotel room Groslot.
Wars of religion
With a handle of men, Condé takes the in August 1562 city, after the massacre of Vassy. The duke of Own way is assassinated in February 1563 by Poltrot de Méré, during the seat to take again the city, defended by of Andelot.Charles IX passes in the city at the time of royal sound Tour de France (1564 - 1566), started to alleviate the religious tensions. It is accompanied by the Cour and Large by the kingdom: his/her brother the duke of Anjou, Henri de Navarre, cardinal of Bourbon and Lorraine. At this time, the catholics took again the things in hand in Angers: the Cypierre catholic is placed at the head of the municipality, and the Protestants are put in minority in the échevinat. New strong is built. However, the royal convoy is accommodated by a riot.
The news of the Massacre of the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre reaches Orleans on August 25th. The massacres, organized by the aldermen, last until the 27, and make 1200 dead. Only the German students are saved. The city, which counted an important Protestant community, is from now on entirely catholic.
XVIIe century with the French revolution
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, more known under the pseudonym of Molière, came to study the right also there to him, but it took part in the carnival however prohibited by the nonlaic rules of the University and for that was returned of the establishment.
The cathedral was several times rebuilt. The last version saw its first stone posed by Henri IV, and work was spread out over one century, thus offering a mixture of fine style Rebirth and time Louis XIV. It is one of the last cathedrals built in France and not of the least spectacular.
When France colonizes America, its conquered territory is immense, all the Mississippi river, baptized Colbert river, of the mouth until its source at the borders of Canada. It will be the Louisiana. The capital is named La Nouvelle-Orléans in the honor of the regent of Louis XV, the duke of Orleans. It is populated of: 8000 French and driven out Cajuns the North-East by the British troops .
The dukes of Orleans almost never came in their city. As brothers or cousins of the king, they belonged to its Court and on little the occasion to leave it. Officially their castle was that of Blois. The duchy of Orleans was vastest of all. It began with Arpajon, continued with Chartres, Vendôme, Blois, Vierzon, Montargis. The son of the duke carried the title of duke of Chartres. The heritages of big families and the marriages theirs made it possible to accumulate a colossal richness. One said Philippe Égalité which he was the richest man of the world. His/her son Louis-Philippe Ier accepted in heritage fortunes of Penthièvres and the Cops.
XIXe century
1852 it is the creation of the railway Companies Paris-Orleans and its famous Gare of Orsay.
At the time of the war against the Prussians in 1870, the city is still presented in the form of an strategic issue geographically. The October 13rd 1870, the city is occupied by the Prussians. The army of the Loire is made up under the orders of the general of Aurelle de Paladines and is based in Beauce near the city ( to see the article Bataille of Orleans ).
XXe century
The last great rising of the Loire took place on October 20th 1907.
During the second world war, the Nazis make station of Orleans Fleury-les-Aubrais a central station for their railway logistics. The bridge Georges V is renamed “bridge of the Turrets”. A camp of transit on the way of the deportation is built with Beaune-the-Rolande. With the Release, the United States Air Force intensely bombards the city and the station. The damage is very important. The rebuildings of the post-war period made him lose its middle-class and eclectic elegance, although the street Royale and its arcades were rebuilt with the identical one. Thereafter, nearly 12.000 American soldiers and their family lived in Orleans or in its suburbs, the last quota leaving the places in spring 1967.
The big city of formerly is a medium-sized city today of: 250000 inhabitants with his agglomeration. It knew once more to benefit from its strategic position to attract many companies interested by the reduction of the costs of transport which a city offers to the center of France located at less than one hour of the capital.
See too
Related articles
External documentation
Bibliography :external Bonds :
- History of the town of Orleans (personal site)
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