France Timeline
Below is a timeline of the history of France, to help put the country's many historical and religious sights into context.
| 15,000 BC | Cave paintings first appear in France (see Lascaux Caves) |
| 4000-2500 BC | Neolithic revolution |
| 58-51 BC | Caesar's Gallic Wars |
| 43 AD | Lyon becomes capital of the Gauls |
| 100-200 AD | Christianity arrives in Gaul |
| 300s AD | Barbarian invaders: Franks, Vandals, and Visigoths |
| 482 | Clovis I becomes king of the Franks |
| 482-751 | Merovingian Dynasty |
| 486 | Clovis converts to Catholic Christianity |
| 573 | Gregory becomes bishop of Tours |
| c. 575-591 | Gregory of Tours writes the Historia Francorum, a valuable source for French history |
| 599-600 | Pope Gregory the Great criticizes Bishop Serenus of Marseille's destruction of images, saying that pictures are useful for educating the illiterate. |
| 732 | Charles Martel stops the advance of Muslim invaders in the Battle of Tours |
| 751-987 | Carolingian Dynasty |
| 751 | Pepin the Short is elected king of the Franks |
| 755 | Franks protect the church against Lombards and create the papal states |
| 768-814 | Charlemagne reigns as king of the Franks (see Aachen Cathedral) |
| 790-792 | Charlemagne's court produces the Libri Carolini in response to the Byzantine iconoclastic controversy |
| 800 | Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III |
| 910 | Abbey of Cluny founded |
| 987-1328 | Capetian Dynasty |
| 1066 | William of Normandy invades England; Battle of Hastings (see Caen in Normandy; Battle Abbey in England) |
| 1095 | Pope Urban II calls for the First Crusade |
| 1120 | St. Denis Basilica is rebuilt, marking the birth of Gothic architecture |
| 1189-92 | Third Crusade |
| 1194 | Major fire at Chartres Cathedral; only the west front and crypt survive. Rebuilding begins immediately in the Gothic style. |
| 1202 | Fourth Crusade |
| 1209 | Pope Innocent III calls for Albigensian Crusade against Cathar heretics in southern France |
| 1260 | The new Chartres Cathedral is consecrated |
| 1305-1378 | Avignon Papacy |
| 1337-1443 | Hundred Years' War |
| 1494-1559 | France and Austria at war over Italian territories |
| 1519 | Leonardo da Vinci dies in the arms of King Francois I |
| 1562-98 | Wars of Religion (Protestant vs. Catholic) |
| 1572 | St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in Paris (Protestants killed) |
| 1589-93 | King Henry IV adopts Catholicism, ending Wars of Religion |
| 1643-1715 | Reign of King Louis XIV, the "Sun King" |
| 1685 | Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes |
| 1694 | Birth of Voltaire |
| 1769 | Birth of Napoleon Bonaparte in Corsica |
| 1778-83 | French kingdom supports the American Revolution |
| 1789 | French Revolution and issuance of Declaration of the Rights of Man |
| 1792 | Monarchy abolished in France |
| 1793 | King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette executed in Paris for treason |
| 1794 | Ropespierre overthrown, ending the Reign of Terror |
| 1799 | French soldiers discover the Rosetta Stone |
| 1803-15 | Napoleonic Wars expand the French Empire |
| 1804 | Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor Napoleon I |
| 1814 | Napoleon abdicates and goes into exile in Elba |
| 1814-24 | Reign of King Louis XVIII |
| 1815 | Napoleon enters Paris, but is defeated at Waterloo and deported |
| 1824-30 | Reign of Charles X |
| 1830-48 | Reign of Louis Philippe |
| 1852 | Bonaparte's nephew crowned Emperor Napoleon III |
| 1870-71 | Franco-Prussian War |
| 1889 | Eiffel Tower built in Paris |
| 1895 | Lumiere brothers invent a portable movie camera |
| 1914-18 | 1.3 million Frenchmen killed in World War I |
| 1919 | Peace Treaty of Versailles |
| 1929-39 | The Depression |
| 1939 | France declares war on Germany |
| 1939-45 | World War II |
| 1940 | Paris falls to Germany |
| 1944 | Allied forces land at Normandy leading to liberation of France. Charles de Gaulle sets up provisional government. |
| 1956 | End of French colonial rule in Morocco and Tunisia |
| 1962 | End of French colonial rule in Algeria |
| 1969 | Charles de Gaulle leaves office |
| 1995 | Jacques Chirac elected president |
| 2002 | Euro replaces Franc as official currency; Chirac re-elected |
| 2003 | More than 11,000 people die in severe heat wave |
| 2004 | National Assembly backs controversial bill banning overtly religious symbols in state schools |
