France

The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia was an ethnic Basque duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the modern region of Gascony. The Duchy of Gascony, then known as Vasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed to hold sway over the Basques. However, the duchy went through different periods, from its early years with its distinctively Basque element to the merger in personal union with the Duchy of Aquitaine to the later period as a dependency of the Plantagenet kings of England.

Gascony was under continuous English rule for approximately 300 years, from 1152 to 1453. Charles VII of France reconquered the territory as a final act of the Hundred Years' War and the northern part of the territory was annexed by the Kingdom of France in 1453. The corresponding portion within the Iberian Peninsula became the Kingdom of Navarre.

Among the people who have borne Carolingian Counts the title of Count of Poitiers (French: Comte de Poitiers, Latin: Comes Pictaviensis; or Poitou, in what is now France but in the Middle Ages became part of Aquitaine) are:

• Bodilon
• Warinus (638–677), son of Bodilon
• Hatton (735–778)
• Bernard I [fr] (814–828)
• Renaud (795–843)
• Bernard II (840–844)
• Emenon or Emeno (828 – 839), brother of Bernard II
• Ranulph I (839–866)
• Ranulph II (866–890), son of Ranulph I
• William I, Duke of Aquitaine
• William II, Duke of Aquitaine
• Ebalus (or Ebles Manzer) (890–892) (illegitimate son of Ranulph II) (first reign– 890–893) (second reign– 902–935)
• Aymar (892–902) (son of Emenon)
• Ebalus (or Ebles Manzer) (restored) (902–935)
• William III (935–963)
• William IV (963–995)
• William V (969–1030)
• William VI (1030–1038)
• Odo (Eudes) (1038–1039)
• William VII (1039–1058)
• William VI (1058–1086)
• William VII (1071–1126)
• William VIII (1099–1137)
• Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine
  • Louis VII of France (1137–1152) obtained title through marriage to Eleanor
  • Henry II of England (1152, 1156–1189) obtained title through marriage to Eleanor
• William, styled Count of Poitiers (1153–1156) son of Eleanor and Henry II of England
• Richard I (1169–1196) son of Eleanor and Henry II of England
• Otto (1196–1198)
• Richard I again (1198–1199)
• Richard II (1224) younger brother of Henry III of England
• Alphonse I (1220–1271) son of Louis VIII of France
• Philip I (1293–1322)
• John I (1319–1364)
• John II (1340–1416) son of John I
• John III (1398–1417) son of Charles VI of France
• Charles (1403–1461)
• Francis (r. 1695–1715)

The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain.

The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Brabant and Hainaut, it was within the territory of the Kingdom of France. The counts of Flanders held the most northerly part of the kingdom, and were among the original twelve peers of France. For centuries, the economic activity of the Flemish cities, such as Ghent, Bruges and Ypres, made Flanders one of the most affluent regions in Europe, and also gave them strong international connections to trading partners.

Up to 1477, the core area under French suzerainty was west of the Scheldt and historians call this "Royal Flanders" (Dutch: Kroon-Vlaanderen, French: Flandre royale). Aside from this, the counts, from the 11th century onward, held land east of the river as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire, and this is referred to as "Imperial Flanders" (Rijks-Vlaanderen or Flandre impériale). From 1384, the county was politically united to the Duchy of Burgundy, and it formed the starting point for more acquisitions in the area, and the eventual creation of the Burgundian Netherlands. The expansion of Flemish ("Burgundian") power deep into the Holy Roman Empire further complicated the relationship between Flanders and France, but reinforced the connections with Brabant, Hainaut, Holland and other parts of the Low Countries. The link to the empire was strengthened even more when the Burgundian Netherlands came into the hands of the imperial Habsburg dynasty in 1477. Most of Flanders became part of the empire after the Peace of Madrid in 1526 and the Peace of the Ladies in 1529, although it came to be ruled under the Habsburg crown of Spain. The territories of the old county are now the only part of the late medieval French kingdom outside of modern-day France, Catalonia having been renounced in 1258.

The Angevin Empire (/ˈændʒɪvɪn/; French: Empire Plantagenêt) was the collection of territories held by the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly all of present-day England, half of France, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and claiming overlordship and some influence over the remaining parts of Wales, Scotland and Ireland. It may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy. The empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey as duke of Normandy and count of Anjou (from the latter of which the term Angevin is derived). Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, acquiring the Duchy of Aquitaine, and inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen in 1154. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou and at Chinon in Touraine.

The influence and power of the Angevin kings of England brought them into conflict with the kings of France of the House of Capet, to whom they also owed feudal homage for their French possessions, bringing in a period of rivalry between the dynasties. Despite the extent of Angevin rule, Henry's son King John was defeated in the Anglo-French War (1213–1214) by Philip II of France following the Battle of Bouvines. John lost control of most of his continental possessions, apart from Guyenne and Gascony in southern Aquitaine. This defeat set the scene for further conflicts between England and France, leading up to the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453), in which the Plantagenets re-established dominion over much of western, central, and northern France before losing their possessions again, this time permanently.

The Capetian dynasty (/kəˈpiːʃən/ kə-PEE-shən; French: Capétiens/ka.pe.sjɛ̃/), also known as the House of France (French: La Maison de France), is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians agnatically, and the Carolingians through female lines. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Capet, the founder of the dynasty, and his male-line descendants, who ruled in France without interruption from 987 to 1792, and again from 1814 to 1848. The senior line from the House of Capet ruled in France from the election of Hugh Capet in 987 until the death of Charles IV in 1328. That line was succeeded by cadet branches, first the House of Valois, and succeeding them the House of Bourbon, which ruled until the French Revolution abolished the monarchy in 1792 and tried and executed King Louis XVI in 1793. The Bourbons were restored in 1814 in the aftermath of Napoleon's defeat, but had to vacate the throne again in 1830 in favor of the last Capetian monarch of France, Louis Philippe I, who belonged to the House of Orléans, a cadet branch of the Bourbons. Cadet branches of the Capetian House of Bourbon are still reigning over Spain and Luxembourg.

The dynasty had a crucial role in the formation of the French state. From a power base initially confined to their own demesne, the Île-de-France, the Capetian kings slowly but steadily increased their power and influence until it grew to cover the entirety of their realm. For a detailed narration on the growth of French royal power, see Crown lands of France. Members of the dynasty were traditionally Catholic, and the early Capetians had an alliance with the Church. The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of five Crusader kings – Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII, Louis IX, and Philip III. The Capetian alliance with the papacy suffered a severe blow after the disaster of the Aragonese Crusade. Philip III's son and successor, Philip IV, arrested Pope Boniface VIII and brought the papacy under French control. The later Valois, starting with Francis I, ignored religious differences and allied with the Ottoman sultan to counter the growing power of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry IV was a Protestant at the time of his accession, but realized the necessity of conversion after four years of religious warfare.

Linguistic purism or linguistic protectionism is a concept with two common meanings: one with respect to foreign languages and the other with respect to the internal variants of a language (dialects).The first meaning is the historical trend of the users of a language desiring to conserve intact the language's lexical structure of word families, in opposition to foreign influence which are considered 'impure'. The second meaning is the prescriptive practice of determining and recognizing one linguistic variety (dialect) as being purer or of intrinsically higher quality than other related varieties.

The perceived or actual decline identified by the purists may take the form of a change of vocabulary, syncretism of grammatical elements, or loanwords. The unwanted similarity is often with a neighboring language the speakers of which are culturally or politically dominant. The ideal may invoke logic, clarity, or the grammar of classic languages. It is often presented as a conservative measure, as a protection of a language from the encroachment of other languages or of the conservation of the national Volksgeist, but is often innovative in defining a new standard. It is sometimes part of governmental language policy that is enforced in various ways.

Miao is a word used in modern China to designate a category of ethnic groups living in southern China and Mainland Southeast Asia. The Miao are the largest ethnic minority group in China without an autonomous region. The Miao live primarily in the mountains of southern China encompassing the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, migrated out of China into Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Northern Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand). Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States, France, and Australia.

Miao is a Chinese term referring to many groups that have their own autonyms such as Hmong, Hmu, Xong (Qo-Xiong), and A-Hmao. These people (except those in Hainan) speak Hmongic languages, a subfamily of the Hmong–Mien languages (Miao-Yao) including many mutually unintelligible languages such as the mother tongues of the four primary groups that make up the Miao: Hmong, Hmub, Xong and A-Hmao.

The Palace of Versailles (/vɛərˈsaɪ, vɜːrˈsaɪ/ vair-SY, vur-SY; French: château de Versailles [ʃɑto d(ə) vɛʁsɑj] ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about 18 kilometres (11 mi) west of the city centre of Paris, in the Yvelines department of Île-de-France region in France.

The palace is owned by the government of France and since 1995 has been managed, under the direction of the French Ministry of Culture, by the Public Establishment of the Palace, Museum and National Estate of Versailles. About 15,000,000 people visit the palace, park, or gardens of Versailles every year, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.

Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing styles of architecture in most of Europe for the previous two centuries, Renaissance architecture and Baroque architecture, already represented partial revivals of the Classical architecture of ancient Rome and ancient Greek architecture, but the Neoclassical movement aimed to strip away the excesses of Late Baroque and return to a purer, more complete, and more authentic classical style, adapted to modern purposes.

The development of archaeology and published accurate records of surviving classical buildings was crucial in the emergence of Neoclassical architecture. In many countries, there was an initial wave essentially drawing on Roman architecture, followed, from about the start of the 19th century, by a second wave of Greek Revival architecture. This followed increased understanding of Greek survivals. As the 19th century continued, the style tended to lose its original rather austere purity in variants like the French Empire style. The term "neoclassical" is often used very loosely for any building using some of the classical architectural vocabulary.