80-527: The Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau ("Secret Files of Henri Lobineau"), supposedly compiled by Philippe Toscan du Plantier, is a 27-page document which was deposited in the Bibliothèque nationale de France on 27 April 1967. The document purports to represent a part of the history of the Priory of Sion , and is widely considered to be a forgery created by Pierre Plantard and Philippe de Chérisey . Thirteen of
160-630: A French Gallican Church free of the controls of the popes in Rome. Philip III was the Duke of Burgundy at the time that Louis came to the throne, and was keen to initiate a Crusade against the Ottoman Empire . However, he needed funds to organize such an enterprise. Louis XI gave him 400,000 gold crowns for the Crusade in exchange for a number of territories, including Picardy and Amiens . However, Philip's son,
240-494: A catalogue in eight volumes was compiled. Louvois considered the erection of an opulent building to host it on what would become the Place Vendôme , a project that was however left unexecuted following the minister's death in 1691. The library opened to the public in 1692, under the administration of Abbott Camille le Tellier de Louvois , the minister's son. The Abbé Louvois was succeeded by Jean-Paul Bignon , who in 1721 seized
320-564: A complete reform of the library's system. Catalogues were made which appeared from 1739 to 1753 in 11 volumes. The collections increased steadily by purchase and gift to the outbreak of the French Revolution , at which time it was in grave danger of partial or total destruction, but owing to the activities of Antoine-Augustin Renouard and Joseph Van Praet it suffered no injury. The library's collections swelled to over 300,000 volumes during
400-510: A copy of any book in France in the National Library. Napoleon furthermore increased the collections by spoil from his conquests. A considerable number of these books were restored after his downfall. During the period from 1800 to 1836, the library was virtually under the control of Joseph Van Praet. At his death it contained more than 650,000 printed books and some 80,000 manuscripts. Following
480-719: A digitized copy of Scenes of Bohemian Life by Henri Murger (1913) became Gallica's millionth document. In February 2019, the five millionth document was a copy of the manuscript "Record of an Unsuccessful Trip to the West Indies" stored in the Bibliothèque Inguimbertine and on 30 March 2023 the ten millionth document was added. As of 2024 , Gallica had made available online approximately 10 million documents : Most of Gallica's collections of texts have been converted into text format using optical character recognition (OCR-processing), which allows full-text search in
560-514: A few months later, on 22 June that year, at Murten . The duke was killed at the Battle of Nancy on 5 January 1477, an event that marked the end of the Burgundian Wars . Louis was thus able to see the destruction of his sworn enemy. Those lords who still favored the feudal system gave in to his authority. Others, such as Jacques d'Armagnac, Duke of Nemours , were executed. The lands belonging to
640-462: A fox who will eat his chickens." In 1461, Louis learned that his father was dying. He hurried to Reims to be crowned, in case his brother, Charles, Duke of Berry , should try to do the same. Louis XI became King of France on 22 July 1461. Louis pursued many of the same goals that his father had, such as limiting the powers of the dukes and barons of France, with consistently greater success. Among other initiatives, Louis instituted reforms to make
720-514: A full city block in Paris, surrounded by rue de Richelieu (west), rue des Petits-Champs (south), rue Vivienne [ fr ] (east), and rue Colbert [ fr ] (north). There are two entrances, respectively on 58, rue de Richelieu and 5, rue Vivienne. This site was the main location of the library for 275 years, from 1721 to 1996. It now hosts the BnF Museum as well as facilities of
800-520: A large sum of money. The English renounced their claim to French lands such as Normandy , and the Hundred Years' War could be said to be finally over. Louis bragged that although his father had driven the English out by force of arms, he had driven them out by force of pâté , venison , and good French wine . Just as his father had done, Louis spent most of his reign dealing with political disputes with
880-412: A net of postal relays all over France, which was a precursor to the modern French postal service . Louis developed his kingdom by encouraging trade fairs and the building and maintenance of roads. Louis XI pursued the organization of the kingdom of France with the assistance of bourgeois officials. In some respects, Louis XI perfected the framework of the modern French Government which was to last until
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#1732892069927960-427: A period of development that made it the largest and richest collection of books in the world. He was succeeded by his son who was replaced, when executed for treason, by Jérôme Bignon , the first of a line of librarians of the same name. Under de Thou, the library was enriched by the collections of Queen Catherine de Medici . The library grew rapidly during the reigns of Louis XIII and Louis XIV , due in great part to
1040-463: A predetermined attitude to hate his wife, but it is universally agreed that Louis entered the ceremony and the marriage itself dutifully, as evidenced by his formal embrace of Margaret upon their first meeting. Louis's marriage with Margaret resulted from the nature of medieval royal diplomacy and the precarious position of the French monarchy at the time. The wedding ceremony—very plain by the standards of
1120-628: A process during which many treasures were lost. Henry IV had it moved to the Collège de Clermont in 1595, a year after the expulsion of the Jesuits from their establishment. In 1604, the Jesuits were allowed to return and the collection was moved to the Cordeliers Convent , then in 1622 to the nearby Confrérie de Saint-Côme et de Saint-Damien [ fr ] on the rue de la Harpe . The appointment of Jacques Auguste de Thou as librarian initiated
1200-653: A sarcastic allusion to the successful TGV high-speed rail system). After the move of the major collections from the Rue de Richelieu , the National Library of France was inaugurated on 15 December 1996. As of 2016 , the BnF contains roughly 14 million books at its four Parisian sites (Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand, Richelieu, Arsenal , and Opéra ) as well as printed documents, manuscripts, prints, photographs, maps and plans, scores, coins, medals, sound documents, video and multimedia documents, and scenery elements. The library retains
1280-531: A series of regime changes in France, it became the Imperial National Library and in 1868 was moved to newly constructed buildings on the Rue de Richelieu designed by Henri Labrouste . Upon Labrouste's death in 1875 the library was further expanded, including the grand staircase and the Oval Room, by academic architect Jean-Louis Pascal . In 1896, the library was still the largest repository of books in
1360-590: A serious threat to royal authority. Louis was forced to retreat to Paris, but was "by no means trounced". In fact, before his final defeat, "[Louis's]...military strength, combined with antipathy of the masses for great lords, won him the support of the citizens of Paris." This was a great learning experience for Louis. James Cleugh notes: Like other strong-minded boys, he had found at last he could not carry all before him by mere bluster. Neither as prince nor as king did he ever forget his lesson. He never acted on pure impulse, without reflection, though to his life’s end he
1440-575: A short-lived revolt known as the Praguerie in 1440. The king forgave his rebellious vassals, including Louis, to whom he entrusted the management of the Dauphiné , then a province in southeastern France. Louis's ceaseless intrigues, however, led his father to banish him from court. From the Dauphiné, Louis led his own political establishment and married Charlotte of Savoy , daughter of Louis, Duke of Savoy , against
1520-405: A weakling, and despised him for this. On 24 June 1436, Louis met Margaret , daughter of King James I of Scotland , the bride his father had chosen for diplomatic reasons. There are no direct accounts from Louis or his young bride of their first impressions of each other, and it is mere speculation whether they actually had negative feelings for each other. Several historians think that Louis had
1600-531: Is organised: Gallica is the digital library for online users of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and its partners. It was established in October 1997. Today it has more than six million digitized materials of various types: books, magazines, newspapers, photographs, cartoons, drawings, prints, posters, maps, manuscripts, antique coins, scores, theater costumes and sets, audio and video materials. All library materials are freely available. On 10 February 2010,
1680-406: Is recorded by the courtier Philippe de Commines in his memoirs of the period. Louis made a habit of surrounding himself with valuable advisers of humble origins, such as Commines himself, Olivier Le Daim , Louis Tristan L'Hermite , and Jean Balue . Louis was anxious to speed up everything, transform everything, and build his own new world. In recognition of all the changes that Louis XI made to
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#17328920699271760-550: Is the national repository of all that is published in France. Some of its extensive collections, including books and manuscripts but also precious objects and artworks, are on display at the BnF Museum (formerly known as the Cabinet des Médailles ) on the Richelieu site. The National Library of France is a public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture . Its mission
1840-402: Is to constitute collections, especially the copies of works published in France that must, by law, be deposited there, conserve them, and make them available to the public. It produces a reference catalogue, cooperates with other national and international establishments, as well as participates in research programs. The National Library of France traces its origin to the royal library founded at
1920-475: The Gruthuyse collection and with plunder from Milan . Francis I transferred the collection in 1534 to Fontainebleau and merged it with his private library. During his reign, fine bindings became the craze and many of the books added by him and Henry II are masterpieces of the binder's art. Under librarianship of Jacques Amyot , the collection was transferred to Paris and then relocated on several occasions,
2000-494: The Hundred Years' War . With the death of Charles the Bold at the Battle of Nancy in 1477, the dynasty of the dukes of Burgundy died out. Louis took advantage of the situation to seize numerous Burgundian territories, including Burgundy itself and Picardy . Without direct foreign threats, Louis was able to eliminate his rebellious vassals, expand royal power, and strengthen the economic development of his country. He died in 1483, and
2080-567: The Italic League —the combination of the five major powers of Italy that had been born out of the Treaty of Lodi of 1454—was constantly undergoing internal realignments. Both Louis XI and his father Charles VII had been too busy with their struggles with Burgundy to pay much attention to political affairs smoldering in Italy. Additionally, Louis had his attention drawn away from Italy by disagreements with
2160-627: The Louvre Palace by Charles V in 1368. Charles had received a collection of manuscripts from his predecessor, John II , and transferred them to the Louvre from the Palais de la Cité . The first librarian of record was Claude Mallet, the king's valet de chambre, who made a sort of catalogue, Inventoire des Livres du Roy nostre Seigneur estans au Chastel du Louvre . Jean Blanchet made another list in 1380 and Jean de Bégue one in 1411 and another in 1424. Charles V
2240-500: The Papacy , and the Kingdom of Naples . Beside these five great regional powers, there were about a dozen smaller states in Italy that were constantly changing policies and shifting alliances between and towards the various regional powers. The city/state of Genoa and the rising state of Savoy , which centered on the city of Turin , were examples of these lesser powers in northern Italy. Even
2320-607: The Siege of Beauvais was lifted on 22 July 1472, and Charles finally sued for peace. Philippe de Commines was then welcomed into the service of King Louis. In 1469, Louis founded the Order of St. Michael , probably in imitation of the prestigious Burgundian Order of the Golden Fleece , founded by Charles' father Philip the Good, just as King John II of France had founded the now defunct Order of
2400-479: The Siege of Orléans , which initiated a turning point for the French in the Hundred Years War. Joan later led troops in other victories at the Battle of Jargeau and the Battle of Patay . Paris was recaptured after her death, and Louis and his father were able to ride in triumph into the city on 12 November 1437. Nevertheless, Louis grew up aware of the continuing weakness of France. He regarded his father as
2480-714: The Wars of the Roses . Louis had an interest in this war, for the Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold, was allied with the Yorkists who opposed King Henry VI . When the Earl of Warwick fell out with the Yorkist King Edward IV , after helping Edward attain his throne, Louis granted Warwick refuge in France. Through Louis's diplomacy, Warwick then formed an alliance with his bitter enemy Margaret of Anjou in order to restore her husband Henry VI to
Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-424: The tour de la Trésorerie . Despite frequent summons by the king, the two would never meet again. In Dauphiné, Louis ruled as king in all but name, continuing his intrigues against his father. On 14 February 1451, Louis, who had been widowed for six years, made a strategic marriage to the eight-year-old Charlotte of Savoy , without Charles' consent. This marriage was to have long-ranging effects on foreign policy as
2640-533: The 27 pages of the document are taken from another document attributed to "Henri Lobineau" dating from 1964, also thought to have been authored by Plantard, called Généalogie des Rois Mérovingiens ("Genealogy of the Merovingian Kings"). This document contains genealogy diagrams which apparently show Plantard to be a descendant of the Merovingian king Dagobert II . Dossiers Secrets d'Henri Lobineau comprises
2720-534: The BnF, the library of the Institut National d'Histoire de l'Art (in the Saller Labrouste since 2016), and the library of the École Nationale des Chartes . It was comprehensively renovated in the 2010s and early 2020s on a design by architects Bruno Gaudin [ fr ] and Virginie Brégal. On 14 July 1988, President François Mitterrand announced "the construction and the expansion of one of
2800-509: The Burgundian governor. Charles was furious. Philippe de Commines, at that time in the service of the duke of Burgundy, had to calm him down with the help of the duke's other advisors for fear that he might hit the king. Louis was forced into a humiliating treaty. He gave up many of the lands he had acquired from Philip the Good, turned on his erstwhile allies in Liège and swore to help Charles put down
2880-502: The Duchy of Burgundy as constituted by Louis's great-great-grandfather John II for the benefit of his son Philip the Bold reverted to the crown of France. The marriage on 14 February 1451 between 28-year-old Louis and the 8-year-old Charlotte of Savoy was the true beginning of French involvement in the affairs of Italy. The Italian peninsula was a compact and politically competitive space dominated by five powers: Venice , Milan , Florence ,
2960-630: The Duke of Burgundy. In January 1478, he signed a favorable treaty with the Republic of Venice . French involvement in the affairs of Italy would be carried to new levels by Louis XI's son Charles VIII in 1493, when he answered an appeal for help from Ludovico Sforza , the younger son of Francesco Sforza, that led to an invasion of Italy. This would become a significant turning point in Italian political history. Louis XI, having suffered from bouts of apoplexy and years of illness, died on 30 August, 1483, and
3040-461: The English out of France, which was at a low point in its struggles. Just a few weeks after Louis's christening at the Cathedral of St. Étienne on 4 July 1423, the French army suffered a crushing defeat by the English at Cravant . Shortly thereafter, a combined Anglo-Burgundian army briefly raided Bourges itself. During the reign of Louis's grandfather Charles VI (1380–1422), the Duchy of Burgundy
3120-551: The French Revolution. Thus, Louis XI is one of the first modern kings of France who helped take it out of the Middle Ages . Louis XI was very superstitious and surrounded himself with astrologers . Interested in science, he once pardoned a man sentenced to death on condition that he serve as a test subject for a gallstone operation. Through wars and guile, Louis XI overcame France's mostly independent feudal lords, and at
3200-463: The French people." A new administrative organization was established. Napoleon took great interest in the library and among other things issued an order that all books in provincial libraries not possessed by the Bibliothèque Nationale should be forwarded to it, subject to replacement by exchanges of equal value from the duplicate collections, making it possible, as Napoleon said, to find
3280-515: The French. However, with the downfall of Burgundy in 1477, France was seen in a new light by Milan, which now hurriedly repaired its relationship with Louis XI. Likewise, France's old enemy King Ferdinand I of Naples began to seek a marriage alliance between the Kingdom of Naples and France. Louis XI also opened new friendly relations with the Papal States, forgetting the past devotion of the popes for
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3360-604: The Memory in the World ), a 1956 short film about the library and its collections. 48°50′01″N 2°22′33″E / 48.83361°N 2.37583°E / 48.83361; 2.37583 Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called " Louis the Prudent " (French: le Prudent ), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII . Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in
3440-506: The Star in imitation of the Order of the Garter of King Edward III of England . In both cases, a French king appears to have been motivated to found an order of chivalry to increase the prestige of the French royal court by the example of his chief political adversary. At the same time that France and Burgundy were fighting each other, England was experiencing a bitter civil conflict now known as
3520-465: The Universal Spider " (Middle French: l'universelle aragne ), as his enemies accused him of spinning webs of plots and conspiracies. In 1472, the subsequent Duke of Burgundy, Charles the Bold , took up arms against his rival Louis. However, Louis was able to isolate Charles from his English allies by signing the Treaty of Picquigny (1475) with Edward IV of England . The treaty formally ended
3600-466: The beginning of French involvement in the affairs of the Italian peninsula. Finally, in August 1456, Charles sent an army to Dauphiné under the command of Antoine de Chabannes . Louis fled to Burgundy , where he was granted refuge by Duke Philip the Good and settled in the castle of Genappe . King Charles was furious when Philip refused to hand over Louis and warned the duke that he was "giving shelter to
3680-553: The controversial 1982 publication of Holy Blood, Holy Grail . Elements of this work were later used by Dan Brown as sources for his successful novel The Da Vinci Code . Biblioth%C3%A8que nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France ( French: [biblijɔtɛk nɑsjɔnal də fʁɑ̃s] ; 'National Library of France'; BnF ) is the national library of France , located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as Richelieu and François-Mitterrand . It
3760-399: The disposition of the "Burgundian inheritance" left to Mary of Burgundy finally allowed Louis XI to turn his attention to Italy. Viewed from the Italian states, the death of the Duke of Burgundy in 1477 and the resultant downfall of his duchy as a threat to the French throne signalled vast changes in the states' relationships with the kingdom of France. Despite his connection by marriage to
3840-461: The following material (along with the 13 pages taken from Généalogie des Rois Mérovingiens ): The documents were used as source material by Henry Lincoln (who appeared to be unaware that they were disputed as forgeries) for a series of BBC Two documentaries in the 1970s. Lincoln and two co-authors, Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent , again used the Dossiers Secrets as source material for
3920-590: The future Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (known as the Count of Charolais at the time of Louis's accession) was angry about this transaction, feeling that he was being deprived of his inheritance. He joined a rebellion called the League of the Public Weal , led by Louis's brother Charles, the Duke of Berry . Although the rebels were largely unsuccessful in battle, Louis had no better luck. Louis XI fought an indecisive battle against
4000-399: The government bureaucracy, and increased the demand on other offices within the government in order to promote efficiency. Louis spent a large part of his kingship on the road. Travelling from town to town in his kingdom, Louis would surprise local officials, investigate local governments, establish fairs, and promote trade regulations. Perhaps the most significant contribution of Louis XI to
4080-523: The government of France, he has the reputation of a leading "civil reformer" in French history, and his reforms were in the interests of the rising trading and mercantile classes that would later become the bourgeoisie of France. Louis XI also involved himself in the affairs of the Church in France. In October 1461, Louis abolished the Pragmatic Sanction that his father had instituted in 1438 to establish
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#17328920699274160-515: The interest of Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert , himself a dedicated collector of books. The site in the Rue de la Harpe becoming inadequate, the library was again moved, in 1666, to two adjacent houses in Rue Vivienne. After Colbert, Louis XIV's minister Louvois also took interest in the library and employed Jean Mabillon , Melchisédech Thévenot , and others to procure books from every source. In 1688,
4240-405: The kingdom. Even at this time, Charles was taken aback by the intelligence and temper of his son. During this tour, Louis was named Dauphin of France by Charles, as was traditional for the eldest son of the king. The beautiful and cultured Margaret was popular at the court of France, but her marriage to Louis was not a happy one, in part because of his strained relations with her father-in-law, who
4320-401: The largest and most modern libraries in the world, intended to cover all fields of knowledge, and designed to be accessible to all, using the most modern data transfer technologies, which could be consulted from a distance, and which would collaborate with other European libraries". Due to initial trade union opposition, a wireless network was fully installed only in August 2016. In July 1989,
4400-557: The library materials. Each document has a digital identifier, the so-called ARK ( Archival Resource Key ) of the National Library of France and is accompanied by a bibliographic description. Raoul Rigault , leader during the Paris Commune in 1871, was known for habitually occupying the library and reading endless copies of the newspaper Le Père Duchesne . Alain Resnais directed Toute la mémoire du monde ( transl. All
4480-530: The opportunity of the collapse of John Law 's Mississippi Company . The company had been relocated by Law into the former palace of Cardinal Mazarin around Hôtel Tubeuf , and its failure freed significant space in which the Library would expand (even though the Hotel Tubeuf itself would remain occupied by French East India Company and later by France's financial bureaucracy until the 1820s). Bignon also instituted
4560-554: The organization of the modern state of France was his development of the system of royal postal roads in 1464. In this system, relays at instant service to the king operated on all the high roads of France; this communications network spread all across France and led to the king acquiring his nickname "Universal Spider". As king, Louis became extremely prudent fiscally, whereas he had previously been lavish and extravagant. He wore rough and simple clothes and mixed with ordinary people and merchants. A candid account of some of his activities
4640-531: The past. The duchy now faced many problems and revolts in its territories, especially from the people of Liège , who conducted the Liège Wars against the Duke of Burgundy. In the Liège Wars, Louis XI allied himself at first with the people of Liège. In 1468, Louis and Charles met at Péronne , but during the course of negotiations, they learned that the citizens of Liège had again risen up against Charles and killed
4720-625: The radical phase of the French Revolution when the private libraries of aristocrats and clergy were seized. After the establishment of the French First Republic in September 1792, "the Assembly declared the Bibliothèque du Roi to be national property and the institution was renamed the Bibliothèque Nationale . After four centuries of control by the Crown, this great library now became the property of
4800-439: The rebels at Montlhéry and was forced to grant an unfavourable peace as a matter of political expediency. When the Count of Charolais became Duke of Burgundy in 1467 as Charles I ("the Bold"), he seriously considered declaring an independent kingdom of his own. However, Louis's progress toward a strong centralized government had advanced to the point where the dukes of Burgundy could no longer act as independently as they had in
4880-508: The reigning Duke of Burgundy, and for this purpose he employed the Swiss, whose military might was renowned. He had admired it himself at the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs . War broke out between Charles and the Swiss after he invaded Switzerland. The invasion proved to be a tremendous mistake. On 2 March 1476, the Swiss attacked and defeated the Burgundians first at Grandson and then again
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#17328920699274960-556: The royal house of Savoy, Louis XI continuously courted a strong relationship with Francesco I Sforza , the Duke of Milan, who was a traditional enemy of Savoy. As a confirmation of the close relationship between Milan and the king of France, Sforza sent his son Galeazzo Maria Sforza to aid Louis XI in his war against the League of Public Weal in 1465 at the head of a large army. Later, differences arose between France and Milan that caused Milan to seek ways of separating itself from dependence on
5040-475: The rulers of England and his struggles with Maximilian of Austria , who married the heir of Charles the Bold, Mary of Burgundy , and wanted to keep her territorial inheritance intact. However, the death of the Duke of Burgundy in 1477, which conclusively settled the issue of Burgundy's position under the French throne, the conclusion of the Treaty of Picquigny with England in 1475 and the peaceful resolution in 1482 of
5120-527: The services of the architectural firm of Dominique Perrault were retained. The design was recognized with the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 1996. The construction was carried out by Bouygues . Construction of the library ran into huge cost overruns and technical difficulties related to its high-rise design, so much so that it was referred to as the "TGB" or " Très Grande Bibliothèque " ( lit. ' Very Large Library ' ,
5200-427: The tax system more efficient. He suppressed many of his former co-conspirators, who had thought him their friend, and he appointed to government service many men of no rank, but who had shown promising talent. He particularly favored the associates of the great French merchant Jacques Coeur . He also allowed enterprising nobles to engage in trade without losing their privileges of nobility. He eliminated offices within
5280-406: The territory in France from the North Sea in the north to the Jura Mountains in the south and from the Somme River in the west to the Moselle River in the east. During the Hundred Years War, the Burgundians allied themselves with England against the French crown. In 1429, young Louis found himself at Loches in the presence of Joan of Arc , fresh from her first victory over the English at
5360-401: The throne. The plan worked, and Edward was forced into exile in 1470, but he later returned to England in 1471. Warwick was then killed at the Battle of Barnet in 1471. King Henry VI was soon murdered afterwards. Now the undisputed master of England, Edward invaded France in 1475, but Louis was able to negotiate the Treaty of Picquigny , by which the English army left France in return for
5440-457: The time—took place in the chapel of the castle of Tours on the afternoon of 25 June 1436, and was presided over by Renaud of Chartres, the Archbishop of Reims . The 13-year-old Louis clearly looked more mature than his 11-year-old bride, who was said to resemble a beautiful doll and was treated as such by her in-laws. Charles wore "grey riding pants" and "did not even bother to remove his spurs". The Scottish guests were quickly hustled out after
5520-520: The uprising in Liège. Louis then witnessed a siege of Liège in which hundreds were massacred. However, once out of Charles's reach, Louis declared the treaty invalid, and set about building up his forces. His aim was to destroy Burgundy once and for all. Nothing was more odious to Louis' dream of a centralized monarchy than the existence of an over-mighty vassal such as the Duke of Burgundy. War broke out in 1472. Duke Charles laid siege to Beauvais and other towns. However, these sieges proved unsuccessful;
5600-445: The use of the Rue de Richelieu complex for some of its collections. The Manuscripts department houses the largest collection of medieval and modern manuscripts worldwide. The collection includes medieval chansons de geste and chivalric romances , eastern literature, eastern and western religions, ancient history, scientific history, and literary manuscripts by Pascal, Diderot, Apollinaire, Proust, Colette, Sartre, etc. The collection
5680-503: The wedding reception, as the French royal court was quite impoverished at this time. They simply could not afford an extravagant ceremony or to host their Scottish guests for any longer than they did. The Scots, however, saw this behaviour as an insult to their small but proud country. Following the ceremony, "doctors advised against consummation" because of the relative immaturity of the bride and bridegroom. Margaret continued her studies, and Louis went on tour with Charles to loyal areas of
5760-533: The will of his father. Charles VII sent an army to compel his son to his will, but Louis fled to Burgundy , where he was hosted by Philip the Good , the Duke of Burgundy , Charles' greatest enemy. When Charles VII died in 1461, Louis left the Burgundian court to take possession of his kingdom. His taste for intrigue and his intense diplomatic activity earned him the nicknames " the Cunning " ( Middle French : le rusé ) and "
5840-666: The world, although it has since been surpassed by other libraries for that title. By 1920, the library's collection had grown to 4,050,000 volumes and 11,000 manuscripts. In 2024, the library removed four 19th-century books from its public access, namely two volumes of The Ballads of Ireland published in 1855, a bilingual anthology of Romanian poetry dating from 1856, and book of the Royal Horticultural Society published between 1862 and 1863, after tests indicated that their covers and bindings were coloured using green pigments containing arsenic . The Richelieu site occupies
5920-405: Was a patron of learning and encouraged the making and collection of books. It is known that he employed Nicholas Oresme , Raoul de Presles (conseiller de Charles V) [ fr ] , and others to transcribe ancient texts. At the death of Charles VI , this first collection was unilaterally bought by the English regent of France, the Duke of Bedford , who transferred it to England in 1424. It
6000-448: Was apparently dispersed at his death in 1435. Charles VII did little to repair the loss of these books, but the invention of printing resulted in the starting of another collection in the Louvre inherited by Louis XI in 1461. Charles VIII seized a part of the collection of the kings of Aragon . Louis XII , who had inherited the library at Blois , incorporated the latter into the Bibliothèque du Roi and further enriched it with
6080-727: Was constantly tempted to take such a risk. In 1444, Louis led an army of " écorcheurs " (bands of mercenary soldiers) against the Swiss at the Battle of St. Jakob an der Birs where he sought to reconquer territories of his future brother-in-law, Sigismund of Austria-Tyrol. He won only one victory before suing for peace. He failed to achieve his original objective. He still quarreled with his father. His objectionable scheming, which included disrespectful behavior directed against his father's beloved mistress Agnès Sorel , caused him to be ordered out of court on 27 September 1446 and sent to his own province of Dauphiné . He lived mainly in Grenoble , in
6160-569: Was interred in the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Cléry in Cléry-Saint-André in the Arrondissement of Orléans . His widow, Charlotte, died a few months later, and is interred with him. Louis XI was succeeded by his son Charles VIII, who was thirteen years of age. Louis' eldest daughter, Anne , became regent on Charles' behalf. Eager to obtain information about his enemies, Louis created, from 1464,
6240-533: Was succeeded by his minor son Charles VIII . Louis was born in Bourges on 3 July 1423, the son of King Charles VII of France and Marie of Anjou . At the time of the Hundred Years War , the English held northern France, including the city of Paris, and Charles VII was restricted to the centre and south of the country. Louis was the grandson of Yolande of Aragon , who was a force in the royal family for driving
6320-496: Was very attached to her. She died childless at the age of 20 in 1445. In 1440, Louis, aged 16, took part in an uprising known as the Praguerie , which sought to neutralize Charles and install Louis as regent of France. The uprising failed, and Louis was forced to submit to the king, who chose to forgive him. In this revolt, Louis came under the influence of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon , whose troops were in no condition to mount such
6400-405: Was very much connected with the French throne, but because the central government lacked any real power, all the duchies of France tended to act independently. In its position of independence from the French throne, Burgundy had grown in size and power. By the reign of Louis's father Charles VII, Philip the Good was reigning as duke of Burgundy, and the duchy had expanded its borders to include all
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