161-572: Les Baux-de-Provence ( French pronunciation: [le bo də pʁɔvɑ̃s] ; lit. "Les Baux of Provence "; Provençal : Lei Bauç de Provença ( classical norm ) or Li Baus de Prouvènço ( mistralian norm ) ), commonly referred to simply as Les Baux , is a rural commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southern France . It
322-538: A Legate, Raymond Saquet, Bishop of Saint-Omer, with a fleet commanded by Hugues des Baux. Following this, Louis of Taranto promised to respect Joanna's independence. Shortly after, Louis the Great, seriously injured, returned to his country. In October 1351, Joanna gave birth to her second child with Louis, another daughter, Françoise. Five months later, on 23 March 1352, Louis received Pope Clement VI's formal recognition as his wife's co-ruler in all her realms. On 27 May, Louis
483-618: A Name" ( Ville sans Nom .) In Toulon, the opponents of the Revolution handed the city to a British and Spanish fleet on 28 August 1793. A Revolutionary Army laid siege to the British positions for four months (see the Siege of Toulon ) and finally, the enterprise of the young commander of artillery, Napoleon Bonaparte defeated the British and drove them out in December 1793. About 15,000 royalists escaped with
644-520: A base for a new French Mediterranean fleet. The base was greatly enlarged by Jean-Baptiste Colbert , the minister of Louis XIV, who also commissioned his chief military engineer Vauban to strengthen the fortifications around the city. At the beginning of the 17th century, Provence had a population of about 450,000 people. It was predominantly rural, devoted to raising wheat, wine, and olives, with small industries for tanning, pottery, perfume-making, and ship and boat building. Provençal quilts , made from
805-603: A cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the Cosquer Cave are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC. The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the Neolithic period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that
966-734: A daughter called Catherine. Having learned that Louis the Great abandoned Naples after the outbreak of the Black Death , Joanna, with her husband and newborn daughter, left Avignon on 21 July and stayed in Marseille during 24–28 July, then moved to Sanary-sur-Mer on 30 July, then to the Fort de Brégançon on 31 July and finally arrived in Naples on 17 August 1348. One month after her arrival, she broke her previous promises on 20 September by removing Raymond d'Agoult from his post of Seneschal and appointing in his place
1127-634: A distinct cultural and linguistic identity, particularly in the interior of the region. The region got its name in Roman times, when it was known as Provincia Romana , simply "the Roman province". This name eventually was shortened to Provincia (the province), and as the language evolved from Latin to Provençal , so did the pronunciation and spelling. The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05 million years BC have been found in
1288-514: A formidable reputation. They were said to be descended from the Biblical Magi Balthazar and their coat of arms was a silver star with sixteen branches as a reminder that, according to the Gospel, it guided the three wise men to Bethlehem. Their motto was: "Au hasard, Balthazar" ("To chance, Balthazar"). As a medieval stronghold on the borders of Languedoc , Comtat Venaissin and Provence ,
1449-527: A letter on 1 December to stop discussing Neapolitan issues with the Hungarian envoys. The Pope addressed Andrew as the "illustrious king of Sicily" and urged his coronation in a letter on 19 January 1344, but he soon emphasized Joanna's hereditary right to rule. Five days later, Joanna urged the Pope to withdraw his legate and to authorize her to rule alone. The Pope soon responded, declaring that Joanna would alone rule
1610-672: A prize in the complex rivalries between the Catalan rulers of Barcelona , the kings of Burgundy , the German rulers of the Holy Roman Empire , and the Angevin kings of France. The Bosonids (879–1112) were the descendants of the first king of Provence, Boson. His son, Louis the Blind (890–928), lost his sight trying to win the throne of Italy, after which his cousin, Hugh of Italy (died 947), became
1771-465: A series of small colonies and trading posts along the coast; which later became towns; they founded Citharista ( La Ciotat ); Tauroeis (Le Brusc); Olbia (near Hyères ); Pergantion (Breganson); Caccabaria ( Cavalaire ); Athenopolis ( Saint-Tropez ); Antipolis ( Antibes ); Nikaia ( Nice ), and Monoicos ( Monaco ). They established inland towns at Glanum ( Saint-Remy ) and Mastrabala ( Saint-Blaise ). The most famous citizen of Massalia
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#17328807747161932-556: A son, Charles Martel , Andrew's posthumous child. The infant was proclaimed Duke of Calabria and Prince of Salerno on 11 December 1346 as heir of the Kingdom of Naples. When Joanna took the throne, several lords in northern Italy saw this as an opportunity to expand their territory at her expense. In 1344 John II, Marquess of Montferrat led attacks which conquered her cities of Alessandria, Asti, Tortona, Bra, and Alba. She sent her seneschal , Reforce d'Agoult , to deal with it. He engaged
2093-461: A sort of second mother for the orphaned princesses. Sancia and Philippa were the most influential personalities in the court of Robert who did not make decisions without their consent, according to Boccaccio . Raised in the cultured and refined court of her grandfather, Joanna apparently received no formal education or, if she did, was not very accurate, given that the Angevin documents do not mention
2254-616: A state of autarky with a real trading economy. Over the following centuries the population of the Alpilles consistently decreased: the Greek colony at Arles attracted many people from across the region. In the Middle Ages the area became the stronghold of a feudal domain covering 79 towns and villages. The fortress was built from the 11th to the 13th century over seven hectares. The princes of Les Baux controlled Provence for many years and they gained
2415-599: Is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France , which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var , Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence , as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse . The largest city of
2576-449: Is a permanent show in which large bright images are projected on the stone walls of huge galleries dug into the rock of the Val d'Enfer on the road to Maillane . The wall surface used extends over 4,000 m. Cathédrale d'Images is a fairy and giant slide show in the dark projected on the limestone walls of the quarry where the viewer is immersed in a visual and musical universe. Despite its success,
2737-503: Is located in the Alpilles mountains, northeast of Arles , atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle overlooking the plains to the south. Its name refers to its site: in Provençal, bauç is a rocky spur. From the village name the word bauxite was coined for aluminium ore when first discovered there by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. Until 13 August 1958, the commune
2898-539: Is located in the foothills of the Alpilles in the Parc naturel régional des Alpilles some 22 kilometers south of Avignon and 15 kilometers northeast of Arles . Access to the commune is by the D27 road from Maussane-les-Alpilles in the south which passes through the village and continues north to join the D99 east of Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles . The D5 also comes from Maussane-les-Alpilles in
3059-580: Is part of Alpilles Regional Natural Park. The defensive capabilities of Les Baux have always made it an attractive location for human habitation. Traces of habitation have been found and dated to 6000 BC. in the Costapéra cave which was discovered in 1928 and which houses a collective burial ground from the early Bronze Age . The site was used by the Celts as a fort or oppidum around the 2nd century BC. Peripheral areas or castrum developed very early as evidenced by
3220-487: Is so rocky that you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They climb the mountains like goats." They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th century BC, and they later aided the passage of Hannibal , on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures remain today in the dolmens and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in
3381-597: Is traversed by numerous streams which are called "gaudres". A gaudre (from the Provençal gaudre meaning "small stream") refers to a river often dry in summer and with low flow the rest of the year. The main gaudres in the commune are the Gaudre de Valmouriane with numerous tributaries flowing north to join the Canal du Vigueirat north of Mas-Blanc-des-Alpilles. The Gaudre du Mas de Chevrier also with numerous tributaries flows west to join
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#17328807747163542-547: The Avignon Papacy against Pope Urban VI , who in retaliation declared her a heretic and usurper on 11 May 1380. With all her children having predeceased her, Joanna's heirs were the descendants of her only surviving sister Maria , whose first marriage with their cousin Charles, Duke of Durazzo was performed without her permission, becoming both spouses in the heads of the political faction against Joanna. Trying to reconcile with
3703-653: The Grotte du Vallonnet near Roquebrune-Cap-Martin , between Monaco and Menton . More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at Saint-Estève-Janson ; tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at Terra Amata in Nice. Tools dating to the Middle Paleolithic (300,000 BC) and Upper Paleolithic (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in
3864-845: The House of Orange-Nassau of the Netherlands, who inherited it in 1544 and which was not incorporated into France until 1673. An army of the Catholic League laid siege to the Protestant city of Mėnerbes in the Vaucluse between 1573 and 1578. The wars did not stop until the end of the 16th century, with the consolidation of power in Provence by the Bourbon kings. The semi-independent Parliament of Provence in Aix and some of
4025-621: The Regno (or the Kingdom of Naples). Pope John XXII had ignored Charles's demands for years, but Robert's support for the Spiritual Franciscans (whom the Pope regarded as heretics) and his negligence to pay the yearly tribute to the Holy See gave rise to tensions between Naples and the Papacy. Robert's two younger brothers, Philip I, Prince of Taranto , and John, Duke of Durazzo , could also claim
4186-578: The Regno to strengthen Andrew's position. Before departing from Hungary, Queen Elizabeth collected 21,000 marks of gold and 72,000 marks of silver from the Hungarian treasury, because she was ready to spend a large amount of money to buy the support of the Holy See and the Neapolitan aristocrats for her son. She and her retinue landed at Manfredonia in the summer of 1343. She and her son met at Benevento , but Joanna received her only days later at Somma Vesuviana . When meeting with her mother-in-law, Joanna
4347-535: The Trémaïé . The way from the Les Baux oppidum to the plains north of the Alpilles was by a protohistoric way through the valley of Laval and the town of Glanon which later took the name Glanum . While Protohistory was strongly marked by pastoralism and agriculture in the Alpilles, limestone was also extracted from quarries around Les Baux where a workshop from the end of the 2nd and early 1st centuries BC has been found. In
4508-738: The Vaucluse ; the Cavares in the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the Rhône river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron, silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the Rhône river, and later Etruscan traders visited the coast. Etruscan amphorae from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop oppida in
4669-516: The comte de Mirabeau and figures of the far left such as the Marquis de Sade ; there was also the military figure Charles Barbaroux and the theorist Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836), who instigated the coup of 18 Brumaire which brought Napoleon to power. The revolutionary anthem La Marseillaise despite its origins on the Rhine got its name because revolutionary volunteers from Marseille sang it on
4830-418: The "white mistral" on clear days and the "black mistral", rarer, which is accompanied by rain. The flora in the commune is mainly xerophytic and Mediterranean Phytochorion . The botanist Bernard Girerd counted 800 plant species in 1992. Apart from the olive tree, characteristic of a maussanais landscape, there are also hackberries , small sized Kermes oak , and Shadbush . Protected plant species, such as
4991-504: The 12th century, three Cistercian monasteries were built in remote parts of Provence, far from the political intrigues of the cities. Sénanque Abbey was the first, established in the Luberon between 1148 and 1178. Thoronet Abbey was founded in a remote valley near Draguignan in 1160. Silvacane Abbey , on the Durance river at La Roque-d'Anthéron , was founded in 1175. In the 13th century,
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5152-589: The 15th century after the death of the last princess of Les Baux. The death of Queen Joanna I of Naples led to a crisis of succession to the County of Provence. The cities of the Aix Union (1382–1387) supported Charles, Duke of Durazzo , against Louis I, Duke of Anjou . The King of France, Charles VI , intervened and sent the Seneschal of Beaucaire , Enguerrand d'Eudin, who rallied Guillaume III Roger de Beaufort. Les Baux,
5313-583: The 20th century, Rabbit haemorrhagic disease causing the decline of the species. The scarcity of these animals could pose longer-term problems for the survival of species of birds of prey that feed on them. The commune produces Olive oil of the valley of Les Baux-de-Provence which is protected by the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) by a decree issued by INAO on 27 August 1997. The olive varieties that go into its preparation are: Salonenque, Béruguette, Grossane, and Verdale of Bouches-du-Rhône. Crushed olives and black olives are also produced that fall under
5474-514: The 5th century, Roman power in Provence had vanished, and an age of invasions, wars, and chaos began. There are many legends about the earliest Christians in Provence, but they are difficult to verify. It is documented that there were organised churches and bishops in the Roman towns of Provence as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries; in Arles in 254; Marseille in 314; Orange , Vaison and Apt in 314; Cavaillon , Digne , Embrun , Gap , and Fréjus at
5635-450: The Alpilles: the ocellated lizard which is also considered threatened and protected. There are many mammals in the commune, especially in the valleys. Wild boar abounds and its population is growing. Conversely, the number of hares and rabbits have tended to decrease. The reason seems to be the outbreak of myxomatosis in 1953 that caused havoc in the population, and, since the end of
5796-567: The Alps. Aix Cathedral was built on the site of the old Roman forum, and then rebuilt in the Gothic style in the 13th and 14th centuries. The Church of St. Trophime in Arles was a landmark of Romanesque architecture, built between the 12th and the 15th centuries. A vast fortress-like monastery, Montmajour Abbey , was built on an island just north of Arles and became a major destination for medieval pilgrims. In
5957-682: The British fleet, but five to eight hundred of the 7,000 who remained were shot on the Champ de Mars, and Toulon was renamed "Port la Montagne". The fall of the Montagnards in July 1794 was followed by a new White Terror aimed at the revolutionaries. Calm was not restored until the rise of the Directory to power in 1795. Provence produced some memorable figures in the French Revolution ; both moderates such as
6118-691: The Catalan Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona , who as a result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence. He ruled Provence from 1112 until 1131, and his descendants, the Catalan counts, ruled in Provence until 1246. In 1125, Provence was divided; the part of Provence north and west of the Durance river went to the Count of Toulouse , while the lands between the Durance and the Mediterranean, and from
6279-516: The Catalans (29 June 1357) at Acireale . At the same time, the troops of mercenary Arnaud de Cervole (called the Archpriest ), crossed the Durance on 13 July 1357 and plundered Provence. Philip II of Taranto , Louis' brother (and third husband of Joanna's sister Maria since April 1355), was sent to Provence as Vicar General to fight against the forces that ravaged Provence. He bought the support of
6440-790: The Cathédrale d'images had to stop its activities in Les Baux-de-Provence at the end of 2010 after refusing a Public Service Delegation. The municipal council then entrusted the management of the site to the Culturespaces company who operate under the name of Carrières de Lumières. In 2019, Stefan Szczesny exhibited in the whole village of Les Baux-de-Provence. The German artist, living in Saint-Tropez showed about 30 of his monumental "shadow sculptures" as well as glass sculptures from Murano , ceramics and paintings. Provence Provence
6601-503: The Coast of Provence in the early 7th century. During the late 7th and the early 8th centuries, Provence was formally subject to the Frankish kings of the Merovingian dynasty , but it was in fact ruled by its own regional nobility of Gallo-Roman stock, which ruled themselves according to Roman, not Frankish, law. Actually, the region enjoyed more prestige than the northern Franks had, but the local aristocracy feared Charles Martel 's expansionist ambitions. In 737, Charles Martel headed down
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6762-408: The Durazzo branch and with the purpose to secure her succession, Joanna arranged the marriage of her niece Margaret of Durazzo with her first cousin (and Joanna's second cousin) Charles of Durazzo , who eventually captured and imprisoned Joanna, and finally ordered her assassination on 27 July 1382. Joanna was the eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Calabria (only surviving son of Robert
6923-456: The Durazzo branch of her family and started to promote the career of her most trusted retainers, including Philippa of Catania's son, Roberto de' Cabanni, and her illegitimate uncle, Charles d'Artois . Andrew's Hungarian retainers informed his mother, Elizabeth of Poland , about Andrew's uncertain position. She and her eldest son, Louis I of Hungary, sent envoys to Avignon, urging the Pope to order Andrew's coronation. She also decided to visit
7084-402: The French kings started to use marriage to extend their influence into the south of France. One son of King Louis VIII "the Lion", Alphonse, Count of Poitou , married the heiress of the Count of Toulouse, Joan . Another, Louis IX "the Saint" of France or Saint Louis (1214–1270), married Marguerite of Provence . Then, in 1246, Charles, Count of Anjou , the youngest son of Louis VIII, married
7245-436: The Gaudre d'Auge west of the commune. The Gaudre d'Entreconque flows from the northeast to south to join the Gaudre de la Foux which continues south to join the Canal des Pompes south of Maussane-les-Alpilles. The climate in Les Baux-de-Provence, as in the rest of the Alpilles, is considered Mediterranean. The winters are mild and dry and summers hot and dry. The average maximum temperature is in July and August (29 °C) with
7406-537: The Hungarian Angevins' support to shorten the term of her minority. The Pope regarded the establishment of the regency council as a usurpation of his sovereign rights, but he wanted to control the administration of Naples. He rejected Joanna's proposal, but he rarely addressed letters directly to the council. Agnes of Périgord wanted to secure the marriage of Joanna's sister Maria to her eldest son, Charles of Durazzo. The Dowager Queen Sancia and Joanna supported her plan, but they knew that Catherine of Valois would oppose
7567-437: The INAO decree. The varieties of crushed olives broken are Salonenque and Béruguette. For black olives only the variety Grossane is acceptable. The commune is classified AOC for its Coteaux-des-Baux-en-Provence wines. This AOC was created by decree on 20 April 1995 for red and rosé wines. They were first classified VDQS by an order of 23 January 1956 for Coteaux-d'Aix-en-Provence . A second decree dated 24 December 1985 allowed
7728-448: The King "wanted his nephew, son of the King of Hungary, to succeed him after his death". However, miniatures of the Anjou Bible depict only Joanna wearing a crown in the late 1330s. Since the King had commissioned it, the pictures suggests that he had decided to ignore Andrew's claim to the throne. Indeed, in his last will, he named Joanna as his sole heir to Naples, Provence, Forcalquier and Piedmont, and also bequeathed his claim to
7889-607: The Kingdom of Jerusalem to her. He also stipulated that Maria was to inherit Joanna's realms if she died childless. King Robert did not order Andrew's coronation, thus excluding him from the administration of Naples. The dying king also set up a regency council, consisting of his most trusted advisors—the Vice-Chancellor Philippe de Cabassoles , Bishop of Cavaillon, Fillipo di Sanginetto, Great Seneschal of Provence, and Admiral Giffredo di Marzano—and headed by Sancia. He ordered that Joanna could only start to rule alone after her 21st birthday, ignoring customary law which established 18 as
8050-429: The Kingdom were issued in the names of both husband and wife, and Louis was indisputably in control of military fortresses. On coins issued during their joint reign, Louis' name always preceded Joanna's. Although he was not officially recognised by Pope Clement VI as king and co-ruler until 1352, it is likely that Neapolitans considered him their monarch from the moment he started acting as such. Louis took advantage of
8211-404: The Latin name oppidum . Today the traces of 165 oppida are found in the Var, and as many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes. They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernègues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the Isère to
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#17328807747168372-425: The Ligurians, living in proximity to numerous Celtic mountain tribes, were a different people ( ἑτεροεθνεῖς ), but "were similar to the Celts in their modes of life". They did not have their own alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes - asc , - osc , - inc , - ates , and - auni . The ancient geographer Posidonius wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil
8533-406: The Marseille citizen Jacques de Gaubert to Provence —taking with her the still devoted Enrico Caracciolo. Louis of Taranto arrived in Naples the next day and escaped in another galley. After easily taking the city of Naples, Louis the Great ordered the execution of Charles of Durazzo, Joanna's cousin and brother-in-law: he was beheaded on 23 January 1348 in the same place where Louis' brother Andrew
8694-427: The Neapolitan Giovanni Barrili. The public discontent forced Joanna to restore d'Agoult in his post. Over time, the Hungarians came to be viewed as barbarians by the Neapolitan people, including Giovanni Boccaccio (who described Louis the Great as “’rabid’ and ‘more vicious than a snake’”), so it was easy for the Queen and her husband to gain popularity after their return. From early 1349 onwards, all documents for
8855-419: The Neapolitan throne after her own father. Charles of Calabria died unexpectedly on 9 November 1328. With his death, his father faced the problem of succession, because Charles' posthumous child was also a daughter, Maria , born on 6 May 1329. Although Neapolitan law did not prevent women from inheriting the throne, the concept of a reigning queen was unusual. The agreement between the Holy See and Robert
9016-420: The Observatory Cave, in the Jardin Exotique of Monaco . The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate. Two ice ages came and went, and the sea level changed dramatically. At the beginning of the Paleolithic, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped to 100 to 150 metres below the sea level today. The cave dwellings of
9177-405: The Piedmont in Italy. By the end of the 18th century, Marseille had a population of 120,000 people, making it the third largest city in France. Most of Provence, with the exception of Marseille, Aix and Avignon, was rural, conservative and largely royalist, and the Revolution was as violent and bloody in Provence as it was in other parts of France. On 30 April 1790, Fort Saint-Nicolas in Marseille
9338-457: The Pope demanding the annulment of the marriage. Pope Clement VI refused and commanded Cardinal Talleyrand-Périgord to send an envoy to Naples to mediate a compromise. The cardinal's emissary persuaded the parties to sign an agreement on 14 July 1343. The legitimacy of Charles and Maria's marriage was acknowledged, but Catherine of Valois and her sons received cash settlement from the royal treasury. Joanna lost confidence both in her sister and in
9499-445: The Pope to sanction Andrew's coronation. Petrarch, who visited Naples in October as Cardinal Giovanni Colonna 's envoy, experienced that the kingdom had moved towards anarchy after King Robert's death. He recorded that bands of bullying noblemen terrorized the people during the nights and gladiator games were regularly held in the presence of Joanna and Andrew. He also claimed that a hypocrite Franciscan friar, Fra' Roberto, controlled
9660-448: The Pope, demanding them to achieve its annulment. Two days after the betrothal, Charles of Durazzo abducted Maria to his castle where a priest secretly married them and the marriage was soon consummated. Catherine of Valois's second son, Louis of Taranto, invaded Charles of Durazzo's domains. Charles of Durazzo gathered his troops to secure the defense of his estates. Her sister's secret marriage infuriated Joanna and she sent letters to
9821-411: The Pope. In 1545, the Parlement of Aix-en-Provence ordered the destruction of the villages of Lourmarin, Mérindol, Cabriéres in the Luberon, because their inhabitants were Vaudois , of Italian Piedmontese origin, and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics. Most of Provence remained strongly Catholic, though Protestants controlled the Principality of Orange , an enclave ruled by William of
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#17328807747169982-401: The Rhône Valley after subduing Burgundy. He attacked Avignon and Arles , garrisoned by the Umayyads , and came back in 739 to capture for a second time Avignon and chase the duke Maurontus to his stronghold of Marseille. The city was brought to heel and the duke had to flee to an island. The region was thereafter under the rule of Carolingian kings, descended from Charles Martel, and then
10143-402: The Rhône river to the Alps, belonged to the counts of Provence. The capital of Provence was moved from Arles to Aix-en-Provence , and later to Brignoles . Under the Catalan counts, the 12th century saw the construction of important cathedrals and abbeys in Provence, in a harmonious new style, the Romanesque , which united the Gallo-Roman style of the Rhône Valley with the Lombard style of
10304-410: The Rhône which has been virtually unknown since then. The mistral violently blows from the north or north-west especially in winter and spring. The Alpilles deflect the wind but it blows in Les Baux almost as strongly as in the north of the chain. The mistral blows strongly 100 days a year on average and less strongly on 83 days leaving only 182 days a year without wind. There are two types of mistral:
10465-543: The Romans suppressed Ligurian uprisings near Genoa; in 154 BC the Roman Consul Optimus defeated the Oxybii and the Deciates , who were attacking Antibes; and in 125 BC, the Romans put down an uprising of a confederation of Celtic tribes. After this battle, the Romans decided to establish permanent settlements in Provence. In 122 BC, next to the Celtic town of Entremont, the Romans built a new town, Aquae Sextiae , later called Aix-en-Provence . In 118 BC they founded Narbo ( Narbonne ). The Roman general Gaius Marius crushed
10626-441: The Wise , King of Naples ), and Marie of Valois (sister of King Philip VI of France ). The Renaissance historian Donato Acciaioli claimed that she had been born in Florence, but she may have actually been born during her parents' travel towards the town, according to scholar Nancy Goldstone. The precise date of Joanna's birth is unknown; according to some researchers, she was most probably born in 1326 or 1327; however, given
10787-515: The Wise's grandfather, Charles I of Anjou , had explicitly acknowledged the right of Charles I's female descendants to inherit the throne, but it also stipulated that a female monarch was to marry and to allow her husband to rule. Furthermore, the Neapolitan royal house was a branch of the Capet dynasty of France and the French had recently excluded women from royal succession . Robert's nephew, Charles I of Hungary , had been disinherited in Robert's favor in 1296, but he did not abandon his claim to
10948-628: The age of majority. King Robert died on 20 January 1343, at the age of 67, after 34 years as king of Naples. Two days later, Andrew was knighted and his marriage to Joanna was consummated in accordance with the late king's last wishes. Thereafter, they mainly met with each other only at important state and religious ceremonies. Otherwise, they went to separate churches, they visited separate places and Joanna even forbade her husband to enter her bedchamber without her permission. The fifteen-year-old Andrew did not have his own treasury and Joanna's courtiers controlled his daily spendings. When writing about
11109-409: The ancient world. At its height, in the 4th century BC, it had a population of about 6,000 inhabitants, living on about fifty hectares surrounded by a wall. It was governed as an aristocratic republic, by an assembly of the 600 wealthiest citizens. It had a large temple of the cult of Apollo of Delphi on a hilltop overlooking the port, and a temple of the cult of Artemis of Ephesus at the other end of
11270-408: The battle were baptised and enslaved, and the remaining Saracens in Provence fled the region. Meanwhile, dynastic quarrels continued. A war between Rudolph III of Burgundy and his rival, German emperor Conrad the Salic led in 1032 to Provence becoming a fiefdom of the Holy Roman Empire , which it remained until 1246. In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, Douce I, Countess of Provence , married
11431-507: The battlefield and Chieri surrendered to the victors. The relationship between Joanna and the Pope became tense, because she again started to alienate royal estates and ignored the Pope's proposals. On 10 June, Clement VI urged her to stop obstructing Andrew's coronation, but she was determined to exclude her husband from state administration. She answered that she was in the best position to look after her husband's interests, implying that her "understanding of gender roles within her marriage"
11592-500: The castle territory and the right to dismantle the fortifications, "which were a refuge for rebels". Louis XIII consented on 5 August. In 1642 the town was offered to the Grimaldi family as a marquisate in favour of Hercule de Grimaldi , Prince of Monaco (1642–1780). The title Marquis of Les Baux is still carried by the Prince of Monaco. Administratively, the town is entirely French and
11753-449: The ceremony. Hearing of the Pope's reversal, a group of noble conspirators determined to forestall Andrew's coronation. During a hunting trip at Aversa in 1345, Andrew left his room in the middle of the night from 18 to 19 September and was set upon by the conspirators. A treacherous servant barred the door behind him; and with Joanna in her own bedroom, a terrible struggle ensued, Andrew defending himself furiously and shrieking for aid. He
11914-484: The cities of Provence, particularly Marseille, continued to rebel against the authority of the Bourbon king. After uprisings in 1630–31 and 1648–1652, the young King Louis XIV had two large forts, fort St. Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the city's unruly population. At the beginning of the 17th century, Cardinal Richelieu began to build a naval arsenal and dockyard at Toulon to serve as
12075-401: The cities of Provence, which were hostile to him, and therefore directed his small force directly to the northeast of it. Joanna I of Naples Joanna I , also known as Johanna I ( Italian : Giovanna I ; December 1325 – 27 July 1382), was Queen of Naples , and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 to 1381; she was also Princess of Achaea from 1373 to 1381. Joanna
12236-619: The city. The Drachma coins minted in Massalia were found in all parts of Ligurian-Celtic Gaul. Traders from Massalia ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers Durance and Rhône, and established overland trade routes deep into Gaul, and to Switzerland and Burgundy, and as far north as the Baltic Sea. They exported their own products; local wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork. The Massalians also established
12397-521: The county posts. Joanna arrived in Avignon on 15 March, to have a personal meeting with the Pope. Louis of Taranto joined her in Aigues-Mortes , and the couple was received by Clement VI. Joanna's visit had a triple purpose: to obtain a dispensation for her marriage to Louis of Taranto, to receive the absolution or exoneration of Andrew's murder and to prepare the reconquest of her Kingdom. The Pope granted
12558-473: The couple the dispensation, appointed a commission to investigate the charges of involvement in the murder of Andrew and bought the city of Avignon for 80,000 florins, which became effectively separate from Provence. Eventually, Joanna was exonerated for the crime by the Pope. During her stay in Avignon, by the end of June, Joanna gave birth to her second child and first-born from her marriage with Louis of Taranto,
12719-464: The different branches of the House of Anjou. Andrew grew up in Naples, but he and his Hungarian retainers were regarded as foreigners. His cousins (the sons of Philip of Taranto and John of Durazzo), and even Joanna often made fun of him. Both contemporaneous and later authors were convinced that King Robert initially wanted to appoint Andrew as his successor. For instance, Giovanni Villani , claimed that
12880-597: The duke of Provence and the count of Vienne . Hugh moved the capital of Provence from Vienne to Arles and made Provence a fief of Rudolph II of Burgundy . In the 9th century, Arab pirates (called Saracens by the French) and then the Normans invaded Provence. The Normans pillaged the region and then left, but the Saracens built castles and began raiding towns and holding local residents for ransom. The conquering Arabs established
13041-460: The early inhabitants of Provence were regularly flooded by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion. The changes in the sea level led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille. The entrance led to
13202-449: The emirate of Fraxinet in 887. Early in 973, the Saracens captured Maieul , the abbot of the monastery at Cluny , and held him for ransom. The ransom was paid and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by Count William I , rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress ( La Garde-Freinet ) at the Battle of Tourtour . The Saracens who were not killed in
13363-592: The end of January 1366 and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture Majorca. He was captured by King Henry II of Castile , who transferred him to Bertrand du Guesclin , who held him captive in Montpellier . He was ransomed by Joanna in 1370 and returned to her briefly, only to depart again, this time for good. He failed in an attempt to recapture Roussillon and Cerdanya in 1375, and fled to Castile where he died of illness or poison at Soria in February 1375. To assert
13524-467: The end of the 4th century; Aix-en-Provence in 408; Carpentras , Avignon , Riez , Cimiez (today part of Nice ) and Vence in 439; Antibes in 442; Toulon in 451; Senez in 406, Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux in 517; and Glandèves in 541. The oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the Fréjus Cathedral , dating from the 5th century. At about the same time,
13685-549: The end of the reign of Louis XIV . The plague struck the region between 1720 and 1722, beginning in Marseille, killing some 40,000 people. Still, by the end of the century, many artisanal industries began to flourish; making perfumes in Grasse ; olive oil in Aix and the Alpilles ; textiles in Orange, Avignon and Tarascon; and faience pottery in Marseille, Apt, Aubagne , and Moustiers-Sainte-Marie . Many immigrants arrived from Liguria and
13846-468: The fact that her mother gave birth to four or five children during her four years' marriage, Joanna was probably born in either December 1325 or early 1328. The early deaths of two of her siblings —A daughter, variously named Eloisa, Louise or Maria (born in January/February 1325; died 27 December 1325) and Charles Martel (born 13 April 1327; died eight days later )— left Joanna as the second in line to
14007-748: The first pottery made in France. Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east, the Chasséens , arrived in Provence. They were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed about 2500 BC by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, who arrived by sea and settled along the coast of what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône. Traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC
14168-431: The first troops made their entrance to L'Aquila on 10 May 1347. On 11 January 1348 the Hungarian troops were at Benevento ready to invade the Kingdom of Naples. Faced with this threat, Joanna, who had retired at Castel Nuovo and trusted to the loyalty of Marseille, prepared her escape from the vengeance of Louis. Without waiting for the return of her husband, she embarked on 15 January 1348 on two galleys—property of
14329-664: The first two monasteries in Provence were founded: Lérins Abbey , on the island of Saint-Honorat near Cannes, and Abbey of St Victor in Marseille. Beginning in the second half of the 5th century, as Roman power waned, successive waves of Germanic tribes entered Provence: first the Visigoths (480), then the Ostrogoths , then the Burgundians , finally, the Franks in the 6th century. Arab invaders and Berber pirates came from North Africa to
14490-524: The fortress had a turbulent military history and has been the subject of many assaults. The solid dungeon that still dominates the village today reiterates the importance of this castle which was a desirable possession in the Middle Ages. At the end of the Baussenque Wars in the 12th century the princes of Les Baux were defeated. The large castle began to be renowned for its highly cultivated court and chivalrous conduct. The estate finally came to an end in
14651-655: The heiress of Provence, Beatrice . Provence's fortunes became tied to the Angevin Dynasty and the Kingdom of Naples. In 1309, Pope Clement V , who was originally from Bordeaux, moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy . From 1309 until 1377, seven popes reigned in Avignon before the Schism between the Roman and Avignon churches, which led to the creation of rival popes in both places. After that, three antipopes reigned in Avignon until 1423, when
14812-494: The inhabitants of Provence had to survive on rabbits , snails and wild sheep. In about 6000 BC, the Castelnovian people, living around Châteauneuf-les-Martigues , were among the first people in Europe to domesticate wild sheep, and to cease moving constantly from place to place. Once they settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created
14973-587: The invaders on 23 April 1345 at the Battle of Gamenario , but was soundly defeated and killed. Montferrat then went on to capture Chieri , within the lands of James of Piedmont , who had supported Joanna. James called for help from his cousin and lord, Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy in 1347. Together, they drove back the attackers through that July. John then added more forces to his alliance, bringing in Thomas II, Marquess of Saluzzo and Humbert II of Viennois . Together, they captured nearly all of Joanna's lands in
15134-626: The kingdom "just as if she were a man" even after she and her husband were jointly crowned. Around the same time, Queen Elizabeth returned to Naples and Andrew's courtiers informed her that they had learnt of plots against Andrew's life. She decided to take her son back to Hungary, but Joanna, Agnes of Périgord and Catherine of Valois jointly dissuaded her. Joanna and her grandaunts most probably feared that Andrew would return from Hungary to Naples accompanied by Hungarian troops. Queen Elizabeth departed from Italy on 25 February, leaving her son behind. The Angevins' northern Italian enemies took advantage of
15295-406: The kingdom effectively. Emphasizing that Joanna was still a minor, the Pope appointed Cardinal Aymery de Châlus as his legate and charged him with the government of the Regno in a bull on 28 November 1343. Joanna's envoys made several efforts to delay the papal legate's departure from Avignon. The negotiations between her mother-in-law and the Holy See alarmed Joanna and she asked the Pope in
15456-508: The last serious resistance in 102 BC by defeating the Cimbri and the Teutons . He then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to Apt and Tarascon , and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through Fréjus and Aix-en-Provence. In 49 BC, Massalia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side in
15617-527: The last ten years of his life, from 1470 to 1480, and his political policies of territorial expansion were costly and unsuccessful. Provence benefitted from population growth and economic expansion, and René was a generous patron of the arts, sponsoring painters Nicolas Froment , Louis Bréa , and other masters. He also completed one of the finest castles in Provence at Tarascon , on the Rhône river. When René died in 1480, his title passed to his nephew Charles du Maine . One year later, in 1481, when Charles died,
15778-533: The latter's family. Louis was successful in driving his brother's forces back, but just as he reached Naples, it became known that the Hungarians planned to invade. Joanna made a pact with the Kingdom of Sicily , preventing them from invading at the same time. She married Louis on 22 August 1347, without seeking the necessary Papal dispensation, because of their being closely related. In anticipation of his marriage, Louis
15939-444: The legate, the Pope decided to recall him, declaring that the 18-year-old Joanna had matured under the legate's auspices in December 1344. In February 1345, the Pope issued a bull, forbidding Joanna's most trusted advisors—Philippa of Catania and her relatives—to intervene in politics, but he also replaced Chalus with Guillaume Lamy, Bishop of Chartres . To placate the Pope, Joanna decided to conciliate Andrew and their conjugal union
16100-593: The local tribes, who were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the Segobriga , settled near modern-day Marseille. The Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the Durance river. Celts and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence, each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop forts and settlements, later given
16261-534: The lowest average minimum temperature in December and January (+ 3 °C). The wettest month is January with an average of 7 days of rain against two days in July. The Alpilles region receives more rainfall than the shores of the Mediterranean: 500 mm / year in Camargue against 600 to 700 mm / year in Les Baux. Major frosts are rare and were more frequent in the 19th century as evidenced by repeated freezing of
16422-563: The main river of Provence, the Rhodanos, today known as the Rhône. The first permanent Greek settlement was Massalia , established at modern-day Marseille in about 600 BC by colonists coming from Phocaea (now Foça , on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor ). A second wave of colonists arrived in about 540 BC, when Phocaea was destroyed by the Persians . Massalia became one of the major trading ports of
16583-472: The marriage of Charles's younger son, Andrew , and Joanna. Charles I also wanted to secure his uncle's inheritance to Andrew, but King Robert named Joanna as his sole heir on his deathbed in 1343. He also appointed a regency council to govern his realms until Joanna's 21st birthday, but the regents could not actually take control of state administration after the King's death. Joanna's personal life crucially affected
16744-515: The marriage. Agnes's brother, Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord , was the most influential cardinal at the Pope's court in Avignon. He persuaded Clement VI to issue a papal bull on 26 February 1343, authorizing Charles of Durazzo to marry any woman. In possession of the bull, Maria was engaged to Charles of Durazzo in the presence of Joanna, Sancia and other members of the regency council at Castel Nuovo on 26 March. The betrothal outraged Catherine of Valois who appealed to King Philip VI of France and
16905-443: The marriage. She proposed her sons, Robert, Prince of Taranto and Louis , as suitable husbands for Joanna and Maria. The Pope was resolute and issued a bull on 30 June 1331, ordering that Joanna and her sister were to marry Charles I's sons. Initially, Charles I's eldest son, Louis , was designated for husband to Joanna. His younger brother, Andrew , was only Louis's substitute in case of his premature death. At one point during
17066-415: The mid-17th century onwards, were successfully exported to England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. There was considerable commerce along the coast, and up and down the Rhône river. The cities: Marseille, Toulon , Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards and richly decorated private houses. At the beginning of the 18th century, Provence suffered from the economic malaise of
17227-456: The name County of Nice . The 15th century saw a series of wars between the kings of Aragon and the counts of Provence. In 1423 the army of Alphonse of Aragon captured Marseille, and in 1443 they captured Naples, and forced its ruler, King René I of Naples , to flee. He eventually settled in one of his remaining territories, Provence. History and legend has given René the title "Good King René of Provence", though he only lived in Provence in
17388-521: The names of her tutors. She probably studied the books in the royal library, which contained the writings of Titus Livius , Paolo da Perugia , Saint Gregory and Marco Polo . However, it seems that when she reached adulthood she was able to express herself in Latin (as her remaining letters could prove ), French, Italian and Provençal. The chronicler Domenico da Gravina affirms that both Joanna and her sister Maria had been "informed of every art and virtue by
17549-561: The negotiations, Charles I changed his decision and appointed Andrew to marry Joanna. After Marie of Valois died during a pilgrimage to Bari in 1332, Robert's second wife (Joanna's stepgrandmother), Sancia of Majorca , assumed responsibility for her daughters' education. Queen Sancia, a fervent patron of the Spiritual Franciscans , lived like a Clarisse nun , although the Pope had refused to annul her marriage to King Robert. Joanna and Maria's nurse, Philippa of Catania , exercised an even greater influence on their education, and became
17710-449: The oath of obedience along with her husband in a public ceremony. Joanna fell sick and her illness enabled Andrew to achieve the Pipini brothers' liberation, but his act outraged other Neapolitan aristocrats. On 28 August, the papal legate formally recognized Joanna as the legitimate heir to Naples, but she had to acknowledge the papal legate's right to administer the kingdom. Chalus dissolved
17871-492: The papacy finally returned to Rome. Between 1334 and 1363 the old and new Papal Palaces of Avignon were built by Popes Benedict XII and Clement VI respectively; together the Palais des Papes was the largest Gothic palace in Europe. The 14th century was a terrible time in Provence, and all of Europe: the population of Provence had been about 400,000 people; the Black Death (1348–1350) killed fifteen thousand people in Arles, half
18032-419: The pastoral world and dating back to the 16th century. This traditional ceremony was abandoned during the 19th century but was revived in 1902: a cart pulled by a ram, decorated with leaves and candles, brings a newborn lamb. Each shepherd, in turn, kisses the feet of the child Jesus then passes the lamb hand to hand before giving an offering. Carrières de Lumières, established in 1976 as the Cathédrale d'Images,
18193-410: The political situation in the Regno after Robert's death, Petrarch described Joanna and Andrew as "two lambs entrusted to the care of a multitude of wolves, and I see a kingdom without a king". Most political factors resented the establishment of the regency council. Joanna approached Pope Clement VI and asked him to grant the title of king to her husband, most probably because she wanted to secure
18354-543: The political stability of the Kingdom of Naples (murder of her first husband Andrew in 1345, the invasions of King Louis I of Hungary —justified as avenging the death of his brother—and her three later marriages with Louis of Taranto , James IV, titular King of Majorca and Otto, Duke of Brunswick-Grubenhagen ) and undermined her position with the Holy See ; moreover afterwards, during the Western Schism , she chose to support
18515-525: The population of the city, and greatly reduced the population of the whole region. The defeat of the French Army during the Hundred Years' War forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside. The Angevin rulers of Provence also had a difficult time. An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders of Provence
18676-514: The possession of the Roger, was thus neutral at the beginning of war and on the Angevin side at the end of the decade. Les Baux, together with Provence, was then attached to the crown of France. Under the rule of the Manville family, the village became a center of Protestantism and even tried a rebellion against the crown. In 1631, tired of conflict, the people negotiated with the king for the redemption of
18837-507: The power she had been denied. During the next three years, the Queen would take a series of measures that made her popular: she granted a pardon to Raymond des Baux on 20 March 1363, replaced Roger of San Severino by Fouques d'Agoult as Seneschal of Provence, and promulgated various edicts to prevent internal disorders. On 14 December 1362, Joanna contracted by proxy her third marriage, with James IV, titular King of Majorca and Prince of Achaea , who
18998-898: The power struggle between Pompey and Julius Caesar . Pompey was defeated, and Massalia lost its territories and political influence. Roman veterans, in the meantime, populated two new towns, Arles and Fréjus, at the sites of older Greek settlements. In 8 BC the Emperor Augustus built a triumphal monument at La Turbie to commemorate the pacification of the region, and he began to Romanize Provence politically and culturally. Roman engineers and architects built monuments, theatres, baths, villas, fora, arenas and aqueducts , many of which still exist. (See Architecture of Provence .) Roman towns were built at Cavaillon ; Orange ; Arles ; Fréjus ; Glanum (outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence ); Carpentras ; Vaison-la-Romaine ; Nîmes ; Vernègues ; Saint-Chamas and Cimiez (above Nice). The Roman province, which
19159-516: The primitive stone shelters called 'Bories' found in the Luberon and Comtat , and in the rock carvings in the Valley of Marvels near Mont Bégo in the Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat
19320-413: The privileges of the city and received the oath of allegiance of its inhabitants. She signed the letters patents that united the upper and lower towns, ensuring the administrative unit. She then went to Aix-en-Provence , where her reception was very different; the Provençal barons clearly demonstrated their hostility to her. She had to take an oath to do nothing against Provence and to appoint only locals in
19481-433: The regency council and appointed new officials to govern the provinces. However, the royal officials ignored the legate's orders and Joanna refused to pay the yearly tribute to the Holy See, saying that she had been deprived of the Regno . Cardinal Talleyrand-Périgord and Joanna's envoy, Louis of Durazzo , urged Pope Clement VI to dismiss his legate who was also willing to abdicate. After King Philip VI intervened against
19642-456: The regency council to grant an amnesty to them. Queen Elizabeth, who was still staying in Rome, realized that the conflict between the influential cardinal and the Neapolitan leaders gave opportunity to strengthen her son's position. Andrew took sides with the Pipini and promised to achieve their liberation. Petrarch's reports from Naples convinced the Pope that the regency council could not administer
19803-439: The regency council, describing him as a "terrible three-footed beast, with its feet naked, with its head bare, arrogant about its poverty, dripping with pleasure." Petrarch wanted to achieve the liberation of Colonna's relatives, the Pipini brothers, who had been imprisoned for various crimes in 1341. Their property was distributed among various members of the royal family and the Neapolitan aristocracy and Petrarch could persuade
19964-471: The region and its modern-day capital is Marseille . The Romans made the region the first Roman province beyond the Alps and called it Provincia Romana , which evolved into the present name. Until 1481 it was ruled by the counts of Provence from their capital in Aix-en-Provence , then became a province of the kings of France . While it has been part of France for more than 500 years, it still retains
20125-417: The region. Traders from the island of Rhodes were visiting the coast of Provence in the 7th century BC. Rhodes pottery from that century has been found in Marseille, near Martigues and Istres, and at Mont Garou and Evenos near Toulon . The traders from Rhodes gave their names to the ancient town of Rhodanousia ( Ancient Greek : 'Ροδανουσίαν ) (now Trinquetaille , across the Rhône river from Arles), and to
20286-635: The region. When she made public her plans to marry one of her Taranto cousins and not Andrew's younger brother Stephen , the Hungarians openly accused her of the murder. Louis of Taranto was a seasoned warrior, who understood Neapolitan politics from his lifetime experiences, raised at the court of Catherine of Valois , Joanna's aunt. After Joanna stated her intention to marry him, his brother Robert banded together with his cousin (and erstwhile rival) Charles of Durazzo against them. Some of Joanna's courtiers and servants were tortured and later executed, including her Sicilian governess Philippa of Catania and
20447-475: The same Lord King Robert and by Queen Sancia". Charles I of Hungary came personally to Naples to complete the negotiations with his uncle about the marriage of Joanna and Andrew in the summer of 1333. He had not spared money during the journey, because he wanted to demonstrate his wealth and power. The two kings came to terms after further negotiations. According to the agreement, Andrew and Joanna were engaged, but Robert and Charles I also stipulated that Andrew
20608-465: The second part of the Iron Age (7th to 6th centuries. BC), the population was sedentary and began to build durable houses. The castrum was structured like a village with its streets and houses. The process of permanent construction was in parallel with the intensification of economic exchanges with Mediterranean traders. In exchange for luxury goods, the inhabitants of the Alpilles produced grain and achieved
20769-458: The south and passes through the east of the commune as it goes north to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence . The D27A links the two roads in the commune. The D78F branches from the D27 in the commune and goes south-west to join the D17 west of Paradou . Apart from the village there are the hamlets of Mes de Mai, Carita and Manville. The commune is farmland in the southeast and forested hills in the rest. The commune
20930-474: The streets of Paris. Napoleon restored the belongings and power of the families of the Ancien Régime in Provence. The British fleet of Admiral Horatio Nelson blockaded Toulon, and almost all maritime commerce was stopped, causing hardship and poverty. When Napoleon was defeated, his fall was celebrated in Provence. When he escaped from Elba on 1 March 1815, and landed at Golfe-Juan , he detoured to avoid
21091-568: The summer snowflake ( Leucojum aestivum ) and Hélianthème (Helianthemum lavandulaefolium), are found at the bottom of the valleys. Many animal species nest in the Alpilles and can be seen in the commune. The most famous is the Bonelli's eagle , a protected species, as well as the Egyptian vulture , the lesser kestrel , and the Eurasian eagle-owl . The arid rocks are home to a species of lizard emblematic of
21252-523: The throne against a female monarch. Robert was determined to secure the succession to his own descendants and named Joanna and Maria as his heirs at a public ceremony at the Castel Nuovo in Naples on 4 December 1330. John of Durazzo and his wife, Agnes of Périgord , accepted Robert's decision (possibly in the hope that one of their three sons could marry Joanna), but Philip I of Taranto and his wife, Catherine of Valois , decided not to obey. When Joanna
21413-400: The title of Marquis of Les Baux is traditionally given to the heir to the throne of Monaco . Jacques, the son of the current Prince of Monaco Albert II , carries among his many titles that of Marquis of Les Baux. In 1822 bauxite was discovered in the area by geologist Pierre Berthier . The ore was intensively mined until its exhaustion at the end of the 20th century. Les Baux-de-Provence
21574-494: The title passed to Louis XI of France . Provence was legally incorporated into the French royal domain in 1486. Soon after Provence became part of France, it became involved in the Wars of Religion that swept the country in the 16th century. Between 1493 and 1501, many Jews were expelled from their homes and sought sanctuary in the region of Avignon, which was still under the direct rule of
21735-468: The troops of the Count of Armagnac which also showed daunting for local people. Finally Pope Innocent VI obtained the discharge of these bands with payments. Louis of Taranto, who caught a cold while bathing, fell ill. His condition worsened over the course of a month and he died on 25 May 1362. The death of Louis of Taranto, a brutal and authoritarian husband, finally gave Joanna the opportunity to take back
21896-573: The truth, and soon they left Naples, telling everything to the Hungarian King. Opinions are divided on the real involvement of the Queen in the assassination. For some, she was the instigator of the murder; for others, like Émile-Guillaume Léonard, Joanna's involvement has not been demonstrated. Joanna informed the Papacy, as well as other states in Europe of the murder, expressing her disgust in letters, but her inner circle of friends were thought to be most suspect. On 25 December 1345, she gave birth to
22057-496: The turmoil caused by yet another Hungarian attack to wrest complete royal authority from his wife. He purged the court of her supporters, and struck down her favourite, Enrico Caracciolo, whom he accused of adultery in April 1349 and very likely had executed. Two months later, on 8 June 1349, Catherine, Joanna and Louis' daughter, died aged 1. After another Hungarian offensive which led to the walls of Naples in 1350, Pope Clement VI sent
22218-517: The two fiefs that his father, Charles Martel , had held in the Regno —the Principality of Salerno and the Honor of Monte Sant' Angelo—to him and his sons. He also put forward a marriage alliance, asking Joanna's hand for one of his sons. The Pope supported the plan and kept urging Robert to accept it. The widowed Catherine of Valois approached her half-brother, Philip VI of France, to intervene and block
22379-471: The use of the generic name Les Baux recognizing the specific identity of the vineyards of the Les Baux region covering seven communes in the Alpilles. Production is 15,500 hectolitres per year: 75% red and 25% rosé. Christmas at Les Baux in the Church of Saint Vincent is held on Christmas Eve during midnight mass. This is primarily a live nativity scene, which takes place before the pastorage ritual developed in
22540-558: The weakened position of the Regno . John II, Marquess of Montferrat and the Visconti of Milan captured Alessandria and Asti in Piedmont and continued their military campaign against other Piedmontese towns that acknowledged Joanna's sovereignty. They forced Tortona , Bra and Alba into submission in 1344. Joanna started distributing large parcels of the royal domains to her most trusted supporters, among them Roberto de' Cabanni, who
22701-589: Was James IV's efforts to be involved in the government, although he was excluded from any role in the government of Naples in his marriage contract. Despite her marital troubles, in January 1365 Joanna was found to be pregnant with James IV's child, but unfortunately in June she had a miscarriage, as was noted in a letter of condolence sent to her by Pope Urban V dated 19 July 1365. She never conceived again. Without hope of being King of Naples, James IV left Naples for Spain by
22862-474: Was atypical, according to historian Elizabeth Casteen. On 9 July, the Pope announced that he would excommunicate her if she continued to give away royal estates. Queen Sancia died on 28 July. Before long, Joanna abandoned her husband. Rumours about a love affair between Joanna and Louis of Taranto started to spread in Naples, but her unfaithfulness was never proven. Pope Clement VI decided to achieve Andrew's coronation and charged Cardinal Chalus with performing
23023-735: Was besieged, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. On 17 October 1791, a massacre of royalists and religious figures took place in the ice storage rooms ( glacières ) of the prison of the Palace of the Popes in Avignon. When the radical Montagnards seized power from the Girondins in May 1793, a real counter-revolution broke out in Avignon, Marseille and Toulon. A revolutionary army under General Carteaux recaptured Marseille in August 1793 and renamed it "City without
23184-500: Was called Gallia Narbonensis , for its capital, Narbo (modern Narbonne), extended from Italy to Spain, from the Alps to the Pyrenees . The Pax Romana in Provence lasted until the middle of the 3rd century. Germanic tribes invaded Provence in 257 and 275. At the beginning the 4th century, the court of Roman Emperor Constantine (ca. 272–337) was forced to take refuge in Arles. By the end of
23345-509: Was crowned with her by the Archbishop of Braga in the Hotel di Taranto in Naples. A few days later, on 2 June, Françoise, by then the couple's only surviving child, died aged 8 months. In 1356 Louis and Joanna organized the reconquest of Sicily. They formally entered Messina on 24 December 1356 after the victory of Niccolò Acciaioli , only to be forced to leave again after a serious naval defeat by
23506-555: Was discovered in Marseille near the Saint-Charles railway station . and a dolmen from the Bronze Age (2500–900 BC) can be found near Draguignan . Between the 10th and 4th century BC, the Ligures were found in Provence from Massilia as far as modern Liguria . They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous Neolithic peoples. According to Strabo ,
23667-433: Was finally overpowered, strangled with a cord, and flung from a window with a rope tied to his genitals. Isolde, Andrew's Hungarian nurse, heard his cries, and with her own screams chased the murderers off. She took the Prince's corpse to the church of the monks, and remained with it until next morning in mourning. When the Hungarian knights arrived she told them everything in their mother tongue so no one else would learn about
23828-405: Was invested with the right to succeed her grandfather on 30 November, John and Agnes were among the Neapolitan vassals who swore fealty to her, but Philip and Catherine did not attend the ceremony. Even the Pope could only persuade Philip to send a deputy to Naples to pay homage to Joanna on his behalf on 3 March 1331. Charles I of Hungary had meanwhile asked the Pope to persuade Robert to restore
23989-401: Was made Joint-Protector and Defender of the Kingdom (1 May 1347), jointly with Charles of Durazzo. One month later (20 June), Louis was made Vicar-General of the Kingdom. The marriage caused the Queen's popularity within her own Kingdom to fall. Louis the Great , Andrew's older brother, took this opportunity to seek the annexation of the Kingdom of Naples. He launched a military expedition and
24150-502: Was murdered. Joanna and Andrew's son, Charles Martel (betrothed to Charles of Durazzo's eldest daughter), who was left behind by his mother, was sent by his uncle to Visegrád in the Kingdom of Hungary , where he died after 10 May 1348, aged 2. After a stop-over in the Fort de Brégançon , Joanna arrived in Marseille on 20 January 1348, where she received a warm welcome. She swore to observe
24311-471: Was officially named Les Baux . Renamed after the historical province of Provence , it is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association and has over 1.5 million visitors per year although it has only about 20 residents in the upper part of the commune and 315 (as of 2020) for the whole commune. Inhabitants of the commune are known as Baussencs (masculine) and Baussenques (feminine) in French. The commune
24472-540: Was organised to resist the authority of Queen Joan I of Naples (1343–1382). She was murdered in 1382 by her cousin and heir, Charles of Durazzo , who started a new war, leading to the separation of Nice , Puget-Théniers and Barcelonnette from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the County of Savoy . From 1388 up to 1526, the area acquired by the Savoy was known as Terres Neuves de Provence ; after 1526 it officially took on
24633-505: Was part of the empire of Charlemagne (742–814). In 879, after the death of the Carolingian ruler Charles the Bald , Boso of Provence (also known as Boson), his brother-in-law, broke away from the Carolingian kingdom of Louis III and was elected the first ruler of an independent state of Provence. Three different dynasties of counts ruled Provence during the Middle Ages, and Provence became
24794-485: Was restored. Before long, she became pregnant. Joanna had meanwhile instructed Reforce d'Agoult , Senechal of Provence, to invade Piedmont. The burghers of Chieri and James of Savoy-Achaea joined the Provençal army. They reoccupied Alba in the spring, but John II of Montferrat and the Visconti gathered their troops near Chieri and defeated Agoult's army in the Battle of Gamenario on 23 April. Agoult died fighting in
24955-408: Was rumored to be her lover. Joanna's donations outraged the Pope who started to hint that he was ready to strengthen Andrew's role in state administration. The Pope also ordered Aymery de Châlus to move to Naples without any delay. Chalus reached Naples on 20 May 1344. Joanna wanted to swear fealty to the Pope alone in a private ceremony, but the papal legate resisted her demands. Joanna had to take
25116-400: Was ten years her junior. The wedding took place in person five months later, in May 1363 at Castel Nuovo. Unfortunately, this marriage was also turbulent: her new husband had been imprisoned for almost 14 years by his uncle King Peter IV of Aragon in an iron cage, an experience which left him mentally deranged. In addition to his poor mental state, another bone of contention between the couple
25277-415: Was the eldest daughter of Charles, Duke of Calabria and Marie of Valois to survive infancy. Her father was the son of Robert the Wise , King of Naples, but he died before his father in 1328. Three years later, King Robert appointed Joanna as his heir and ordered his vassals to swear fealty to her. To strengthen Joanna's position, he concluded an agreement with his nephew, King Charles I of Hungary , about
25438-452: Was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun. Though he hoped to establish a sea trading route for tin from Cornwall , his trip was not a commercial success, and it was not repeated. The Massalians found it cheaper and simpler to trade with Northern Europe over land routes. In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia appealed to Rome for help against the Ligures. Roman legions entered Provence three times; first in 181 BC
25599-424: Was the mathematician, astronomer and navigator Pytheas . Pytheas made mathematical instruments which allowed him to establish almost exactly the latitude of Marseille, and he was the first scientist to observe that the tides were connected with the phases of the moon. Between 330 and 320 BC he organised an expedition by ship into the Atlantic and as far north as England, and to visit Iceland , Shetland, and Norway. He
25760-536: Was to marry Maria if he outlived Joanna, and one of Charles I's surviving sons—Louis or Stephen —should marry Joanna if Andrew died before her. The marriage contract was ceremoniously signed on 26 September. Next day, Robert invested Joanna and Andrew with the Duchy of Calabria and the Principality of Salerno . The Pope granted the necessary dispensations for the marriages in November 1333. The marriage remained unconsummated for years, most probably because of Andrew's immaturity, but it gave rise to conflicts between
25921-438: Was wearing her crown to emphasize her royal status. Queen Elizabeth and her retinue entered Naples on 25 July. She first approached Joanna's stepgrandmother, but the ailing Sancia of Majorca did not interfere in favor of Andrew. Joanna did not openly oppose her husband's coronation, but her mother-in-law soon realized that she only applied delaying tactics. Queen Elizabeth left Naples for Rome and sent envoys to Avignon, urging
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