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Les Cent Contes Drolatiques
''Les Cent Contes drolatiques'' (French, "The Hundred Facetious Tales") — known as ''Droll Stories'' — is a collection of 30 ribald short stories by Honoré de Balzac. They resemble Boccaccio's ''Decameron'', an assertion made by the author himself in the 1832 preface. They were first published in Paris in two separate volumes by Charles Gosselin and Edmond Werdet in 1832 and 1837. Of the intended 100 tales, Balzac only completed 30, grouped into three "decades" (groups of ten). According to the author: Style ''Droll Stories'' constitute an unusual project of playful and parodic writing motivated by the author's desire to "remain oneself by cooking in front of the mold of others". The collection caused a great scandal at the time, and was frequently banned in other countries, as much by its earthiness as by the fantasies of an imagined language. Indeed, Balzac's multi-language, of Rabelaisian inspiration, and which wanted to reproduce a Middle Ages spanning three c ...
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French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie'' ...
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Henry III Of France
Henry III (french: Henri III, né Alexandre Édouard; pl, Henryk Walezy; lt, Henrikas Valua; 19 September 1551 – 2 August 1589) was King of France from 1574 until his assassination in 1589, as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575. As the fourth son of King Henry II of France, he was not expected to inherit the French throne and thus was a good candidate for the vacant throne of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where he was elected List of Polish rulers#Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1569–1795, monarch in 1573. During his brief rule, he signed the Henrician Articles into law, recognizing the szlachta's right to Royal elections in Poland, freely elect their monarch. Aged 22, Henry abandoned Poland–Lithuania upon inheriting the French throne when his brother, Charles IX of France, Charles IX, died without issue. France was at the time plagued by the French Wars of Religion, Wars of Religion, and Henry's authority was undermi ...
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Gustave Doré
Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravings, especially those illustrating classic books, including 241 illustrating the Bible. These achieved great international success, and he is the best-known artist in this printmaking technique, although his role was normally as the designer only; at the height of his career some 40 block-cutters were employed to cut his drawings onto the wooden printing blocks, usually also signing the image. In all he created some 10,000 illustrations, the most important of which were "duplicated in electrotype shells that were printed ... on cylinder presses", allowing very large print runs as steel engravings, "hypnotizing the widest public ever captured by a major illustrator", and being published simultaneously in many countries. The drawings given to ...
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Albert Robida
Albert Robida (14 May 1848 – 11 October 1926) was a French illustrator, etcher, lithographer, caricaturist, and novelist. He edited and published '' La Caricature'' magazine for 12 years. Through the 1880s, he wrote an acclaimed trilogy of futuristic novels. In the 1900s he created 520 illustrations for Pierre Giffard's weekly serial ''La Guerre Infernale''. Biography He was born in Compiègne, France, the son of a carpenter. He studied to become a notary, but was more interested in caricature. In 1866 he joined ''Journal amusant'' as an illustrator. In 1880, with Georges Decaux, he founded his own magazine ''La Caricature'', which he edited for 12 years. He illustrated tourist guides, works of popular history, and literary classics. His fame disappeared after World War I. Robida and his wife Marguerite (née Noiret) had seven children, three of which made contributions to the arts. His elder son Camille became a well-known architect. His youngest son, Henry, had been tabbe ...
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Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Bordeaux
The Archdiocese of Bordeaux (–Bazas) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Burdigalensis (–Bazensis)''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bordeaux (–Bazas)''; Occitan: ''Archidiocèsi de Bordèu (–Vasats)'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is Bordeaux, Aquitaine. It was established under the Concordat of 1802 by combining the ancient Diocese of Bordeaux (diminished by the cession of part to the Bishopric of Aire) with the greater part of the suppressed Diocese of Bazas. The Archdiocese of Bordeaux is a metropolitan see, with four suffragan dioceses in its ecclesiastical province: Dioceses of Agen, Aire and Dax, Bayonne, and Périgueux. History Constituted by the same Concordat metropolitan to the suffragan Bishoprics of Angoulême, Poitiers and La Rochelle, the see of Bordeaux received in 1822, as additional suffragans, those of Agen, withdrawn from the metropolitan of Toulouse, and the newly re-established P ...
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Roman Catholic Diocese Of Chur
The Diocese of Chur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Switzerland. It extends over the Swiss Cantons of Graubünden (Grisons), Schwyz, Glarus, Zurich, Nidwalden, Obwalden and Uri. The modern Catholic diocese must be distinguished from the historical Prince-Bishopric of Chur, a state of the Holy Roman Empire. History A Bishop of Chur is first mentioned in 451/ 452 when its Bishop Saint Asimo attended the Synod of Milan, but probably existed a century earlier. The see was at first suffragan to the Archbishop of Milan, but after the Treaty of Verdun (843) it became suffragan to Mainz. In consequence of political changes it became in 1803 immediately subject to the Holy See. According to local traditions, the first Bishop of Chur was Saint Lucius, who is said to have died a martyr at Chur around the year 176 and whose relics are preserved in the cathedral. St. Lucius is venerated as the principal patron of the diocese. The country ha ...
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Amboise Conspiracy
The Amboise conspiracy, also called Tumult of Amboise, was a failed attempt by a Huguenot faction in France to gain control over the young king Francis II and to reverse the policies of the current administration of Francis, Duke of Guise and Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine through their arrest, and potentially execution. Malcontent factions of Huguenots had been chafing under the French crown since the reign of Henry II and with the arrival of a new young king, saw their chance to take power for themselves. However the plot was uncovered ahead of time, and the Guise were ready for them. As such hundreds would be arrested, and many killed. Louis, Prince of Condé was suspected of involvement, however he was able to flee south, and it was only after some months that the Guise were able to put him on trial. Shortly thereafter, the sickly Francis II died, their hold on the administration collapsed, and with it the conviction of Condé. This tumult would be one of the key steps in the ...
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Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the department, and the 4th of the region. Historically, the city was the capital of the county of Blois, created on 832 until its integration into the Royal domain in 1498, when Count Louis II of Orléans became King Louis XII of France. During the Renaissance, Blois was the official residence of the King of France. History Pre-history Since 2013, excavations have been conducted by French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (''INRAP'' in French) in Vienne where they found evidence of "one or several camps of late Prehistory hunter-gatherers, who were also fishermen since fishing traps were found there.. ..They were ancestors of the famous Neolithic farmer-herders, who were present in current France around 6,000 BC ...
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Château De Chaumont
The Château de Chaumont (), officially Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, is a castle (''château'') in Chaumont-sur-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France. The castle was founded in the 10th century by Odo I, Count of Blois. After Pierre d'Amboise rebelled against Louis XI, the king ordered the castle's destruction. Later in the 15th century Château de Chaumont was rebuilt by Charles I d'Amboise. Protected as a ''monument historique'' since 1840, the château was given into state ownership in 1938 and is now open to the public. History The name ''Chaumont'' derives from the French ''chauve mont'', meaning "bald hill". The first castle on this site, situated between Blois and Amboise, was built by Odo I, Count of Blois, in the 10th century, with the purpose of protecting his lands from attacks by his feudal rival, Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou. On his behalf the Norman Gelduin received it, improved it and held it as his own. His great-niece Denise de Fougère, ha ...
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Isabelle De Limeuil
Isabelle de la Tour, Lady of Limeuil (c. 1535 – 25 March 1609) was a French noblewoman and a Maid of Honour to the Queen Mother Catherine de' Medici. She also formed part of Catherine's notorious " flying squadron" (''L'escadron volant''), a group of beautiful female spies she used for the purpose of forming sexual liaisons with various powerful men at the French court thereby extracting information which would then be passed on to her. In about 1562 at Catherine's instigation, she became the mistress of Louis, Prince of Condé, brother of King Antoine of Navarre and one of the leading Huguenots in France. Two years later when Isabelle created a scandal by giving birth to his son whilst the court was on a royal progress, she was banished to a convent. She later married wealthy Tuscan banker Scipion Sardini, a favoured protégé of Catherine de' Medici. Family Isabelle was born in Limeuil, France in about 1535, a daughter of Gilles de la Tour, Viscount of Turenne, Baron of L ...
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Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguisti ...
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Lucca
Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one of the Italian's "Città d'arte" (Arts town), thanks to its intact Renaissance-era city walls and its very well preserved historic center, where, among other buildings and monuments, are located the Piazza dell'Anfiteatro, which has its origins in the second half of the 1st century A.D. and the Guinigi Tower, a tower that dates from the 1300s. The city is also the birthplace of numerous world-class composers, including Giacomo Puccini, Alfredo Catalani, and Luigi Boccherini. Toponymy By the Romans, Lucca was known as ''Luca''. From more recent and concrete toponymic studies, the name Lucca has references that lead to "sacred wood" (Latin: ''lucus''), "to cut" (Latin: ''lucare'') and "luminous space" (''leuk'', a term used by the firs ...
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