When people in the United States refer to a home that is old, it could refer to pre-war, meaning World War II (circa 1930s), turn of 20th century, or Jeffersonian, which of course refers to Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Architecture from his time is ancient in most an American’s eyes, as it would be mean the home structure was erected around the mid 1700s.
In contrast, when people in France refer to a home that is old, it could be one that was constructed 500 even 1000 years ago. Indeed, that’s young in comparison to how old France actually is.
The first known people living in France are the Gauls (Celtics), but in the 1st century BC, Julius Caesar conquered them and France came under Roman rule, which of course pre-dates Christianity by several hundred years. When the Romans occupied France, as they did much of Europe, Latin was spoken, from which the French language derived.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, as did most of Europe, France descended into feudalism. The name France was originally the name of the feudal domains of the Capetian Kings, whose territory existed just outside what is now known as Paris, the country’s capital.
Eventually France moved from feudalism to the Middle Ages (which varies depending on which country in Europe you reside). Of course, in the interim, France saw its fair share of strife (the Crusades), death (the Black Plague) and wars (the Hundred Years’ War, the French Religious Wars, The War of the Roses and The Spanish Netherlands War). At the root of each was either religion or territory.
In addition to fighting off those hell bent on taking France from the French, France was building its own little empire, by colonizing countries in Africa, both North and South America and Asia.
There was of course this major conflict in the late 1700s known as the French Revolution. Rising up against the aristocracy, the underclass let the French government know that they weren’t going to stand for they tyranny they were under. Things of course, changed in France and today, although there are wealthy people in the country, there are few who starve and live in squalor as they once did.
France’s history is of course old, rich and there are hundreds of history books available on the topic; it’s that diverse.
