Samara was the site of Caesar’s winter camp when he conquered Gaul (classic route, Stage 7)
By the time the Romans arrived in the first century BC, rising sea levels had split Britain from continental Europe, with both sides of the English Channel inhabited by Iron Age tribes of Gauls and Celts. Julius Caesar captured Gaul (most of modern France) between 58 and 51BC, but although he visited Britain, Roman occupation of England did not commence until AD43. The Romans involved local tribal leaders in government and control of the territory. With improvements in the standard of living, the conquered tribes soon became thoroughly romanised and tribal settlements became Romano-Gallic or Romano-British towns. Both London and Paris have their roots in the Roman Empire but while Londinium (London) was the capital of Britannia, Lutetia (Paris) was merely a provincial town in Gaul. The Romans built Watling Street, a road that linked the port of Dubris (Dover, the site of the best preserved Roman house in England) with London and the north. The towns of Canterbury and Rochester were built along this road, while Amiens and Beauvais were Roman towns in northern Gaul between Paris and the Channel. During the fourth century AD, the Romans came under increasing pressure from Germanic tribes from the east and by mid-fifth century had withdrawn their legions from both England and France.
Frankish and Anglo-Saxon settlement
After the Romans left there followed a period of tribal settlement. The Franks were a tribe that settled in northern France. From AD496 when Clovis I became their king and established a capital in Paris, the Frankish kingdom expanded by absorbing neighbouring states. After Charlemagne (a Frank, ruled AD768–814) temporarily united much of western Europe, only for his Carolingian empire to be split in AD843, the Franks became the dominant regional force. During the same period, southern England was settled by Saxons (from eastern Germany), with an area of Jutish (from Jutland in Denmark) settlement in Kent.
The Vikings from Scandinavia began migrating to the region in the early-ninth century AD. In France they settled in Normandy, while in England they initially occupied an area in the north known as the Danelaw. In 1015 the Viking king Canute defeated the Anglo-Saxons in southern England and extended Viking rule over the whole country. In 1066, a disputed succession caused the Normans from Normandy led by William the Conqueror to invade England and for the first time since the Romans left, unify England and northern France under one crown.
Rochester castle was a Norman stronghold (classic route, Stage 2)
The Hundred Years’ War
For nearly 500 years the Norman kings of England and their Plantagenet successors sought to consolidate and expand their territory in Britain and France. The main confrontation was the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) fought between France and an alliance of England and Burgundy. For many years the English and Burgundians had the upper hand and success at Crécy in 1346 (classic route, Stage 6) led to the capture of large areas of France. The turning point came in 1429 when a French force led by 17-year-old Jeanne d’Arc (Joan of Arc) succeeded in lifting the siege of Orleans. By 1453 the English had been driven almost completely out of France, consolidating the French monarchy as the dominant force in the region. The last English stronghold at Calais (classic route, Stage 4) fell in 1558.
Religious influences and the rise of Protestantism
The Romans converted to Christianity in AD312 and this became the predominant religion in France. St Augustine brought Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England in AD597, establishing a church at Canterbury which later became the most important cathedral in the country. Following the murder of Thomas Becket (1170), Canterbury became a destination for pilgrims visiting Becket’s grave. Many ventured further, with both English and French pilgrims continuing through France to Rome or Santiago. During the reign of Henry VIII (1509–1547), the Church of England split from the Catholic Church becoming Protestant. While there was a period of religious turmoil, the change stuck and Protestantism became the dominant force.
In France, the country’s biggest Catholic cathedral was built at Amiens in the 13th century (classic route, Stage 7) and an even bigger one started at Beauvais (classic route, Stage 8), but this was never finished. In the early 16th century the Protestant reformation reached France from Germany and Switzerland, rapidly taking hold driven by widespread perception of corruption among Catholic clergy. By mid-century many towns had substantial numbers of Protestant worshippers, known as Huguenots. This sparked violent reaction from devout Catholics led by the Duc de Guise and between 1562 and 1598 France was convulsed by a series of ferocious wars between religious factions. It is estimated that between two million and four million people died as a result of war, famine and disease. The wars were ended by the Edict of Nantes which granted substantial rights and freedoms to Protestants. However, this was not the end of the dispute. Continued pressure from Catholic circles gradually reduced these freedoms and in 1685 Louis XIV revoked the edict. Thankfully this did not provoke renewed fighting, many Huguenots choosing to avoid persecution by emigrating to Protestant countries (particularly Switzerland, Britain and the Netherlands), but it had a damaging effect on the economy.
The French Revolution
Both France and England were monarchies, although French kings ruled with more autocratic powers than English ones. This led eventually to violent revolution (1789–1799) which ended the ancien régime in France. The monarchy was swept away and privileges enjoyed by the nobility and clergy removed. Monasteries and religious institutions were closed while palaces and castles were expropriated by the state. Many were demolished, but some survived, often serving as barracks or prisons. In place of the monarchy a secular republic was established. The revolutionary mantra ‘liberté, égalité, fraternité’ is still the motto of modern day France. Chaos followed the revolution and a reign of terror resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths, including King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette. The English novelist Charles Dickens described this period in A Tale of Two Cities:’it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. A coup in 1799 led to military leader Napoleon Bonaparte taking control.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Despite ruling France for only 16 years, Napoleon (1769–1821) had a greater influence on the political and legal structures of the country than any other person. He made peace with the Catholic Church and allowed many exiled aristocrats to return, although with limited powers. In 1804, he declared himself Emperor of France and started a series of military campaigns which saw the French briefly gain control of much of western and central Europe. Feeling threatened by French aggression, Britain went to war with France. A legacy from this period can be found all along the south-east coast of England (classic route, Stage 3 and Avenue Verte, Stage 3) in the form of Martello towers, small defensive forts built to defend against French invasion. Napoleon was defeated in 1815 by the combined forces of Britain and Prussia, this being the last war between the British and French.
Napoleon is buried under the dome of Les Invalides in Paris (classic route, Stage 11)
Agricultural and industrial revolutions
In Britain, political stability and an entrepreneurial environment allowed industry to develop and grow, fermenting the late 18th-century industrial revolution. Agricultural mechanisation caused millions of workers to leave the land and take jobs in factories producing textiles and iron goods which were distributed by a network of canals and railways and exported by a growing merchant fleet. This industrialisation was primarily in the north, with agriculture continuing to dominate the downland and Wealden valleys of south-east England. Indeed, the pre-19th-century iron industry in the Sussex Weald was unable to compete and ceased to exist.
