Читать книгу Cycle Touring in France. Eight tours in Brittany, Picardy, Alsace, Auvergne/Languedoc, Provence, Dordogne/Lot, the Alps and the Pyrenees онлайн

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In the mid-8th century the Carolingian dynasty came to power, with Pepin the Short being crowned king by the Pope. It was his successor, Charlemagne, who reunited the Frankish domains of Roman Gaul of old in 771. Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Roman Empire by Pope Leo III in 800. In 843 this empire was divided between his grandsons into the West Frankish Kingdom, the Middle Frankish Empire and the East Frankish Kingdom. During the 9th century France was often attacked by Norsemen (from Scandinavia) who eventually settled in Normandy; two centuries later, in 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, conquered England.

In 987, when the last Carolingian successor died, Hugues Capet was elected as the first of 13 kings of France by a select group of powerful provincial governors. This Capetian dynasty lasted until 1328, nine years before the start of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. However, large parts of France were under English rule from the second half of the 12th century, as a result of Eleanor of Aquitaine divorcing Louis VII of France and marrying Henry Plantagenet of Normandy, who soon became Henry II of England.