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Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American impressionist painter who lived most of her life in France. She focussed on capturing women at their daily tasks in oils, pastels, and prints, and produced many innovative representations of mothers...
Definition
Marie Durand
Marie Durand (c. 1715-1776) stands apart in French Protestant history for her courage in the struggle for freedom of conscience. She was imprisoned for 38 years in the Tower of Constance at Aigues-Mortes in the south of France, liberated...
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Diane de Poitiers
Portrait of Diane de Poitiers (1500-1566), author unknown, Château de Chaumont-sur-Loire, France. Diane de Poitiers was the favourite of Henry II of France (r. 1547-1559) despite being almost 20 years older than him. She lived in the Château...
Definition
Antoine de Chandieu
Antoine de Chandieu (l. 1534-1591) was a French theologian, who played a decisive role in the religious history of the 16th century but remains in the shadow of other French Protestant leaders. Due to his remarkable abilities and contribution...
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Louis-Antoine de Bougainville
Louise-Antoine, Compte de Bougainville (1729-1811) was a French explorer and former army colonel, who was also a brilliant mathematician. He was a contemporary of Captain James Cook (1728-1779) and a protegée of Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764...
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Statue of Francis I of France
A statue of Francis I of France (r. 1515-1547 CE) in Cognac, France. The French king was born in the town in 1494 CE.
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Dumont d'Urville
Jules Sébastien César Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842) was born at Condé sur Noireau, Normandy, France. He was a French explorer and navigator who made three voyages of discovery to Aotearoa New Zealand between 1827 and 1840. Dumont d'Urville...
Article
Toilets in a Medieval Castle
The medieval toilet or latrine, then called a privy or garderobe, was a primitive affair, but in a castle, one might find a little more comfort and certainly a great deal more design effort than had been invested elsewhere. Practicality...
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A Brief History of the Rose
The rose that grows in many different forms in gardens all over the world today is an evolution of rose-like plants that lived in the northern hemisphere between 33 million and 23 million years ago. Traces of them have been found in the fossil...
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Ten Notorious French Pirates
Piracy has involved many nationalities over the centuries, but one of the prominent groups in the medieval and early modern periods was the French pirates, who terrorised the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Indian Ocean. French writers often...