The+Red

This is the first color on the national flag of France. Le Rouge. First, We'll cover some of the history of France. Red can mean many things like Blood. One of the bloodiest parts of French history was the [|French Revolution]. Second, red wine is another very important red product of France.

French Revolution The French Revolution was the start of modern France and modern Europe. The consequences of the Revolution changed Europe from a feudal society to one where modern ideas began. By 1789, the French monarchy was broke. It needed money badly. This was due to helping pay for the American Revolution, which may have given the French citizens ideas about their own government. King Louis XVI was an absolute monarch and was not the best of kings. He and his queen, Marie Antoinette, were infamous for spending to much money on the Royal Court and not enough on the country.

Eventually, the French citizens, particulary the Parisians, became upset enough to start an uprising and revolution. On July 14, 1789 the Royal Prison of //La Bastille// was attacked. This was the start of //la Révolution française.// Within a short period of time, the King and Queen tried to flee France. They were caught at the border by French soldiers. They were returned to Paris and were kept in prison for two years.

Louis XVI was beheaded on January 21, 1793 by the guillotine. Ironically, his place of execution was the //Place Louis XV//, which was named after his father, but by then had been renamed //Place de la Révolution.// That same location is now called //[|Place de la Concorde]//(which means Place of Peace). His Austrian Queen was executed on October 16 in that same year. By the time Marie Antoinette died, the [|Reign of Terror] had begun.

The Reign of Terror was a time of a great bloodshed and massacres. One of the events that moved France closer to the Reign of Terror, was the death of Jean-Paul Marat, a political leader. He was murdered in his bathtub by Charlette Corday. His murder was memorialized both in a famous painting and a wax head cover. Later in court, Corday confessed to have pulled out the butcher knife, she had bought earlier that day, and pierced him through the chest, near his heart, releasing a clavicle. It was death within seconds.

This is one example of death and blood. The French Revolution was a very bloody and deathly time. There was actually so much death, in that time period, that people were afraid to leave their own homes. It was a blood red period in French history.

Bordeaux Red Wine is obviously red. Why though? Well, the color comes from the grapes skin. The skin is in contact through out through the fermentation process, allowing the coloring. Most descriptions are; almost black, dark red, darker violet, opaque purple, maroon, and dark purple.

Red wine is popular all around the world. France very strictly controls what wine is called so all Bordeaux wine is from the Bordeaux region. Bordeaux makes about 960 million bottles a year. Bordeaux has made 287,000 acres of vineyards, 57 [|appelations], 10,000 wine producing farms and 13,000 grape growers.

Bordeaux was settled by a celtic tribe, the Bituriges Vivisci, who named the town Burdigala, probably of Aquitainian origin. Aquitaine is the area around Bordeaux and was also has a long and important history. One of the most important people of Aquitaine was [|Dutchess Eleanor].

Eleanor was born in the twelfth century. She married the //Roi de France//, Louis XII, on July 25, 1137. Aquitaine was apart of France. In an age particularly where women didn't travel much she went all the way to the Middle East, on the Second Crusade. When she and Louis XII returned, she was a very independent women and decided to divorce the King of France. She then went on to England and within two months of her divorce, she was already engaged to [|Henry II, Duke of Normans]. Henry soon became King of England and the area of Aquitaine was now apart of England.

She was the mother of ten children, two girls with Louis XII and three girls and five boys, three of them were kings, with Henry II. Two of those sons were one of the most famous kings of England, //Richard Coeur de Lion// and //Jean sans Terre,// Eleanors marriage to the King of England was the basis for centuries of war between the French and English.

Her life story made Bordeaux and Aquitaine a very important part of France. Today, Bordeaux is the center of aerospace industries in France and Europe. The region and its red wine has a fascinating history.

This is a trailer of the 1968 movie __//The Lion In Winter.//__ This movie is about Dutchess Eleanor and her life.

media type="youtube" key="5cVwBjwRGgg" height="349" width="425" align="center"

Back