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[[Image:FusGren-FusChass.jpg|150px|right|Fusilier-Grenadiers and Fusilier-Chasseurs of the Middle Guard, 1806-1814.]] |
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The '''''Grande Armée''''' ([[French language|French]] for "the Great Army" or "the Grand Army") first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon I]] renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the [[English Channel]] for the [[Napoleon's invasion of England|proposed invasion]] of [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Britain]] and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805 against [[Austrian Empire|Austria]] and [[Russian Empire|Russia]]. |
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'''Catherine de' Medici's building projects''' included the [[House of Valois| Valois]] chapel at [[Basilique Saint-Denis|Saint-Denis]], the [[Tuileries Palace]], and the Hôtel de la Reine in Paris, and extensions to the [[Château de Chenonceau| château of Chenonceau]],<!--Please see thread at top of talk page for conventions of spelling, capitalisation, and language regarding "château" and related usages in this article--> near [[Blois]]. Born in 1519 in Florence to an Italian father and a French mother, [[Catherine de' Medici]] was a daughter of both the [[Italian Renaissance| Italian]] and the [[French Renaissance]]. She grew up in Florence and Rome under the wing of the [[Medici]] popes, [[Pope Leo X| Leo X]] and [[Pope Clement VII| Clement VII]]. In 1533, at the age of fourteen, she left Italy and married [[Henry II of France| Henry]], the second son of [[Francis I of France| Francis I]] and [[Claude, Duchess of Brittany|Queen Claude]] of France. On doing so, she entered the greatest Renaissance court in northern Europe. |
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Thereafter, the name was used for the principal French army deployed in the Campaigns of 1806-07, 1812, and 1813-14. In practice, however, the term "Grande Armée" is used in English to refer to all of the multinational forces gathered by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon I]] in his campaigns of the early [[19th century|nineteenth century]] (see [[Napoleonic Wars]]). |
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King Francis set his daughter-in-law an example of kingship and artistic patronage that she never forgot. She witnessed his huge architectural schemes at [[Château de Chambord| Chambord]] and [[Château de Fontainebleau| Fontainebleau]]. She saw Italian and French craftsmen at work together, forging the style that became known as the first [[School of Fontainebleau]]. Francis died in 1547, and Catherine became queen consort of France. But it wasn't until her husband King Henry's death in 1559, when she found herself at forty the effective ruler of France, that Catherine came into her own as a patron of architecture. Over the next three decades, she launched a series of costly building projects aimed at enhancing the grandeur of the monarchy. During the same period, however, religious civil war gripped the country and brought the prestige of the monarchy to a dangerously low ebb. |
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The first Grande Armée consisted of six [[corps]] under the command of Napoleon's [[Marshal of France|marshals]] and senior generals. When Napoleon discovered that Russian and Austrian armies were preparing to invade France in late 1805, the Grande Armée was quickly ordered across the [[Rhine]] into Southern Germany, leading to Napoleon's victories at [[Battle of Ulm|Ulm]] and [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]]. |
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Catherine loved to supervise each project personally. The architects of the day dedicated books to her, knowing that she would read them. Though she spent colossal sums on the building and embellishment of monuments and palaces, little remains of Catherine's investment today: one [[Doric order| Doric]] column, a few fragments in the corner of the Tuileries gardens, an empty tomb at Saint Denis. The sculptures she commissioned for the Valois chapel are lost, or scattered, often damaged or incomplete, in museums and churches. Catherine de' Medici's reputation as a sponsor of buildings rests instead on the designs and treatises of her architects. These testify to the vitality of French architecture under her patronage. '''[[Catherine de' Medici's building projects|Read more...]]''' |
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The army grew in size as Napoleon's might spread across Europe. It reached its maximum size of 600,000 men at the start of the [[Napoleon's invasion of Russia|invasion of Russia]] against the [[Sixth Coalition]] in 1812. All contingents were commanded by French generals, except for a Polish and an Austrian corps. The huge multinational army marched slowly eastwards, with the Russians falling back before it. After the capture of [[Smolensk]] and victory in the [[Battle of Borodino]], Napoleon and a large part of the Grande Armée reached Moscow on 14 September 1812; however, the army was already drastically reduced in numbers due to bloody battles with Russians, disease (principally [[typhus]]) and long communication lines. The army spent a month in Moscow, but was ultimately forced to march back westwards. Assailed by cold, starvation and disease, and constantly harassed by [[Cossack]]s and Russian irregulars, the retreat utterly destroyed the Grande Armée as a fighting force. As many as 400,000 died in the adventure and only a few tens of thousands of ravaged troops returned. |
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Napoleon led a new army to the [[Battle of Nations]] at [[Leipzig]] in 1813, in the furious defence of France in 1814, and in the [[Waterloo campaign]] in 1815, but the Napoleonic French army would never regain the heights of the Grande Armée in June 1812. '''[[Grande Armée|Read more...]]''' |
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Revision as of 04:16, 2 December 2008
The Grande Armée (French for "the Great Army" or "the Grand Army") first entered the annals of history when, in 1805, Napoleon I renamed the army that he had assembled on the French coast of the English Channel for the proposed invasion of Britain and re-deployed it East to commence the Campaign of 1805 against Austria and Russia.
Thereafter, the name was used for the principal French army deployed in the Campaigns of 1806-07, 1812, and 1813-14. In practice, however, the term "Grande Armée" is used in English to refer to all of the multinational forces gathered by Napoleon I in his campaigns of the early nineteenth century (see Napoleonic Wars).
The first Grande Armée consisted of six corps under the command of Napoleon's marshals and senior generals. When Napoleon discovered that Russian and Austrian armies were preparing to invade France in late 1805, the Grande Armée was quickly ordered across the Rhine into Southern Germany, leading to Napoleon's victories at Ulm and Austerlitz.
The army grew in size as Napoleon's might spread across Europe. It reached its maximum size of 600,000 men at the start of the invasion of Russia against the Sixth Coalition in 1812. All contingents were commanded by French generals, except for a Polish and an Austrian corps. The huge multinational army marched slowly eastwards, with the Russians falling back before it. After the capture of Smolensk and victory in the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon and a large part of the Grande Armée reached Moscow on 14 September 1812; however, the army was already drastically reduced in numbers due to bloody battles with Russians, disease (principally typhus) and long communication lines. The army spent a month in Moscow, but was ultimately forced to march back westwards. Assailed by cold, starvation and disease, and constantly harassed by Cossacks and Russian irregulars, the retreat utterly destroyed the Grande Armée as a fighting force. As many as 400,000 died in the adventure and only a few tens of thousands of ravaged troops returned.
Napoleon led a new army to the Battle of Nations at Leipzig in 1813, in the furious defence of France in 1814, and in the Waterloo campaign in 1815, but the Napoleonic French army would never regain the heights of the Grande Armée in June 1812. Read more...