In Caesar’s time, the part of Europe we now know as France
was called Gaul. It remained under Roman rule or centuries. Among the tribes
who occupied the land in the great movements of the barbarian races in the
fifth century, the Franks took the most important place. Clovis extended the
Frankish kingdom in the sixth century, Charles Martel saved the land from the
Saracens in 732, and in one another generation came Charlemagne, a glorified
figure and an enlightened ruler. After a troubled time, the political and
economic order known as the feudal system established itself. This leads us on
to the medieval period, which saw the first real beginnings of French
literature.
The language was at first the Latin of Italy, but this was
gradually modified and simplified, with a certain admixture of words from the
Germanic tribes. The dialect of the north differed somewhat from that of the
south, but gradually became the accepted standard. Modern French dates from the
fifteenth century. The French language, although a member of the Romance group,
differs much more from the Latin than the Italian and the Spanish language.
For centuries France has thought of herself as the center of
culture, and the claim has been largely substantiated.
No comments:
Post a Comment