TAMWORTH

157
FRANCE
LANGUAGES, French 100%, rapidly
declining regional dialects and
languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian,
Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish)
RELIGIONS, Roman Catholic 83%-88%,
Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-
10%, unaffiliated 4%
republic
CURRENCY euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European
Monetary Union introduced the euro as
a common currency to be used by
financial institutions of member
countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro
became the sole currency for everyday
transactions within the member
countries
Information about Troyes:
(marked on map in red circle)
Troyes is a commune and the capital of
the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about 150 km (93 mi) southeast of
Paris. Many half-timbered houses (mainly of the 16 th century) survive in the old town. Troyes has been in
existence since the Roman era, as Augustobona Tricassium, which stood at the hub of numerous highways,
primarily the Via Agrippa.
History
Troyes has been in existence since the Roman era, as Augustobona Tricassium, which stood at the hub of
numerous highways, primarily the Via Agrippa which led north to Reims and south to Langres and eventually to
Milan; [1] other Roman routes from Troyes led to Poitiers, Autun and Orléans. [2] It was the civitas of
the Tricasses, [3] who had been separated byAugustus from the Senones. Of the Gallo-Roman city of the early
Empire, some scattered remains have been found, but no public monuments, other than traces of an aqueduct.
By the Late Empire the settlement was reduced in extent, and referred to as Tricassium or Tricassae, the origin
of French Troyes (“three”).
The city was the seat of a bishop from the fourth century – the legend of its bishop Lupus (Loup), who saved the
city from Attilaby offering himself as hostage is hagiographic rather than historical [4] – though it was several
centuries before it gained importance as a medieval centre of commerce.
In the early cathedral on the present site, Louis the Stammerer in 878 received at Troyes the imperial crown
from the hands ofPope John VIII. At the end of the ninth century, following depredations to the city
by Normans, the counts of Champagne chose Troyes as their capital; it remained the capital of the Province of
Champagne until the Revolution. The Abbey of Saint-Loupdeveloped a renowned library and scriptorium.
During the Middle Ages, it was an important trading town, and gave its name totroy weight. The Champagne
cloth fairs and the revival of long-distance trade and new extension of coinage and credit were the real engines
that drove the medieval economy of Troyes.
In 1285, when Philip the Fair united Champagne to the royal domain, the town kept a number of its traditional
privileges. John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and ally of the English, aimed in 1417 at making Troyes the
capital of France, and he came to an understanding with Isabeau of Bavaria, wife of Charles VI of France, that a
court, council, and parlement with comptroller’s offices should be established at Troyes. It was at Troyes, then
in the hands of the Burgundians, that on 21 May 1420, the Treaty of Troyes was signed by which Henry V of
England was betrothed to Catherine, daughter of Charles VI, and by terms of which he was to succeed Charles,
to the detriment of the Dauphin. The high watermark of Plantagenet hegemony in France was reversed when the
Dauphin, afterwards Charles VII, and Joan of Arc recovered the town of Troyes in 1429.
In medieval times Troyes was an important international trade centre, centring around the Troyes Fair. The
name troy weight for gold derives from the standard of measurement evolving here.