31,000 years ago Earliest known paintings
Rhinoceroses, lions and mammoth feature on the walls of the Chauvet cave, in southern France

29,000 years ago
In the Cosquer cave near Marseilles, with its entrance now far below sea level, a hand print is made

25,000 years ago
A Brassempouy, in France, a Venus figurine is carved which is the oldest known example to have facial features

16,000 years ago The cave of Lascaux is adorned with paintings
The walls of the complex of caves at Lascaux in France are covered, over the years, with a vast number of paintings of animals

4000 BC Passage grave on Île Longue
A passage grave with a superb corbelled dome is constructed on the Île Longue off the southern coast of Brittany

500 BC Celts move into western Europe
The Celts, moving west from central Europe, settle in France and northern Spain

121 BC Romans in Provence
The Romans establish a province in the south of France, still acknowledged in the name Provence

102 BC Gaius Marius halts Teutones
The Roman general Gaius Marius defeats the Teutones, a German tribe which has made deep inroads into southern Gaul

58 BC Caesar in Gaul
At the end of his year as consul, Caesar travels north to become governor of northern Italy and southern France

58 BC Caesar makes advances in Gaul
Julius Caesar begins the long slow process of pushing Roman occupation steadily northwards in France (or Gaul)

52 BC Vercingetorix defeats Caesar
The Celtic leader Vercingetorix inflicts an unaccustomed defeat on Julius Caesar, at Gergovia, but is captured later in the year

52 BC Caesar writes Gallic War
In his winter quarters Julius Caesar writes The Gallic War, an account of his own achievements in suppressing the Gauls

20 Pont du Gard
The Romans construct the massive Pont du Gard to bring water to the city of Nîmes

177 Christians in Lyons tortured to death
On the order of Marcus Aurelius, Christians in Lyons are tortured to death - an instance of persecution unusual at this time

314 Constantine summons council at Arles
Warming to his new Christian role, Constantine summons more than 300 bishops to Arles to discuss the controversial issue of Donatus

360 St Martin founds monastery
St Martin founds the first monastery in western Europe, at Ligugé near Poitiers

406 Vandals move through Gaul into Spain
The Vandals cross the Rhine into Gaul and move into Spain, from which the Visigoths soon push them on into Africa

407 Roman city of Nîmes is sacked
The Roman city of Nîmes is sacked by the Vandals, in an early indication of the gradual loss of Gaul to the Germanic tribes

413 Burgundians cross the Rhine
The Burgundians cross the Rhine and settle round Worms, before moving south to the Savoy region

418 Visigoths settle in France
The Visigoths, after twenty years of destructive wandering, settle in southwest France as Roman federates

451 Huns invade Gaul
Attila and the Huns invade Gaul but are defeated, somewhere near Troyes, by a Roman army supported by Visigoths and Burgundians

481 Clovis leads Franks
The 15-year-old Clovis inherits the Merovingian crown and becomes leader of the Franks - with his first capital at Tournai

500 Clovis baptized at Reims
Clovis and some 3000 of his soldiers are baptized in a massive ceremony at Reims

591 Gregory writes history of Franks
Gregory, bishop of Tours, brings his 'History of the Franks' up to this year

650 Powerful mayors of the palace
In the Frankish kingdoms the 'mayors of the palace' steadily become more powerful than their nominal masters, the Merovingian kings

687 Pepin unites Frankish kingdoms
With a victory at Tertry, Pepin II wins effective control over all three Frankish kingdoms

714 Civil war among Franks
The death of the Frankish 'mayor of the palace' Pepin II is followed by civil war between members of his family

724 Charles Martel wins control
The civil war among the Franks ends with complete victory for Charles Martel, an illegitimate grandson of Pepin II

725 Origins of feudalism in Europe
The Frankish ruler Charles Martel, granting tracts of land to his nobles, lays the foundation for European feudalism

732 Charles Martel stops Muslim advance
The Muslim advance into France is halted when Charles Martel defeats the Arabs between Poitiers and Tours

741 Charles Martel dies
Charles Martel dies and leaves the Frankish kingdoms to his two sons, Carloman and Pepin III

747 Pepin III in full control
The elder son of Charles Martel retires to a monastery, leaving Pepin III in control of the entire Frankish empire

750 Pepin III is king of the Franks
With papal support Pepin III is elected king of the Franks, beginning the Carolingian dynasty (named from his father, Charles Martel)

753 Pepin and Charlemagne anointed by pope
Pope Stephen II anoints Pepin III and his two sons (one of them Charlemagne) in the abbey church of St Denis

768 Pepin III dies
On the death of Pepin III, the empire of the Franks is divided between his two sons - Charlemagne and his younger brother, Carloman

771 Charlemagne rules all Franks
On the death of his brother, Charlemagne inherits the entire kingdom of the Franks

796 Alcuin moves to Tours
Alcuin leaves the palace school at Aachen to become abbot of the monastery of Tours

800 Carolingian minuscule
The script known as Carolingian minuscule (basis of the modern roman typeface) is developed by Alcuin and his scribes at the monastery of Tours

816 Utrecht Psalter
Work begins in Rheims on the Utrecht Psalter, an outstanding example of the Carolingian illuminated manuscript

843 Francia Media promotes friction
The central Frankish kingdom, Francia Media, becomes one of the great fault lines of European history

850 Three-field system
The three-field system, introduced by the Franks, increases agricultural yield by 33%.

909 Reform at Cluny
Monastic reform, begun at Cluny, is so successful that more than 1000 Benedictine houses eventually follow the Cluniac example

911 Vikings become Normans
The Vikings settle in France, as Normans, when Rollo the Ganger is granted feudal rights over the region round Rouen

950 Eddas in Iceland
The material of the Eddas, taking shape in Iceland, derives from earlier sources in Norway, Britain and Burgundy

987 Western Frankish dynasty evolves into France
Hugh Capet, a Frankish noble elected king of west Francia, establishes the royal dynasty of France.

987 Capetian dynasty
Hugh Capet is the first in an unbroken line of twelve generations on the throne of France

1066 Marvellous comet appears
Halley's comet, appearing in the Normans' annus mirabilis, is later depicted in the Bayeux tapestry

1066 Normans invade England in longships
The Normans, as seen in the Bayeux tapestry, invade England in Viking longships with fortified platforms for archers

1078 Anselm claims to prove that God exists
Anselm includes in his Proslogion his famous 'ontological proof' of the existence of God

1080 Work begins on Bayeux tapestry
Work begins on the story of the Norman conquest, narrated in embroidery in the Bayeux tapestry

1084 St Bruno founds Carthusians
St Bruno and six companions retire to Chartreuse, in the French Alps, and establish the Carthusian order

1098 Cistercian order founded
Benedictine monks, wishing to return to the early ideals of the order, form a community at Cîteaux which becomes the Cistercian order

1102 Chansons de geste
The chansons de geste, performed by professional minstrels in castles and manors, celebrate the exploits of Charlemagne and his paladins

1115 Abelard teaches Heloïse
Peter Abelard teaches philosophy at Notre Dame until an affair with one of his pupils, Héloïse, brings his career to a dramatic end

1115 Bernard at Clairvaux
St Bernard establishes a new monastery at Clairvaux, from which he presides over the rapid expansion of the Cistercian order

1120 Troubadours and courtly love
The troubadours of Provence develop a new form of love poetry in French, introducing courtly love

1130 Chanson de Roland
A popular French poem, the Chanson de Roland, turns a minor disaster in one of Charlemagne's campaigns into a tale of epic heroism

1130 Perfection of Romanesque at Vézelay
The full flowering of the Romanesque style is seen in the nave of the abbey church at Vézelay, in France

1144 Gothic style in France
The new abbey church of St Denis is consecrated near Paris, introducing the style of architecture later known as Gothic

1145 Cult of carts at Chartres
A new form of pious devotion is seen in Chartres, with people painfully dragging wagons of stone to enlarge the cathedral

1147 Second crusade
The second crusade is led east by two kings, Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany

1150 Charlemagne a saint in France and Germany
In feudal France and Germany Charlemagne is by now venerated as a saint

1150 Gothic sculpture in Chartres
The biblical kings and queens in the west porch of Chartres cathedral are a striking early example of Gothic sculpture

1154 Henry II rules from Tweed to Pyrenees
Henry II, coming to the throne of England, is king or feudal overlord of an unbroken swathe of territory from the Tweed to the Pyrenees

1160 French authors make hero of Arthur
Chrétien de Troyes and other French authors turn the stories of Arthur and his knights into a romance of courtly love

1164 Becket flees to safety in France
Thomas Becket, having offended the king by his firm stand as archbishop of Canterbury, flees to a monastery near Paris

1170 Mystery play outside French church
The first known mystery play, the Mystery of Adam, takes place outside a church somewhere in France

1170 Becket suspends English bishops
Thomas Becket, in France, suspends the English bishops who have participated in the coronation of the 'Young King'

1170 Becket returns to Canterbury
After an apparent reconciliation with Henry II, Thomas Becket leaves France and returns to Canterbury

1200 Cathars pure heretics
The heresy of the Cathars (meaning 'pure' ones) is now so well established in southern France that they have bishops of their own

1204 Normandy taken by French king
The French king, Philip II, takes Normandy from the English, and follows this success by taking Anjou a year later

1208 Pope's man assassinated
The murder of the pope's legate to Toulouse provokes the Albigensian crusade, which aims to wipe out the Catharist heresy

1220 Stained glass in Chartres
Nearly 200 windows make Chartres cathedral the most magnificent display of early stained glass

1233 Inquisition begins work
Gregory IX sends Dominican friars to root out the remains of the Catharist heresy in France, thus launching the Inquisition

1243 Sainte Chapelle to house relic
Construction begins in Paris on the Sainte Chapelle, designed to house relics acquired by Louis IX, the king of France

1244 200 heretics burnt in wooden stockade
The siege of the Catharist stronghold of Montségur ends when 200 heretics are herded into a wooden stockade and are burnt

1250 Permanent parliament in Paris
France becomes the first kingdom to establish a permanent parliament when Louis IX reserves a chamber in his palace for quarterly sessions

1263 Pope offers Sicily to French prince
Pope Urban IV offers Sicily to a French prince, Charles of Anjou, who marches south in 1266 to fight for the kingdom

1290 Jews expelled from England
The Jews in England are driven out of the country, soon to be followed by those in France

1302 Estates-general in Paris
The estates-general of France gather for the first time, in Notre Dame, to consider the king's relationship with the pope

1309 Pope moves to Avignon
Clement V moves the papacy to Avignon, in a move which is expected to be temporary but which lasts for nearly seventy years

1310 Templars burnt at stake
Fifty-four Knights Templars are burned at the stake, during the campaign of the French king to destroy the order

1320 De Vitry's New Art
Philippe de Vitry, in his Ars Nova ('New Art'), lays out the basis of musical notation

1328 Capetian dynasty ends
When Charles IV dies, for the first time in more than 400 years of the Capetian dynasty there is no son or brother to inherit the French crown

1328 Valois dynasty begins
A French cousin, Philip of Valois, is selected to succeed Charles IV - in preference to an English cousin, Edward III

1337 Property dispute launches Hundred Years' War
Philip VI of France confiscates Guienne, a fief belonging to Edward III of England - whose response begins the Hundred Years' War

1340 English king claims France
Edward III, in Ghent, publicly assumes the title and the arms of the king of France

1346 Longbow outshoots crossbow at Crécy
The more mobile English force, of longbows and infantry, defeats at Crécy the unwieldy crossbows and heavy cavalry of the French

1347 Six brave burghers of Calais
The English siege of Calais ends when six burghers of the town, with ropes around their necks, offer their lives to save their fellow citizens

1348 Jews accused of poisoning wells
Massacres of Jews, rumoured to have caused the Black Death by poisoning wells, begin in southern France and spread through much of Europe

1356 Three-day battle at Poitiers
The battle of Poitiers ends, on the third day, with victory for the English and the capture of the French king, John II

1360 Ransom of 3 million gold crowns
After four years of captivity in Bordeaux and London, the French king John II is released for a promised ransom of 3 million gold crowns

1369 Burgundy marries Flanders
The marriage of the duke of Burgundy to the heiress of Flanders lays the foundation for the great territorial expansion of Burgundy

1377 Pope returns to Rome
The papal curia returns to Rome in what would seem a conclusive move if there were not, two years later, two popes - one of them elected back in Avignon

1379 Great Schism in papacy
The French cardinals, objecting to the new Italian pope, elect their own man as Clement VII - and thus inaugurate the Great Schism of the papacy

1392 French king goes mad
Charles VI, king of France, suffers the first of many violent fits of madness

1395 Burgundy employs Sluter
Philip II of Burgundy commissions from Netherlands sculptor Claus Sluter a work, the Well of Moses, which launches the northern Renaissance

1407 Brother of king murdered in Paris street
Rivalry between factions of the French royal family results in the murder in Paris of the king's brother, Louis duke of Orléans, and the onset of civil war

1412 Very Rich Hours of duke of Berry
The three Limburg brothers illustrate for the duke of Berry the Très Riches Heures, one of the masterpieces of International Gothic

1415 'Once more unto the breach' at Harfleur
Henry V captures the French stronghold of Harfleur - where, in Shakespeare, he urges his dear friends 'once more unto the breach'

1415 Agincourt on St Crispin's day
Henry V wins a victory on St Crispin's day at Agincourt, against a much larger and more heavily armed French force

1419 Henry V enters Rouen
After a six-month siege Henry V makes a triumphal entry into Rouen, the city of his Norman ancestors

1419 Duke of Burgundy murdered by Armagnacs
John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, is murdered by the Armagnac faction in the presence of the dauphin - escalating France's civil war

1420 English king heir to French crown
The treaty of Troyes, between the English and the Burgundian faction, grants Henry V the status of heir to the French throne

1420 Henry V marries Catherine
Henry V marries Catherine, daughter of the French king and sister of the rightful heir to the kingdom, the dauphin, who is on the opposing side

1422 Charles VII is king of Bourges
The dauphin proclaims himself Charles VII of France, but with Paris in the hands of his enemies he is known as the king of Bourges

1422 Infant king of England and France
Henry VI, son of Henry V and Catherine of France, is king of England and theoretically king of France before his first birthday

1428 Peasant girl hears voices
A peasant girl, Joan of Arc, hears the voices of saints urging her to relieve the siege of Orléans

1429 Joan face to face with Charles
Joan of Arc wins her way into the presence of Charles VII at Chinon and persuades him, eventually, to trust her

1429 Orléans falls to Joan and the French
Joan of Arc leads French forces in the successful relief of Orléans

1429 Anointing of king at Reims
Joan of Arc stands nearby while Charles VII is anointed at Reims, then kneels before him and for the first time calls him her king

1430 Joan captured in skirmish
Joan of Arc is captured in a skirmish with the Burgundians, who subsequently hand her over to the English

1431 Joan burned as a heretic
Joan of Arc, tried by the Inquisition on behalf of the English in Rouen, is burned at the stake as a relapsed heretic

1437 French king back in Paris
Charles VII enters Paris, marking conclusively the end of the French civil war

1438 French clergy make anti-papal stand at Bourges
The French clergy pass a resolution at Bourges, limiting the power of the papacy within France, which is adopted by the king as a 'pragmatic sanction'

1442 Naples captured for Aragon
Naples is captured by Alfonso V, breaking the link with France and uniting Sicily and Naples as an Aragonese kingdom

1450 Piero in San Sepolcro
Piero della Francesca paints masterpieces in his small home town of San Sepolcro

1450 Guns on battlefield
The French bring two small cannon on to the battlefield at Formigny, where they have a significant effect in achieving the French victory

1450 Sforza rules Milan
Francesco Sforza, a soldier of fortune, wins power in Milan

1452 Fouquet does Book of Hours
Étienne Chevalier commissions from Jean Fouquet a series of illustrations for his Book of Hours

1453 Battle of Castillon
The French win a convincing victory at Castillon, recovering the last stronghold (except Calais) held by the English in France

1453 Hundred Years War ends (after 116 years)
Charles VII's full recovery of Aquitaine and Normandy effectively brings to an end the Hundred Years' War

1461 Villon remembers ladies of time past
Francois Villon, recently released from prison, writes his Ballad of the Ladies of Times Past

1475 Bribe ends renewed English attack on France
Edward IV, landing at Calais with a large army, is bought off at Picquigny with a bribe - ending his attempt to revive the Hundred Years' War

1477 Maximilian I wins Burgundy by marriage
Maximilian, heir to Austria, weds Mary, heiress to Burgundy, in the first of the great marriage alliances which form the Habsburg empire

1491 Perkin Warbeck has wide support
The king of France is among those supporting Perkin Warbeck, supposedly a prince from the Tower, in his attempt on the English throne

1494 King of France claims Naples
Charles VIII, king of France, marches through the Alps with an army of 30,000, to claim the throne of Naples

1495 King of France crowned in Naples
Charles VIII captures Naples in February and is crowned there in May, but is forced back across the Alps before the end of the year

1500 Salic law rules prevails in France
The Salic law, preventing inheritance of the throne by or through a woman, is by now accepted as a fundamental law of France

1515 Francis I is king of France
Louis XII is succeeded on the French throne by his cousin and son-in-law, Francis I

1515 French victory at Marignano
The king of France, Francis I, wins a dramatic victory at Marignano and captures Milan

1517 Leonardo moves to France
Leonardo da Vinci moves to France, on the invitation of Francis I

1520 Field of Cloth of Gold
The English and French kings, Henry VIII and Francis I, feast and parley on the Field of Cloth of Gold

1525 French king prisoner at Pavia
The French king, Francis I, is taken prisoner by the Spanish at the battle of Pavia

1527 Francis I at Fontainebleau
Francis I begins to transform Fontainebleau into a palace, employing artists who establish the mannerist school of Fontainebleau

1532 Rabelais publishes Pantagruel
François Rabelais publishes Pantagruel, the first to appear of his five books about the giant Pantagruel and his father Gargantua

1534 Placards all over Paris
Paris wakes up to find Protestant placards all over the place, mocking the sacrament of the mass

1545 Waldenses massacred
3000 Waldenses are massacred as heretics in the villages of Provence

1545 Surgeon's guide to gunshot wounds
Ambroise Paré, the greatest surgeon of his day, publishes an account of how to treat gunshot wounds

1549 Du Bellay and the Pléiade
Joachim du Bellay publishes a manifesto for the group of new French poets who become known as the Pléiade

1550 Ronsard's Odes
Pierre de Ronsard publishes the first four books of his Odes

1558 Mary Queen of Scots marries heir to French throne
Mary Queen of Scots marries the heir to the French throne, who a year later succeeds as Francis II

1559 Huguenots get together in Paris
A national synod of France's Protestants, the Huguenots, is convened in Paris

1560 Copper-plate writing recommended
A book to teach good handwriting is published by Gianfrancesco Cresci, with examples engraved on copper plates

1560 Mary Queen of Scots widowed at seventeen
A year after Mary has become queen of France, her husband Francis II dies

1561 Knox and Mary disagree
Mary Queen of Scots returns from France to Edinburgh, and to an inevitable clash with John Knox

1572 Massacre on St Bartholomew's Day
A massacre of French Protestants, known as the Huguenots, begins in Paris on St Bartholomew's Day

1580 Western world gets the essay
French author Michel de Montaigne, in his library tower, produces Europe's first volume of essays – published in this year under the simple title Essais

1581 First ballet for French wedding
The first dramatic ballet, the Balet Comique de la Reine, is presented during French wedding festivities

1590 Tennis the craze in Paris
Royal (or real) tennis is so popular in France that there are now said to be 250 courts in Paris alone

1593 French king converts to secure throne
Henry IV becomes a Catholic so as to secure Paris and the throne of France

1598 Edict of Nantes protects Huguenots
The Edict of Nantes secures the civil rights of France's Protestants, the Huguenots

1610 French develop flintlock
A flintlock designed in France (possibly by Marin Le Bourgeoys) becomes the standard firing mechanism for muskets

1610 French king murdered in Paris street
Henry IV is assassinated in a Paris street by a Roman Catholic, François Ravaillac

1610 Marie de Médicis is French regent
After the assassination of Henry IV, his wife Marie de Médicis becomes regent for the 9-year-old Louis XIII

1616 Richelieu finds employment
Richelieu begins his public career, becoming a secretary of state to Marie de Médicis

1621 First English newspaper
The first English newspaper (Corante) appears, promising reports 'from Italy, Germany, Hungarie, Spaine and France'

1625 Rubens celebrates French queen
Rubens completes a great narrative sequence of twenty-one paintings to celebrate the achievements of Marie de Médicis

1634
Francesco Borromini begins work on his intricate baroque masterpiece, the Monastery of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1634-43), in Rome

1637 Corneille's Le Cid
Pierre Corneille's play Le Cid, popular with Paris audiences, hinges on the conflict between duty and love

1642 Staircase of locks in French canal
The Briare canal, joining the Seine to the Loire, has a staircase of six consecutive locks

1643 4-year-old is king of France
Louis XIV inherits the throne of France at the age of four

1643 Mazarin now principal minister
Mazarin becomes principal minister in France, selected by the queen regent on the death of Louis XIII

1643 Condé and Turenne
The Prince de Condé and the Vicomte de Turenne emerge as brilliant generals in France's wars

1644 Descartes thinks so he is
In his Principles of Philosophy Descartes gives priority to reason, summed up in his famous phrase cogito ergo sum

1646 Pascal demonstrates atmospheric pressure
With the help of his more robust brother-in-law, Blaise Pascal provides physical proof that atmospheric pressure varies with altitude

1648 Fronde against Mazarin
A rebellion of nobles against Mazarin, the principal minister of the young Louis XIV, becomes known as the Fronde

1650 Descartes catches chill
Descartes catches a fatal chill, returning home in midwinter from pre-dawn instruction of Queen Christina of Sweden

1651 Charles II defeated at Worcester
Charles II is defeated by Cromwell at Worcester and escapes in disguise to France

1652 Major battle in Paris suburbs
Turenne defeats Condé in a battle in the Paris suburbs, hastening the decline of the Fronde

1653 Sun King dances
The 14-year-old Louis XIV dances in a court ballet as Apollo, wearing a glorious sun costume, and finds that he likes the role

1660 New France a royal province
Louis XIV grants New France the status of a royal province and greatly increases the flow of colonists to north America

1661 Louis XIV encourages others to dance
Louis XIV establishes a royal dancing academy and soon follows it with a music academy

1662 Gobelin workshops developed for king
Jean-Baptiste Colbert buys the Gobelin family workshops in Paris and transforms them into a royal factory for Louis XIV

1664 French East India and West India companies
Colbert founds East India and West India companies to ensure a supply of raw materials for France's factories

1664 Leading team head-hunted for Versailles
Louis XIV commissions a well-established team of designers to provide him with a spectacular palace and garden at Versailles

1667 Human blood transfusion in Paris
The first successful human blood transfusion is achieved in Paris by Jean Baptiste Denis, apparently saving the life of a 15-year-old boy

1667 Racine's Andromaque
French dramatist Jean Racine's first great success, Andromaque, finds tragic drama in a quadrangle of love

1669 French have designs on Ohio valley
Robert de La Salle makes his first exploration of the Ohio valley, providing the basis for France's later claim to the area

1672 Distance to sun calculated
Giovanni Domenico Cassini, working in the Paris royal observatory, calculates the distance from the earth to the sun and is only 7% out

1673 Molière no malade imaginaire
Molière falls fatally ill when acting in his own play Le Malade Imaginaire

1673 Vauban transforms siege techniques
Sébastien de Vauban's new technique for conducting the siege of a town shows its effectiveness at Maastricht

1676 Speed of light only 25% out
Ole Roemer, a Danish astronomer working with Cassini in Paris, calculates the speed of light with an error of only 25%

1680 Dragoons hassle Huguenots
Louis XIV persecutes the Huguenots by means of dragonnades - the billetting of unruly dragoons in the homes of villagers

1681 160-metre tunnel in French canal
The Canal du Midi is completed in France, including at one point a 160-metre tunnel through high ground

1681 World's first prima ballerina
A professional ballet company in Paris introduces female dancers and the world's first prima ballerina, Mlle de Lafontaine

1682 French claim whole length of Mississippi
Robert de la Salle travels down the Mississippi to its mouth and claims the entire region for France, naming it Louisiana

1685 Persecuted Huguenots leave France
400,000 Huguenots leave France after Louis XIV deprives them of their rights by revoking the Edict of Nantes

1688 French adopt improved bayonet
Sébastien de Vauban's socket bayonet is introduced in the French army

1689 Grand Alliance against France
A Grand Alliance against France is formed by almost all the other powers in Europe

1690 French garrison in Pondicherry
France by now has six fortified trading settlements around the coast of India, of which Pondicherry is the most important

1697 France acquires Saint-Domingue
In the Treaty of Rijswijk, Spain cedes the western half of Hispaniola to France, which names its new colony Saint-Domingue

1701 War over Spanish crown
The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne

1714 Strasbourg and Alsace ceded to France
Strasbourg and Alsace are ceded to Louis XIV and become part of France

1715 Louis XIV dies
Louis XIV dies after seventy-two years on the throne

1717 Mississippi valley to be developed
Scottish entrepreneur John Law establishes the Louisiana Company to develop the Mississippi valley for France

1720 France pioneers rococo
The lighter rococo style, beginning in France, becomes an extension of the baroque

1720 Postchaise for comfort
The postchaise, introduced in France, provides the first chance of reasonably comfortable travel by land

1720 Mississippi Bubble bursts
Shares in John Law's Louisiana Company rise spectacularly and then collapse, in what becomes known as the Mississippi Bubble

1721 Watteau paints shop sign
Jean-Antoine Watteau paints the most splendid shop sign in history, for his friend Gersaint

1733 France and Spain in family compact
An alliance between the French and Spanish Bourbons is the first of what become known as the Family Compacts

1733 Voltaire approves of England
Voltaire publishes a series of Philosophical Letters comparing the French unfavourably with England

1738 France accepts Pragmatic Sanction
In the Treaty of Vienna, France accepts the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI – the last of the European powers to do so

1741 Spain joins the war
Spain, now an ally of France, joins in the war against Austria

1744 France and Britain at war again
France formally declares war on Britain half way through the War of the Austrian Succession

1744 France abandons plan for invasion of Britain
Bad weather causes the French to abandon a plan to invade Britain with the Scottish pretender Charles Edward Stuart

1745 Battle of Fontenoy
Maurice de Saxe, with a French army including an Irish brigade, defeats British, Austrian and Dutch forces at Fontenoy

1746 Millennium clock in Paris
Monsieur Passemont constructs in Paris a millennium clock which can record the date in any year up to AD 9999

1749 French claim Ohio valley
A French official travels down the Ohio valley, placing markers to claim it for France

1751 French launch encyclopedia
A great French undertaking by Denis Diderot, his 28-volume Encyclopédie, begins publication

1751 Chardin specializes in still life
French painter Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin returns to the subject matter that first took his interest, still life

1752 Fragonard wins Prix de Rome
French painter Jean-Honoré Fragonard wins the cherished Prix de Rome at the age of 20

1754 Guardi paints views of Venice
Francesco Guardi, previously a painter of figures, begins to specialize in view of Venice, his native city

1756 France and Austria new friends
In what becomes known as the Diplomatic Revolution, two of Europe's long-standing rivals - France and Austria - sign a treaty of alliance

1757 Elder Pitt in charge of war
William Pitt the Elder becomes secretary of state and transforms the British war effort against France in America

1759 Candide hopes for the best
Voltaire publishes Candide, a satire on optimism prompted by the Lisbon earthquake of 1755

1762 Calls for Rousseau's arrest
Two books in this year, Émile and Du Contrat Social, prompt orders for the arrest of Jean-Jacques Rousseau

1763 Treaty of Paris
A treaty signed in Paris ends the Seven Years' War between Britain, France and Spain

1763 French north America now British
In the treaty of Paris France cedes to Britain all its territory north of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi river, except the district of New Orleans

1766 Le Roy designs a practical chronometer
Pierre le Roy's chronometer, as accurate as Harrison's and cheaper to construct, is set to become the standard model

1768 Corsica becomes French
Corsica is sold to France by the republic of Genoa

1768 Technique of aquatint discovered
A French artist, Jean Baptiste le Prince, discovers the aquatint technique in printmaking

1769 Cugnot's steam wagon
French inventor Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot successfully tests a steam wagon, probably the first working mechanical vehicle

1775 Figaro here to stay
Figaro makes his first appearance on stage in Beaumarchais' The Barber of Seville

1775 Talleyrand becomes abbot at twenty-one
Talleyrand begins an extremely varied career by becoming an abbot at the age of twenty-one

1778 France guarantees American independence
Benjamin Franklin persuades the French to sign a Treaty of Alliance, committing France to the US cause

1778 France joins in on American side
France, joining the American colonies in their fight against Britain, sends a large fleet across the Atlantic