Editing Provence (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Provence}}

=== Prehistoric Provence ===
[[File:La calanque de Morgiou (Marseille) (14229035225).jpg|thumb|left|The entrance to the [[Cosquer Cave]], decorated with paintings of [[auk]]s, [[bison]], [[Pinniped|seals]] and outlines of hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located 37 metres under the surface of the [[Calanque de Morgiou]] in [[Marseille]].]]
The coast of Provence has some of the earliest known sites of human habitation in Europe. Primitive stone tools dating back 1 to 1.05&nbsp;million years BC have been found in the [[Grotte du Vallonnet]] near [[Roquebrune-Cap-Martin]], between [[Monaco]] and [[Menton]].<ref>Max Escalon de Fonton, ''L'Homme avant l'histoire'', article in ''Histoire de la Provence'', edited by Edouard Baratier, Éditions Privat, Toulouse, 1990. Pg. 14 See also Henry de Lumley, ''La Grand Histoire des premiers hommes européens'', Odile Jacob, Paris, 2010</ref> More sophisticated tools, worked on both sides of the stone and dating to 600,000 BC, were found in the Cave of Escale at [[Saint-Estève-Janson]]; tools from 400,000 BC and some of the first fireplaces in Europe were found at [[Terra Amata (archaeological site)|Terra Amata]] in Nice.<ref>Max Escalon de Fonton, ''L'Homme avant l'histoire'', pg. 15</ref> Tools dating to the [[Middle Paleolithic]] (300,000 BC) and [[Upper Paleolithic]] (30,000–10,000 BC) were discovered in the Observatory Cave, in the [[Jardin Exotique de Monaco|Jardin Exotique]] of [[Monaco]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jardin-exotique.mc |title=Site of the Exotic Garden of Monaco, and the Museum of Archeology |publisher=Jardin-exotique.mc |access-date=11 June 2011}}</ref>

The Paleolithic period in Provence saw great changes in the climate. Two ice ages came and went, and the sea level changed dramatically. At the beginning of the Paleolithic, the sea level in western Provence was 150 meters higher than today. By the end of the Paleolithic, it had dropped to 100 to 150 metres below the sea level today. The cave dwellings of the early inhabitants of Provence were regularly flooded by the rising sea or left far from the sea and swept away by erosion.<ref name="ReferenceA">Escalon de Fonton, ''L'Homme avant l'histoire'', pp. 16–17</ref>

[[File:Celtic Stone in Draguignan - Provence - France.JPG|thumb|left|A Bronze Age dolmen (2500 to 900 BC) near [[Draguignan]]]]
The changes in the sea level led to one of the most remarkable discoveries of signs of early man in Provence. In 1985, a diver named Henri Cosquer discovered the mouth of a submarine cave 37 metres below the surface of the [[Calanque de Morgiou]] near Marseille. The entrance led to a cave above sea level. Inside, the walls of the [[Cosquer Cave]] are decorated with drawings of bison, seals, auks, horses and outlines of human hands, dating to between 27,000 and 19,000 BC.<ref>Aldo Bastié, ''Histoire de la Provence'', Editions Ouest-France, 2001</ref>

The end of the Paleolithic and beginning of the [[Neolithic]] period saw the sea settle at its present level, a warming of the climate and the retreat of the forests. The disappearance of the forests and the deer and other easily hunted game meant that the inhabitants of Provence had to survive on [[rabbit]]s, [[snail]]s and wild sheep. In about 6000 BC, the Castelnovian people, living around [[Châteauneuf-les-Martigues]], were among the first people in Europe to domesticate wild sheep, and to cease moving constantly from place to place. Once they settled in one place they were able to develop new industries. Inspired by pottery from the eastern Mediterranean, in about 6000 BC they created the first pottery made in France.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Around 6000 BC, a wave of new settlers from the east, the [[Chasséen culture|Chasséens]], arrived in Provence. They were farmers and warriors, and gradually displaced the earlier pastoral people from their lands. They were followed about 2500 BC by another wave of people, also farmers, known as the Courronniens, who arrived by sea and settled along the coast of what is now the Bouches-du-Rhône.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Traces of these early civilisations can be found in many parts of Provence. A Neolithic site dating to about 6,000 BC was discovered in Marseille near the [[Gare de Marseille Saint-Charles|Saint-Charles railway station]]. and a [[dolmen]] from the [[Bronze Age]] (2500–900 BC) can be found near [[Draguignan]].

=== Ligures and Celts in Provence ===
Between the 10th and 4th century BC, the [[Ligures]] were found in Provence from [[Marseille|Massilia]] as far as modern [[Liguria]]. They were of uncertain origin; they may have been the descendants of the indigenous Neolithic peoples.<ref name="J.R. Palanque, Pg. 33">[[Jean-Rémy Palanque|J.R. Palanque]], ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 33.</ref> According to [[Strabo]], the Ligurians, living in proximity to numerous Celtic mountain tribes, were a different people ({{lang|grc|ἑτεροεθνεῖς}}), but "were similar to the Celts in their modes of life".<ref>Strabo, Geography, book 2, chapter 5, section 28</ref> They did not have their own alphabet, but their language remains in place names in Provence ending in the suffixes -''asc'', -''osc'', -''inc'', -''ates'', and -''auni''.<ref name="J.R. Palanque, Pg. 33"/> The ancient geographer [[Posidonius]] wrote of them: "Their country is savage and dry. The soil is so rocky that you cannot plant anything without striking stones. The men compensate for the lack of wheat by hunting... They climb the mountains like goats."<ref>J. Cited by R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34.</ref> They were also warlike; they invaded Italy and went as far as Rome in the 4th century BC, and they later aided the passage of [[Hannibal]], on his way to attack Rome (218 BC). Traces of the Ligures remain today in the [[dolmens]] and other megaliths found in eastern Provence, in the primitive stone shelters called 'Bories' found in the [[Luberon]] and [[Comtat]], and in the rock carvings in the [[Vallée des Merveilles|Valley of Marvels]] near [[Mont Bégo]] in the Alpes-Maritimes, at an altitude of 2,000 meters.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34">J. R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34.</ref>

Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC, tribes of Celtic peoples, probably coming from Central Europe, also began moving into Provence. They had weapons made of iron, which allowed them to easily defeat the local tribes, who were still armed with bronze weapons. One tribe, called the [[Segobriga]], settled near modern-day Marseille. The Caturiges, Tricastins, and Cavares settled to the west of the [[Durance]] river.<ref>J. R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celts et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence''. Pg. 34</ref>

[[Celts]] and Ligurians spread throughout the area and the Celto-Ligures eventually shared the territory of Provence, each tribe in its own alpine valley or settlement along a river, each with its own king and dynasty. They built hilltop forts and settlements, later given the Latin name {{lang|la|[[oppidum]]}}. Today the traces of 165 {{lang|la|oppida}} are found in the Var, and as many as 285 in the Alpes-Maritimes.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34"/> They worshipped various aspects of nature, establishing sacred woods at Sainte-Baume and Gemenos, and healing springs at Glanum and Vernègues. Later, in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, the different tribes formed confederations; the Voconces in the area from the [[Isère]] to the [[Vaucluse]]; the Cavares in the Comtat; and the Salyens, from the [[Rhône]] river to the Var. The tribes began to trade their local products, iron, silver, alabaster, marble, gold, resin, wax, honey and cheese; with their neighbours, first by trading routes along the Rhône river, and later [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] traders visited the coast. Etruscan [[amphorae]] from the 7th and 6th centuries BC have been found in Marseille, Cassis, and in hilltop ''oppida'' in the region.<ref name="R. Palanque, Pg. 34"/>

=== Greeks in Provence ===
{{Main|Greeks in pre-Roman Gaul}}
[[File:Marseille Ancient Harbor.JPG|thumb|Remains of the ancient harbour of [[Marseille|Massalia]], near the Old Port of Marseille]]
Traders from the island of Rhodes were visiting the coast of Provence in the 7th century BC. Rhodes pottery from that century has been found in Marseille, near [[Martigues]] and Istres, and at Mont Garou and Evenos near [[Toulon]]. The traders from Rhodes gave their names to the ancient town of Rhodanousia ({{langx|grc|'Ροδανουσίαν}}) (now [[Trinquetaille]], across the Rhône river from Arles), and to the main river of Provence, the Rhodanos, today known as the Rhône.<ref>J.R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celtes et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence'', pg. 39.</ref>

The first permanent Greek settlement was [[Massalia]], established at modern-day Marseille in about 600 BC by colonists coming from [[Phocaea]] (now [[Foça]], on the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] coast of [[Asia Minor]]). A second wave of colonists arrived in about 540 BC, when Phocaea was destroyed by the [[Persian Empire|Persians]].<ref name="R. Palanque, pg. 41">R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celtes et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence'', pg. 41.</ref>

Massalia became one of the major trading ports of the ancient world. At its height, in the 4th century BC, it had a population of about 6,000 inhabitants, living on about fifty hectares surrounded by a wall. It was governed as an aristocratic republic, by an assembly of the 600 wealthiest citizens. It had a large temple of the cult of [[Apollo]] of Delphi on a hilltop overlooking the port, and a temple of the cult of [[Artemis]] of Ephesus at the other end of the city. The Drachma coins minted in Massalia were found in all parts of Ligurian-Celtic Gaul. Traders from Massalia ventured inland deep into France on the Rivers [[Durance]] and Rhône, and established overland trade routes deep into Gaul, and to Switzerland and Burgundy, and as far north as the Baltic Sea. They exported their own products; local wine, salted pork and fish, aromatic and medicinal plants, coral and cork.<ref name="R. Palanque, pg. 41"/>

The Massalians also established a series of small colonies and trading posts along the coast; which later became towns; they founded ''Citharista'' ([[La Ciotat]]); ''Tauroeis'' (Le Brusc);  ''Olbia'' (near [[Hyères]]); ''Pergantion'' (Breganson); ''Caccabaria'' ([[Cavalaire]]); ''Athenopolis'' ([[Saint-Tropez]]);  ''Antipolis'' ([[Antibes]]); ''Nikaia'' ([[Nice]]), and ''Monoicos'' ([[Monaco]]). They established inland towns at ''Glanum'' ([[Saint-Rémy-de-Provence|Saint-Remy]]) and ''Mastrabala'' ([[Saint-Blaise, Alpes-Maritimes|Saint-Blaise]]).

The most famous citizen of Massalia was the mathematician, astronomer and navigator [[Pytheas]]. Pytheas made mathematical instruments which allowed him to establish almost exactly the latitude of Marseille, and he was the first scientist to observe that the tides were connected with the phases of the moon. Between 330 and 320 BC he organised an expedition by ship into the Atlantic and as far north as England, and to visit [[Iceland]], Shetland, and Norway. He was the first scientist to describe drift ice and the midnight sun. Though he hoped to establish a sea trading route for tin from [[Cornwall]], his trip was not a commercial success, and it was not repeated. The Massalians found it cheaper and simpler to trade with Northern Europe over land routes.<ref>R. Palanque, ''Ligures, Celtes et Grecs'', in ''Histoire de la Provence'', pg. 44.</ref>

=== Roman Provence (2nd century BC to 5th century AD) ===
[[File:Trarch Orange.jpg|thumb|[[Triumphal Arch of Orange]], first century AD]]
In the 2nd century BC the people of Massalia appealed to Rome for help against the Ligures. Roman legions entered Provence three times; first in 181 BC the Romans suppressed Ligurian uprisings near Genoa; in 154 BC the Roman Consul Optimus defeated the [[Oxybii]] and the [[Deciates]], who were attacking Antibes; and in 125 BC, the Romans put down an uprising of a confederation of Celtic tribes.<ref>Bastié, ''Histoire de la'' ''Provence'', pg. 9</ref> After this battle, the Romans decided to establish permanent settlements in Provence. In 122 BC, next to the Celtic town of Entremont, the Romans built a new town, ''Aquae Sextiae'', later called [[Aix-en-Provence]]. In 118 BC they founded ''Narbo'' ([[Narbonne]]).

The Roman general [[Gaius Marius]] crushed the last serious resistance in 102 BC by defeating the [[Cimbri]] and the [[Teutons]]. He then began building roads to facilitate troop movements and commerce between Rome, Spain and Northern Europe; one from the coast inland to [[Apt, Vaucluse|Apt]] and [[Tarascon]], and the other along the coast from Italy to Spain, passing through [[Fréjus]] and Aix-en-Provence.

[[File:FranceArlesArenes 07-2013.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Arles Amphitheatre|Roman arena]] at [[Arles]] (2nd century AD)]]
In 49 BC, Massalia had the misfortune to choose the wrong side in the power struggle between [[Pompey]] and [[Julius Caesar]]. Pompey was defeated, and Massalia lost its territories and political influence. Roman veterans, in the meantime, populated two new towns, Arles and Fréjus, at the sites of older Greek settlements.

In 8 BC the Emperor [[Augustus]] built a triumphal monument at [[La Turbie]] to commemorate the pacification of the region, and he began to Romanize Provence politically and culturally. Roman engineers and architects built monuments, theatres, baths, villas, fora, arenas and [[Roman aqueduct|aqueducts]], many of which still exist. (See [[Architecture of Provence]].) Roman towns were built at [[Cavaillon]]; [[Orange, Vaucluse|Orange]]; [[Arles]]; [[Fréjus]]; [[Glanum]] (outside [[Saint-Rémy-de-Provence]]); [[Carpentras]]; [[Vaison-la-Romaine]]; [[Nîmes]]; [[Vernègues]]; [[Saint-Chamas]] and [[Cimiez]] (above Nice). The Roman province, which was called [[Gallia Narbonensis]], for its capital, Narbo (modern Narbonne), extended from Italy to Spain, from the [[Alps]] to the [[Pyrenees]].

The [[Pax Romana]] in Provence lasted until the middle of the 3rd century. [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes invaded Provence in 257 and 275. At the beginning the 4th century, the court of Roman Emperor [[Constantine the Great|Constantine]] (ca. 272–337) was forced to take refuge in Arles. By the end of the 5th century, Roman power in Provence had vanished, and an age of invasions, wars, and chaos began.

=== Arrival of Christianity (3rd–6th centuries) ===
[[File:Frejus Cathedral Baptistery.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[baptistery]] of [[Fréjus Cathedral]] (5th century) is still in use]]
There are many legends about the earliest Christians in Provence, but they are difficult to verify. It is documented that there were organised churches and bishops in the Roman towns of Provence as early as the 3rd and 4th centuries; in [[Arles]] in 254; Marseille in 314; [[Orange, Vaucluse|Orange]], [[Vaison]] and [[Apt, Vaucluse|Apt]] in 314; [[Cavaillon]], [[Digne]], [[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Embrun]], [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]], and [[Fréjus]] at the end of the 4th century; [[Aix-en-Provence]] in 408; [[Carpentras]], [[Avignon]], [[Riez]], [[Cimiez]] (today part of [[Nice]]) and [[Vence]] in 439; [[Antibes]] in 442; [[Toulon]] in 451; [[Senez]] in 406, [[Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux]] in 517; and [[Glandèves]] in 541.<ref>Aldo Bastié, ''Histoire de la Provence'', (pg. 13.)</ref>

The oldest Christian structure still surviving in Provence is the baptistery of the [[Fréjus Cathedral]], dating from the 5th century. At about the same time, the first two monasteries in Provence were founded: [[Lérins Abbey]], on the island of [[Île Saint-Honorat|Saint-Honorat]] near Cannes, and [[Abbey of St Victor, Marseille|Abbey of St Victor]] in Marseille.

=== Germanic invasions, Merovingians and Carolingians (5th–9th centuries) ===
[[File:King Boson of Provence.JPG|thumb|[[Boso of Provence|King Boson]] and [[List of protomartyrs|San Stephen]] (fragment of fresco at [[Charlieu Abbey]])]]
Beginning in the second half of the 5th century, as Roman power waned, successive waves of Germanic tribes entered Provence: first the [[Visigoths]] (480), then the [[Ostrogoths]], then the [[Burgundians]], finally, the [[Franks]] in the 6th century. [[Arab]] invaders and [[Berber people|Berber]] pirates came from North Africa to the Coast of Provence in the early 7th century.

During the late 7th and the early 8th centuries, Provence was formally subject to the Frankish kings of the [[Merovingian dynasty]], but it was in fact ruled by its own regional nobility of Gallo-Roman stock, which ruled themselves according to Roman, not Frankish, law. Actually, the region enjoyed more prestige than the northern Franks had, but the local aristocracy feared [[Charles Martel]]'s expansionist ambitions.<ref name=rogercollins>{{cite book | author = Collins, Roger| year = 1989 | title = The Arab Conquest of Spain 710–797 | publisher = Blackwell |location = Oxford, UK / Cambridge, USA|isbn= 0-631-19405-3|page=92}}</ref> In 737, Charles Martel headed down the Rhône Valley after subduing Burgundy. He attacked [[Battle of Avignon|Avignon]] and [[Arles]], garrisoned by the [[Islamic invasion of Gaul|Umayyads]], and came back in 739 to capture for a second time Avignon and chase the duke [[Maurontus]] to his stronghold of Marseille.<ref name=rogercollins/> The city was brought to heel and the duke had to flee to an island. The region was thereafter under the rule of [[Carolingian]] kings, descended from Charles Martel, and then was part of the empire of [[Charlemagne]] (742–814).

In 879, after the death of the Carolingian ruler [[Charles the Bald]], [[Boso of Provence]] (also known as Boson), his brother-in-law, broke away from the Carolingian kingdom of [[Louis the Younger|Louis III]] and was elected the first ruler of an independent state of Provence.

=== Fraxinet, the Counts of Provence (9th–13th centuries) ===
[[File:Ramon Berenguer III.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The Catalan [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona|Ramon Berenguer I]], Count of Provence, in the Castle in Fos, painted by [[Marià Fortuny]] ([[Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi]], on deposit at the Palace of the [[Generalitat of Catalonia]], Barcelona)]]

Three different dynasties of counts ruled Provence during the Middle Ages, and Provence became a prize in the complex rivalries between the [[Catalan people|Catalan]] rulers of [[Barcelona]], the [[kings of Burgundy]], the German rulers of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and the [[House of Valois-Anjou|Angevin]] kings of France.{{Clarify|date=March 2010}}

[[File:Blason d'Aragon.svg|thumb|upright|The coat of arms of [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona]], and his descendants, who rules as counts of Provence from 1112 until 1246]]

[[File:Blason province fr Provence.svg|right|thumb|upright|Coat of arms of the counts of Provence of the [[House of Valois-Anjou]], who ruled Provence from 1246 until it became part of France in 1486]]

The [[Bosonids]] (879–1112) were the descendants of the first king of Provence, Boson. His son, [[Louis the Blind]] (890–928), lost his sight trying to win the throne of Italy, after which his cousin, [[Hugh of Italy]] (died 947), became the duke of Provence and the [[count of Vienne]]. Hugh moved the capital of Provence from Vienne to [[Arles]] and made Provence a [[fief]] of [[Rudolph II of Burgundy]].

In the 9th century, [[Arab]] pirates (called [[Saracens]] by the French) and then the [[Normans]] invaded Provence. The Normans pillaged the region and then left, but the Saracens built castles and began raiding towns and holding local residents for ransom. The conquering Arabs established the emirate of [[Fraxinet]] in 887. Early in 973, the Saracens captured [[Majolus of Cluny|Maieul]], the [[abbot]] of the monastery at [[Abbey of Cluny|Cluny]], and held him for ransom. The ransom was paid and the abbot was released, but the people of Provence, led by [[William I of Provence|Count William I]], rose up and defeated the Saracens near their most powerful fortress ([[La Garde-Freinet]]) at the [[Battle of Tourtour]]. The Saracens who were not killed in the battle were baptised and enslaved, and the remaining Saracens in Provence fled the region.
Meanwhile, dynastic quarrels continued. A war between [[Rudolph III of Burgundy]] and his rival, German emperor [[Conrad the Salic]] led in 1032 to Provence becoming a [[fiefdom]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], which it remained until 1246.

In 1112, the last descendant of Boson, [[Douce I, Countess of Provence]], married the Catalan [[Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona]], who as a result became Raymond Berenguer I, Count of Provence. He ruled Provence from 1112 until 1131, and his descendants, the Catalan counts, ruled in Provence until 1246. In 1125, Provence was divided; the part of Provence north and west of the [[Durance]] river went to the [[Count of Toulouse]], while the lands between the Durance and the Mediterranean, and from the Rhône river to the Alps, belonged to the counts of Provence. The capital of Provence was moved from Arles to [[Aix-en-Provence]], and later to [[Brignoles]].<ref>''Histoire de la Provence'', pg. 16</ref>

Under the Catalan counts, the 12th century saw the construction of important cathedrals and abbeys in Provence, in a harmonious new style, the [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]], which united the [[Gallo-Roman]] style of the Rhône Valley with the [[Lombardy|Lombard]] style of the Alps. [[Aix Cathedral]] was built on the site of the old Roman forum, and then rebuilt in the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style in the 13th and 14th centuries. The [[Church of St. Trophime]] in Arles was a landmark of Romanesque architecture, built between the 12th and the 15th centuries. A vast fortress-like monastery, [[Montmajour Abbey]], was built on an island just north of Arles and became a major destination for medieval pilgrims.

In the 12th century, three [[Cistercian]] monasteries were built in remote parts of Provence, far from the political intrigues of the cities. [[Sénanque Abbey]] was the first, established in the [[Luberon]] between 1148 and 1178. [[Thoronet Abbey]] was founded in a remote valley near [[Draguignan]] in 1160. [[Silvacane Abbey]], on the Durance river at [[La Roque-d'Anthéron]], was founded in 1175.

In the 13th century, the French kings started to use marriage to extend their influence into the south of France. One son of King [[Louis VIII of France|Louis VIII]] "the Lion", [[Alfonso, Count of Poitou|Alphonse, Count of Poitou]], married the heiress of the Count of Toulouse, [[Joan, Countess of Toulouse|Joan]]. Another, [[Louis IX]] "the Saint" of France or Saint Louis (1214–1270), married [[Marguerite of Provence]]. Then, in 1246, [[Charles I of Naples|Charles, Count of Anjou]], the youngest son of Louis VIII, married the heiress of Provence, [[Beatrice of Provence|Beatrice]]. Provence's fortunes became tied to the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevin Dynasty]] and the Kingdom of Naples.<ref>Bastiė, ''Histoire de la Provence''</ref>

=== The popes in Avignon (14th century) ===
{{main|Avignon papacy}}
[[File:Main entrance of the Palais des Papes - 20050823.jpg|thumb|The façade of the [[Palais des Papes]]]]

In 1309, [[Pope Clement V]], who was originally from Bordeaux, moved the [[Papal Curia]] to Avignon, a period known as the [[Avignon Papacy]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Noble|title=Cengage Advantage Books: Western Civilization: Beyond Boundaries|date=2013|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=9781285661537|page=304|edition=7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Td4WAAAAQBAJ&q=1309%2C+Pope+Clement+V+avignon&pg=PA304|display-authors=etal}}</ref> From 1309 until 1377, seven popes reigned in Avignon before the [[Western Schism|Schism]] between the Roman and Avignon churches, which led to the creation of rival popes in both places. After that, three [[antipope]]s reigned in Avignon until 1423, when the papacy finally returned to Rome. Between 1334 and 1363 the old and new Papal Palaces of Avignon were built by Popes [[Benedict XII]] and [[Clement VI]] respectively; together the [[Palais des Papes]] was the largest Gothic palace in Europe.<ref>Bastiė, ''Histoire de la Provence'', p. 20.</ref>

The 14th century was a terrible time in Provence, and all of Europe: the population of Provence had been about 400,000 people; the [[Black Death]] (1348–1350) killed fifteen thousand people in Arles, half the population of the city, and greatly reduced the population of the whole region. The defeat of the French Army during the [[Hundred Years' War]] forced the cities of Provence to build walls and towers to defend themselves against armies of former soldiers who ravaged the countryside.

The Angevin rulers of Provence also had a difficult time. An assembly of nobles, religious leaders, and town leaders of Provence was organised to resist the authority of Queen [[Joan I of Naples]] (1343–1382). She was murdered in 1382 by her cousin and heir, [[Charles III of Naples|Charles of Durazzo]], who started a new war, leading to the separation of [[Nice]], [[Puget-Théniers]] and [[Barcelonnette]] from Provence in 1388, and their attachment to the [[County of Savoy]]. From 1388 up to 1526, the area acquired by the Savoy was known as ''Terres Neuves de Provence''; after 1526 it officially took on the name [[County of Nice]].

=== Good King René, the last ruler of Provence ===
The 15th century saw a series of wars between the kings of [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] and the counts of Provence. In 1423 the army of [[Alfonso V of Aragon|Alphonse of Aragon]] captured Marseille, and in 1443 they captured Naples, and forced its ruler, King [[René I of Naples]], to flee. He eventually settled in one of his remaining territories, Provence.

History and legend has given René the title "Good King René of Provence", though he only lived in Provence in the last ten years of his life, from 1470 to 1480, and his political policies of territorial expansion were costly and unsuccessful. Provence benefitted from population growth and economic expansion, and René was a generous patron of the arts, sponsoring painters [[Nicolas Froment]], [[Louis Bréa]], and other masters. He also completed one of the finest castles in Provence at [[Tarascon castle|Tarascon]], on the Rhône river.

When René died in 1480, his title passed to his nephew [[Charles IV, Duke of Anjou|Charles du Maine]]. One year later, in 1481, when Charles died, the title passed to [[Louis XI of France]]. Provence was legally incorporated into the French royal domain in 1486.

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Nicolas Froment 004.jpg|Detail of the ''Burning Bush'' [[triptych]] by [[Nicolas Froment]], showing [[René of Anjou|René]] and his wife [[Jeanne de Laval]]
File:Tarascon Le Chateau.jpg|The [[Château de Tarascon|Chateau of René]] in [[Tarascon]] (15th century)
</gallery>

=== 1486 to 1789 ===
Soon after Provence became part of France, it became involved in the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]] that swept the country in the 16th century. Between 1493 and 1501, many Jews were expelled from their homes and sought sanctuary in the region of Avignon, which was still under the direct rule of the Pope. In 1545, the [[Parlement of Aix-en-Provence]] ordered the destruction of the villages of Lourmarin, Mérindol, Cabriéres in the Luberon, because their inhabitants were [[Waldensians|Vaudois]], of Italian [[Piedmontese]] origin, and were not considered sufficiently orthodox Catholics. Most of Provence remained strongly Catholic, though Protestants controlled the [[Principality of Orange]], an enclave ruled by William of the [[House of Orange-Nassau]] of the Netherlands, who inherited it in 1544 and which was not incorporated into France until 1673. An army of the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] laid siege to the Protestant city of Mėnerbes in the [[Vaucluse]] between 1573 and 1578. The wars did not stop until the end of the 16th century, with the consolidation of power in Provence by the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] kings.

[[File:Vernet-toulon-1.jpg|thumb|View of Toulon Harbour around 1750, by [[Joseph Vernet]]]]
The semi-independent Parliament of Provence in Aix and some of the cities of Provence, particularly Marseille, continued to rebel against the authority of the Bourbon king. After uprisings in 1630–31 and 1648–1652, the young King [[Louis XIV]] had two large forts, fort St. Jean and Fort St. Nicholas, built at the harbour entrance to control the city's unruly population.

At the beginning of the 17th century, [[Cardinal Richelieu]] began to build a naval arsenal and dockyard at Toulon to serve as a base for a new French Mediterranean fleet. The base was greatly enlarged by [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]], the minister of Louis XIV, who also commissioned his chief military engineer [[Vauban]] to strengthen the fortifications around the city.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Provence had a population of about 450,000 people.<ref name="Bastié, pg. 35">Bastié, ''Histoire de la Provence'', (pg. 35)</ref> It was predominantly rural, devoted to raising wheat, wine, and olives, with small industries for tanning, pottery, perfume-making, and ship and boat building. [[Provençal quilts]], made from the mid-17th century onwards, were successfully exported to England, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.<ref name=isa>{{Citation| last = Etienne-Bugnot| first = Isabelle| title = Quilting in France: The French Traditions| url = http://www.historyofquilts.com/french_quilt_history.html| access-date = 2 May 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180929094251/http://www.historyofquilts.com/french_quilt_history.html| archive-date = 29 September 2018| url-status = dead}}</ref> There was considerable commerce along the coast, and up and down the Rhône river. The cities: Marseille, [[Toulon]], Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, saw the construction of boulevards and richly decorated private houses.

[[File:Vernet-marseille-1754.jpg|thumb|Marseille in 1754, by Vernet]]
At the beginning of the 18th century, Provence suffered from the economic malaise of the end of the reign of [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]. The [[Great Plague of Marseille]] struck the region between 1720 and 1722, beginning in Marseille, killing some 40,000 people. Still, by the end of the century, many artisanal industries began to flourish; making [[perfumes]] in [[Grasse]]; olive oil in Aix and the [[Alpilles]]; textiles in Orange, Avignon and Tarascon; and [[faience]] pottery in Marseille, Apt, [[Aubagne]], and [[Moustiers-Sainte-Marie]]. Many immigrants arrived from Liguria and the Piedmont in Italy. By the end of the 18th century, Marseille had a population of 120,000 people, making it the third largest city in France.<ref name="Bastié, pg. 35"/>

=== During the French Revolution ===
{{Main|French Revolution}}
Most of Provence, with the exception of Marseille, Aix and Avignon, was rural, conservative and largely royalist, and the Revolution was as violent and bloody in Provence as it was in other parts of France. On 30 April 1790, [[Fort Saint-Nicolas in Marseille]] was besieged, and many of the soldiers inside were massacred. On 17 October 1791, a massacre of royalists and religious figures took place in the ice storage rooms ({{lang|fr|glacières}}) of the prison of the [[Palais des Papes|Palace of the Popes]] in Avignon.

[[File:marche-des-marseillois.jpg|thumb|left|[[La Marseillaise]], 1792]]

When the radical [[Montagnard (French Revolution)|Montagnards]] seized power from the [[Girondins]] in May 1793, a real counter-revolution broke out in Avignon, Marseille and Toulon. A revolutionary army under [[Jean François Carteaux|General Carteaux]] recaptured Marseille in August 1793 and [[city renaming|renamed]] it "City without a Name" ({{lang|fr-FR|[[Ville-sans-nom|Ville sans Nom]]}}.) In Toulon, the opponents of the Revolution handed the city to a British and Spanish fleet on 28 August 1793. A Revolutionary Army laid siege to the British positions for four months (see the [[Siege of Toulon]]) and finally, the enterprise of the young commander of artillery, [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] defeated the British and drove them out in December 1793. About 15,000 royalists escaped with the British fleet, but five to eight hundred of the 7,000 who remained were shot on the [[Champ de Mars (Toulon)|Champ de Mars]], and Toulon was renamed {{lang|fr-FR|Port la Montagne}}.

The fall of the Montagnards in July 1794 was followed by a new [[First White Terror|White Terror]] aimed at the revolutionaries. Calm was not restored until the rise of the [[French Directory|Directory]] to power in 1795.

Provence produced some memorable figures in the French Revolution; both moderates such as the [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|comte de Mirabeau]] and figures of the far left such as the [[Marquis de Sade]]; there was also the military figure [[Charles Barbaroux]] and the theorist [[Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès]] (1748–1836), who instigated the coup of [[18 Brumaire]] which brought [[Napoleon]] to power. The revolutionary anthem {{lang|fr-FR|[[La Marseillaise]]}} despite its origins on the [[Army of the Rhine|Rhine]] got its name because revolutionary volunteers from Marseille sang it on the streets of Paris.

=== Under Napoleon ===
[[Napoleon]] restored the belongings and power of the families of the [[Ancien Régime]] in Provence. The British fleet of Admiral [[Horatio Nelson]] blockaded Toulon, and almost all maritime commerce was stopped, causing hardship and poverty. When Napoleon was defeated, his fall was celebrated in Provence. When he escaped from [[Elba]] on 1 March 1815, and landed at [[Golfe-Juan]], he detoured to avoid the cities of Provence, which were hostile to him, and therefore directed his small force directly to the northeast of it.<ref>Mark Jarrett. [https://books.google.com/books?id=QTImBAAAQBAJ&dq=napoleon+avoided+provence+on+his+return+from+Elba&pg=PA158 ''The Congress of Vienna: War and Great Power Diplomacy after Napoleon''] I.B.Tauris, 30 June 2013. {{ISBN|0857735705}} p 158</ref>

=== 19th century ===
[[File:Marseille port c1825.jpg|thumb|Marseille in 1825]]
Provence enjoyed prosperity in the 19th century; the ports of Marseille and Toulon connected Provence with the expanding [[French colonial empire|French Empire]] in North Africa and the Orient, especially after the opening of the [[Suez Canal]] in 1869.

In April–July 1859, [[Napoleon III]] made a secret agreement with [[Count Camillo Benso di Cavour|Cavour]], Prime Minister of [[Piedmont]], for France to assist in expelling Austria from the [[Italian Peninsula]] and bringing about a united Italy, in exchange for Piedmont ceding [[Savoy]] and the [[Nice]] region to France. He went to war with Austria in 1859 and won a victory at [[Solferino]], which resulted in Austria ceding [[Lombardy]] to France. France immediately ceded Lombardy to [[Piedmont]], and, in return, Napoleon received Savoy and Nice in 1860, and [[Roquebrune-Cap-Martin]] and [[Menton]] in 1861.

The railroad connected Paris with Marseille (1848) and then with Toulon and Nice (1864). Nice, [[Antibes]] and [[Hyères]] became popular winter resorts for European royalty, including [[Queen Victoria]]. Under Napoleon III, Marseille grew to a population of 250,000, including a very large Italian community. Toulon had a population of 80,000. The large cities like Marseille and Toulon saw the building of churches, opera houses, grand boulevards, and parks.

After the fall of Louis Napoleon following the defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]], barricades went up in the streets of Marseille (23 March 1871) and the [[Communards]], led by Gaston Cremieux and following the lead of the [[Paris Commune]], took control of the city. The Commune was crushed by the army and Cremieux was executed on 30 November 1871. Though Provence was generally conservative, it often elected reformist leaders; Prime Minister [[Léon Gambetta]] was the son of a Marseille grocer, and future prime minister [[Georges Clemenceau]] was elected deputy of Var in 1885.

The second half of the 19th century saw a revival of the [[Occitan language|Provençal language]] and culture, particularly traditional rural values. driven by a movement of writers and poets called the [[Félibrige]], led by poet [[Frédéric Mistral]]. Mistral achieved literary success with his poem [[Mirèio]] (''Mireille'' in French); he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 1904.

=== 20th century ===
Between World War I and World War II, Provence was bitterly divided between the more conservative rural areas and the more radical big cities. There were widespread strikes in Marseille in 1919, and riots in Toulon in 1935.

After the defeat of France by Germany in June 1940, France was divided into an occupied zone and unoccupied zone, with Provence in the unoccupied zone. Parts of eastern Provence were occupied by Italian soldiers. Collaboration and passive resistance gradually gave way to more active resistance, particularly after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941 and the Communist Party became active in the resistance. [[Jean Moulin]], the deputy of [[Charles de Gaulle]], the leader of the Free France resistance movement, was parachuted into [[Eygalières]], in the [[Bouches-du-Rhône]] on 2 January 1942 to unite the diverse resistance movements in all of France against the Germans.

In November 1942, following Allied landings in North Africa ([[Operation Torch]]), the Germans occupied all of Provence ([[Operation Attila (World War II)|Operation Attila]]) and then headed for Toulon ([[Case Anton]]). The French fleet at Toulon sabotaged its own ships to keep them from falling into German hands.

The Germans began a systematic rounding-up of French Jews and refugees from Nice and Marseille. Many thousands were taken to concentration camps, and few survived. A large quarter around the port of Marseille was emptied of inhabitants and dynamited, so it would not serve as a base for the resistance. Nonetheless, the resistance grew stronger; the leader of the pro-German militia, the Milice, in Marseille was assassinated in April 1943.

On 15 August 1944, two months after the Allied landings in Normandy ([[Operation Overlord]]), the [[Seventh United States Army]] under General [[Alexander Patch]], with a [[Free French]] corps under General [[Jean de Lattre de Tassigny]], landed on the coast of Var between [[Saint-Raphaël, Var|St. Raphael]] and [[Cavalaire]] ([[Operation Dragoon]]). The American forces moved north toward [[Manosque]], [[Sisteron]] and [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]], while the French First Armored Division under General Vigier liberated Brignoles, Salon, Arles, and Avignon. The Germans in Toulon resisted until 27 August, and Marseille was not liberated until 25 August.

After the end of the war, Provence faced an enormous task of reconstruction, particularly of the ports and railroads destroyed during the war. As part of this effort, the first modern concrete apartment block, the [[Unité d'habitation]] of [[Corbusier]], was built in Marseille in 1947–52. In 1962, Provence absorbed a large number of French citizens who left Algeria after its independence. Since that time, large North African communities settled in and around the big cities, particularly Marseille and Toulon.

In the 1940s, Provence underwent a cultural renewal, with the founding of the [[Avignon Festival]] of theatre (1947), the reopening of the [[Cannes Film Festival]] (begun in 1939), and many other major events. With the building of new highways, particularly the Paris Marseille autoroute which opened in 1970, Provence became destination for mass tourism from all over Europe. Many Europeans, particularly from Britain, bought summer houses in Provence. The arrival of the [[TGV]] high-speed trains shortened the trip from Paris to Marseille to less than four hours.

In recent years, residents of Provence have struggled to reconcile economic development and population growth with their desire to preserve the region's unique landscape and culture.