History of Paris

Paris under Francis I
Francis I welcomes Emperor Charles V to Paris (1540) ©Image Attribution forthcoming. Image belongs to the respective owner(s).
1531 Jan 1

Paris under Francis I

Louvre Museum, Rue de Rivoli,

In 1534, Francis I became the first French king to make the Louvre his residence; he demolished the massive central tower to create an open courtyard. Near the end of his reign, Francis decided to build a new wing with a Renaissance façade in place of one wing built by King Philip II. The new wing was designed by Pierre Lescot, and it became a model for other Renaissance façades in France. Francis also reinforced the position of Paris as a center of learning and scholarship. In 1500, there were seventy-five printing houses in Paris, second only to Venice, and later in the 16th century, Paris brought out more books than any other European city. In 1530, Francis created a new faculty at the University of Paris with the mission of teaching Hebrew, Greek and mathematics. It became the Collège de France.

Last Updated: Sun Jan 14 2024

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