History

Some history ...

During the period of Gallic independence, a market town was founded on the Autura (today's Eure River): Autrikon, meaning "Port on the Eure". The town would become a capital for the Carnutes, from whom Chartres derives its name.
Under Roman rule, Autricum became an important city and was made the seat of a diocese at the end of the 4th century. Sacked by the Normans, the town and cathedral were given new life by the donation of "Mary's Veil", a holy relic, by Charles the Bald in 876.

In 911, the Viking chief Rollon laid siege to Chartres. The Holy Relic was placed upon the ramparts. The Vikings failed in their siege and beat a retreat. Soon there afterwards, Rollon converted to Christianity. In Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, he signed a treaty with Charles III, King of France, granting him the entire crown territory of Normandy. Towards the year thousand, when Fulbert was Bishop of Chartres, the town became a centre for intellectual and spiritual teaching. It’s renown stretched across medieval Europe, reaching its apogee in the 12th century.

The Earldom of Chartres (also known as the Earldom of Chartres and Blois) was at its height in the 10th century. Its most famous personage undoubtedly remains Count Thibault "The Cheat" (950 to 978).

Around 1000 A.D., during the time of Bishop Fulbert, Chartres became an intellectual and spiritual centre whose reputation would spread throughout Europe, reaching its greatest height in the 12th century.
Several times devastated by fire, the cathedral was rebuilt starting in 1194 on the old crypt constructed by Fulbert.

In 1328, the Country of Chartres, which had longtime been ruled over by the powerful Counts of Blois and Champagne, was brought within the royal dominion.

After the Hundred Years' War (which started in 1337), Chartres suffered numerous catastrophes, including the Black Plague epidemic in 1348.

As a result, the town shrunk considerably, with those districts lying outside the town walls being abandoned. The war came to a provisional end with the Treaty of Brétigny (7 km from Chartres) signed on 8 May 1360 by the kings of France and England (King John II "The Good" and Edward III).
The war was brought to a definitive end in 1453. However, numerous activities that had made Chartres famous disappeared at this time (felt, cloth and parchment making).
The wars of religion and all their attendant difficulties put an end to Chartres' further development. The town was laid siege several times during this period (1568-1590).

Following the Day of the Barricades (14 May 1588) when the Duke of Guise proclaimed himself King of Paris, Henry III sought refuge in Chartres.
On 27 February 1594, Henry IV was crowned King of France at Chartres: he was one of the few French kings not to be crowned in Reims.

In the literary domain, three Chartres natives gained renown in the 16th and 17th centuries: the poets Philippe Desportes and Mathurin Régnier and the moralist Pierre Nicole.
The revolutionary period would distinguish other Chartres natives: Brissot, leader of Gironde, Pétion, mayor of Paris, Chauveau-Lagarde, lawyer for Marie-Antoinette and Charlotte Corday, and, above all, General Marceau (general at the age of 24, killed at Altenkirchen in 1796 at the age of 27). In addition, it was in Chartres that Siéyès, at the time vicar general, wrote his famous pamphlet "What is the Third Estate?"

On 19 May 1794, the cathedral was consecrated to the "cult of the supreme being". It was eventually saved by Louis Sergent-Marceau, General Marceau's brother-in-law ("May it be forever protected from axe and hammer. It - this monument - will forever be for Chartres a treasure, for it will offer to art lovers, to foreigners, an object of wonder and admiration").

In 1836, an accidental fire destroyed the ancient roof structure. It was eventually recovered in copper.
The development of the city's large thoroughfares would continue into the 19th century and transform the economy. The railway station was inaugurated in 1849 and in 1937 the Paris-Chartres electrical railway was opened.
In 1909, Chartres was one of the first French towns to construct an aerodrome, then a flight school that would train more than 3,000 pilots during World War I.
Certain pilots would eventually become famous, such as Farman, Latham and Hélène Boucher.
On 17 June 1940, the prefect Jean Moulin courageously opposed the occupying army's demands, thus becoming France's first resistance fighter. He would later head the French Resistance Movement. In 1944, before being liberated by the 20th U.S. Army Corps and local patriots, the city came under numerous attacks that destroyed Guillaume Gate and the municipal library, one of France's finest.
In 1942, the writer Maurice Clavel joined the Resistance, where he met Silvia Monfort. In 1944, he became head of the Eure-et-Loire's French Forces of the Interior ("Sinclair") and helped liberate Chartres.

In 1979, the cathedral was named one the first World Heritage sites by UNESCO.
Chartres' economy is in full expansion. Located in the heart of Cosmetic Valley, the city is today the Capital of Light and Perfume.