Chartres, very early on, had an influence on French history. Starting with the Neolithic period, it was inhabited by humans and would see a lot of great men pass through who forged the history of France, from Henry IV to Jean Moulin. Today, well anchored in Modernity, it has reinvented itself and become, inside the space of a few decades, the Capital of Light and Perfume.
The Chartres location, starting with the Paleolithic Era, was occupied by populations that settled on a chalky spur where the Eure and Couesnon rivers meet. It was a natural defensive site right above the valley, where it was more hemmed in. Subsequently, the town became the capital city for the Carnutes (from whom it gets its name) Gaul tribe. Romanized Autricum becomes an important town, and the seat of a bishopric, starting at the end of the 4th century.
The initial centuries of the millennium lended themselves to evangelization, then wars and Norman invasions (in 858 and 911). Sacked by the Normans, the town and the Cathedral are brought back to life through a gift handed over by Charles the Bald, which in 876 consisted of a relic called “The Veil of the Virgin Mary.” Chartres, which already dominated a vast plateau of grain fields, which had a unique implantation of trees along its perimeter, rapidly acquired the role of a religious, political, and military capital.
Around the year 1000, during the time of Bishop Fulbert, Chartres becomes a center of intellectual and spiritual formation; its reputation for the same overtakes medieval Europe in such a way that it reaches its zenith during the 12th century. The population grows and the city expands towards the valley. Some new ramparts (only a few vestiges of the former walls remain) are built, and there are neighborhoods that stretch out around 12 different city gates, among the most important of which are Châtelet, Saint Jean, Drouaise, Guillaume, Morard, Saint Michel, and Epars. The strength of the medieval city is based on its economy. Chartres is then separated into two sections that have a 30-meter difference in height: the high part of town, with the château and the cathedral, and the low part, where activities that depend on the river are carried out: tanneries, curriers, taweries, mills, etc. In 1328, the Pays Chartrain [Chartres Region], which for a long time had been under the control of the Counts of Blois and of Champagne, becomes a part of the royal domain.
The city, a military outpost, is also at the center of wars. First of all, there was the 100 Years’ War (with the signing, in 1360, of the Treaty of Brétigny, seven kilometers from Chartres), and later, the Religious Wars. In 1588, the town serves as a refuge for Henry III before it suffers an assault by Henry of Navarre, the future Henry IV. To have himself pardoned, he chose the Cathedral as the place for his coronation as King of France, in 1584.
At the end of the 17th century, Chartres ceases to play a role as a stronghold and the ramparts are then developed in such a way that they contribute to the embellishment of the town. It does, nevertheless, remain marked by its religious, administrative, and regional market functions. Thanks to the moderate stance exercised by the inhabitants of Chartres during the Revolution, the Cathedral will suffer only limited damage; but an accidental fire, which takes place during 1836, will destroy its old framework. The roof will then be redone with copper. After the French Revolution and the transformation of the cathedral into the Temple de la Raison [Temple of Reason] (which Antoine-François Sergent-Marceau had proposed, to avoid its destruction), the town’s entrance into the modern world is marked by important progress in the form of a railway system, and the inauguration of the station in 1849, and that of the tramway in 1899, but, above all, because of the creation, in 1909, of the airfield, one of the first to be put in place in France. Close to 3,000 pilots will be trained there, among the most famous of whom are Farman and Latham…The city does not remain, less fundamentally speaking, a big market town with an economy based on its rural surroundings.
The changes that lead to the city of today were only put into operation during the middle of the 20th century, after it healed from the wounds that came about from two world wars. The city suffers its first bombing on August 15, 1918, before it would come face-to-face with those in June of 1940, and May of 1944. On June 17, 1940, the prefect, Jean Moulin, courageously opposed the demands of the occupying troops; as such, he is considered the first member of the French Resistance movement. In 1944, before its liberation by the 20th US Army Corps, and by local patriots, the city suffered through numerous attacks that caused, among other losses, that of Porte Guillaume and its library, which had one of the largest collections of materials in France.
Starting in the 1950s, Chartres experiences true economic and social transformation as a result of industrial decentralization: 20,000 jobs are created in the town, there is rapid population growth (the town goes from 27,000 inhabitants to 42,000 inside of four decades), construction of more than 7,000 housing units, a great number of which are a part of apartment complexes (La Madeleine, Beaulieu), creation of cultural and sports facilities, organization of renowned national and international events, and more. A dynamic city, Chartres economy sees full expansion. Located in the heart of “Cosmetic Valley,” today Chartres is called the Capital of Light and Perfume.
2nd Century BC
Chartres was the capital city of the Gaul tribe from Carnutes, from which it draws its name (carnutum, carnotas). Situated, more or less, in the middle of Gaul, Chartres was the gathering place for Druids. The city was a religious, political, and military capital.
Middle of the Third Century
Evangelization of the region by Saint Altin and Saint Eodald. It seemed that a site close to the city walls was granted to the Christians so that they could build a cathedral.
4th Century
Starting in the 4th century, the town’s bishopric was one of the Gauls’ largest.
The 9th and 10th Centuries
Norman invasions: the city was sacked in 858 by Hastings. It repelled an assault by Rollon in 911. The Normans were defeated by forces sent by the Count of Blois, the Dukes of Burgundy, and France. To motivate the soldiers, Bishop Gancelme exhibited, on the ramparts, The Veil of the Virgin Mary, a relic that had been brought back from Constantinople and dropped off in Chartres by Charles the Bald in 876. Finally, in 963, while the Count of Chartres, Thibault the Trickster, was busy carrying out war against Duke Richard of Normandy, the latter laid siege to and wiped out the city.
After the Year 1000
Bishop Fulbert undertook the construction of a huge church, which was meant for the glorification of the Virgin Mary. He also founded an Episcopal school that became one of the intellectual centers of the Western world during the 10th and 12th centuries.
1134
Burning down of the city and the cathedral façade.
1150
Saint Bernard preaches the Second Crusade at Chartres.
1180-1185
Reconstruction of the city wall.
1194
Burning down of the city and the Roman cathedral.
1297
The city gets it emancipation charter.
1357
Fortifications work; digging of new ditches.
1417
The Burgundians, under the leadership of their duke, John the Fearless, annexes the city. It is returned to the King of France in 1432.
1568
Condé lays siege to the city, from February 28th until March 15th.
1588
Days of the Barricades: Henry III retreats to Chartres.
1591
Henry of Navarre lays siege to the city, after which it joins The League. He will be crowned King of France, under the name Henry IV, on February 27, 1594. This will be the only time in French history that a king is coronated somewhere other than Rheims.
The French Revolution
The Carmelite convent is turned into a prison. The old Notre-Dame-sous-Terre [Notre Dame Underground] statue is burned and precious relics scattered. A decision is made to destroy the cathedral; it is saved from that fate by the intervention of Sergent-Marceau, and it becomes the Temple de la Raison [Temple of Reason].
19th Century
1849: Chartres is one of the first cities to be linked to Paris by rail. That leads to a transformation in economic and social life.
1870-1871: The Prussians occupy Chartres over a period of five months.
20th Century
1901: creation of the aerodrome.
June 17 1940: German troops enter Chartres.
August 18, 1944: the city is liberated by American troops.
1964: creation of a conservation area.
1979: UNESCO places Chartres Cathedral on the World Heritage List.
1980: Inauguration of the Centre International du Vitrail [Vitrail International Center].
Mairie de Chartres
Place des Halles
28000 Chartres
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