February 26 1916

Germans Sink French Transport Ship Provence II

Known in peacetime as La Provence, the ship was refitted for troops transport during World War I. It was designed to carry 1,960 persons, and was transporting troops from France to Salonika when it was sunk by the German submarine U-35, south of Cape Matapan. The ship listed so quickly that many of the lifeboats could not be used. there where 742 survivors. Close to a thousand where killed in the sinking.

February 21 1431

Trial Against Joan of Arc begins

The trial of Joan of Arc, which took place before an English-backed church in Rouen, France in the first half of the the year 1431, in the minds of many people. one of the most significant and moving trials ever conducted in human history. It culminated in the execution of the person known to history as Joan of Arc, the young French peasant girl who was defendant in the case. The trial verdict would later be reversed on appeal by the Inquisitor-General, thereby completely exonerating her. She is now a French national heroine and Saint of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Cardinal Mazarin fled Paris February 6th 1648

The Fronde of Parliament took place between 1648 and 1649. Three of the major causes leading up to the first fronde were 1) the Parliament of Paris tried to limit the power of King Louis XIV. 2) the nobility was threatened by the king and wanted more of a voice in the government. 3) the people were unhappy with the tax burdens they had dealt with under Cardinal Richelieu and Cardinal Mazarin. The fronde began when Anne of Austria (Louis XIV's mother) and Cardinal Mazarin (Anne's advisor) introduced a new proposal to raise money for the financial backing of the Thirty Years' War. This plan would require the government officials to give up four years' salary. Parliament and the high courts rejected the plan and drafted another plan limiting the royal authority. In retaliation Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin ordered the arrest of the leaders of parliament who had opposed them. The populous protested by barricading the streets of Paris until Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin were forced to release the government officials they had arrested. Meanwhile the Thirty Years' War ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and the royal troops were now available to suppress the fronde. Louis XIV, Anne of Austria, and Cardinal Mazarin secretly fled the city as the royal army occupied the streets of Paris. A compromise was finally reached between parliament and the royal family in March of 1649.