Reims: Difference between revisions

|population demonym = Rémois, Rémoise (Frenche)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/rémois|title=English translation of 'rémois'|website=[[Collins Dictionary|collinsdictionary.com]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers LLC]]|access-date=24 September 2020}}</ref>

'''Reims''' ({{IPAc-en|r|iː|m|z}} {{respell|REEMZ}}, {{IPAc-en|USalso|r|æ̃|s}},<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionarydict.com|Reims|access-date=2019-10-01}}</ref> {{IPA-|fr|ʁɛ̃s|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Jules78120-Reims.wav}}; also spelled '''Rheims''' in English) is the most populous city in the French [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Marne (department)|Marne]], and the [[List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants|12th most populous city in France]]. The city lies {{convert|129|km|mi|abbr=on}} northeast of Paris on the [[Vesle]] river, a tributary of the [[Aisne (river)|Aisne]].

Founded by the [[Gauls]], Reims became a major city in the [[Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite book|article=Reims|title=[[Petit Larousse|Nouveau petit Larousse]]|year=1971|page=1638}}</ref> Reims later played a prominent ceremonial role in [[history of France|French monarchical history]] as the traditional site of the coronation of the [[King of France|kings of France]]. The royal [[anointing]] was performed at the [[Reims Cathedral|Cathedral of Reims]], which housed the [[Holy Ampulla]] of [[chrism]] allegedly brought by a white dove at the baptism of Frankish king [[Clovis I]] in 496. For this reason, Reims is often referred to in French as {{lang|fr|la cité des sacres}} ("the Coronation City").

Before the Roman conquest of northern [[Gaul]], Reims had served as the [[Remi]] tribe's capital, founded {{Circa|80&nbsp;BC}}. In the course of [[Julius Caesar]]'s [[Gallic Wars|conquest of Gaul]] (58–51&nbsp;BC), the Remi allied themselves with the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], and by their fidelity throughout the various [[Gauls|Gallic]] insurrections secured the special favour of the imperial power.<ref name=EB1911/> At its height in Roman times the city had a population in the range of 30,000–50,000 or perhaps up to 100,000.<ref name="google">

</ref> Reims was first called {{lang|la|[[Durocortorum]]}}<ref>{{Cite book|author=Félix Gaffiot|author-link=Félix Gaffiot|title=[[Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français|Dictionnaire latin-français]]|year=1934|page=566}}</ref> in [[Latin]], which is hypothesized to derive from a [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] name meaning "Door of Cortoro-".<ref>{{cite book|author=Jean-Paul Savignac|title=Dictionnaire Français-Gaulois|publisher=La Différence|page=274}}</ref> The city later took its name from the [[Remi]] tribe<ref>{{Cite book|author=Auguste Longnon|title=Les noms de lieu de la France|year=1968|volume=1|language=fr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7QKAQAAIAAJ|page=103}}</ref> ({{lang|la|Rēmi}} or {{lang|la|Rhēmi}}).<ref>{{Cite book|author=Félix Gaffiot|author-link=Félix Gaffiot|title=[[Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français|Dictionnaire latin-français]]|year=1934|page=1339}}</ref> The modern French name is derived from the [[accusative case]] of the latter, {{lang|la|Rēmos}}.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Auguste Longnon|title=Les noms de lieu de la France|year=1968|volume=1|language=fr|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7QKAQAAIAAJ|pages=98, 103}}</ref>

Christianity had become established in the city by 260, at which period Saint [[Sixtus of Reims]] founded the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Reims|Diocese of Reims]] (which would be elevated to an [[archdiocese]] around 750). The consul [[Jovinus (consul)|Jovinus]], an influential supporter of the new faith, repelled the [[Alamanni]] who invaded [[Champagne, France|Champagne]] in 336, but the [[Vandals]] captured the city in 406 and slew [[Nicasius of Rheims|Bishop Nicasius]];<ref name=EB1911/> in 451 [[Attila the Hun]] put Reims to fire and sword.

[[File:St Remy Bishop of Rheims begging of Clovis the restitution of the Sacred Vase taken by the Franks in the Pillage of Soissons.png|thumb|left|[[Saint Remigius]], Bishop of Reims, begging [[Clovis I|Clovis]] of the restitution of the Sacred Vase taken by the Franks in the pillage of Soissons. From the manuscript of the ''History of the Emperors'' ([[Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal|Library of the Arsenal]]).]]

Meetings of [[Pope Stephen II]] (752–757) with [[Pepin III|Pepin the Short]], and of [[Pope Leo III]] (795–816) with [[Charlemagne]] (died 814), took place at Reims; here [[Pope Stephen IV]] crowned [[Louis the Pious|Louis the Debonnaire]] in 816. King [[Louis IV of France|Louis IV]] gave the city and countship of Reims to the archbishop [[Artaldus]] in 940. King [[Louis VII of France|Louis VII]] (reigned 1137–1180) gave the title of duke and peer to [[Guillaume aux Blanches Mains|William of Champagne]], archbishop from 1176 to 1202, and the archbishops of Reims took precedence over the other ecclesiastical [[peers of the realm]].<ref name=EB1911/>

[[Louis VII of France|Louis VII]] granted the city a communal charter in 1139. The [[Treaty of Troyes]] (1420) ceded it to the English, who had made a futile attempt to take it by siege in 1360; but French patriots expelled them on the approach of [[Joan of Arc]], who in 1429 had [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] consecrated in the cathedral. [[Louis XI of France|Louis XI]] cruelly suppressed a revolt at Reims, caused in 1461 by the [[Gabelle|salt tax]].{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}

During the [[French Wars of Religion]] the city sided with the [[Catholic League (French)|Catholic League]] (1585), but submitted to King [[Henry IV of France|Henri IV]] after the [[battle of Ivry]] (1590).<ref name=EB1911/> At about the same time, the [[English College, Douai|English College]] had been "at Reims for some years."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Seventeenth-Century Tradition: A Study in Recusant Thought|author=George Henry Tavard|year=1978|isbn=9004054561|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tr8eAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

On 30 October 1908, [[Henri Farman]] made the first cross-country flight from [[Châlons-sur-Marne|Châlons]] to Reims.<ref>{{cite periodicalmagazine |dateauthor=21<!--Staff; Novemberno by-line.--> 1908|periodicaltitle=A New Era in Aeroplane Transport |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |publisher=Munn & Co. |date=21 November 1908 |volume=99 |issue=21 |page=cover350}}</ref> In August 1909 Reims hosted the first international [[aviation meet]], the ''[[Grande Semaine d'Aviation de la Champagne]]''. Major aviation personages such as [[Glenn Curtiss]], [[Louis Blériot]] and [[Louis Paulhan]] participated.

Hostilities in [[World War I]] greatly damaged the city. [[German Army (German Empire)|German]] bombardment and a subsequent fire in 1914 did severe damage to the cathedral.<ref name="smarthistory">{{cncite web|last=Bolli|first=Christine M.|url=https://smarthistory.org/reims-cathedral-world-war/|title=Fact and fiction: The explosion of Reims Cathedral during World War I|publisher=[[Smarthistory]]|access-date=November18 June 20222024}}</ref> The ruined cathedral became one of the central images of [[anti-German sentiment|anti-German]] [[Atrocity propaganda#World War I|propaganda]] produced in France during the war, which presented it, along with the ruins of the [[Ypres Cloth Hall]] and the [[Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)|University Library in Louvain]], as evidence that German aggression targeted cultural landmarks of European civilization.<ref>{{cncite web|last=Clark|first=James|date=November6 2022June 2018|url=https://www.historytoday.com/miscellanies/war-among-ruins|title=War Among The Ruins|publisher=[[History Today]]|access-date=18 June 2024}}</ref> Since the end of World War I, an international effort to restore the cathedral from the ruins has continued.{{cn|date<ref name=November"smarthistory" 2022}}/>

The [[Basilica of Saint-Remi]], founded in the 11th century "over the chapel of St. Christophe where [[Saint Remigius|St. Remi]] was buried",<ref name="The National Geographic Traveler: France">{{Cite book|title=The National Geographic Traveler: France|year = 1999|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AZfWAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> is "the largest [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] church in northern France, though with later additions."<ref name="The National Geographic Traveler: France"/>

The [[Hôtel de Ville, Reims|Hôtel de Ville]], erected in the 17th century and enlarged in the 19th, features a [[pediment]] with an equestrian statue of [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]] (reigned 1610 to 1643).<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911|wstitle=Reims|inline=1}}</ref>

The Museum of the Surrender is the building in which on 7 May 1945, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|General Eisenhower]] and the Allies received the unconditional surrender of the German [[Wehrmacht]].

Between 1925 and 1969, Reims hosted the ''[[Grand Prix de la Marne]]'' [[auto racing|automobile race]] at the circuit of [[Reims-Gueux]]. The [[French Grand Prix]] took place here 14 times between 1938 and 1966.

In October 2018, the city hosted the second [[Teqball]] World Cup.<ref>{{citationcite neededweb|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1075167/teqball-world-cup|title=Teqball World Championships and World Rankings|publisher=[[Inside the Games]]|access-date=November18 June 20222024}}</ref>

The city has hosted the [[Reims Marathon]] since 1984.

* [[Adolphe d'Archiac]] (1802–1868), geologist and [[Paleontology|paleontologist]]

* [[Jean Baudrillard]] (1929–2007), [[Culture theory|cultural theorist]] and philosopher

*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Arlington County, Virginia|Arlington County]], United States (2004)