Religious History of France

900-1098: The Cluniac Reform was centered in the Benedictine abbey of Cluay, France. It changed the ways monasteries were governed, and the ways monks lives. It's most notable accomplishment was correcting the abuses within the church.

1098: The Cistercian order began in Citeaux, France.

1185-1195: The Crusades were military expeditions from Europe to the Middle East, led by extremely pious Christians who proved their devotion to God by trying to retake the holy land. They won back lands for the Byzantine Empire, but shortly after, the Crusaders grew jealous of the riches they provided for the Byzantines.

1270(End of the Middle Ages): Louis 1X died in the last Crusade. Philip IV took over, fought Pope Boniface VIII, and established the supremacy of the French crown over the French Church.

1294: Boniface VIII tried to unify the Christian world more closely under the papacy. He wanted Kings to be subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, and the Emperor subject to the Pope.

1302: Boniface claimed everyone was subject under the Pope. This really angered Philip IV.

1303: A Frenchman was elected Pope Clement V.

1309: Pope Clement V moved the Papal seat to France, which angered everyone outside of France.

1378-1417(The Great Schism): Rome and Avignon fought who had the right to the Pope.

1453(ish) The Fourth Crusade: French leaders attacked Constantinople, and set up Feudal States, known as the Latin Empire, under Baldwin of Flanders. The French controlled most of the former Byzantine mainland possessions. The final collapse was in 1453 when Constantinople fell to Ottoman.