County of Blôis

State · 990–1401 CE · at its largest around 1034 CE

Feudal county in the Loire valley of France, long held by the house of Blois, whose counts also ruled Champagne; its last count sold it to Louis of Orléans in 1391.

On its lands while it lasted

Blois (c. 990 CE): Capital of County of Blôis (990–1401).
Dijon (c. 1003 CE): Capital of Duchy of Burgundy (1003–1477).
Nevers (c. 1010 CE): Capital of County of Nevers (1010–1520).
Peter Abelard (1079 CE – 1142 CE): French philosopher and theologian who taught in Paris, a pioneer of scholastic method, remembered also for his love affair with Héloïse.
Cistercian Order (1098 CE): Order founded at Cîteaux in Burgundy to follow the Rule of Saint Benedict more strictly; under Bernard of Clairvaux it spread across Europe.
Troyes (c. 1125 CE): Capital of County of Champagne (1125–1200).
Basilica of Saint-Denis (1144 CE): Abbot Suger's rebuilt choir, consecrated in 1144, is considered the first Gothic building; the basilica was the burial place of French kings.
University of Paris (c. 1150 CE): Emerging around 1150 from the schools of Notre-Dame, the University of Paris became a leading centre of theology and philosophy in medieval Europe. Its college of the Sorbonne, founded in 1257, gave the university its popular name.
Notre-Dame de Paris (1163 CE): Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, begun in 1163, famous for its flying buttresses, rose windows and sculpture.
Provins (c. 1200 CE): Capital of County of Champagne (1200–1284).
Shroud of Turin (c. 1300 CE): A linen cloth bearing the faint image of a man, venerated by many as the burial shroud of Jesus. Radiocarbon dating in 1988 placed it between 1260 and 1390; first recorded at Lirey in France, it has been kept in Turin since 1578.
Dole (c. 1333 CE): Capital of Free County of Burgundy (1333–1384).
Hundred Years' War (1337–1453 CE): Series of wars between England and France over the French throne, ending with England losing all its French lands except Calais.
Christine de Pizan (c. 1364 CE – 1430 CE): Italian-born writer at the French court whose Book of the City of Ladies defended women; one of Europe's first professional women writers.