College of the Four Nations: Difference between revisions
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==History== | ==History== | ||
The college was founded by Cardinal [[Jules Mazarin]], who had amassed a large fortune in the 18 years he had governed [[France]]. He left 2 million livres to build the college, in addition to an annuity to house 60 fellows selected from the "four nations" of {{Wiki|Piedmont}}, {{Wiki|Alsace}}, {{Wiki|Flanders}} and {{Wiki|County of Artois|Artois}}. Considered one of the finest monuments in [[Paris]], the college was | The college was founded by Cardinal [[Jules Mazarin]], who had amassed a large fortune in the 18 years he had governed [[France]]. He left 2 million livres to build the college, in addition to an annuity to house 60 fellows selected from the "four nations" of {{Wiki|Piedmont}}, {{Wiki|Alsace}}, {{Wiki|Flanders}} and {{Wiki|County of Artois|Artois}}. Considered one of the finest monuments in [[Paris]], the college was located on the northern bank of the [[Seine]]. | ||
During the [[French Revolution]], the college was used for a public experiment on electrically induced flight. Knowing that high electrical charges were deadly to the test subject, the scientist [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] attempting to stop the experiment, only to be put under house arrest. After being freed by the [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Arno Dorian]], Laplace had the former sabotage the experiment by replacing the [[Leyden jar]] used with one that held a non-lethal charge of electricity. | During the [[French Revolution]], the college was used for a public experiment on electrically induced flight. Knowing that high electrical charges were deadly to the test subject, the scientist [[Pierre-Simon Laplace]] attempting to stop the experiment, only to be put under house arrest. After being freed by the [[Assassins|Assassin]] [[Arno Dorian]], Laplace had the former sabotage the experiment by replacing the [[Leyden jar]] used with one that held a non-lethal charge of electricity. | ||
Revision as of 23:45, 15 September 2015
- "Great minds reach for Heaven, men of the South gaze North, four Nations seek the truth."
- ―A riddle by Nostradamus describing the College of the Four Nations.[src]
The College of the Four Nations (French: Collège des Quatre-Nations), also known as the Collège Mazarin after its founder, was a college of the University of Paris.
History
The college was founded by Cardinal Jules Mazarin, who had amassed a large fortune in the 18 years he had governed France. He left 2 million livres to build the college, in addition to an annuity to house 60 fellows selected from the "four nations" of Piedmont, Alsace, Flanders and Artois. Considered one of the finest monuments in Paris, the college was located on the northern bank of the Seine.
During the French Revolution, the college was used for a public experiment on electrically induced flight. Knowing that high electrical charges were deadly to the test subject, the scientist Pierre-Simon Laplace attempting to stop the experiment, only to be put under house arrest. After being freed by the Assassin Arno Dorian, Laplace had the former sabotage the experiment by replacing the Leyden jar used with one that held a non-lethal charge of electricity.
In 1793, the college was turned into a prison, its first detainees being the Jacobin Jacques-Louis David, advocate of painless death Joseph-Ignace Guillotin and the governess to the royal children, Madame de Tourzel. The college chapel eventually became a sugar store reserved to the upper classes of Paris. Today, the college houses the Institut de France and the Bibliothèque Mazarine. The latter holds 275,000 volumes, many of which were recovered from victims of the guillotine and émigrés, as well as from King Louis XVI.