Fontainebleau
[key], town, Seine-et-Marne dept., N France, SE of Paris. It is a favorite
spring and autumn resort and was long a royal residence, chiefly because of
the excellent hunting in the vast Forest of Fontainebleau. Louis IV resided
in Fontainebleau, and Philip IV and Louis XIII were born there. Francis I
built the magnificent palace, the chief glory of French Renaissance
architecture and the scene of many historic events. Francesco Primaticcio
and Sebastiano Serlio, the principal artists of the palace, came to be
known, along with their fellow artisans, as the first school of
Fontainebleau. In the palace Louis XIV signed (1685) the revocation of the
Edict of Nantes, Pope Pius
VII was imprisoned (1812–14), and Napoleon signed his first
abdication (1814). Fontainebleau also has a military museum. The town was
headquarters of the military branch of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) from 1945 to 1965.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: French Political Geography
