Paris

The prince of Troy whose abduction of Helen provoked the Trojan War.

The capital and largest city of France, in the north-central part of the country on the Seine River. Founded as a fishing village on the Île de la Cité, Paris (then called Lutetia) was captured and fortified by the Romans in 52 B.C. Clovis I made it the capital of his kingdom after A.D. 486, and Hugh Capet established it as the capital of France after his accession to the throne in 987. Through the succeeding centuries, Paris grew rapidly as a commercial, cultural, and industrial center. The city was occupied by the Germans in World War II from June 14, 1940, to August 25, 1944. Population: 2,150,000.

English monk and chronicler. His Chronica Majora traced the history of the world from the creation to 1259.