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Renaissance Paris: the Age of Francis I - royal power, artistic patronage and the making of a Renaissance capital
5
days
from
£2,810
Book today with a deposit of
£422
4th - 8th March 2027
Tour highlights
- A focused tour examining the history, architecture, and arts of sixteenth-century Paris.
- Explore the surviving vestiges of Francis I’s royal capital, including the Louvre, the Hôtel de Ville and nearby Renaissance châteaux.
- Visit Fontainebleau, a masterpiece of French Renaissance architecture and Francis I’s preferred residence.
- Led by Professor Glenn Richardson, author of 'Francis I: The Knight-King' (2025).
During the reign of King Francis I, Paris became Europe’s largest city and the real centre of the French Renaissance. Ruled over by a Valois monarch instilled from youth with a love of classical languages, architecture and art, Paris renewed itself as the royal capital. This ascendancy drew nobles from across the realm to its environs, where they built residences and supported the city’s growth. In their wake came artists, musicians, thinkers and writers who, under royal patronage, expanded France’s cultural horizons.
From Paris, Francis strengthened royal power over more of France than any king before him, and fought to a standstill his two great rivals, Henry VIII of England and the Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. In the decades after Francis’s death, Paris also witnessed some of the bloodiest events of the French Wars of Religion, which destroyed the Valois dynasty whose future Francis had seemed to secure.
Our tour goes in search of the vestiges of this lost Renaissance Paris, mostly swept away by the Bourbon kings and the Revolution. We visit sites built by, or principally associated with, Francis and his successor Henry II, who was very much his father’s son. These include the Louvre and the châteaux of Chantilly and Écouen (now the Musée de la Renaissance). The highlight of the tour is the château of Fontainebleau, with its famous Galerie François I. In some ways a forerunner of Versailles, it was the palace upon which Francis lavished most personal attention, and which he called ‘chez moi’.
In planning the itinerary, visits have been chosen for ease of access and to illustrate high points and rarities, both historical and artistic; the key personalities and events in reign, and the legacy of France’s great ‘Renaissance Monarch’.
Itinerary
Travel by Eurostar from London St Pancras at c.10.30am. Coach transfer to the oldest part of Paris, Le Marais. The Musée Carnavalet holds items from Renaissance Paris, including street and shop signs, plans of the city, and portraits of leading Parisian figures of the period. Short walk to the Place des Vosges, built on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles, where Henry II died in July 1559 from injuries suffered in a tournament, then continue to our hotel in St-Germain-des-Près.
Morning visits to the Hôtel de Ville, the exterior of which was based on an original design commissioned by Francis I, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, of which Francis is credited with being the ‘founder’, insofar as the royal library he assembled first at Blois and then Fontainebleau began the French national collection. Afternoon at the Louvre; it was Francis I who demolished the above-ground storeys of the keep of the medieval fortress to create a new, more amenable, pied-à-terre close to the key institutions of city and royal government. The Renaissance collection includes the famous portrait of Francis I painted by Jean Clouet in 1526 after the king returned from a year’s captivity in Spain.
Drive north to the domain of Chantilly, originally established by Anne de Montmorency, principal minister and courtier of Francis, and a man who served five kings of France. Francis was a frequent visitor to the estate. It now houses an important art collection including many works by Clouet and his circle. Afternoon visit to the Château d’Écouen. Structurally, largely untouched by five centuries of history, this is another residence built by Anne de Montmorency, under the patronage of Francis I and Henry II. Écouen now houses the Musée de la Renaissance and features period interiors, furniture, silverware, sculptures, ceramics, and superb sets of Flemish tapestry, depicting biblical and classical episodes, and the life of the Valois court.
Morning lecture then drive south-west to the domain of Fontainebleau. Originally a royal hunting lodge, Francis I transformed it into his principal residence after his return to France from captivity in 1526. He renovated and expanded the original building, centred on the Cour Ovale, adding the Porte Dorée, and eventually connecting this block to a former Trinitarian monastery nearby. The most prominent feature of the new range was the celebrated Galerie François I, created by Serlio and the Florentine painter Giovanni Battista Rosso. Henry II, and indeed almost every French ruler to Napoleon III, made additions and alterations to suit himself.
Playing a role analogous to Westminster Abbey in England, the Benedictine abbey church (now Cathedral) of Saint-Denis, is regarded as one of the first truly Gothic buildings in Europe, influential on Chartres and Nôtre-Dame in Paris. The abbey witnessed the coronations of many of the French kings from the 9th century onwards, and all but five of them were buried here. It still houses the magnificent funerary monuments of Francis I, his predecessor Louis XII, and of Henry II. Afternoon Eurostar from Paris to London St Pancras, arriving c. 4.30pm.
Expert speaker
Professor Glenn Richardson
Professor of Early Modern History at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Following doctoral study at the LSE, his work has concentrated on European diplomatic and cultural relations, especially between England, France, Venice and the Papacy. His most recent books, both published in 2025, are: Francis I: The Knight King, and Renaissance Monarchs at War: The Battle of Pavia 1525. His other books include: Wolsey (2020), The Field of Cloth of Gold (2013), ‘The Contending Kingdoms’: France and England 1420–1700 (Ashgate, 2008). In 2025 Glenn gave a series of on-line talks on Francis I of France for MRT. Glenn is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
More tours led by Professor Glenn Richardson
Practicalities
Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,960 or £2,810 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £3,630 or £3,480 without Eurostar.
Travel by private coach; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts; 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager.
Hotel Bel Ami, Paris: 5-star hotel in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district on the left bank. Single occupancy rooms are doubles for sole use.
This is a short tour but a busy itinerary with long days. The most practical way of getting between visits in central Paris is often by foot, so you will be on your feet for lengthy stretches of time. Visits require a fair amount of walking and standing around.
Between 10 and 19 participants.
Before booking, please refer to the FCDO website and Travel Health Pro to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the destination(s) you are visiting.
Dates & prices
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2027
Date
Speaker
Price
Date:
4th - 8th March 2027
Speaker:
Professor Glenn Richardson
Price:
from £2,810
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