Paris in the Middle Ages Paris in the Middle Ages In the 10th century, Paris was a provincial cathedral city of little political or economic significance, but under the kings of the Capetian dynasty who ruled France between 987 and 1328, it developed into an important commercial and religious center and the seat of the royal administration of the country. The Île de la Cité became the site of the royal palace and the new cathedral of Notre-Dame, begun in 1163. The Left Bank was occupied by important monasteries, including the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Abbey of St Genevieve. In the late 1100s, the
Le Ventre de Paris Le Ventre de Paris Le Ventre de Paris (1873) is the third novel in Émile Zola's twenty-volume series "Les Rougon-Macquart". It is set in and around Les Halles, the enormous, busy central market of 19th-century Paris. Les Halles, rebuilt in cast iron and glass during the Second Empire was a landmark of modernity in the city, the wholesale and retail center of a thriving food industry. "Le Ventre de Paris" (translated into English under many variant titles but literally meaning "The Belly of Paris") is Zola's first novel entirely on the working class. The protagonist is Florent, an escaped political