An old district of France, forming a kind of island, bounded by the Seine, the Marne, the Beuvronne, the Theve and the Oise. In this sense the name is not found in written documents before 1429; but in the second half of the 15th century it designated a wide military province of government, bounded N. by Picardy, W. by Normandy, S. by Orleanais and Nivernais, and E. by Champagne. Its capital was Paris. From the territory of Ile-de-France were formed under the Revolution the department of the Seine, together with the greater part of Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Oise and Aisne, and a small part of Loiret and Nievre. (The term Ile-de-France is also used for Mauritius, q.v.).
See A. Longnon, "L'Ile-de-France, son origine, ses limites, ses gouverneurs," in the Memoires de la Socie'te de l'histoire de Paris et de l'Ple-de-France, vol. i. (1875).