French I

Gaul 500–50BC

Covering large parts of modern-day France, Belgium, northwest Germany and northern Italy, Gaul was inhabited by many Celtic and Belgae tribes whom the Romans referred to as Gauls and who spoke the Gaulish language roughly between the Seine and the Garonne (Gallia Celtica), according to Julius Caesar

On the lower Garonne the people spoke Aquitanian, a Pre-Indo-European language related to (or a direct ancestor of) Basque whereas a Belgian language was spoken north of Lutecia according to other authors like Strabo, a Greek historian (63BC– 24AD). The Celts founded cities such as Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris) and Burdigala (Bordeaux) while the Aquitanians founded Tolosa (Toulouse).

Long before any Roman settlements, Greek navigators settled in what would become Provence. The Phoceans founded important cities such as Massalia (Marseille) and Nikaia (Nice), bringing them in to conflict with the neighboring Celts and Ligurians. 

Spread of the Celts 500-121BC

By the 5th century BC vigorous Celts tribes are spreading outwards from their original homeland east of the Rhine, in places such as Hallstatt and La Tène. With the advantage of iron weapons, they are able to press east into the Balkans and west into France and Spain. Considerably later, in about 300 BC, they cross the Channel to Britain.

The Celts push south through the Alps, raiding and marauding.In about 390 BC they even reach and sack Rome. Many of them stay in Italy, settling in an area from the Alps to south of Milan. The Romans call them Gauls, and distinguish their two nearest territories as Cisalpine Gaul ('this side of the Alps', as seen from Rome) and Transalpine Gaul ('across the Alps').

Much of Cisalpine Gaul comes under Roman control after a campaign in 225 BC, but the Celts here remain unreliable; a few years later many of them side with Hannibal. Beyond the Alps, southern Gaul becomes a Roman province in 121 BC. The rest of Gaul escapes the grasp of Rome until the arrival of Caesar.

Caesar in Gaul 59-50BC

Following Roman general Julius Caesar's term as consul in 59 BC, his conquest of Gaul and Britain effectively destroyed the Celtic heritage. During this time he systematically subdues the Celtic tribes in Gaul, making separate alliances with their many independent chieftains. He even adventures beyond the natural boundaries of Gaul - the region framed by the Alps, the Rhine, the Atlantic and the Pyrenees.

Despite Gaulish opposition led by Vercingetorix in 52 BC, the Gauls succumbed to the Roman onslaught. The Gauls had some success at first at Gergovia, but were ultimately defeated at Alesia, completing the Roman conquest of Transalpine Gaul (today Southern France). The Romans founded cities such as Lugdunum (Lyon), Narbonensis (Narbonne).

By 50 BC, the entire Gaul lay in Roman hands. Gaul never regained its Celtic identity, never attempted another nationalist rebellion.

Roman Gaul 50BC–476AD

Gaul was divided into several different provinces. The Romans displaced populations to prevent local identities from becoming a threat to Roman control. Thus, many Celts were displaced in Aquitania or were enslaved and moved out of Gaul. There was a strong cultural evolution in Gaul under the Roman Empire, the most obvious one being the replacement of the Gaulish language byVulgar Latin. It has been argued the similarities between the Gaulish and Latin languages favoured the transition. Gaul remained under Roman control for centuries and Celtic culture was then gradually replaced by Gallo-Roman culture.

The western and southern Belgae flourished within the Roman province of Gallia Belgica, along with the Treveri. The northeastern corner of this province, including the area of the earlier Germani, was united with the militarized Rhine border to form a newer province known as Germania Inferior. Its cities included Nijmegen (in Netherlands) and the capital Cologne (in Germany).

In the decade following the Roman Crisis of the Third Century and Valerian's capture by the Persians in 260, Postumus, governor of Germania Superior and Inferior, established a short-lived Gallic Empire (260-274), made Cologne the capital of the Empire, and included the Iberian Peninsula and Britannia, in addition to Gaul itself. Germanic tribes, the Franks and the Alamanni, entered Gaul at this time.


Barbarian invasions 405-481

The Huns, who were nomads from the Central Asian Steppes, headed westward and simulated the German migration. They show up north of the Black Sea around 370, crossed the Volga River and attacked the Alans, whom they subjugated. The Huns and Alans started plundering Gothic settlements near Balkans in 376.

Those Germanic tribes Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Burgundians, Lombards and Franks were pushed westwards by the Huns ; go into the the Roman Empire and took part in the decline of the Roman Empire and then the Western Roman Empire.

The Burgundians crossed the Rhine in 406, settled in the Roman province along the Middle Rhine. The Burgundian King Gunther started several campaigns into neighboring Gallia Belgica, which led to a crushing defeat by joined Roman and Hunnic troops in 436. The remaining Burgundians settled in the Sapaudia (today Savoy) region, again as foederati in the Roman Maxima Sequanorum province.

In 409, the Visigoths sacked Rome under their king Alaric and then moved north into Gaul. In 410 the Aquitanian province was given to the Visigoths in exchange for their support against the Vandals.

The Roman Empire was on the verge of collapsing (collapsed in 476). Aquitania was abandoned to the Visigoths, who would soon conquer a significant southern Gaul as well most of the Iberian Peninsula. The Burgundians claimed their own kingdom, and northern Gaul was practically abandoned to the Franks.

During that period, their language (Germanic Frankish and Gothic) had a profound influence on the Latin spoken in their respective regions.

Kingdoms of Franks

The Franks emerged in the 3rd century as a confederation of smaller tribes, such as the Sicambri, Bructeri, Ampsivarii, Chamavi and Chattuarii, in the area north and east of the Rhine.

Franks appear in Roman texts as both allies and enemies. By about 320, the Franks had the region of theScheldt river (present day west Flanders and southwest Netherlands) under control, and were raiding the Channel, disrupting transportation to Britain. Roman forces pacified the region, but did not expel the Franks, who continued to be feared as pirates along the shores at least until the time of Julian the Apostate (358), when Salian Franks were allowed to settle as foederati in Toxandria, according to Ammianus Marcellinus.

Ripuarian Franks were one of the main groupings of early Frankish people. The Ripuarii originally lived on the right bank of the Rhine in today western Germany. They had control over the river basin of the Main, in later years also called Franconia, part of the kingdom of Germany later formed in around 950 AD. Starting from 274 AD they were able to infiltrate the left bank of the Rhine and occupied the lower and middle Rhineland in present day Saarland, Luxemburg, Wallonia, Limburg and the northeastern part of France.

The other main group of Franks was the Salii, or "Salian Franks", lived to the west of the Ripuarii in what is today the southwestern part of the Netherlands, the western part of Belgium and the northern and central part of France. Before the collapse of Rome in the West in 476 AD, the Frankish tribes were united under the Salian Merovingians in 457. They had captured Cologne in 455 and made it their capital.

Merovingian dynasty (457–751)

The Merovingian dynasty was founded by Childeric I (457–481), the son of Merovech, leader of the Salian Franks. But it was his son Clovis I (481–511) who united all of Gaul under Merovingian rule. In 486, Clovis I defeated Syagrius (the last Roman military commander in Gaul) at Soissons and subsequently united most of northern and central Gaul under his rule.

Clovis then recorded a succession of victories against other Germanic tribes such as the Alamanni at Tolbiac. In 496, pagan Clovis adopted Catholicism. This gave him greater legitimacy and power over his Christian subjects and granted him clerical support against the Arian Visigoths. He defeated Alaric II at Vouillé in 507 and annexed Aquitaine, and thus Toulouse, into his Frankish kingdom.

Clovis made Paris his capital in 508. He and his successors of the Merovingian dynasty built a host of churches; a basilica on Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, near the site of the ancient Roman Forum; the cathedral of Saint-Étienne, where Notre Dame now stands; and several important monasteries, including one in the fields of the left bank which later became the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

Before his death in 511, Clovis I divided his realm between his four sons, who united to defeat Burgundy in 534. Three distinct sub-kingdoms emerged: Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy, each of which developed independently and sought to exert influence over the others.

French and Dutch Languages

The Franks who expanded south into Gaul settled there and eventually adopted the Vulgar Latin of the local population. However, Germanic languages were spoken as a second tongue by public officials in western Austrasia and Neustria as late as the 850s. A widening cultural divide grew between the Franks remaining in the north and the rulers far to the south in what is now France.

Though the Frankish leaders controlled most of Western Europe, the Salian Franks themselves were confined to the Northwestern part of the Empire. Eventually, the Franks in Northern France were assimilated by the general Gallo-Roman population, and took over their dialects (which became French), whereas the Franks in the Low Countries retained their language, which would evolve into Dutch.

The current Dutch-French language border has (with the exception of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais in France and Brussels and the surrounding municipalities in Belgium) remained virtually identical ever since.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Clovis I	481	511	Son of Childeric I	King of the Franks
Childebert I	511	13 Dec 558	Son of Clovis I	King of Paris
Chlothar I the Old	13 Dec 558	29 Nov 561	Son of Clovis I, Younger brother of Childebert I	King of the Franks
Charibert I	29 Nov 561	567	Son of Chlothar I	King of Paris
Chilperic I	567	584	Son of Chlothar I, Younger brother of Charibert I	King of Paris King of Neustria
Chlothar II the Great, the Young	584	18 October 629	Son of Chilperic I	King of Neustria, King of Paris (595–629) of Franks (613–629)
Dagobert I	18 October 629	19 January 639	Son of Chlothar II	King of the Franks
Clovis II the Lazy	19 January 639	31 October 657	Son of Dagobert I	King of Neustria and Burgundy
Chlothar III	31 October 657	673	Son of Clovis II	King of Neustria and Burgundy, King of the Franks (657–663)
Childeric II	673	675	Son of Clovis II, Younger brother of Chlothar III	King of the Franks
Theuderic III	675	691	Son of Clovis II, Younger brother of Childeric II	King of Neustria King of the Franks (687–691)
Clovis IV	691	695	Son of Theuderic III	King of the Franks
Childebert III the Just	695	23 April 711	Son of Theuderic III, Younger brother of Clovis IV	King of the Franks
Dagobert III	23 April 711	715	Son of Childebert III	King of the Franks
Chilperic II	715	13 February 721	Probably son of Childeric II	King of Neustria and Burgundy King of the Franks (719–721)
Theuderic IV	721	737	Son of Dagobert III	King of the Franks
Childeric III	743	Nov 751	Son of Chilperic II or of Theuderic IV	King of the Franks

After the reign of the last capable Salian Frankish king, Dagobert in 639, the Carolingians gradually took over power, transforming the Ripuarian area of Austrasia into the heartland of the Frankish Empire.

By this time Muslim invaders had conquered Hispania and were threatening the Frankish kingdoms. Duke Odo of Aquitaine defeated a major invading force at the Battle of Toulouse (721), the first major battle lost by the Muslim Umayyad forces in their military campaign northwards. In order to help secure his borders against the Umayyads, he married his daughter to the Muslim Berber rebel lord Uthman ibn Naissa, called "Munuza" by the Franks, the deputy governor of what would later become Catalonia.

In 732, Umayyads troops raided Vasconia, advanced towards Bordeaux and ransacked the city. Odo engaged them but was defeated by the Umayyads near Bordeaux. Following the defeat, Odo re-organised his scattered forces, and ran north to warn the Carolingian Charles Martel, Mayor of the palaces of Neustria and Austrasia, of the impending threat and to appeal for assistance in fighting the Arab-Berber advance, which he received in exchange for accepting formal Frankish overlordship.

The alliance of Odo and Charles Martel defeated the Umayyads at the Battle of Tours in 732, and expelled them from Aquitaine. Charles Martel earned respect and power within the Frankish Kingdom.

The last Merovingian kings did not hold any real political power. When Theuderic IV died in 737, Charles Martel left the throne vacant and continued to rule until his own death in 741. His sons Pepin and Carloman briefly restored the Merovingian dynasty by raising Childeric III to the throne in 743.

Carolingian dynasty (751–840)

The Carolingians consolidated its power and eventually making the offices of Mayor of the Palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary and becoming the de facto rulers of the Franks behind the throne. 

When the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell to the Lombards in 751, the Duchy of Rome was completely cut off from the Byzantine Empire. The popes renewed earlier attempts to secure the support of the Franks. 

The Merovingian dynasty, which had ruled the Franks by right, was deprived of this right with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy in 751, and Pepin the Short (son of Charles Martel) was crowned King of the Franks.

Because of the Austrasian origins of the Carolingians in the area between the Rhine and the Maas, the cities of Aachen, Maastricht, Liège and Nijmegen were at the heart of Carolingian culture. They moved the Frankish capital to Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen).

Pepin led a Frankish army into Italy in 756 to defeat the Lombards, taking control of northern Italy, and made a gift (Donation of Pepin) of the properties formerly constituting the Exarchate of Ravenna to the pope (the Papal States).

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Pepin the Younger, the Short	751	24 Sept 768	Son of Charles Martel	King of the Franks
Carloman I	24 Sept 768	4 Dec 771	Son of Pepin the Short	King of the Franks
Charlemagne (Charles I, the Great)	24 Sept 768	28 January 814	Son of Pepin the Short	King of the Franks, Emperor of the Romans (800–814)
Louis I the Pious, the Debonaire	28 January 814	20 June 840	Son of Charlemagne	King of the Franks, Emperor of the Romans

Carolingian power reached its fullest extent under Pepin's son, Charlemagne (the Great). In 771, Charlemagne reunited the Frankish domains after a period of division, subsequently conquering the Lombards in what is now northern Italy (774), incorporating Bavaria (788) into his realm, defeating the Avars of the Danubian plain (796), advancing the frontier with Islamic Spain as far south as Barcelona (801), and subjugating Lower Saxony after a prolonged campaign (804). In recognition of his successes and his political support for the Papacy, Charlemagne was crowned “Emperor of the Romans”, or Roman Emperor in the West, by Pope Leo III in 800. 

Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious (Emperor 814–840) kept the empire united; however, this Carolingian Empire would not survive Louis I's death. 

Lothair I  was the eldest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious. He led his full-brothers Pippin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German in revolt against their father to protest against attempts to make their half-brother Charles the Bald a co-heir to the Frankish domains. 

Upon the father's death, Charles and Louis swore allegiance to each other against their brother Lothair in a three-year civil war (840–843). They made an agreement in 843 (Treaty of Verdun) in the Oaths of Strasbourg, which divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious:

1.  Lothair retained his title as emperor and he received the central portion of the  empire : the Low Countries, Lorraine, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence, and the Kingdom of Italy, collectively called Middle Francia.

2.  Louis the German received the eastern portion (east of the Rhine) and to the north and east of Italy, which was called East Francia and later became Germany.

3.  Charles the Bald received the western portion (west of the Rhône), which was called West Francia and later became France. Pepin II was granted the kingdom of Aquitaine, but only under the authority of Charles.

The earliest extant text in French is the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842;  this trilingual text contains, alongside texts in Latin and Old High German (teudisca lingua), the oldest written variety of Gallo-Romance (lingua romana) clearly distinct from Latin, the ancestor of Old French. Old French later became a literary language with the Chansons de geste that told tales of the paladins of Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades.

Kingdom of West Franks 

West Francia was the land under the control of Charles the Bald. It is the precursor of modern France. 

Since the death of King Pippin I of Aquitaine in 838, his son had been recognised by the Aquitainian nobility as King Pippin II of Aquitaine, although the succession had not been recognised by the emperor. Charles the Bald was at war with Pippin II from the start of his reign in 840, and the Treaty of Verdun ignored the claimant and assigned Aquitaine to Charles. In 849 Charles had himself crowned "King of the Franks and Aquitainians" in Orléans. 

Middle Francia were partitioned into the Kingdoms of Burgundy (Lower Burgundy and Provence proper), Lotharingia (Austrasia, Frisia and Upper Burgundy) and Lombardy after the death of Emperor Lothair I in 855.

With the Treaty of Meerssen in 870 the Kingdom of the Lotharingia was further partitioned, and the western part (today Flanders, an important factor in the historical distinction between Flanders and the other Dutch-speaking areas ) was added to West Francia. 

In 875, after the death of the Louis II (son of his half-brother Lothair I), supported by Pope John VIII, Charles the Bald traveled to Italy and was crowned “Emperor of the Romans” in Rome.

Carolingian dynasty (continued, 840–888)

After the death of Charles's grandson, Carloman II, in 884, the West Frankish nobles elected his uncle, Charles the Fat, already king in East Francia and Kingdom of Italy, as their king. He was probably crowned "King in Gaul" (rex in Gallia) in 885 at Grand.

Charles III the Fat was the last Carolingian to rule over the briefly re-united empire. During a coup led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia in November 887, Charles was deposed in East Francia and Kingdom of Italy in January 888. The imperial title (Emperor of the Romans) ceased to be held in the western realm. The eastern realm, which would become Germany, elected the Saxon dynasty of Henry the Fowler.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Charles II the Bald	20 June 840	6 October 877	Son of Louis I	King of the Franks Emperor of the Romans (875–877)
Louis II the Stammerer	6 Oct 877	10 April 879	Son of Charles II	King of the Franks
Louis III	10 April 879	5 August 882	Son of Louis II	King of the Franks
Carloman II	5 August 882	6 Dec 884	Son of Louis II	King of the Franks
Charles III the Fat	20 May 885	13 Jan 888	Son of Louis the German, Uncle of Louis II and Carloman II	King of the Franks Emperor of the Romans (881–887)

Outside the old Frankish territories,  it was largely outside the control of the West Frankish kings. In the south local nobles were semi-independent after 887 as Duchies were created: Burgundy, Aquitaine, Brittany, Gascony, Normandy, Champagne and the County of Flanders.

The power of the kings continued to decline, together with their inability to resist the Vikings and to oppose the rise of regional nobles who were no longer appointed by the king but became hereditary local dukes. In 877 Boso of Provence, brother-in-law of Charles the Bald, crowned himself as the king of Burgundy and Provence. His son Louis the Blind was king of Provence from 890 and Emperor between 901 and 905. Rudolph II of Burgundy established the Kingdom of Arles in 933.

In the 9th century, the Paris city was repeatedly attacked by the Vikings, who sailed up the Seine on great fleets of ships. They demanded a ransom and ravaged the fields. In 885-886, they laid a one-year siege to Paris, and tried again in 887 and in 889, but were unable to conquer the city protected by the walls of the Île de la Cité.

House of Robertian, Carolingian and Bosonids (888-987)

The Robertians, counts of Paris and dukes of France, became kings themselves and later established the Capetian dynasty. After 987, the kingdom came to be known as France, because the new ruling dynasties (Capetians) were originally dukes of the Île-de-France.

The Robertian Odo, Count of Paris was chosen by the western Franks to be their king following the removal of Emperor Charles the Fat.

Charles, the posthumous son of Louis II, was crowned by a faction opposed to the Robertian Odo at Reims Cathedral, though he only became the effectual monarch with the death of Odo in 898.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Odo of Paris	29 February 888	1 January 898	Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians), elected king against young Charles III.	King of the Franks
Charles III the Simple	28 January 898	30 June 922	Posthumous son of Louis II (Carolingian) Younger half-brother of Louis III and Carloman II	King of the Franks

The Normans

The Normans are an ethnic group that arose from contact between Norse Viking settlers of a region in France, named Normandy after them, and indigenous Franks and Gallo-Romans. They were descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native Merovingian culture, followed a series of raids on the French coast from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, and they gained political legitimacy when the Viking leader Rollo agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia. 

The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, and it continued to evolve over the succeeding centuries.

In absence of strong royal power, invaders were engaged and defeated by local nobles : Richard of Burgundy and Robert of Neustria who managed to defeat Viking leader Rollo in 911 at Chartes. The Duchy of Normandy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the king Charles III by the 911 treaty and the Norman threat was eventually ended.

Both nobles became increasingly opposed to Charles and in 922 the barons of western Francia, after revolting against the Carolingian king Charles the Simple (who fled his kingdom under their onslaught), elected Robert I, Younger brother of Odo, as King of Western Francia.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Robert I	30 June 922	15 June 923	Son of Robert the Strong (Robertians), younger brother of Odo	King of the Franks
Rudolph (Raoul de France)	13 July 923	14 January 936	Son of Richard, Duke of Burgundy (Bosonids), Son-in-law of Robert I	King of the Franks
Louis IV of Outremer	19 June 936	10 Sept 954	Son of Charles III (Carolingian)	King of the Franks
Lothair	12 Nov 954	2 March 986	Son of Louis IV (Carolingian)	King of the Franks
Louis V the Lazy	8 June 986	22 May 987	Son of Lothair (Carolingian)	King of the Franks

Hugh the Great (898 – 956) was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois, daughter of Herbert I, Count of Vermandois. At the death of his father in battle at Soissons in 923, Hugh refused the crown and it went to his brother-in-law, Rudolph of Burgundy. Charles, however, sought help in regaining his crown from his cousin Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, who instead of helping the king imprisoned him.

At the death of Rudolph in 936, Hugh was in possession of nearly all of the region between the Loire and the Seine, corresponding to the ancient Neustria, with the exceptions of Anjou and of the territory ceded to the Normans in 911. He took a very active part in bringing Louis IV (son of King Charles the Simple and Eadgifu of Wessex) from the Kingdom of England in 936. In 937 Hugh married Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of Henry the Fowler of Germany and Matilda, and soon quarrelled with Louis.

In 938 King Louis IV began attacking fortresses and lands formerly held by members of his family, some held by Herbert II of Vermandois. Louis IV then looked to the Lotharingia, the land of his ancestors and began attempts to conquer it. 

In 939 Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine rebelled against King Otto I of East Francia and offered the crown to Louis IV, who received homage of the Lotharingian aristocracy in Verdun on his way to Aachen. In October 2, 939 Gilbert drowned in Rhine while escaping from the forces of Otto I after the defeat at the Battle of Andernach. Louis IV used this opportunity to strengthen his domain over Lotharingia by marrying Gilbert's widow, Gerberga of Saxony, without the consent of her brother King Otto I. The wedding did not stop Otto I who, after alliance with Hugh the Great and Herbert II of Vermandois, resumed his invasion of Lotharingia and advanced towards Reims.

Royal lands (in blue) by the end of the 10th century. By the 10th century the rule of its kings was greatly reduced and it did not include Lorraine, Burgundy, Alsace and Provence as well as Normandy. In Brittany and Catalonia the authority of the West Frankish king was barely felt.

Kingdom of France (Capetian dynasty)

After the death of Louis V, Hugh Capet, the son of Hugh the Great, was elected by the nobility as king of France. The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet, ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. They were direct descendants of the Robertian kings. The cadet branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328 are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon.

Initially obeyed only in their own demesne, the Île-de-France, the Capetian kings slowly but steadily increased their power and influence until it grew to cover the entirety of their realm. They restored the royal palace on the Île de la Cité, of Paris and built a church where the Sainte-Chapelle stands today. Prosperity returned gradually to the Paris city, and the right bank began to be populated.

House of Capet (987–1328)

Members of the dynasty were traditionally Catholic. The early Capetians had an alliance with the Church. The French were also the most active participants in the Crusades, culminating in a series of five Crusader Kings – Louis VII, Philip Augustus, Louis VIII, Saint Louis, and Philip III.

Name	King From	King Until	Relationship with Predecessor(s)	Title
Hugh Capet	3 July 987	24 October 996	Grandson of Robert I	King of the Franks
Robert II the Pious, the Wise	24 October 996	20 July 1031	Son of Hugh Capet	King of the Franks
Henry I	20 July 1031	4 August 1060	Son of Robert II	King of the Franks
Philip I the Amorous	4 August 1060	29 July 1108	Son of Henry I	King of the Franks
Louis VI the Fat	29 July 1108	1 August 1137	Son of Philip I	King of the Franks
Louis VII the Young	1 August 1137	18 Sept 1180	Son of Louis VI	King of the Franks
Philip II Augustus	18 Sept 1180	14 July 1223	Son of Louis VII	King of the Franks King of France
Louis VIII the Lion	14 July 1223	8 Nov 1226	Son of Philip II Augustus	King of France
Louis IX the Saint	8 Nov 1226	25 August 1270	Son of Louis VIII	King of France
Philip III the Bold	25 August 1270	5 October 1285	Son of Louis IX	King of France
Philip IV the Fair, the Iron King	5 October 1285	29 Nov 1314	Son of Philip III	King of France and of Navarre
Louis X the Quarreller	29 Nov 1314	5 June 1316	Son of Philip IV	King of France and of Navarre
John I the Posthumous	15 Nov 1316	20 Nov 1316	Son of Louis X	King of France and of Navarre
Philip V the Tall	20 Nov 1316	3 January 1322	Son of Philip IV Younger brother of Louis X	King of France and of Navarre
Charles IV the Fair	3 January 1322	1 February 1328	Son of Philip IV Younger brother of Louis X and Philip V	King of France and of Navarre

Duchy of Normandy (911-1259)

The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and Rollo, leader of the Vikings. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy was expanded by royal grant. From 1035 to 1135 it was held by the Norman kings of England (Rollo's male-line descendants) and then by the Angevin kings of England from 1150 to 1204.

In 1066, Duke William defeated Harold II of England at the Battle of Hastings and was subsequently crowned King of England. Anglo-Norman and French relations became complicated after the Norman Conquest. The Norman dukes retained control of their holdings in Normandy as vassals owing fealty to the King of France, but they were his equals as kings of England.

Tensions between the English and French thrones over continental land after William the Conqueror’s descendants in England had gained further lands in France by the reign of Henry II (r. 1154–1189), who inherited the County of Anjou from his father and control of the Dukedom of Aquitaine through his wife.

From 1154 until 1214, with the creation of the Angevin Empire, the Angevin kings of England controlled half of France and all of England, dwarfing the power of the French king.

Philip Augustus (1180-1223)

Philip II, called Philip Augustus was King of France from 1180 to 1223. Philip's predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France.

French control over Flanders steadily increased where the coastal county of Flanders was one of the wealthiest parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, from trading with England, France and Germany.

Between 1190 and 1202, he built the massive Louvre fortress, designed to protect the right bank of the Seine against an English attack from Normandy. In 1202 he declared Normandy a forfeited fief and by 1204 his army had conquered it. It remained a French royal province thereafter, still called the Duchy of Normandy, but only occasionally granted to a duke of the royal house.

After a twelve-year struggle with the Plantagenet dynasty in the Anglo-French War of 1202–14, Philip II of France acted decisively to exploit the weaknesses of King John of England, both legally and militarily. He broke up the large Angevin Empire presided over by the crown of England and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. This victory would have a lasting impact on western European politics: the authority of the French king became unchallenged.

Philip transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniory, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie.

The following Saintonge War (1242) and finally the War of Saint-Sardos (1324) resulted in the complete loss of Normandy and the reduction of England's holdings on the continent to a few provinces in Gascony.