Kings and Queens of France

The Kingdom of France evolved from West Francia (and the Kingdom of Germany from East Francia). The Franks were Germanic–speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who conquered most of Roman Gaul, as well as the Gaulish territory of the Visigothic Kingdom, in 507 AD.

The Merovingian Dynasty

481–511

The first king to unite all the Frankish kingdoms under his rule; after his death, the kingdom was divided between his four sons, to be reunited in 679; many historians (including Charles de Gaulle, who also described him as "the first king [of France] to be baptised as a Christian") regard his reign as the beginning of the French nation

Clovis I

The Carolingian Dynasty

De facto ruler of the Franks from AD 718 until his death in 741, as the power of the Merovingian kings waned: father and grandfather of the first two in the following table, he is sometimes described as the founder of the Carolingian dynasty

Charles Martel

751–768	Former hereditary Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingians, whom he overthrew with the support of the Papacy and the aristocracy		Pepin the Short
768–814	Son of the above: better known as the first Holy Roman Emperor		Charles I (Charlemagne)
	Had a sword called 'Joyeuse' (a sword associated with which has been housed in the Louvre since 1793)
814–840	Son of Charlemagne; also Holy Roman Emperor		Louis I (the Pious)
843–877	Son of Louis I; Holy Roman Emperor from 875		Charles II (the Bald)
877–879	Son of Charles II (the Bald)		Louis II (the Stammerer)
879–882	King of N. France while his brother Carloman ruled S. France		Louis III
(879)–884			Carloman
884–888			Charles the Fat
888–898	Chosen after Charles the Fat was deposed		Odo, Count of Paris
893–922	Ceded Normandy in 911 to the Viking Rollo (great–great– great–grandfather of William the Conqueror), who thus became the first ruler of Normandy; overthrown by Odo's brother, Robert		Charles III (the Simple)
922–923	Killed in battle		Robert I
923–936	Brother–in–law of Robert I		Raoul
936–954	Son of Charles III		Louis IV (d'Outremer)
954–987			Lothair
986–987	Last descendent of Charlemagne (Charles I)		Louis V (do–Nothing)

The Capetian Dynasty

987–996	War hero, elected to succeed the last Carolingian king with the support of the clergy		Hugh Capet
996–1031			Robert II (the Pious)
1031–1060	Spent much of his reign in conflict with William, Duke of Normandy		Henry I
1060–1108	Name derived by his Russian mother from the Greek for "lover of horses"		Philippe I
1108–1137	Led his army against Henry I of England		Louis VI (the Fat)
1137–1180	Leader of the Second Crusade		Louis VII
1180–1223	Went on Third Crusade with Richard I of England		Philippe II
1223–1226	Invited to become King of England in place of John		Louis VIII
1226–1270	St. Louis – leader of the 7th and 8th Crusades; captured by Muslims, died in Tunis; canonised 1297		Louis IX
1270–1285	Daughter Marguerite married Edward I of England		Philippe III
1285–1314	Imprisoned Pope Boniface VIII; collaborated with Clement V in the suppression of the Templars		Philip IV (the Fair)
1314–1316			Louis X (the Stubborn)
1316	Son of Louis X, born after his father's death; lived only 5 days		John I Posthumous
1317–1322	Brother of Louis X; acted as Regent after Louis' death while his widow was pregnant, and became king after the death of John. Many believed he caused his nephew's death, or substituted a dead baby for him		Philippe V (the Tall)
1322–1328	Last of the direct Capetian line; younger brother of Philippe V		Charles IV (the Fair)

The Valois Dynasty

1328–1350	First King of the House of Valois		Philip VI
	Defeated at Crecy (1346)
	Consort Jeanne died in the Black Death (1348)
1350–1364	Defeated by Edward the Black Prince at Poitiers (1356) and taken captive to England; allowed to return to France to raise a ransom, but failed to do so and returned to England where he was held as an honoured prisoner. Died in the Savoy Palace, London		John II (the Good)
1364–1380	First heir to use the title dauphin after his father (Jean II) acquired the Dauphiné		Charles V (the Wise)
1380–1422	Signed the Treaty of Troyes (1420), recognising Henry V of England as his successor. Suffered from the so–called "glass delusion": feared that he was made of glass, and therefore likely to shatter into pieces; refused to allow people to touch him, and wore reinforced clothing to protect himself from accidental shattering		Charles VI (the Mad)

Under the terms of the Treaty of Troyes (see above), the throne of France passed on the death of Charles VI to the infant Henry VI of England. In 1429 Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc), claiming divine inspiration, urged the dauphin to declare himself king and raise an army to liberate France from the English

1429–1461	Defeated the English with the help of Joan of Arc. Crowned at Reims by Joan after victory in the Battle of Patay (1429); regained the whole of France, with the exception of Calais, over the next 20 years		Charles VII
1461–1483	Broke the power of the nobility, led by Charles (the Bold), Duke of Burgundy		Louis XI
	The Hunchback of Notre Dame is set in his reign; appears briefly when he is brought news of the rioting at Notre Dame. He orders his guard to kill the rioters, and also the "witch" Esmeralda
1483–1498	Started the Franco–Italian wars to assert his claim to the throne of Naples		Charles VIII

The Valois Dynasty – Orleans branch

1499–1515

Duke of Orleans before becoming King; first cousin of Charles VIII; married Mary Tudor, younger sister of Henry VIII

Louis XII

The Valois Dynasty – Angouleme branch

1515–1547	Fought Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; met Henry VIII on the Field of the Cloth of Gold		Francis I
1547–1559	Married Catherine de Medici; captured Calais from the English		Henry II
1559–1560	Son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici; married Mary Queen of Scots when Dauphin		Francis II
1560–1574	Second son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici; under his mother's influence, ordered the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre		Charles IX
1574–1589	Transvestite king; fourth son of Henry II and Catherine de Medici; expelled from Paris in 1588 by the Duc de Guise, who opposed his lenient attitude to the Huguenots and forced Henry to annul the right of the Protestant Henry of Navarre to the succession; assassinated by fanatical Domenican friar Jacques Clement on the day before he planned to retake the city		Henry III

The Bourbon Dynasty

1589–1610	Succeeded as the descendant of the eldest surviving male line of the Capetian Dynasty, from Louis IX; converted to Catholicism in order to become king ("Paris is well worth a mass"); signed the Edict of Nantes, granting religious liberties to the Protestants and effectively ending the religious war; assassinated by Catholic fanatic Francois Ravaillac			Henry IV (of Navarre)
1610–1643	Bought the Palace of Versailles; controlled by Richelieu 1624–42			Louis XIII
	The Three Musketeers is set in his reign; presented by Dumas as a fairly weak monarch often manipulated by Richelieu
1643–1715	The longest reigning European monarch ever (77 years); succeeded by his great–grandson			Louis XIV
	The Sun King
	Louisiana was named after
	"L'etat, c'est moi"
	Founded the Académie des Sciences in 1666, at the suggestion of his Chief Minister Jean–Baptiste Colbert
	Madame de Maintenon was a mistress of
1715–1744	Father of Louis, Dauphin of France, who predeceased him in 1765 but was the father of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII and Charles X;			Louis XV
	Madame de Pompadour and Madame Dubarry were mistresses of
1774–1792	His efforts to reform the monarchy were popular at first, but ultimately frustrated by the nobility. During his reign, finances fell into such confusion that in 1789 the States General (Parliament) was summoned and the French Revolution began. Lost popularity in 1791; attempted to flee to Belgium, but was captured. Remained nominally as king, but effectively under house arrest, until August 1792 when the National Assembly proclaimed a republic. Tried and convicted of treason; executed on 21 January 1793, followed on 16 October by his wife Marie Antoinette			Louis XVI
1792–1795	Eldest living son of Louis XVI, born 1785; nominal King, imprisoned with his parents throughout the revolution. Proclaimed king by his uncle, Comte de Provence (later Louis XVIII) in January 1793, following the execution of his father, but never crowned. Separated from his mother and sister from June 1793; made to work as a cobbler's assistant. Officially reported to have died in 1795 of what is today recognised as tuberculosis; but there were persistent reports that he had not died. When the monarchy was restored in 1814, hundreds of claimants came forward.			Louis XVII
1814–1824	Fourth son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and grandson of Louis XV. Proclaimed his seven–year–old nephew Louis as king in January 1793, with himself as regent; following the boy's death, proclaimed himself as Louis XVIII. Secured the throne with the support of the Allied powers, following the defeat of Napoleon in 1814. Fled from Paris to Ghent when he heard that Napoleon had left Elba, but returned on 3 July 1815 after the Battle of Waterloo ended the Hundred Days. Died 1824 and was succeeded by his brother			Louis XVIII
1824–1830	Youngest son of Louis, Dauphin of France, and grandson of Louis XV. Count of Artois before succession; abdicated in 1830 and fled to England. Later settled in Prague; died in Illyria and is buried in modern Slovenia			Charles X
1830–1848	The self–styled "Citizen King", proclaimed by the Chamber of Deputies in preference to Charles X's declared heir, his grandson Henry (V), owing to his Republican policies and his popularity with the masses			Louis–Philippe
	His reign was known as the July Monarchy (after the revolution of July 1830)
	Created the Foreign Legion (in 1831 – foreign citizens were barred from the French army after the 1830 revolution)
	On the throne during the 1832 Paris uprising (a.k.a. the June Rebellion), as featured in Les Misérables
1848–70	First president (1848–52) and last monarch (1852–70) of France			Napoleon III

© Haydn Thompson 2017–20