France in the Middle Ages

Kingdom of France Reaume de France Royaulme de France
987–c. 15th century (France of the Middle Ages)
Top:Royal banner of the Capetian dynasty Bottom:Royal banner of the Valois dynasty Coat of arms of the King of France(from 1376) Two variants of the Oriflamme, the battle standard of the king
Motto: "Montjoie Saint Denis!"(French) "Mountjoy Saint Denis!"
The Kingdom of France in 1000
The Kingdom of France in 1190. The bright green area was controlled by the so-calledAngevin Empire.
Capital	Paris
Common languages	Latin,French(official), Occitan,Franco-Provençal,Breton,Basque
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Government	Feudal monarchy
King of France
Legislature	Estates General (since 1302)
Historical era	Middle Ages
• Beginning ofCapetian dynasty	987
•Hundred Years' War –Capetians deposed(disputed)	1337–1453 1422
•Ancien Régime	c. 15th century
Currency	Livre Franc Écu
ISO 3166 code	FR
Preceded by Succeeded by West Francia Kingdom of France

TheKingdom of Francein theMiddle Ages(roughly, from the 10th century to the middle of the 15th century) was marked by the fragmentation of theCarolingian EmpireandWest Francia(843–987); the expansion of royal control by theHouse of Capet(987–1328), including their struggles with the virtually independent principalities (duchies and counties, such as theNormanandAngevinregions), and the creation and extension of administrative/state control (notably underPhilip II AugustusandLouis IX) in the 13th century; and the rise of theHouse of Valois(1328–1589), including the protracted dynastic crisis against theHouse of Plantagenetand theirAngevin Empire,culminating in theHundred Years' War(1337–1453) (compounded by the catastrophicBlack Deathin 1348), which laid the seeds for a more centralized and expanded state in theearly modern periodand the creation of a sense of French identity.

Up to the 12th century, the period saw the elaboration and extension of theseigneurialeconomic system (including the attachment of peasants to the land throughserfdom); the extension of theFeudalsystem of political rights and obligations between lords andvassals;the so-called "feudal revolution" of the 11th century during which ever smaller lords took control of local lands in many regions; and the appropriation by regional/local seigneurs of various administrative, fiscal and judicial rights for themselves. From the 13th century on, the state slowly regained control of a number of these lost powers. The crises of the 13th and 14th centuries led to the convening of an advisory assembly, theEstates General,and also to an effective end to serfdom.

From the 12th and 13th centuries on, France was at the center of a vibrant cultural production that extended across much of western Europe, including the transition fromRomanesque architecturetoGothic architectureandGothic art;the foundation ofmedieval universities(such as the universities ofParis(recognized in 1150),Montpellier(1220),Toulouse(1229), andOrleans(1235)) and the so-called "Renaissance of the 12th century";a growing body ofsecular vernacular literature(including thechanson de geste,chivalric romance,troubadourandtrouvèrepoetry, etc.) andmedieval music(such as the flowering of theNotre Dame schoolof polyphony).

Geography

Main articles:Territorial evolution of FranceandCrown lands of France

From the Middle Ages onward, French rulers believed their kingdoms had natural borders: the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Rhine. This was used as a pretext for an aggressive policy and repeated invasions.The belief, however, had mere basis in reality for not all of these territories were part of the Kingdom and the authority of the King within his kingdom would be quite fluctuant. The lands that composed the Kingdom of France showed great geographical diversity; the northern and central parts enjoyed a temperate climate while the southern part was closer to the Mediterranean climate. While there were great differences between the northern and southern parts of the kingdom there were equally important differences depending on the distance of mountains: mainly theAlps,thePyreneesand theMassif Central.France had important rivers that were used as waterways: theLoire,theRhône,theSeineas well as theGaronne.These rivers were settled earlier than the rest and important cities were founded on their banks but they were separated by large forests, marsh, and other rough terrains.

Before the Romans conquered Gaul, the Gauls lived in villages organised in wider tribes. The Romans referred to the smallest of these groups aspagiand the widest ones ascivitates.Thesepagiandcivitateswere often taken as a basis for the imperial administration and would survive up to the middle-ages when their capitals became centres ofbishoprics.These religious provinces would survive until the French revolution.During theRoman Empire,southern Gaul was more heavily populated and because of this more episcopal sees were present there at first while in northern France they shrank greatly in size because of the barbarian invasions and became heavily fortified to resist the invaders.

Discussion of the size of France in the Middle Ages is complicated by distinctions between lands personally held by the king (the "domaine royal") and lands held in homage by another lord. The notion ofres publicainherited from the Roman province ofGaulwas not fully maintained by theFrankish kingdomand theCarolingian Empire,and by the early years of theDirect Capetians,the French kingdom was more or less a fiction. The "domaine royal" of the Capetians was limited to the regions aroundParis,BourgesandSens.The great majority of French territory was part ofAquitaine,theDuchy of Normandy,theDuchy of Brittany,theComté of Champagne,theDuchy of Burgundy,theCounty of Flandersand other territories (for a map, seeProvinces of France). In principle, the lords of these lands owed homage to the French king for their possession, but in reality the king in Paris had little control over these lands, and this was to be confounded by the uniting of Normandy, Aquitaine andEnglandunder thePlantagenet dynastyin the 12th century.

The territorial conquests ofPhilip Augustus of France,at the time of his accession (1180) and at the time of his death (1223).

Philip II Augustusundertook a massive French expansion in the 13th century, but most of these acquisitions were lost both by the royal system of "apanage"(the giving of regions to members of the royal family to be administered) and through losses in theHundred Years' War.Only in the 15th century wouldCharles VIIandLouis XIgain control of most of modern-day France (except forBrittany,Navarre,and parts of eastern and northern France).

The weather in France and Europe in the Middle Ages was significantly milder than during the periods preceding or following it. Historians refer to this as the "Medieval Warm Period",lasting from about the 10th century to about the 14th century. Part of the French population growth in this period (see below) is directly linked to this temperate weather and its effect on crops and livestock.

Demography

Main articles:Medieval demographicsandDemographics of France

At the end of the Middle Ages, France was the most populous regionin Europe—having overtaken Spain and Italy by 1340.In the 14th century, before the arrival of the Black Death, the total population of the area covered by modern-day France has been estimated at 16 million.The population of Paris is controversial.Josiah Russell argued for about 80,000 in the early 14th century, although he noted that some other scholars suggested 200,000.The higher count would make it by far the largest city in western Europe; the lower count would put it behind Venice with 100,000 and Florence with 96,000.TheBlack Deathkilled an estimated one-third of the population from its appearance in 1348. The concurrentHundred Years' Warslowed recovery. It would be the mid-16th century before the population recovered to mid-fourteenth century levels.

In the early Middle Ages, France was a center of Jewish learning, but increasing persecution, and a series of expulsions in the 14th century, caused considerable suffering for French Jews;seeHistory of the Jews in France.

Languages and literacy

Main articles:History of French,Old French,andOccitan language

During the Middle Ages in France,Medieval Latinwas the primary medium of scholarly exchange as well as theliturgical languageof theCatholic Church;it was also the language of science, literature, law, and administration. From 1200 on, vernacular languages began to be used in administrative work and the law courts,but Latin would remain an administrative and legal language until theOrdinance of Villers-Cotterêts(1539) prescribed the use of French in all judicial acts, notarized contracts, and official legislation.

The vast majority of the population, however, spoke a variety of vernacular languages derived fromvulgar Latin,the common spoken language of the Western Roman Empire. Themedieval ItalianpoetDante,in hisLatinDe vulgari eloquentia,classified theRomance languagesinto three groups by their respective words for "yes":Nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil( "For some sayoc,others saysi,others sayoïl"). Theoïllanguages – fromLatinhocille,"that is it" – were spoken primarily in northern France, theoclanguages – from Latinhoc,"that" – in southern France, and thesilanguages – fromLatinsic,"thus" – on theItalianandIberian peninsulas.Modern linguists typically add a third group within France aroundLyon,the "Arpitan" or "Franco-Provençal language",whose modern word for" yes "isouè.

The area oflangues d'oïl

TheGallo-Romancegroup in the north of France, consisting oflangues d'oïlsuch asPicard,Walloon,andFrancien,were influenced byGermanic languagesspoken by the earliest Frankish invaders. From the time ofClovis Ion, the Franks expanded their rule over northern Gaul. Over time, the French language developed from either the Oïl languages found aroundParisandÎle-de-France(the Francien theory) or from a standard administrative language based on common characteristics found in all Oïl languages (thelingua francatheory).

Thelangue d'oc,consisting of the languages which useocoròcfor "yes", was the language group spoken in the south of France and northeasternSpain.These languages, such asGasconandProvençal,have relatively little Frankish influence.

The Middle Ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects spoken in France. From the 4th to 7th centuries,Brythonic-speaking peoples fromCornwall,Devon,andWalestravelled across theEnglish Channel,both for reasons of trade and of flight from theAnglo-Saxoninvasions of England, and established themselves inArmoricain northwest France. Their dialect evolved into theBreton languagein more recent centuries, and they gave their name to the peninsula they inhabited:Brittany.

Attested since the time ofJulius Caesar,a non-Celtic people who spoke aBasque-related language inhabited theNovempopulania(Aquitania Tertia) in southwestern France, though the language gradually lost ground to the expandingRomanceduring a period spanning most of the Early Middle Ages. ThisProto-Basqueinfluenced the emerging Latin-based language spoken in the area between theGaronneand thePyrenees,eventually resulting in the dialect ofOccitancalledGascon.

ScandinavianVikingsinvaded France from the 9th century onwards and established themselves mostly in what would come to be calledNormandy.TheNormanstook up thelangue d'oïlspoken there, althoughNorman Frenchremained heavily influenced byOld Norseand its dialects. They also contributed many words to French related to sailing and farming. After theNorman conquest of Englandin 1066, the Normans' language developed intoAnglo-Norman.Anglo-Norman served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until theHundred Years' War,by which time the use ofFrench-influenced Englishhad spread throughout English society.

Also around this time period, many words from theArabic languageentered French, mainly indirectly throughMedieval Latin,Italian and Spanish. There are words for luxury goods (élixir, orange),spices(camphre, safran), trade goods (alcool, bougie, coton), sciences (alchimie, hasard), andmathematics(algèbre, algorithme).

While education and literacy had been important components of aristocratic service in the Carolingian period,by the 11th century and continuing into the 13th century, the lay (secular) public in France—both nobles and peasants—was largelyilliterate,except for (at least to the end of the 12th century) members of the great courts and, in the south, smaller noble families.This situation began to change in the 13th century, where we find highly literate members of the French nobility likeGuillaume de Lorris,Geoffrey of Villehardouin(sometimes referred to as Villehardouin), andJean de Joinville(sometimes referred to as Joinville).Similarly, due to the outpouring of French vernacular literature from the 12th century on (chanson de geste,chivalric romance,troubadourandtrouvèrepoetry, etc.), French eventually became the "international language of the aristocracy".

Society and government

Peasants

In the Middle Ages in France, the vast majority of the population—between 80 and 90 percent—were peasants.

Traditional categories inherited from the Roman and Merovingian period (distinctions between free and unfree peasants, between tenants and peasants who owned their own land, etc.) underwent significant changes up to the 11th century. The traditional rights of "free" peasants—such as service in royal armies (they had been able to serve in the royal armies as late as Charlemagne's reign) and participation in public assemblies and law courts—were lost through the 9th to the 10th centuries, and they were increasingly made dependents of nobles, churches and large landholders.The mid-8th century to 1000 also saw a steady increase of aristocratic and monastic control of the land, at the expense of landowning peasants.At the same time, the traditional notion of "unfree" dependents and the distinction between "unfree" and "free" tenants was eroded as the concept ofserfdom(see alsoHistory of serfdom) came to dominate.

From the mid-8th century on, particularly in the north, the relationship between peasants and the land became increasingly characterized by the extension of the new "bipartite estate" system (manorialism), in which peasants (who were bound to the land) held tenant holdings from a lord or monastery (for which they paid rent), but were also required to work the lord's own "demesne";in the north, some of these estates could be quite substantial.This system remained a standard part of lord-tenant relations into the 12th century.

The economic and demographic crises of the 14th–15th centuries (agricultural expansionhad lost many of the gains made in the 12th and 13th centuries) reversed this trend: landlords offered serfs their freedom in exchange for working abandoned lands, ecclesiastical and royal authorities created new "free" cities (villefranches) or granted freedom to existing cities, etc. By the end of the 15th century, serfdom was largely extinct;henceforth "free" peasants paid rents for their own lands, and the lord's demesne was worked by hired labor.This liberated the peasantry to a certain degree, but also made their lives more precarious in times of economic uncertainty.For lords who rented out more and more of their holdings for fixed rents, the initial benefits were positive, but over time they found themselves increasingly cash-strapped as inflationary pressures reduced their incomes.

Cities and towns

Much of the Gallo-Roman urban network of cities survived (albeit much changed) into the Middle Ages as regional centers and capitals: certain cities had been chosen as centers of bishoprics by the church(for example,Paris,Reims,Aix,Tours,Carcassonne and Narbonne,Auch,Albi,Bourges,Lyon,etc.), others as seats of local (county, duchy) administrative power (such asAngers,Blois,Poitiers,Toulouse). In many cases (such as withPoitiers) cities were seats of both episcopal and administrative power.

From the 10th to the 11th centuries, the urban development of the country expanded (particularly on the northern coasts): new ports appeared and dukes and counts encouraged and created new towns.In other areas, urban growth was slower and centered on the monastic houses.In many regions,market towns(burgs) with limited privileges were established by local lords. In the late 11th century, "communes",governing assemblies, began to develop in towns.Starting sporadically in the late 10th, and increasingly in the 12th century, many towns and villages were able to gain economic, social or judicial privileges and franchises from their lords (exemptions from tolls and dues, rights to clear land or hold fairs, some judicial or administrative independence, etc.).The seigneurial reaction to expanding urbanism and enfranchisement was mixed; some lords fought against the changes, but some lords gained financial and political advantages from the communal movement and growing trade.

The 13th to 14th centuries were a period of significant urbanization.Pariswas the largest city in the realm, and indeed one of the largest cities in Europe, with an estimated population of 200,000 or more at the end of the century. The second-largest city wasRouen;the other major cities (with populations over 10,000) wereOrléans,Tours,Bordeaux,Lyon,Dijon,andReims.In addition to these, there also existed zones with an extended urban network of medium to small cities, as in the south and the Mediterranean coast (fromToulousetoMarseille,includingNarbonneandMontpellier) and in the north (Beauvais,Laon,Amiens,Arras,Bruges,etc.).Market townsincreased in size and many were able to gain privileges and franchises including transformation into free cities (villes franches); rural populations from the countrysides moved to the cities and burgs.This was also a period of urban building: the extension of walls around the entirety of the urban space, the vast construction of Gothiccathedrals(starting in the 12th century), urban fortresses, castles (such as Philip II Augustus'Louvrearound 1200) and bridges.

Aristocracy, nobles, knights

Further information:French nobilityandknight

In the Carolingian period, the "aristocracy" (nobilisin the Latin documents) was by no means a legally defined category.With traditions going back to the Romans; one was "noble" if he or she possessed significant land holdings, had access to the king and royal court, could receivehonoresandbeneficesfor service (such as being namedcountorduke).Their access to political power in the Carolingian period might also necessitate a need for education.Their wealth and power was also evident in their lifestyle and purchase of luxury goods, and in their maintenance of an armed entourage offideles(men who had sworn oaths to serve them).

From the late 9th to the late 10th century, the nature of the noble class changed significantly. First off, the aristocracy increasingly focused on establishing strong regional bases of landholdings,on taking hereditary control of the counties and duchies,and eventually on erecting these into veritable independent principalitiesand privatizing various privileges and rights of the state. (By 1025, the area north of the Loire was dominated by six or seven of these virtually independent states.) After 1000, these counties in turn began to break down into smaller lordships, as smaller lords wrest control of local lands in the so-called "feudal revolution"and seized control over many elements of comital powers (see vassal/feudal below).

Secondly, from the 9th century on, military ability was increasingly seen as conferring special status, and professional soldiers ormilites,generally in the entourage of sworn lords, began to establish themselves in the ranks of the aristocracy (acquiring local lands, building private castles, seizing elements of justice), thereby transforming into the military noble class historians refer to as "knights".

Vassalage and feudal land

Further information:VassalandFief

The Merovingians and Carolingians maintained relations of power with their aristocracy through the use of clientele systems and the granting ofhonoresand benefices, including land, a practice which grew out of Late Antiquity. This practice would develop into the system of vassalage and feudalism in the Middle Ages. Originally,vassalagedid not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings (which were granted only as a reward for loyalty), but by the eighth century the giving of a landholding was becoming standard.The granting of a landholding to a vassal did not relinquish the lord's property rights, but only the use of the lands and their income; the granting lord retained ultimate ownership of the fee and could, technically, recover the lands in case of disloyalty or death.

In the8th-century Frankish empire,Charles Martelwas the first to make large scale and systematic use (the practice had remained until then sporadic) of the remuneration of vassals by the concession of the usufruct of lands (abeneficatiumor "benefice"in the documents) for the lifetime of the vassal, or, sometimes extending to the second or third generation.By the middle of the 10th century, feudal land grants (fee, fiefs) had largely become hereditary.The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord and pay a "relief"for the land (a monetary recognition of the lord's continuing proprietary rights over the property). By the 11th century, the bonds of vassalage and the granting of fiefs had spread throughout much of French society, but it was in no ways universal in France: in the south, feudal grants of land or of rights were unknown.

In its origin, the feudal grant had been seen in terms of a personal bond between lord and vassal, but with time and the transformation of fiefs into hereditary holdings, the nature of the system came to be seen as a form of "politics of land" (an expression used by the historianMarc Bloch). The 11th century in France saw what has been called by historians a "feudal revolution" or "mutation" and a "fragmentation of powers" (Bloch) that was unlike the development offeudalismin England or Italy or Germany in the same period or later:counties and duchies began to break down into smaller holdings ascastellansand lesser seigneurs took control of local lands, and (as comital families had done before them) lesser lords usurped/privatized a wide range of prerogatives and rights of the state, most importantly the highly profitable rights of justice, but also travel dues, market dues, fees for using woodlands, obligations to use the lord's mill, etc.(whatGeorges Dubycalled collectively the "seigneurie banale"). Power in this period became more personaland it would take centuries for the state to fully reimpose its control over local justice and fiscal administration (by the 15th century, much of the seigneur's legal purview had been given to thebailliages,leaving them only affairs concerning seigneurial dues and duties, and small affairs of local justice)

This "fragmentation of powers" was not however systematic throughout France, and in certain counties (such as Flanders, Normandy, Anjou, Toulouse), counts were able to maintain control of their lands into the 12th century or later.Thus, in some regions (like Normandy and Flanders), the vassal/feudal system was an effective tool for ducal and comital control, linking vassals to their lords; but in other regions, the system led to significant confusion, all the more so as vassals could and frequently did pledge themselves to two or more lords. In response to this, the idea of a "liege lord"was developed (where the obligations to one lord are regarded as superior) in the 12th century.

Peerage

Main article:Peerage of France

Medieval French kings conferred the dignity of peerage upon certain of his preëminentvassals,both clerical and lay. Some historians considerLouis VII(1137–1180) to have created the French system of peers.

Peerage was attached to a specific territorial jurisdiction, either anepiscopal seefor episcopal peerages or afieffor secular. Peerages attached to fiefs were transmissible or inheritable with the fief, and these fiefs are often designated aspairie-duché(for duchies) andpairie-comté(for counties).

By 1216 there were nine peers:

• Archbishop of Reimswho had the distinction of anointing and crowning the king
• Bishop of Langres
• Bishop of Beauvais
• Bishop of Châlons
• Bishop of Noyon
• Duke of Normandy
• Duke of Burgundy
• Duke of Aquitainealso called Duke of Guyenne
• Count of Champagne

A few years later and before 1228 three peers were added to make the total of twelve peers:

• Bishop of Laon
• Count of Flanders
• Count of Toulouse

These twelve peerages are known as theancient peerageorpairie ancienne,and the number twelve is sometimes said to have been chosen to mirror the 12paladinsofCharlemagnein theChanson de geste(see below). Parallels may also be seen with mythicalKnights of the Round TableunderKing Arthur.So popular was this notion, that for a long time people thought peerage had originated in the reign of Charlemagne, who was considered the model king and shining example for knighthood and nobility.

The dozenpairsplayed a role in the royalsacreorconsecration,during the liturgy of thecoronationof the king, attested to as early as 1179, symbolically upholding his crown, and each original peer had a specific role, often with an attribute. Since the peers were never twelve during the coronation in early periods, due to the fact that most lay peerages were forfeited to or merged in the crown, delegates were chosen by the king, mainly from the princes of the blood. In later periods peers also held up by poles abaldaquinorcloth of honourover the king during much of the ceremony.

In 1204 theDuchy of Normandywas absorbed by the French crown, and later in the 13th century two more of the lay peerages were absorbed by the crown (Toulouse 1271, Champagne 1284), so in 1297 three new peerages were created, theCounty of Artois,theDuchy of Anjouand theDuchy of Brittany,to compensate for the three peerages that had disappeared.

Thus, beginning in 1297 the practice started of creating new peerages byletters patent,specifying the fief to which the peerage was attached, and the conditions under which the fief could be transmitted (e.g. only male heirs) for princes of the blood who held anapanage.By 1328 all apanagists would be peers.

The number of lay peerages increased over time from 7 in 1297 to 26 in 1400, 21 in 1505, and 24 in 1588.

Monarchy and regional powers

France was a very decentralised state during the Middle Ages. At the time,LorraineandProvencewere states of theHoly Roman Empireand not a part of France. North of the Loire, the King of France at times fought or allied with one of the great principalities of Normandy, Anjou, Blois-Champagne, Flanders and Burgundy. The duke of Normandy was overlord of the duke of Brittany. South of the Loire were the principalities of Aquitaine, Toulouse and Barcelona. Normandy became the strongest power in the north, while Barcelona became the strongest in the south. The rulers of both fiefs eventually became kings, the former by the conquest of England, and the latter by the succession to Aragon. French suzerainty over Barcelona was only formally relinquished by Saint Louis in 1258.

Initially, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established the principle of male primogeniture, later popularized as theSalic law.The authority of the king was more religious than administrative. The 11th century in France marked the apogee of princely power at the expense of the king when states likeNormandy,FlandersorLanguedocenjoyed a local authority comparable to kingdoms in all but name. TheCapetians,as they were descended from theRobertians,were formerly powerful princes themselves who had successfully unseated the weak and unfortunateCarolingiankings.

TheCarolingiankings had nothing more than a royal title when theCapetiankings added their principality to that title. The Capetians, in a way, held a dual status of King and Prince; as king they held theCrown of Charlemagneand asCount of Paristhey held their personal fiefdom, best known asÎle-de-France.

The fact that the Capetians both held lands as Prince as well as in the title of King gave them a complicated status. Thus they were involved in the struggle for power within France as princes but they also had a religious authority overRoman Catholicism in Franceas King. However, and despite the fact that the Capetian kings often treated other princes more as enemies and allies than as subordinates, their royal title was often recognised yet not often respected. The royal authority was so weak in some remote places that bandits were the effective power.

Some of the king's vassals would grow sufficiently powerful that they would become some of the strongest rulers of western Europe. TheNormans,thePlantagenets,theLusignans,theHautevilles,theRamnulfids,and theHouse of Toulousesuccessfully carved lands outside France for themselves. The most important of these conquests for French history was theNorman ConquestbyWilliam the Conqueror,following theBattle of Hastingsand immortalised in theBayeux Tapestry,because it linked England to France through Normandy. Although the Normans were now both vassals of the French kings and their equals as kings of England, their zone of political activity remained centered in France.

An important part of the French aristocracy also involved itself in the crusades, and French knights founded and ruled theCrusader states.An example of the legacy left in the Middle East by these nobles is theKrak des Chevaliers' enlargement by the Counts ofTripoliandToulouse.

The history of the monarchy is how it overcame the powerful barons over ensuing centuries, and established absolute sovereignty over France in the 16th century. A number of factors contributed to the rise of the French monarchy. The dynasty established by Hugh Capet continued uninterrupted until 1328, and the laws ofprimogenitureensured orderly successions of power. Secondly, the successors of Capet came to be recognised as members of an illustrious and ancient royal house and therefore socially superior to their politically and economically superior rivals. Thirdly, the Capetians had the support of theChurch,which favoured a strong central government in France. This alliance with the Church was one of the great enduring legacies of the Capetians. TheFirst Crusadewas composed almost entirely of Frankish Princes. As time went on the power of the King was expanded by conquests, seizures and successful feudal political battles.

French power in the Middle Ages

Vassals and cadets of the King of France made several foreign acquisitions during the Middle Ages:

• William the Conqueror,Duke of Normandy (1066): conquered the Kingdom of England
• The success of theFirst Crusadeled to the creation of a Frankish kingdom in the Levant in 1099
• Norman knights settled in Sicily, which was raised to a kingdom in 1130
• Fulk V, Count of Anjou(1131): became King of Jerusalem by marriage
• Afonso I of Portugal(1139): great-grandson ofRobert I, Duke of Burgundy,and founder of the Kingdom of Portugal
• Henry II of England(1154): ruled England and much of Western France (TheAngevin Empire)
• Alfonso II of Aragon,Count of Barcelona (1164): first Count of Barcelona to become King of Aragon in his own right
• Theobald I of Navarre,Count of Champagne (1234): inherited the Kingdom of Navarre from his uncle
• Charles I of Naples,Count of Anjou (1266): youngest son ofLouis VIII of France,conquered the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, proclaimed himself King of Albania
• Charles I of Hungary(1301): scion of theCapetian House of Anjou,King of Hungary and Croatia
• Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor:became a vassal ofPhilip IV of Francewhile Count of Luxembourg. Philip IV advanced the candidacy of his brotherCharles of Valoisfor the imperial throne, but the German electors were unwilling to expand French influence even further. Henry was elected King of Germany in 1308 as a compromise candidate, and became emperor in 1312.
• John of Bohemia(1310): son of Emperor Henry VII, he became of King of Bohemia by marriage. John was raised in Paris, and died fighting for the French in theBattle of Crécy
• Philip III of Navarre,Count of Évreux (1328): became King of Navarre by marriage
• Louis I of Hungary(1342): son of Charles I of Hungary, eventually became King of Poland in addition to the realms inherited from his father
• Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor(1346): son of John of Bohemia, he received French education and resided in the French court for seven years. His close connection to the House of France facilitated the sale ofDauphiné,an imperial fief, in 1349, and its eventual transfer into the French crown.
• Philip the Bold,Duke of Burgundy (1363): with his appanage of Burgundy and his marriage to the heiress of Flanders, he founded theHouse of Valois-Burgundy,the most powerful dynasty of the Middle Ages which is not of royal rank

The power of the French monarchy grew at a slower rate at the beginning:

• The early Capetians ruled much longer than their contemporaries, but had little power. They did not have the will, or the resources, to coerce their vassals into obedience.
• Louis VI began an aggressive policy of demanding obedience from his vassals in the Ile-de-France backed by military force
• Louis VII's marriage with Eleanor of Aquitaine brought the French monarchy's influence to southern France, but the annulment of their marriage brought about the rise of theAngevin dynasty,the most formidable rival of the French monarchy
• Philip II made the French king the foremost power within his own kingdom, destroying Angevin power in France through the conquest of Normandy and Anjou
• Louis VIII embarked on theAlbigensian Crusade,which brought northern France to war against the south
• Louis IX brought the prestige of the French monarchy at its height. Even the Mongol leader Hulagu, who had been under the impression that the Pope was the ruler of all Christians, realized that the true power rested in the King of France and sought an alliance with him. His crusading ventures, however, were unsuccessful
• Philip III inherited Toulouse and married his son to the heiress of Navarre and Champagne
• Philip IV was the most absolutist of the medieval French kings, but his costly policies brought him into conflict with the pope and the persecution of the Templars in order to obtain their resources.
• The orderly succession of French kings for more than 300 years, combined with an abrupt dynastic crisis in 1316 led to the adoption of a succession law that prevented the kingship from going out of the Capetian dynasty. The successive deaths of the sons of Philip IV in a short period of time led to the rise of theHouse of Valois
• Philip VI was an initially promising ruler, having brought Flanders into submission early in his reign. At the outbreak of theHundred Years' WarFrance was the foremost power in Western Europe, but this did not prevent his overwhelming defeat at Crécy.
• John II brought the French monarchy at its lowest with another overwhelming defeat in Poitiers.
• Charles V recovered most of the territories lost during the war
• The madness of Charles VI multiplied the woes of France, as the princes of the royal house split into factions in order to obtain power. France suffered another defeat at Agincourt, and the king was forced to disinherit his own son in favor ofHenry V of England
• Charles VII was apathetic during the early years of his reign, but his fortunes changed with the rise ofJoan of Arcin 1429 and his reconciliation with the Duke of Burgundy in 1435. The French were victorious at the end of the war in 1453, and the King of France was once again the most powerful monarch in Europe, with the firststanding armysince Roman times.

Royal administration

King's Council

Main article:Conseil du Roi

The kings of France traditionally always sought the advice of their entourage (vassals,clerics,etc.) before making important decisions. In the early Middle Ages, the entourage around the king was sometimes called thefamilia;later the expression "hôtel du roi" or the "maison du roi"(the" royal household ") was used for people attached directly to the person of the king, while (in the 12th century), those who were called upon to counsel the king in his administration of the realm took the form of a specific (and separate) institution called the King's Court (Latin: the" Curia Regis ", later theConseil du Roi)), although by the middle of the 13th century distinctions between "hôtel du roi" andcuria regiswere less clear.

In addition to the King's Council, the consultative governing of the country also depended on other intermittent and permanent institutions, such as theStates General,theParlementsand the Provincial Estates. The Parliament of Paris – as indeed all of the sovereign courts of the realm – was itself born out of the King's Council: originally a consultative body of theCuria Regis,later (in the thirteenth century) endowed with judicial functions, the Parliament was separated from the King's Council in 1254.

The King's Court functioned as an advisory body under the earlyCapetian kings.It was composed of a number of the king's trusted advisers but only a few traveled with the king at any time.By the later twelfth century it had become a judicial body with a few branching off to remain the king's council.By the fourteenth century the termcuria regiswas no longer used.However, it had served as a predecessor to later sovereign assemblies; theParlementwhich was a judiciary body, the Chamber of Accounts which was a financial body andKing's Council.

The composition of the King's Council changed constantly over the centuries and according to the needs and desires of the king. Medieval councils frequently excluded:

• the queen (both as queen consort or as queen mother) – the influence of the queen lost direct political control as early as the 13th century, except in periods of regency; the queen thus only exceptionally attended the Council.
• close relations to the king, including younger sons, grandsons and princes of the royal bloodline ( "prince du sang" ) from junior branches of the family – these individuals were often suspected of political ambition and of plotting.

On the other hand, medieval councils generally included:

• the crown prince (the "dauphin" ) – if he was of age to attend the council
• the "grands" – the most powerful members of the church and of the nobility.

The feudal aristocracy would maintain great control over the king's council up until the 14th and 15th centuries. The most important positions in the court were those of theGreat Officers of the Crown of France,headed by theconnétable(chief military officer of the realm; established by King Philip I in 1060) and thechancellor.Other positions included theGrand Chambrierwho managed the Royal Treasury along with theGrand Bouteiller(Grand Butler), before being supplanted of these functions by the Chamber of Accounts (Chambre des comptes,created by KingPhilip IV) and the position ofSurintendant des finances(created in 1311). Certain kings were unable to reduce the importance of the feudal aristocracy (Louis X,Philip VI,John II,Charles VI), while others were more successful (Charles V,Louis XI).

Over the centuries, the number ofjurists(or "légistes" ), generally educated by theuniversité de Paris,steadily increased as the technical aspects of the matters studied in the council mandated specialized counsellers. Coming from the lesser nobility or the bourgeoisie, these jurists (whose positions sometimes gave them or their heirs nobility, as the so-called "noblesse de robe"or chancellor nobles) helped in preparing and putting into legal form the king's decisions, and they formed the early elements of a true civil service and royal administration which would – because of their permanence – provide a sense of stability and continuity to the royal council, despite its many reorganizations. In their attempts at greater efficiency, the kings tried to reduce the number of counsellors or to convoke" reduced councils ".Charles Vhad a council of 12 members.

The Council had only a consultational role: the final decision was always the king's. Although jurists frequented praised (especially later in the 16th century) the advantages of consultative government (with the agreement of his counsellors, the king could more easily impose the most severe of his decisions, or he could have his most unpopular decisions blamed on his counsellors), mainstream legal opinion never held that the king was bound by the decisions of his council; the opposite was however put forward by theStates Generalof 1355–1358.

The Council's purview concerned all matters pertaining to government and royal administration, both in times of war and of peace. In his council, the king received ambassadors, signed treaties, appointed administrators and gave them instructions (called, from the 12th century on,mandements), elaborated on the laws of the realm (calledordonnances). The council also served as a supreme court and rendered royal justice on those matters that the king reserved for himself (so-called "justice retenue" ) or decided to discuss personally.

Council meetings, initially irregular, took on a regular schedule which became daily from the middle of the 15th century.

Royal finances

Main article:Court of Finances

The king was expected to survive on the revenues of the "domaine royal",or lands that belonged to him directly. In times of need, thetaille,an "exceptional" tax could be imposed and collected; this resource was increasingly required during the protracted wars of the 14th–15th centuries and the taille became permanent in 1439, when the right to collect taxes in support of a standing army was granted toCharles VII of Franceduring theHundred Years' War.

To oversee the Kingdom's revenues and expenditure, the French King first relied solely on theCuria Regis.However, by the mid-12th century, the Crown entrusted its finances to theKnights Templar,who maintained a banking establishment in Paris. The royal Treasury was henceforth organized like a bank and salaries and revenues were transferred between accounts. Royal accounting officers in the field, who sent revenues to the Temple, were audited by the King's Court, which had special clerks assigned to work at the Temple. These financial specialists came to be called theCuria in Compotisand sat in special sessions of the King's Court for dealing with financial business. From 1297, accounts were audited twice yearly after Midsummer Day (24 June) and Christmas. In time, what was once a simple Exchequer of Receipts developed into a central auditing agency, branched off, and eventually specialized into a full-time court.

In 1256,Saint Louisissued a decree ordering all mayors, burghesses, and town councilmen to appear before the King's sovereign auditors of the Exchequer (Frenchgens des comptes) inParisto render their final accounts. The King's Court's general secretariat had members who specialized in finance and accountancy and could receive accounts. A number ofmaîtres laiswere commissioned to sit as the King'sExchequer(comptes du Roi).

In or around 1303, the Paris Court of Accounts was established in thePalais de la Cité.Its auditors were responsible for overseeing revenue from Crown estates and checking public spending. It audited the royal household, inspectors, royal commissioners, provosts, baillifs, and seneschals. In 1307, thePhilip IVdefinitively removed royal funds from the Temple and placed them in the fortress of the Louvre. Thereafter, the financial specialists received accounts for audit in a room of the royal palace that became known as theCamera compotorumorChambre des comptes,and they began to be collectively identified under the same name, although still only a subcommission of the King's Court, consisting of about sixteen people.

The Vivier-en-Brie Ordinance of 1320, issued byPhilip V,required theChambreto audit accounts, judge cases arising from accountability, and maintain registers of financial documents; it also laid out the basic composition of financial courts: three (later four) cleric masters of accounts (maîtres-clercs) to act as chief auditors and threemaîtres-lais familiers du Roiempowered to hear and adjudge ( "oyer and terminer") audit accounts. They were assisted by eleven clerks (petis clercs,laterclercs des comptes) who acted as auditors of the prests. This complement grew by 50 percent in the next two decades but was reduced to seven masters and twelve clerks in 1346. The office ofprésidentwas created by the Ordinance of 1381, and a second lay Chief Baron was appointed in 1400. Clerks of court were eventually added to the court's composition. Examiners (correcteurs) were created to assist themaitres.Other court officers (conseillers) appointed by the King were created to act alongside themaîtres ordinaires.Lastly, the Ordinance of 26 February 1464 named the Court of Accounts as the "sovereign, primary, supreme, and sole court of last resort in all things financial".

While gaining in stability in the later 14th century, the court lost its central role in royal finances. First, currency was moved to a separate body (Chambre des monnaies), then the increasingly regular "extraordinary" taxes (aide,tallage,gabelle) became the responsibility of thegénérauxof theCour des aides(created in 1390). The Crown's domainal revenues, still retained by the Court of Accounts, fell in importance and value. By 1400, the Court's role had been much reduced. However, with the gradual enlargement of the realm through conquest, the need for the court remained secure.

Parlements

TheParliament of Paris,born out of the king's council in 1307, and sitting inside the medievalroyal palaceon theÎle de la Cité,still the site of theParis Hall of Justice.The jurisdiction of the Parliament of Paris covered the entire kingdom as it was in the fourteenth century, but did not automatically advance in step with the enlarging personal dominions of the kings. In 1443, following the turmoil of theHundred Years' War,KingCharles VII of FrancegrantedLanguedocits ownparlementby establishing theParlementofToulouse,the firstparlementoutside of Paris; its jurisdiction extended over most of southern France.

Several otherparlementswere created in various provinces of France in the Middle Ages:Dauphiné(Grenoble1453),GuyenneandGascony(Bordeaux1462),Burgundy(Dijon1477),Normandy(Rouen1499/1515). All of them were administrative capitals of regions with strong historical traditions of independence before they were incorporated into France.

Estates General

Main article:Estates General (France)

In 1302, expanding French royal power led to a general assembly consisting of the chief lords, both lay and ecclesiastical, and the representatives of the principal privileged towns, which were like distinct lordships. Certain precedents paved the way for this institution: representatives of principal towns had several times been convoked by the king, and underPhilip IIIthere had been assemblies of nobles and ecclesiastics in which the twoordersdeliberated separately. It was the dispute betweenPhilip the FairandPope Boniface VIIIwhich led to the States-General of 1302; the king of France desired that, in addition to theGreat Officers of the Crown of France,he receive the counsel from the three estates in this serious crisis. The letters summoning the assembly of 1302 are published by M. Georges Picot in his collection ofDocuments inédits pour servir à l'histoire de France.During the same reign they were subsequently assembled several times to give him aid by grantingsubsidies.Over time subsidies came to be the most frequent motive for their convocation.

The Estates-General included representatives of the First Estate (clergy), Second Estate (thenobility), and Third Estate (commoners:all others), and monarchs always summoned them either to grant subsidies or to advisethe Crown,to give aid and counsel. In their primitive form in the 14th and the first half of the 15th centuries, the Estates-General had only a limited elective element. The lay lords and the ecclesiastical lords (bishopsand other high clergy) who made up the Estates-General were not elected by their peers, but directly chosen and summoned by the king. In the order of the clergy, however, since certain ecclesiastical bodies, e.g.abbeysandchaptersofcathedrals,were also summoned to the assembly, and as these bodies, being persons in the moral but not in the physical sense, could not appear in person, their representative had to be chosen by themonksof theconventor thecanonsof the chapter. It was only the representation of the Third Estate which was furnished by election. Originally, moreover, the latter was not called upon as a whole to seek representation in the estates. It was only thebonnes villes,the privileged towns, which were called upon. They were represented by electedprocureurs,who were frequently the municipal officials of the town, but deputies were often elected for the purpose. The country districts, theplat pays,were not represented. Even within thebonnes villes,the franchise was quite narrow.

Prévôts, baillages

Theprévôtswere the first-level judges created by the Capetian monarchy around the 11th century who administered the scattered parts of the royal domain. Provosts replacedviscountswherever a viscounty had not been made a fief, and it is likely that the provost position imitated and was styled after the corresponding ecclesiasticalprovostofcathedral chapters.Provosts were entrusted with and carried out local royal power, including the collection of the Crown's domainal revenues and all taxes and duties owed the King within a provostship's jurisdiction. They were also responsible for military defense such as raising local contingents for royal armies. The provosts also administered justice though with limited jurisdiction.

In the 11th century, the provosts tended increasingly to make their positions hereditary and thus became more difficult to control. One of the King's great officers, the Great Seneschal, became their supervisor. In the 12th century, the office of provost was put up for bidding, and thereafter provosts were farmers of revenues. The provost thus received the speculative right to collect the King's seignorial revenues within his provostship. This remained his primary role.

To monitor the performance and curtail abuses of the prévôts or their equivalent (inNormandyavicomte,in parts of northern France achâtelain,in the south aviguieror abayle), Philip II Augustus, an able and ingenious administrator who founded many of the central institutions on which the French monarchy's system of power would be based, established itinerant justices known asbaillis( "bailiff" ) based on medieval fiscal and tax divisions which had been used by earlier sovereign princes (such as the Duke of Normandy).Thebailliwas thus the king's administrative representative in northern France responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in hisbaillage(in the south of France, the equivalent post was is "sénéchal, sénéchaussé" ).

Over time, the role of the baillages would be greatly extended as extensions of royal power, administration and justice. With the office of Great Seneschal vacant after 1191, the bailies became stationary and established themselves as powerful officials superior to provosts. A bailie's district included about half a dozen provostships. When appeals were instituted by the Crown, appeal of provost judgments, formerly impossible, now lay with the bailie. Moreover, in the 14th century, provosts no longer were in charge of collecting domainal revenues, except in farmed provostships, having instead yielded this responsibility to royal receivers (receveurs royaux). Raising local army contingents (ban and arrière-ban) also passed to bailies. Provosts therefore retained the sole function of inferior judges over vassals with original jurisdiction concurrent with bailies over claims against nobles and actions reserved for royal courts (cas royaux). This followed a precedent established in the chief feudal courts in the 13th and 14th centuries in which summary provostship suits were distinguished from solemn bailliary sessions.

Political history

Main article:Kingdom of France

Carolingian legacy

Main articles:FranciaandCarolingian Empire

During the later years of the elderlyCharlemagne's rule, theVikingsmade advances along the northern and western perimeters of his kingdom. After Charlemagne's death in 814 his heirs were incapable of maintaining political unity and the empire began to crumble. TheTreaty of Verdunof 843 divided the Carolingian Empire, andCharles the Baldruled overWest Francia,roughly corresponding to the territory of modern France.

Viking advances were allowed to escalate, and their dreadedlongboatswere sailing up theLoireandSeineRivers and other inland waterways, wreaking havoc and spreading terror. In 843 Viking invaders murdered theBishop of Nantes,and a few years after that, they burned the Church of Saint Martin atTours,and in 845 the Vikings sackedParis.During the reign ofCharles the Simple(898–922), Normans underRollowere settled in an area on either side of the Seine River, downstream fromParis,that was to becomeNormandy.

TheCarolingianswere subsequently to share the fate of their predecessors: after an intermittent power struggle between the two families, the accession (987) ofHugh Capet,Duke of France and Count of Paris, established on the throne theCapetian dynastywhich with itsValoisandBourbonoffshoots was to rule France for more than 800 years.

The Carolingian era had seen the gradual emergence of institutions which were to condition France's development for centuries to come: the acknowledgement by the crown of the administrative authority of the realm's nobles within their territories in return for their (sometimes tenuous) loyalty and military support, a phenomenon readily visible in the rise of the Capetians and foreshadowed to some extent by the Carolingians' own rise to power.

The First Capetians (940–1108)

France at the Coronation of Hugh Capet

The history of medieval France starts with the election ofHugh Capet(940–996) by an assembly summoned inReimsin 987. Capet was previously "Duke of the Franks" and then became "King of the Franks" (Rex Francorum). Hugh's lands extended little beyond the Paris basin; his political unimportance weighed against the powerful barons who elected him. Many of the king's vassals (who included for a long time the kings of England) ruled over territories far greater than his own.He was recorded to be recognised king by theGauls,Bretons,Danes,Aquitanians,Goths,Spanish andGascons.The new dynasty was in immediate control of little beyond the middle Seine and adjacent territories, while powerful territorial lords such as the 10th- and 11th-centurycounts of Bloisaccumulated large domains of their own through marriage and through private arrangements with lesser nobles for protection and support.

Count Borell of Barcelonacalled for Hugh's help against Islamic raids, but even if Hugh intended to help Borell, he was otherwise occupied in fightingCharles of Lorraine.The loss of other Spanish principalities then followed, as the Spanish marches grew more and more independent.Hugh Capet, the first Capetian king, is not a well documented figure, his greatest achievement being certainly to survive as king and defeating the Carolingian claimant, thus allowing him to establish what would become one of Europe's most powerful house of kings.

A view of the remains of theAbbey of Cluny,aBenedictinemonastery, was the centre of monastic life revival in theMiddle Agesand marked an important step in the cultural rebirth following theEarly Middle Ages.

Hugh's son –Robert the Pious– was crowned King of the Franks before Capet's demise. Hugh Capet decided so in order to have his succession secured. Robert II, as King of the Franks, metHoly Roman Emperor Henry IIin 1023 on the borderline. They agreed to end all claims over each other's realm, setting a new stage of Capetian and Ottonian relationships. Although a king weak in power, Robert II's efforts were considerable. His surviving charters imply he relied heavily on the Church to rule France, much like his father did. Although he lived with a mistress –Bertha of Burgundy– and was excommunicated because of this, he was regarded as a model of piety for monks (hence his nickname, Robert the Pious).The reign of Robert II was quite important because it involved thePeace and Truce of God(beginning in 989) and theCluniac Reforms.

Robert II crowned his son –Hugh Magnus– as King of the Franks at age 10 to secure the succession, but Hugh Magnus rebelled against his father and died fighting him in 1025.

The next King of the Franks was Robert II's next son,Henry I(reigned 1027–1060). Like Hugh Magnus, Henry was crowned as co-ruler with his father (1027), in the Capetian tradition, but he had little power or influence as junior king while his father still lived. Henry I was crowned after Robert's death in 1031, which is quite exceptional for a French king of the times. Henry I was one of the weakest kings of the Franks, and his reign saw the rise of some very powerful nobles such as William the Conqueror.Henry I's biggest source of concerns was his brother –Robert I of Burgundy– who was pushed by his mother to the conflict. Robert of Burgundy was made Duke of Burgundy by King Henry I and had to be satisfied with that title. From Henry I onward, the Dukes of Burgundy were relatives of the King of the Franks until the end of the Duchy proper.

Godefroy de Bouillon,a French knight, leader of theFirst Crusadeand founder of theKingdom of Jerusalem.

King Philip I,named by his Kievan mother with a typically Eastern European name, was no more fortunate than his predecessoralthough the kingdom did enjoy a modest recovery during his extraordinarily long reign (1060–1108). His reign also saw the launch of theFirst Crusadeto regain theHoly Land,which heavily involved his family although he personally did not support the expedition.

The area around the lower Seine, ceded toScandinavianinvaders as the Duchy of Normandy in 911, became a source of particular concern whenDuke Williamtook possession of the kingdom ofEnglandin theNorman Conquestof 1066, making himself and his heirs the King's equal outside France (where he was still nominally subject to the Crown).

Louis VI and Louis VII (1108–1180)

It is fromLouis VI(reigned 1108–1137) onward that royal authority became more accepted. Louis VI was more a soldier and warmongering king than a scholar. The way the king raised money from his vassals made him quite unpopular; he was described as greedy and ambitious and that is corroborated by records of the time. His regular attacks on his vassals, although damaging the royal image, reinforced the royal power. From 1127 onward Louis had the assistance of a skilled religious statesman,Abbot Suger.The abbot was the son of a minor family of knights, but his political advice was extremely valuable to the king. Louis VI successfully defeated, both military and politically, many of therobber barons.Louis VI frequently summoned his vassals to the court, and those who did not show up often had their land possessions confiscated and military campaigns mounted against them. This drastic policy clearly imposed some royal authority on Paris and its surrounding areas. When Louis VI died in 1137, much progress had been made towards strengthening Capetian authority.

Thanks to Abbot Suger's political advice,King Louis VII(junior king 1131–1137, senior king 1137–1180) enjoyed greatermoral authorityover France than his predecessors. Powerful vassals paid homage to the French king.Abbot Suger arranged the 1137 marriage between Louis VII andEleanor of Aquitainein Bordeaux, which made Louis VII Duke of Aquitaine and gave him considerable power. However, the couple disagreed over the burning of more than a thousand people inVitryduring the conflict against the Count of Champagne.

King Louis VII was deeply horrified by the event and sought penitence by going to theHoly Land.He later involved the Kingdom of France in theSecond Crusadebut his relationship with Eleanor did not improve. The marriage was ultimately annulled by the pope under the pretext of consanguinity and Eleanor soon married the Duke of Normandy –Henry Fitzempress,who would become King of England as Henry II two years later.Louis VII was once a very powerful monarch and was now facing a much stronger vassal, who was his equal as King of England and his strongest prince as Duke of Normandy and Aquitaine.

(Henry had inherited the Duchy of Normandy through his mother, Mathilda of England, and the County ofAnjoufrom his father,Geoffrey of Anjou,and in 1152, he had married France's newly divorced ex-queen,Eleanor of Aquitaine,who ruled much of southwest France. After defeating arevoltled by Eleanor and three of their four sons, Henry had Eleanor imprisoned, made the Duke ofBrittanyhis vassal, and in effect ruled the western half of France as a greater power than the French throne. However, disputes among Henry's descendants over the division of his French territories, coupled withJohn of England's lengthy quarrel with Philip II, allowedPhilip IIto recover influence over most of this territory. After the French victory at theBattle of Bouvinesin 1214, the English monarchs maintained power only in southwestern Duchy ofGuyenne.)

Abbot Suger's vision of construction became what is now known asGothic architecture.This style became standard for most European cathedrals built in thelate Middle Ages.

The late direct Capetian kings were considerably more powerful and influential than the earliest ones. While Philip I could hardly control his Parisian barons, Philip IV could dictate popes and emperors. The late Capetians, although they often ruled for a shorter time than their earlier peers, were often much more influential. This period also saw the rise of a complex system of international alliances and conflicts opposing, through dynasties, Kings of France and England and Holy Roman Emperor.

Philip II Augustus and Louis VIII (1180–1226)

The reign ofPhilip II Augustus(junior king 1179–1180, senior king 1180–1223) marked an important step in the history of French monarchy. His reign saw the French royal domain and influence greatly expanded. He set the context for the rise of power to much more powerful monarchs like Saint Louis and Philip the Fair.

Philip IIvictorious atBouvinesthus annexing Normandy and Anjou into his royal domains. This battle involved a complex set of alliances from three important states, the Kingdoms of France and England and the Holy Roman Empire.

Philip II spent an important part of his reign fighting the so-calledAngevin Empire,which was probably the greatest threat to the King of France since the rise of the Capetian dynasty. During the first part of his reign Philip II tried using Henry II of England's son against him. He allied himself with the Duke of Aquitaine and son of Henry II –Richard Lionheart– and together they launched a decisive attack on Henry's castle and home ofChinonand removed him from power.

Richard replaced his father as King of England afterward. The two kings then went crusading during theThird Crusade;however, their alliance and friendship broke down during the crusade. The two men were once again at odds and fought each other in France until Richard was on the verge of totally defeating Philip II.

Adding to their battles in France, the Kings of France and England were trying to install their respective allies at the head of theHoly Roman Empire.If Philip II Augustus supportedPhilip of Swabia,member of theHouse of Hohenstaufen,then Richard Lionheart supportedOtto IV,member of theHouse of Welf.Philip of Swabia had the upper hand, but his premature death made Otto IV Holy Roman Emperor. The crown of France was saved by Richard's demise after a wound he received fighting his own vassals inLimousin.

John Lackland,Richard's successor, refused to come to the French court for a trial against theLusignansand, as Louis VI had done often to his rebellious vassals, Philip II confiscated John's possessions in France. John's defeat was swift and his attempts to reconquer his French possession at the decisiveBattle of Bouvines(1214) resulted in complete failure. The annexation of Normandy and Anjou was confirmed, the Counts of Boulogne and Flanders were captured, and the Emperor Otto IV was overthrown by Philip's allyFrederick II.Aquitaine and Gascony survived the French conquest, for the Duchess Eleanor still lived. Philip II of France was crucial in ordering Western European politics in both England and France.

Philip Augustus foundedthe Sorbonneand made Paris a city for scholars.

Prince Louis(the future Louis VIII, reigned 1223–1226) was involved in the subsequentEnglish civil waras French and English (or rather Anglo-Norman) aristocracies were once one and were now split between allegiances. While the French kings were struggling against the Plantagenets, the Church called for theAlbigensian Crusade.Southern France was then largely absorbed in the royal domains.

Saint Louis (1226–1270)

Saint Louissaw France's cultural expansion in the Western Christian world.

France became a truly centralised kingdom underLouis IX(reigned 1226–1270). Saint Louis has often been portrayed as a one-dimensional character, a flawless example of the faith and an administrative reformer who cared for the governed ones. However, his reign was far from perfect for everyone: he made unsuccessful crusades, his expanding administrations raised opposition, and he burned Jewish books at the Pope's urging.His judgments were not often practical, although they seemed fair by the standards of the time. It appears Louis had a strong sense of justice and always wanted to judge people himself before applying any sentence. This was said about Louis and French clergy asking for excommunications of Louis' vassals:

For it would be against God and contrary to right and justice if he compelled any man to seek absolution when the clergy were doing him wrong.

Louis IX was only twelve years old when he became King of France. His mother –Blanche of Castile– was the effective power asregent(although she did not formally use the title). Blanche's authority was strongly opposed by the French barons yet she maintained her position until Louis was old enough to rule by himself.

In 1229 the King had to struggle with a long-lastingstrike at the University of Paris.TheLatin Quarterwas strongly hit by these strikes.

The kingdom was vulnerable: war was still going on in the County of Toulouse, and the royal army was occupied fighting resistance in Languedoc.Count Raymond VII of Toulousefinally signed theTreaty of Parisin 1229, in which he retained much of his lands for life, but his daughter, married toCount Alfonso of Poitou,produced him no heir and so the County of Toulouse went to the King of France.

King Henry III of Englandhad not yet recognized the Capetian overlordship over Aquitaine and still hoped to recover Normandy and Anjou and reform the Angevin Empire. He landed in 1230 atSaint-Malowith a massive force. Henry III's allies in Brittany and Normandy fell down because they did not dare fight their king, who led the counterstrike himself. This evolved into theSaintonge War(1242).

Ultimately, Henry III was defeated and had to recognize Louis IX's overlordship, although the King of France did not seize Aquitaine from Henry III. Louis IX was now the most important landowner of France, adding to his royal title. There were some opposition to his rule in Normandy, yet it proved remarkably easy to rule, especially compared to the County of Toulouse which had been brutally conquered. TheConseil du Roi,which would evolve into theParlement,was founded in these times.

After his conflict withKing Henry III of England,Louis established a cordial relation with the Plantagenet King. An amusing anecdote is about Henry III's attending the FrenchParlement,as Duke of Aquitaine; however, the King of England was always late because he liked to stop each time he met a priest to hear the mass, so Louis made sure no priest was on the way of Henry III. Henry III and Louis IX then started a long contest for who was the most faithful; this evolved to the point that none ever arrived on time to the Parlement, which was then allowed to debate in their absence.

Saint Louis also supported new forms of art such asGothic architecture;hisSainte-Chapellebecame a very famous gothic building, and he is also credited for theMorgan Bible.

The Kingdom was involved in two crusades under Saint Louis: theSeventh Crusadeand theEighth Crusade.Both proved to be complete failures for the French King. He died in the Eighth Crusade andPhilip IIIbecame king.

The 13th century was to bring the crown important gains also in the south, where a papal-royal crusade against the region's Albigensian or Cathar heretics (1209) led to the incorporation into the royal domain of Lower (1229) and Upper (1271)Languedoc.Philip IV's seizure ofFlanders(1300) was less successful, ending two years later in the rout of his knights by the forces of theFlemishcities at theBattle of the Golden SpursnearKortrijk(Courtrai).

Philip III and Philip IV (1270–1314)

After Louis IX died of bubonic plague crusading in Tunisia in 1270, his sonPhilip III(1270–1285) and grandson Philip IV (1285–1314) followed him. Philip III was called "the Bold" on the basis of his abilities in combat and on horseback, and not because of his character or ruling abilities. Philip III took part in another crusading disaster: theAragonese Crusade,which cost him his life in 1285.

Philip III continued the steady expansion of the royal domain. He inheritedToulousein 1271 from his uncle and married his son and heir to the heiress of Champagne and Navarre.

After taking the throne, Philip III felt obliged to continue his father's apparently solid diplomacy despite circumstances having changed. In 1282, the misrule ofCharles of Anjouin Sicily compelled the island's populace to rebel in favor of KingPeter III of Aragon.As PopeMartin IVwas a close ally of Philip, he immediately excommunicated Peter and offered his throne to one of the French king's sons. Since Philip the Fair was already slated to inherit Navarre, the entire Spanish March seemed ripe for reconquest by France. However, Philip III's attempted crusade against Aragon, a blatantly political affair, ended in disaster as an epidemic struck his army, which then was soundly defeated by Aragonese forces at Col de Panissars. The humiliated king died shortly afterwards in Perpignan, followed by Charles of Anjou and Martin IV.

Of the later Capetian rulers, Philip IV was the greatest, bringing royal power to the strongest level it would attain in the Middle Ages, yet alienated a great many people and generally left France exhausted. As such, his sons were obliged to follow a more restrained course without however abandoning their father's ambitions. Philip IV for the most part ignored the Mediterranean and instead focused his foreign policy efforts on France's northern frontiers. Some of this was done at the expense of the Holy Roman Emperors, but the king's most aggressive actions were against England. Disputes over Aquitaine were a bone of contention for years and finally in 1294, war broke out. The French armies drove deep into Gascony, leading to Edward I of England joining forces with Flanders and other allies on the northern borders of France. The allied forces were soundly beaten in 1297 by a French army led by Robert of Artois and a truce was agreed to, leading to preservation of thestatus quo ante bellum.As part of the peace arrangement, Edward married Philip's sister and the son and daughter of both kings were slated to marry.

Flanders remained stubbornly rebellious and insubordinate. Although their count had been imprisoned by Philip, this did not prevent the Flemish burghers from rising up against French troops stationed there, inflicting a sensational defeat on them at the 1302Battle of Courtrai.Eventually however, the king began a new offensive into Flanders and a peace was finally agreed to in 1305 which however still failed to placate the Flemish townsmen.

In addition, Philip IV extended royal jurisdiction by treaty into the ecclesiastical territories of Vivers, Cahors, Mende, and Le Puy. With all this, the king could now assert power nearly anywhere in France, yet there was still a great deal of work yet to be done and French rulers for the time being continued to do without Brittany, Burgundy, and numerous lesser territories although they legislated for the whole realm. Governmental administration in France during this period became more bureaucratic and sophisticated along with the steady expansion of royal power. Even so, the Capetian kings should not be taken as arbitrary tyrants since feudal custom and tradition still acted as restraints on them.

If Philip's policies provoked hostility and complaints, it was because they favored no class in particular. The king's policy towards the towns remained fairly traditional, but this was not the case with the Church. When he wanted to tax French clergy to fund military campaigns, he encountered the objection of PopeBoniface VIII.The pope had received a number of complaints from French and English clergy over lay taxes and thus issued the bullClericis laciosin 1296 declaring that papal consent was necessary for this. Philip however became infuriated and issued loud arguments in defense of his actions, leaving the clergy divided over the matter. Eventually the pope withdrew his objection.

In 1301, fresh trouble erupted when the Bishop of Pamiers was accused by the King of heresy and treason, leading to another protest fromBoniface VIIIthat Church property could not be confiscated without Rome's permission and all Christian rulers were subordinate to papal authority. The pope summoned French clergy to the Vatican to debate a reform of the kingdom. Once again the prelates were left divided between loyalty to their country and loyalty to the Church. Those who took the side of Philip met in a large assembly in Paris along with other segments of French society criticizing the Pope, who responded by excommunicating the king and all clergy who had supported him. The following year, Philip struck back with a vengeance. Prelates loyal to the crown formed a scheme to bring Boniface to trial, and the Pope was summarily arrested at Anagni that September. He was beaten by his jailers and threatened with execution if he did not resign the papacy, but he refused. The 68-year-old Pope was released from captivity after only a few days and died several weeks later.

Philip ensured that he would never again have trouble with the Church by promoting Raymond Bertrand de Got, archbishop of Bordeaux, as the next Pope. The papal conclave was evenly divided between French and Italian cardinals, but the latter acquiesced and de Got became PopeClement V.Thus, Philip successfully installed an obedient French puppet in the papacy that was moved toAvignon.

More administrative reforms were made byPhilip IV,also called Philip the Fair (reigned 1285–1314). This king signed theAuld Alliance,and established theParlement of Paris.

One of the more bizarre episodes of Philip's reign was his involvement in the destruction of theKnights Templar.The Templars had been founded during the Crusades more than a century earlier, but now consisted of old men whose prestige was greatly diminished after the fall of the Holy Land and no longer seemed to serve any useful purpose worth their privileges. Unable to find suitable evidence of misdeeds by the Templars to justify disposing of the order, Philip had to resort to a mass meeting at Tours in 1308 to rally support. Finally in 1312, Clement V, despite his misgivings, issued a bull ordering their dissolution. The Templars' possessions were handed over to theKnights Hospitallersand their remaining members imprisoned or executed for heresy.

Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV (1314–1328)

In 1314, Philip IV died abruptly in a hunting accident at the age of 47 and the throne passed to his son Louis X (1314–1316). Louis's brief reign saw further unsuccessful attempts to assert control over Flanders as the king mobilized an army along the border, but supply problems caused the effort to break down. Louis died in the summer of 1316 at only 26 of an unknown illness (possiblygastroenteritis) after consuming a large quantity of chilled wine following a game oftennison an extremely hot day. The king's wife was then pregnant and gave birth to a son, John, in November, but he died after a week and the throne passed to his brother Philip.

Philip V (1316–1322) made peace with Flanders via a marriage compact with its count Robert III and faced continued quarrels with Edward II of England over Gascony. He made plans for a new crusade to relieve the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, but the Flanders situation remained unstable and an attempted French naval expedition to the Middle East was destroyed off Genoa in 1319. At this point, peasants and soldiers originally intended to invade Flanders rose in another self-proclaimed crusade (Pastoreux) which once again turned into an assault on the nobility, tax collectors, and Jews. PopeJohn XXIIdenounced the uprising and Philip was forced to send troops to break it up.

In 1321,a rumor began spreading through the countrythat Jews in the employ of foreign Muslim rulers were using lepers to poison drinking wells. With the Pastoreux still fresh in everyone's mind, a volatile situation had formed especially as Philip V granted tolerance to Jews and even employed a number of them in his service. With the king facing potential disaster no matter what side he took, his health began to fail from stress and he succumbed at the start of 1322, only 29 years old.

Having failed to produce a son that survived infancy, Philip was succeeded by his brother (and the youngest of Philip IV's sons)Charles IV(1322–1328). The new king faced much of the same problems as his predecessors (namely the quarrels over Flanders and Gascony). Having put an end to the chaos in southern France that his brother faced, he turned his attention to Flanders, but then a revolt broke out in Gascony over the unwelcome construction of a fortress on the border by a French vassal. The king's uncleCharles of Valoisinvaded the province, whereupon the former declared Edward II's claims to it null and void. Although Charles IV's sister married the English king, he still refused to return Gascony and finally came to an agreement to divide it up among the two rulers.

Charles was also eager to begin a new crusade in the Levant and had once plotted to become Byzantine emperor. He failed to work out an agreement with the Pope over funding the expedition however, and his attention was distracted by the events in Gascony. But in 1327, a French ambassador traveled to Constantinople and found the Byzantine Empire beset by civil wars. The following year, Charles IV died, ending any plans for crusades in the region.

The Hundred Years' War (1328–1453)

Main article:Hundred Years' War

The death ofCharles IVin 1328 without male heirs ended the main Capetian line. UnderSalic lawthe crown could not pass through a woman (Philip IV's daughter was Isabella, whose son wasEdward III of England), so the throne passed toPhilip VI,son ofCharles of Valois.This, in addition to a long-standing dispute over the rights to Gascony in the south of France, and the relationship between England and the Flemish cloth towns, led to theHundred Years' Warof 1337–1453. The following century was to see devastating warfare and peasant revolts (theEnglish peasants' revolt of 1381and theJacquerieof 1358 in France).

French losses in thefirst phase of the conflict (1337–1360)were partly reversed inthe second (1369–1396);butHenry V's shattering victory at thebattle of Agincourtin 1415 against a France now bitterly divided between rival Armagnac and Burgundian factions of the royal house was to lead to his sonHenry VI's recognition as king in Paris seven years later under the 1420Treaty of Troyes,reducing Valois rule to the lands south of theLoireRiver Valley.

France's humiliation was abruptly reversed in 1429 by the appearance of a restorationist movement embodied by the peasant maidJoan of Arcfrom Domremy la Pucelle, who claimed the guidance of divine voices for the campaign which rapidly ended the English siege ofOrléansand ended inCharles VII's coronation in the historic city ofRheims.Subsequently, captured by the Burgundians and sold to their English allies, her execution for heresy in 1431 redoubled her value as the embodiment of France's cause.

France in 1435

Reconciliation in 1435 between the king andPhilippe the Good,duke of Burgundy, removed the greatest obstacle to French recovery, leading to the recapture of Paris (1436), Normandy (1450) andGuienne(1453), reducing England's foothold to a small area aroundCalais(lost also in 1558). After victory over England, France's emergence as a powerful national monarchy was crowned by the "incorporation" of the Duchies of Burgundy (1477) andBrittany(1532), which had previously been independent European states.

The losses of the century of war were enormous, particularly owing to the plague (theBlack Death,usually considered an outbreak of bubonic plague), which arrived from Italy in 1348, spreading rapidly up the Rhone valley and thence across most of the country: it is estimated that a population of some 18–20 million in modern-day France at the time of the 1328hearth taxreturns had been reduced 150 years later by 50% or more.

The capture of the French kingJohn IIatPoitiersin 1356

The tensions between the Houses ofPlantagenetandCapetclimaxed during the so-calledHundred Years' War(actually several distinct wars over the period 1337 to 1453) when the Plantagenets claimed the throne of France from the Valois. This was also the time of theBlack Death,as well as several civil wars. The French population suffered much from these wars. In 1420Henry Vwas made heir to Charles VI by theTreaty of Troyes.Henry V failed to outlive Charles so it was Henry VI of England and France who consolidated the dual monarchy of England and France.

It has been argued that the difficult conditions the French population suffered during the Hundred Years' War awakened French nationalism, a nationalism represented by Joan of Arc (1412–1431). Although this is debatable, the Hundred Years' War is remembered more as a Franco-English war than as a succession of feudal struggles. During this war, France evolved politically and militarily.

Although a Franco-Scottish army was successful at theBattle of Baugé(1421), the humiliating defeats ofPoitiers(1356) andAgincourt(1415) forced the French nobility to realise they could not stand just as armoured knights without an organised army.Charles VII(reigned 1422–1461) established the first French standing army, theCompagnies d'ordonnance,and defeated the Plantagenets once atPatay(1429) and again, using cannons, atFormigny(1450). TheBattle of Castillon(1453) was regarded as the last engagement of this "war", yetCalaisand theChannel Islandsremained ruled by the Plantagenets.

List of kings during this period

• Capetian Dynasty(House of Capet):
  • Hugh Capet,940–996
  • Robert the Pious,996–1027
  • Henry I,1027–1060
  • Philip I,1060–1108
  • Louis VI the Fat,1108–1137
  • Louis VII the Young,1137–1180
  • Philip II Augustus,1180–1223
  • Louis VIII the Lion,1223–1226
  • Saint Louis IX,1226–1270
  • Philip III the Bold,1270–1285
  • Philip IV the Fair,1285–1314
  • Louis X the Quarreller,1314–1316
  • John I the Posthumous,five days in 1316
  • Philip V the Tall,1316–1322
  • Charles IV the Fair,1322–1328
• House of Valois:
  • Philip VI of Valois,1328–1350
  • John II the Good,1350–1364
  • Charles V the Wise,1364–1380
  • Charles VI the Mad,1380–1422
    • Englishinterlude (between Charles VI and VII):
      • Henry V of England
      • Henry VI of Englandand France, 1422–1453
  • Charles VII the Well Served,1422–1461

Religion and the Church

Main article:History of Roman Catholicism in France

• List of Ancien Régime dioceses of France

Jewish-Christian Relations in France

See also:Antisemitic canards

In the Middle Ages, France was primarily made up of a Christian population that maintained a positive relationship with the Jewish minority. In a historical sense, Christians and Jews both made generalizations about the success of their community relations in Medieval France. The history of Jewish-Christian relations was focused primarily on the persecution that Jews faced in a prominently Christian world. In France, however, there were many examples of Jewish and Christian people working together towards a prosperity that was beneficial to both religions. They conducted business together, as well as participated in intimate social affairs. While the Jews would never fully assimilate into French culture by choice, they were accepted by the Christians in their societies.

After years of peace, in the 13th Century, Louis IX became obsessed with restricting Jewish activities. Eventually, after the Jewish population suffered multiple expulsions from France, the anti-Jewish rhetoric gained some popularity in small villages and towns. Jews began to face a fatal price for practicing their religious traditions. This discriminatory action promoted by the Royals, did not take hold with the general civilian populations in large cities because a large population of Christians permitted and accepted the differing Jewish faith.

Small communities however, incorporated these prejudiced ideas into their beliefs, which led to some instances of blood libels which took many Jewish lives. Blood Libels consisted of accusations directed at small Jewish communities that promoted a false belief that there was a sacrificial aspect in Jewish prayer. These falsities proclaimed that a Jewish religious event included the sacrifice of a Christian child. In Blois, France, as many as 40 Jews were accused of killing a young Christian boy. They were found guilty and killed. Though Blood Libels and persecution did not define Jewish-Christian relations in the Middle-Ages in France, it had a large impact on the way the history of this time period is recited.

Economy and technology

Main article:Economic history of France

The period after the death of Charlemagne was marked by an economic crisis caused by political instability; town life all but disappeared. However, this had changed by the 11th century. The introduction of new crops, the improvements in the climate, and the introduction of new agricultural technologies created a large agricultural surplus. This was accompanied by the growth in town life, trade, and industry. The economy once again collapsed in the fourteenth century because of war, bad weather, and theBlack Death.

The rural economy was based on the manor; in urban areas economic activity was organized around guilds.

Culture

Literature

• For the literature of Northern France written in one of theOld Frenchlanguages ( "langues d'oïl" ) and (later)Middle French,seeMedieval French literature.
• For the literature of Southern France written in one of theOccitan languages,seeOccitan literature.
• For the literature written in the "langue d'oïl"Anglo-Norman languageduring theNormanrule ofEngland,seeAnglo-Norman literature.

Art and music

Art was a large staple of the medieval France.Illuminated manuscriptswere diligently written and illustrated within this period, some notable examples include theHours of Philip the Bold,theHours of Jeanne d'Evreuxand theTrès Riches Heures du Duc de Berryof the 14th and 15th centuries. Some of the earliest painters lived in the Later Middle Ages in France such asJacquemart de Hesdin,Jean de BeaumetzandColart de Laon.While in music, theArs antiquamusical style was common in the High Middle Ages andArs novain the Later Middle Ages. A group of composers from theNotre-Dame school,were active during Ars antiqua period, arguably the most famous being the 12th-centuryLéoninandPérotin.Troubadourculture flourished after the 12th century, exemplified by famous personages of the High Middle Ages such asPerdigon,Bertran de BornandRaimbaut de Vaqueirasamong others.

Bibliography

Early Middle Ages

• Stéphane Lebecq.Les origines franques: Ve-IXe siècles.Series: Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1999.ISBN2-02-011552-2
• Chris Wickham.The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400–1000.Penguin: 2009.ISBN978-0-14-311742-1

High Middle Ages

• Dominique Barthélemy.(in French)L'ordre seigneurial: XIe-XIIe siècle.Series: Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale, tome 3. Editions du Seuil.ISBN2-02-011554-9
• Marc Bloch.Feudal Society.2nd edition: Routledge, 1989.ISBN978-0226059785
• Constance Brittain Bouchard.Strong of Body, Brave and Noble ": Chivalry and Society in Medieval France.ISBN978-0801485480
• Norman F. Cantor.The Civilization of the Middle Ages.New York: HarperPerennial, 1993.ISBN0-06-092553-1
• Alain Demurger.(in French)Temps de crises, temps d'espoirs: XIVe-XVe siècle.Series: Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale, tome 5. Editions du Seuil.ISBN2-02-012221-9
• Monique Bourin-Derruau.(in French)Temps d'équilibres, temps de ruptures: XIIIe siècle.Series: Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale, tome 4. Editions du Seuil.ISBN2-02-012220-0
• Georges Duby.France in the Middle Ages 987–1460: From Hugh Capet to Joan of Arc.Wiley-Blackwell. 1993.ISBN978-0631189459
• Elizabeth M. Hallam & Judith Everard.Capetian France 987–1328.Editions Longman. 2nd edition: Pearson, 2001.ISBN978-0582404281
• William Kibler.Medieval France: An EncyclopediaSeries: Routledge Encyclopedias of the Middle Ages. Routledge, 1995.ISBN978-0824044442