Pépin the Short had been the Mayor of the Palace for the king of the Franks since his father’s death in 741. Legitimizing his usurpation with Papal approval, he seized the throne in 751, relegating the last Merovingian king and his son to a monastery. In the traditional Frankish manner, the kingdom was divided among the king’s sons as late as 879. Pépin’s son Charles I (Charlemagne) continued his father’s support of the Papacy and, in conjunction with that, annexed the Lombard kingdom in Italy and was crowned Emperor in 800. Since only one son survived him, Charles I passed on his kingdom undivided. But his successor Louis I had to divide his realm between four sons and in 840 the youngest, Charles II, appeared as ruler of what would become France. The treaty between Louis I’s three surviving sons at Verdun in 844 formalized the division. With the death of Carloman II in 884, the monarchy experienced a crisis. The natural heir, Carloman’s half-brother Charles III the Simple was only 5 years old, while the kingdom was under attack from the Norsemen. The East Frankish (German) king Karl III the Fat was called in as regent. On his death, the Frankish magnates elected as king the able count of Paris, Eudes, although he was not a member of the ruling family. Eventually Eudes had to recognize Charles III the Simple as his co-ruler and heir in 893, Eudes’ brother Robert I became an anti-king in a rebellion against Charles III three decades later. Although Robert I was killed on the battlefield, Charles III was captured and imprisoned, being replaced by Robert I’s son-in-law Raoul of Burgundy in 923. The last Carolingian restoration followed in 936, with Louis IV son of Charles III succeeding Raoul. However, on the untimely death of young Louis V in 987, his uncle Charles was prevented from succeeding to the throne by the election of Robert I’s grandson Hugues Capet as king. With this the Capetian (or Robertian) dynasty was firmly established and all the remaining rulers of France with the exception of the Bonaparte emperors are descended from Hugues Capet. The direct Capetian male line died out in 1328 and, to avoid rule by Edward III of England whose mother was a daughter of Philippe IV, the French magnates and lawyers turned to Salic Law, which restricted succession to direct male descent. This brought Philippe V of Valois, a grandson of Philippe III to the throne, but also ignited the Hundred Years’ War. When Charles VIII died without surviving sons in 1498, the crown passed to his cousin and brother-in-law Louis XII of Orléans (who later married Charles’ widow Anne of Brittany). Similarly, on the death of Louis XII in 1515, the crown passed to his cousin and son-in-law François I of Angoulême. The assassination of Henri III in 1589 deprived the Valois line of legitimate male heirs and the crown passed to Henri IV of Bourbon-Vendôme, a direct descendant in the male line of Louis IX who had reigned more than 300 years before him. The Bourbons remained on the throne until after the French Revolution in 1789. While still recognized by legitimists and émigrés, Louis XVI and Louis XVII were imprisoned since 1792. Napoléon I Bonaparte established a new monarchic regime in 1804, but after great initial successes it was terminated by foreign intervention in 1814 and 1815. The Bourbons were restored in the person of Louis XVIII. In 1830 Charles X was forced to abdicate (and so were his ephemeral successors Louis XIX and Henri V immediately afterwards) and was replaced by his cousin Louis-Philippe I of Bourbon-Orléans. He was toppled by one of the series of revolutions that swept through Europe in 1848. After serving as president of the republic, Napoléon III renewed the French Empire in 1852 but the French deposed him when he was capture by the Germans at Sedan in 1870. France has remained a republic ever since.
After central royal authority lost the undivided loyalty of the magnates under the later Carolingians, the Capetians inherited a very weakened monarchy. For six generations they tried to ensure the succession of their sons by appointing them co-rulers. In the end it all paid off, as the Carolingian dynasty produced a remarkable sequence of uninterrupted father-to-son successions. Regardless of the actual power of the king, none challenged his right to be king. The early Capetians concentrated on establishing their authority over their relatively small royal domain and its immediate surroundings. Louis VI was the first to assert himself well outside his own domain with his intervention in Flanders in 1128. Louis VII acquired Aquitaine through his marriage to Aliénor but lost both duchess and duchy to Henry II of England in his divorce. Instead he acquired a new wife who gave him a remarkable son. Philippe II Auguste took advantage of the death of Richard I of England and of John of England’s murder of his nephew Arthur I of Brittany, to confiscate John’s holdings in France. Thus, in the early 13th century, the royal domain was greatly expanded through the annexation of Normandy, Anjou, Maine, and Touraine. The Albigensian crusade prepared the ground for the annexation of the Languedoc in the South. However, the unification of France was delayed by the granting of apanages to the sons of Louis VIII and his successors. Anjou and its dependencies was recovered by the crown only in the 1480s, as was the much older apanage of Burgundy, although this inheritance was contested by the Habsburgs. The marriage of the Breton heiress Anne to Charles VIII and then Louis XII brought that large duchy to the crown, and with the accession of the last great territorial prince Henri IV as king of France in 1589, the age of territorial principalities was over. The wars of Louis XIV recovered some parts of the Burgundian inheritance in the North and annexed Alsace-Lorraine in the East. With the cession of Savoy by the king of Sardinia to Napoléon III in exchange for support in the creation of the kingdom of Italy, France basically acquired its modern borders (although Alsace-Lorraine were recovered by Germany 1870–1918).
The list below gives the succession of Carolingian and Capetian kings and Bonaparte emperors. Following these, the list continues with the Capetian/Bourbon sidelines that produced Louis XII, François I, Henri IV, and Louis-Philippe I.
|
|
Kings of the Franks, Kings of the West Franks from 840, Kings of France |
|
|
751–768 |
PÉPIN the Short |
Son of Charles Martel; elected king of the Franks |
|
768–814 |
CHARLES I the Great (Charlemagne) |
Son of Pépin (Emperor 800) |
|
768–771 |
CARLOMAN I |
Son of Pépin |
|
|
CHARLES the Younger |
Son of Charles I; co-ruler 806–811 |
|
814–840 |
LOUIS I the Pious |
Son of Charles I (Emperor 813 and 816) |
|
840–877 |
CHARLES II the Bald |
Son of Louis I; King of the West Franks (Emperor 875) |
|
877–879 |
LOUIS II the Stammerer |
Son of Charles II |
|
879–882 |
LOUIS III |
Son of Louis II |
|
879–884 |
CARLOMAN II |
Son of Louis II |
|
884–888 |
CHARLES the Fat |
Son of Ludwig II of Germany son of Louis I; ruled on
behalf of Charles III |
|
888–898 |
EUDES |
Son of Robert the Strong count of Paris; elected king |
|
893–923 |
CHARLES III the Simple |
Posthumous son of Louis II; deposed, died 929 |
|
922–923 |
ROBERT I |
Brother of Eudes; elected king; killed in battle
against Charles III |
|
923–936 |
RAOUL |
Son of Richard duke of Burgundy; husband of Emma
daughter of Robert I |
|
936–954 |
LOUIS IV of Outremer (from Overseas) |
Son of Charles III |
|
954–986 |
LOTHAIRE |
Son of Louis IV |
|
986–987 |
LOUIS V the Sluggard |
Son of Lothaire; co-ruler 979 |
|
987–996 |
HUGUES Capet (the Caped) |
Son of Hugues the Great count of Paris son of Robert I;
elected king |
|
996–1031 |
ROBERT II the Pious |
Son of Hugues; co-ruler 987 |
|
|
HUGUES |
Son of Robert II; co-ruler 1017–1025; died of a fall |
|
1031–1060 |
HENRI I |
Son of Robert II; co-ruler 1027 |
|
1060–1108 |
PHILIPPE I |
Son of Henri I; co-ruler 1059 |
|
1108–1137 |
LOUIS VI the Fat |
Son of Philippe I; co-ruler 1100 |
|
|
PHILIPPE |
Son of Louis VI; co-ruler 1129–1131 |
|
1137–1180 |
LOUIS VII the Younger |
Son of Louis VI; co-ruler 1131 |
|
1180–1223 |
PHILIPPE II Augustus |
Son of Louis VII; co-ruler 1179 |
|
1223–1226 |
LOUIS VIII the Lion |
Son of Philippe II |
|
1226–1270 |
LOUIS IX Saint Louis |
Son of Louis VIII |
|
1270–1285 |
PHILIPPE III the Bold |
Son of Louis IX |
|
1285–1314 |
PHILIPPE IV the Fair |
Son of Philippe III |
|
1314–1316 |
LOUIS X the Stubborn |
Son of Philippe IV |
|
1316–1316 |
JEAN I the Posthumous |
Posthumous son of Louis X |
|
1316–1322 |
PHILIPPE V the Tall |
Son of Philippe IV |
|
1322–1328 |
CHARLES IV the Fair |
Son of Philippe IV |
|
1328–1350 |
PHILIPPE VI the Fortunate |
Son of Charles count of Valois son of Philippe III |
|
1350–1364 |
JEAN II the Good |
Son of Philippe VI; in English captivity 1356–1360 and
from 1363 |
|
1364–1380 |
CHARLES V the Wise |
Son of Jean II |
|
1380–1422 |
CHARLES VI the Mad |
Son of Charles V |
|
1422–1461 |
CHARLES VII the Victorious |
Son of Charles VI |
|
1461–1483 |
LOUIS XI the Spider King |
Son of Charles VII |
|
1483–1498 |
CHARLES VIII the Affable |
Son of Louis XI |
|
1498–1515 |
LOUIS XII of Valois-Orléans |
Son of Charles of Orléans; husband of Jeanne daughter
of Louis XI |
|
1515–1547 |
FRANÇOIS I of Valois-Angoulême |
Son of Charles of Angoulême; husband of Claude daughter
of Louis XII |
|
1547–1549 |
HENRI II the Bellicose |
Son of François I; mortally wounded in tournament |
|
1559–1560 |
FRANÇOIS II |
Son of Henri II |
|
1560–1574 |
CHARLES IX Maximilien |
Son of Henri II |
|
1574–1589 |
HENRI III Édouard-Alexandre |
Son of Henri II; murdered |
|
1589–1610 |
HENRI IV the Great of Bourbon |
Son of Antoine duke of Vendôme; husband of Marguerite
daughter of Henri II; murdered |
|
1610–1643 |
LOUIS XIII the Just |
Son of Henri IV |
|
1643–1715 |
LOUIS XIV the Great |
Son of Louis XIII |
|
1715–1774 |
LOUIS XV the Well-Liked |
Son of Louis son of Louis son of Louis XIV |
|
1774–1793 |
LOUIS XVI |
Son of Louis son of Louis XV; imprisoned 1792 and executed |
|
1793–1795 |
LOUIS XVII |
Son of Louis XVI; died in prison |
|
1795–1824 |
LOUIS XVIII Stanislas-Xavier |
Brother of Louis XVI; in exile during the First
Republic and Empire till 1814 and in 1815–1815 |
|
1824–1830 |
CHARLES X |
Brother of Louis XVIII; abdicated, died 1836 |
|
1830–1830 |
LOUIS XIX |
Son of Charles X; abdicated, died 1844 |
|
1830–1830 |
HENRI V |
Son of Ferdinand of Berry son of Charles X; deposed,
died 1883 |
|
1830–1848 |
LOUIS-PHILIPPE I of Bourbon-Orléans |
Son of Louis-Philippe-Joseph of Orléans; abdicated,
died 1850 |
|
1848–1848 |
LOUIS-PHILIPPE II |
Son of Ferdinand of Orléans son of Louis-Philippe I;
deposed, died 1894 |
|
1848– |
|
Second Republic, etc. |
|
|
Emperors of the French |
|
|
1804–1815 |
NAPOLÉON I Bonaparte |
Son of Carlo Buonaparte; first consul since 1799; in
exile 1814–1815; deposed, died 1821 |
|
1815–1815 |
NAPOLÉON II |
Son of Napoléon I; deposed, died 1832 |
|
1815–1848 |
|
Kingdom of France |
|
1848–1852 |
|
Second Republic |
|
1852–1870 |
NAPOLÉON III |
Louis-Napoléon, son of Lodewijk of Holland brother of
Napoléon I; president since 1848; captured by the Prussians, died 1872 |
|
1870– |
|
Third Republic, etc. |
|
|
France: Line of Valois-Orléans (Dukes of Orléans;
ancestors of Louis XII) |
|
|
1392–1407 |
LOUIS I |
Son of Charles V of France; Duke of Orléans; murdered |
|
1407–1465 |
CHARLES |
Son of Louis I |
|
1465–1498 |
LOUIS II |
Son of Charles; King of France from 1498, died 1515 |
|
|
France: Line of Valois-Angoulême (Counts of
Angoulême; ancestors of François I) |
|
|
1407–1467 |
JEAN |
Son of Louis I of Orléans; Count of Angoulême |
|
1467–1496 |
CHARLES |
Son of Jean |
|
1496–1515 |
FRANÇOIS |
Son of Charles; King of France from 1515, died 1547 |
|
|
France: Line of Bourbon-Vendôme (Various; ancestors
of Henri IV) |
|
|
1272–1317 |
ROBERT |
Son of Louis IX of France; Count of Clermont |
|
1317–1341 |
LOUIS I |
Son of Robert; Duke of Bourbon 1327 |
|
1341–1362 |
JACQUES I |
Son of Louis I; Count of La Marche |
|
1362–1393 |
JEAN I |
Son of Jacques I |
|
1412–1446 |
LOUIS I |
Son of Jean I; Count of Vendôme |
|
1446–1477 |
JEAN II |
Son of Louis I |
|
1477–1495 |
FRANÇOIS |
Son of Jean II |
|
1495–1537 |
CHARLES |
Son of François; Duke of Vendôme 1515 |
|
1537–1562 |
ANTOINE |
Son of Charles; also King of Navarre 1555 |
|
1562–1589 |
HENRI the Great |
Son of Antoine; King of France from 1589, murdered 1610 |
|
|
France: Line of Bourbon-Orléans (Dukes of Orléans;
ancestors of Louis-Philippe I) |
|
|
1660–1701 |
PHILIPPE I |
Son of Louis XIII of France; Duke of Orléans |
|
1701–1723 |
PHILIPPE II the Regent |
Son of Philippe I |
|
1723–1752 |
LOUIS |
Son of Philippe II |
|
1752–1785 |
LOUIS-PHILIPPE I |
Son of Louis |
|
1785–1793 |
LOUIS-PHILIPPE-JOSEPH Égalité |
Son of Louis-Philippe I; executed |
|
1793–1830 |
LOUIS-PHILIPPE II |
Son of Louis-Philippe-Joseph; King from 1830, died 1850 |