An outline, era by era

France

Capetian kings; Hundred Years' War

Medieval / Post-Classical Era · ~500 – ~1500 CE

France in the Middle Ages grew from the western part of the old Frankish realm into a single kingdom. After the last Carolingian ruler died in 987, the nobles chose Hugh Capet as king. His Capetian dynasty held the crown in direct line for over three centuries, and its cadet branches (Valois, later Bourbon) ruled until 1848. At first the kings controlled little more than the area around Paris and Orléans, while powerful dukes and counts held the rest.

Over the next three centuries the Capetians built up royal power through marriage, inheritance, law, war and taxation. Their rivalry with the English crown, whose kings also held lands in France, led to the Hundred Years' War, fought on and off between 1337 and 1453. It brought plague-era hardship, great defeats at Crécy, Poitiers and Agincourt, the career of Joan of Arc, and a final French victory. The war helped shape a stronger French state and a sharper sense of national identity.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. Hugh Capet becomes king

    Event

    What happened

    In 987 the last Carolingian king, Louis V, dies childless. An assembly of nobles at Senlis chooses Hugh Capet, duke of the Franks, as king. He is crowned at Noyon in July 987 and soon has his son Robert crowned as co-king.

    The rest is history

    Hugh's direct power was small, limited to the lands around Paris and Orléans. Securing the succession by crowning the heir in his father's lifetime helped the family establish hereditary kingship. The dynasty lasted in direct line until 1328. The main contemporary account is by the monk Richer of Reims.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryRicher of Saint-Rémi. Histories. Latin chronicle, c. 996-998 CE.
    2. BookLewis, Andrew W. Royal Succession in Capetian France: Studies on Familial Order and the State. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.
    3. BookDunbabin, Jean. France in the Making, 843-1180. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985.

  2. Philip II Augustus and the Battle of Bouvines

    Event

    What happened

    Between 1202 and 1204 Philip II of France conquers Normandy, Anjou, Maine and Touraine from King John of England. In 1214 Philip defeats an alliance of John's allies, including Emperor Otto IV and the count of Flanders, at Bouvines on 27 July.

    The rest is history

    The conquests multiplied the lands under direct royal rule and made the Capetians clearly stronger than any single vassal. Bouvines confirmed this and weakened John at home, which contributed to the crisis leading to Magna Carta in 1215. Philip reigned from 1180 to 1223 and expanded royal administration through baillis and written records.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGuillaume le Breton. Gesta Philippi Augusti. Latin chronicle, early 13th century.
    2. BookBaldwin, John W. The Government of Philip Augustus: Foundations of French Royal Power in the Middle Ages. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
    3. BookBradbury, Jim. Philip Augustus: King of France 1180-1223. London: Longman, 1998.

  3. The Albigensian Crusade

    Event

    What happened

    In 1209 Pope Innocent III calls a crusade against Cathar heretics and their protectors in Languedoc, after the murder of a papal legate in 1208. Northern French lords, led by Simon de Montfort, invade the south and take cities including Béziers and Carcassonne. The fighting continues in stages until the Treaty of Paris in 1229.

    The rest is history

    Under the treaty the count of Toulouse kept part of his lands, but his daughter was to marry a brother of Louis IX, so the inheritance would pass to the crown. The south came under Capetian control. The Inquisition was later set up to pursue heresy there. Cathar strongholds such as Montségur fell in 1244.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPierre des Vaux-de-Cernay. Hystoria Albigensis. Latin chronicle, c. 1212-1218 CE.
    2. BookSumption, Jonathan. The Albigensian Crusade. London: Faber and Faber, 1978.
    3. BookCosten, Michael. The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997.

  4. Louis IX and the justice of the crown

    Event

    What happened

    Louis IX reigns from 1226 to 1270. In 1259 he makes the Treaty of Paris with Henry III of England, who gives up claims to Normandy and Anjou but keeps Gascony as a vassal of the French king. Louis sends inquiry officials across the kingdom to investigate abuses, and he expands the royal court of justice, the Parlement.

    The rest is history

    The treaty left an unresolved problem: the English king owed homage to the French king for Gascony. That tension fed the disputes that later led to the Hundred Years' War. Louis's justice raised the prestige of the monarchy. He died on crusade at Tunis in 1270 and was canonised in 1297. Jean de Joinville wrote a memoir of him.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryJoinville, Jean de. Vie de saint Louis. French memoir, c. 1309.
    2. BookLe Goff, Jacques. Saint Louis. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2009.
    3. BookJordan, William Chester. Louis IX and the Challenge of the Crusade. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979.

  5. Philip IV, the papacy and the Templars

    Event

    What happened

    Philip IV, who reigns from 1285 to 1314, taxes the clergy to fund war, which brings him into conflict with Pope Boniface VIII. In 1302 he summons the first Estates General. In 1307 his officers arrest the Knights Templar across France, and in 1312 Pope Clement V dissolves the order. The popes later settle at Avignon.

    The rest is history

    The conflict showed that the French crown could stand against the papacy. Philip's reign also saw growing use of lawyers and officials, and heavy demands for money. The Templars' last grand master, Jacques de Molay, was burned in Paris in 1314. Historians debate how far Philip acted from conviction and how far from financial need.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryProceedings against the Templars. Papal and royal inquisition records, 1307-1312 CE.
    2. BookBarber, Malcolm. The Trial of the Templars. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978.
    3. BookStrayer, Joseph R. The Reign of Philip the Fair. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980.

  6. The succession crisis of 1328

    Event

    What happened

    Charles IV dies in 1328 without a son, ending the direct Capetian line. Nobles pass over the claim of Edward III of England, whose claim came through his mother Isabella, a daughter of Philip IV. They choose Philip of Valois, a cousin, who becomes Philip VI.

    The rest is history

    Edward III did homage for Gascony in 1329 and accepted Philip's rule at first. Disputes over Gascony, Flanders and Scotland then worsened relations. In 1337 Philip confiscated Gascony, and Edward later claimed the French crown himself, in 1340. This opened the Hundred Years' War. Historians still debate how much the dynastic claim mattered next to these quarrels.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGrandes Chroniques de France. French royal chronicle, 14th century.
    2. BookSumption, Jonathan. The Hundred Years War, Volume 1: Trial by Battle. London: Faber and Faber, 1990.
    3. BookCurry, Anne. The Hundred Years' War. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993.

  7. Crécy, Poitiers and the Treaty of Brétigny

    Event

    What happened

    On 26 August 1346 Edward III's army, with many longbowmen, defeats a larger French force at Crécy. On 19 September 1356 the Black Prince captures King John II at Poitiers. In the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 the French cede large territories in the southwest and Calais and agree to pay a huge ransom for John.

    The rest is history

    The defeats, along with plague from 1348, brought turmoil: the Estates General pressed for reform, and the Jacquerie peasant revolt broke out in 1358. Under Charles V, with the commander Bertrand du Guesclin, France won back most of the lost land in the 1370s. Froissart's chronicle is a main narrative source.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryFroissart, Jean. Chroniques. French chronicle, late 14th century.
    2. BookSumption, Jonathan. The Hundred Years War, Volume 2: Trial by Fire. London: Faber and Faber, 1999.
    3. BookOrmrod, W. Mark. Edward III. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011.

  8. Agincourt and the Treaty of Troyes

    Event

    What happened

    In 1415 Henry V of England invades France and wins the battle of Agincourt on 25 October. France is divided between Burgundians and Armagnacs, and in 1419 the duke of Burgundy is killed at Montereau. In the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, Charles VI disinherits his son the Dauphin and names Henry V his heir.

    The rest is history

    Henry died in August 1422, and Charles VI followed in October, leaving the infant Henry VI nominally king of both realms. The Dauphin, as Charles VII, held the lands south of the Loire and was backed by many French nobles. English and Burgundian power held the north, including Paris, for years, setting the stage for Joan of Arc.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryTreaty of Troyes. Treaty between Henry V and Charles VI, 21 May 1420.
    2. BookBarker, Juliet. Agincourt: Henry V and the Battle That Made England. London: Little, Brown, 2005.
    3. BookAllmand, Christopher. Henry V. London: Methuen, 1992.

  9. Joan of Arc hears the saints' voices

    Heroic tale

    The legend

    Joan, a peasant girl from Domrémy, says that from about the age of thirteen she hears Saints Michael, Catherine and Margaret telling her to drive the English from France. She goes to the Dauphin at Chinon, leads troops to relieve Orléans, and has him crowned at Reims. Captured by the Burgundians, she is burned at Rouen.

    The rest is history

    The main sources are the trial records of 1431 and the retrial of 1455-1456, which cleared her. Joan was real, and the relief of Orléans in May 1429 and the coronation at Reims on 17 July 1429 are well documented. Whether her voices had supernatural or psychological causes is a matter of belief, not history. She was burned on 30 May 1431 and canonised in 1920.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryTrial of Condemnation and Nullification Trial of Joan of Arc. Latin court records, Rouen 1431 and Paris 1455-1456.
    2. BookPernoud, Régine, and Marie-Véronique Clin. Joan of Arc: Her Story. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1998.
    3. BookTaylor, Craig, ed. Joan of Arc: La Pucelle. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2006.

  10. Clovis and the holy ampulla of Reims

    Origin story

    The legend

    At the baptism of King Clovis, the priest carrying the holy oil is blocked by the crowd. A dove descends from heaven bearing a vial of oil, the holy ampulla, and the bishop anoints Clovis with it. French kings are said to have been anointed with this oil at Reims ever after.

    The rest is history

    Clovis's baptism around 500 CE is historical, described by Gregory of Tours, but he mentions no dove and no ampulla. The story was first told by Archbishop Hincmar of Reims in 878 in his life of Saint Remigius. The tale gave the French kings, including the Capetians, a sacred claim, and Reims became the usual coronation place. The ampulla was smashed during the Revolution in 1793.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGregory of Tours. Decem Libri Historiarum (Histories). Latin, c. 594 CE.
    2. PrimaryHincmar of Reims. Vita Sancti Remigii. Latin, 878 CE.
    3. BookBloch, Marc. The Royal Touch: Sacred Monarchy and Scrofula in England and France. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.

  11. The royal touch

    Folk tale

    The legend

    French kings are said to heal scrofula, a disease of the neck glands, by touching the sick after their coronation. They speak the words 'The king touches you, God heals you.' Crowds of sufferers come to the king to be touched.

    The rest is history

    The practice is documented from about the reign of Philip I, around 1100, and was long believed to go back to Clovis or Saint Louis. The kings did not cure the disease, which often goes away by itself. Marc Bloch showed that the belief shored up royal prestige in both France and England. French kings continued it until Charles X in 1825.

    Sources

    1. BookBloch, Marc. The Royal Touch: Sacred Monarchy and Scrofula in England and France. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1973.
    2. BookLe Goff, Jacques. Saint Louis. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2009.

  12. The Salic law and the French throne

    Popular belief

    The legend

    A very old Frankish law, the Salic law, is said to forbid women from inheriting or passing on the French crown. It is told that this ancient rule settled the succession in 1328 and shut out Edward III's claim.

    The rest is history

    The Salic law (Lex Salica) is a Frankish legal code from the early sixth century. Its clause on land inheritance does not mention the crown. The exclusion of women and of claims through women was worked out as custom in 1316, 1322 and 1328. Jurists began citing the Salic law for the throne only later in the 14th century. The code survives in manuscripts, including the Pactus legis Salicae.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryPactus Legis Salicae. Frankish law code, early 6th century CE.
    2. BookTaylor, Craig. Debating the Hundred Years War. Camden Fifth Series 29. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006.

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