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The monarchs of France ruled, first as kings and later as emperors, from the middle ages to 1848. There is some disagreement as to when France came into existence. The earliest date would be the establishment of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom by Clovis I in 486 with the defeat of Syagrius, the last Roman official in Gaul. That kingdom's rulers were deposed in the 8th century. The Treaty of Verdun established the Kingdom of Western Francia in 843. Another date favored by many medieval historians is 987, the beginning of the Capetian Dynasty.The Merovingians did not rule France per se but ruled lands that were continually fluctuating between modern day France and Germany.
However, the relevance of such traditional outlooks on the origins of modern nations is historically dubious (see below for recent studies). In light of these recent trends, this list begins with the creation in 843 of Charles the Bald's Kingdom of Western Francia, the state which would directly evolve into modern France. For earlier Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish Kings.
In addition to the monarchs listed below, the Kings of England and Great Britain from 1422 to 1801 also claimed the title of King of France. For a short time this had some basis in fact - under the terms of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, Charles VI had recognized his son-in-law Henry V of England as regent and heir. After the death of the two, Henry VI, succeeded his grandfather as King of France. Most of Northern France was under English control until 1435, but by 1453 the English had been expelled from all of France save Calais (and the Channel Islands), and Calais itself fell in 1558. Nevertheless, English monarchs continued to claim the title until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. Various English kings between 1337 and 1422 had also claimed the title of King of France, but only intermittently.
During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791-1792), and after the July Revolution in 1830, the style "King of the French" was used instead of "King of France (and Navarre)". It was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarch's title to the people, not to the territory of France.
Carolingian Dynasty (843 to 987)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | 843 | October 6, 877 |
| align="center" | October 6, 877 | April 10, 879 |
| align="center" | April 10, 879 | August 5, 882 |
| align="center" | April 10, 879 | December 6, 884 |
| align="center" | 885 | January 13, 888 |
| align="center" | February 29, 888 | January 1, 898 |
| align="center" | January 1, 898 | June 30, 922 |
| align="center" | June 30, 922 | June 15, 923 |
| align="center" | July 13, 923 | January 14, 936 |
| align="center" | June 19, 936 | September 10, 954 |
| align="center" | November 12, 954 | March 2, 986 |
| align="center" | June 8, 986 | May 22, 987 |
Capetian Dynasty (987 to 1328)
The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. The branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon.
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | July 3, 987 | October 24, 996 |
| align="center" | October 24, 996 | July 20, 1031 |
| align="center" | July 20, 1031 | August 4, 1060 |
| align="center" | August 4, 1060 | July 29, 1108 |
| align="center" | July 29, 1108 | August 1, 1137 |
| align="center" | August 1, 1137 | September 18, 1180 |
| align="center" | September 18, 1180 | July 14, 1223 |
| align="center" | July 14, 1223 | November 8, 1226 |
| align="center" | November 8, 1226 | August 25, 1270 |
| align="center" | August 25, 1270 | October 5, 1285 |
| align="center" | October 5, 1285 | November 29, 1314 |
| align="center" | November 29, 1314 | June 5, 1316 |
| align="center" | November 15, 1316 | November 20, 1316 |
| align="center" | November 20, 1316 | January 3, 1322 |
| align="center" | January 3, 1322 | February 1, 1328 |
Capetian Dynasty, House of Valois (1328-1589)
(1328-1498)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | February 1, 1328 | August 22, 1350 |
| align="center" | August 22, 1350 | April 8, 1364 |
| align="center" | April 8, 1364 | September 16, 1380 |
| align="center" | September 16, 1380 | October 21, 1422 |
| align="center" | October 21, 1422 | July 22, 1461 |
| align="center" | July 22, 1461 | August 30, 1483 |
| align="center" | August 30, 1483 | April 7, 1498 |
Valois-Orléans Branch (1498-1515)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | April 7, 1498 | January 1, 1515 |
Valois-Angoulême Branch (1515-1589)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | January 1, 1515 | July 31, 1547 |
| align="center" | July 31, 1547 | July 10, 1559 |
| align="center" | July 10, 1559 | December 5, 1560 |
| align="center" | December 5, 1560 | May 30, 1574 |
| align="center" | May 30, 1574 | August 2, 1589 |
Capetian Dynasty, House of Bourbon (1589-1792)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | August 2, 1589 | May 14, 1610 |
| align="center" | May 14, 1610 | May 14, 1643 |
| align="center" | May 14, 1643 | September 1, 1715 |
| align="center" | September 1, 1715 | May 10, 1774 |
| align="center" | May 10, 1774 | August 10, 1792 |
First Republic (1792-1804)
Many people were monarchists at the time and consequently refused to recognise the overthrow of the monarchy, and considered Louis XVI's reign to have continued until his death in 1793, then his son Louis XVII to have reigned until his death in 1795, with Louis XVIII's reign then commencing, hence the numbering.
Bonaparte Dynasty - First Empire (1804-1814)
| Picture | Name | Emperor From | Emperor Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | May 18, 1804 | April 11, 1814 (and then again from March 20 to June 22, 1815) |
Bourbon Dynasty, Restored (1814-1830)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | May 2, 1814 | September 16, 1824 (except between March 13 and July 7, 1815) |
| align="center" | September 16, 1824 | August 2, 1830 |
Bourbon-Orléans, The Monarchy of July (1830-1848)
| Picture | Name | King From | King Until |
|---|---|---|
| align="center" | August 9, 1830 | February 24, 1848 |
Second French Republic (1848 - 1852)
The Second French Republic lasted from 1848 to 1852, when its president, Louis Napoleon, was declared Emperor.
Bonaparte Dynasty, Restored Second Empire (1852-1870)
| Picture | Name | Emperor From | Emperor Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Napoleon III, Emperor (previously president of France from 1849 - 1852 | December 2, 1852 | September 4, 1870 |
The chronology continues on Presidents of France.
Notes
References
For a study of France and its rulers, see also:
- Edward James, " Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000." ISBN 0333270525
- Edward James, The Franks. Blackwell: 1991. ISBN 0631179364
- The history of France as recounted in the "Grandes Chroniques de France," and particularly in the personal copy produced for King Charles V between 1370 and 1380 that is the saga of the three great dynasties, the Merovingians, Carolingians, and the Capetian Rulers of France, that shaped the institutions and the frontiers of the realm. It should be noted that this work was commissioned at a time that France was embroiled in the Hundred Years' War with England, a war fought over hereditary claims to the throne of France. It must therefore be read with a careful eye toward biases meant to justify the Capetian claims of continuity and inheritance.
- The Cambridge Illustrated History of France - Cambridge University Press
- Paul Fouracre and Richard A. Gerberding, Late Merovingian France: History and Hagiography, 640-720. Manchester University Press - ISBN 0719047919
- Patrick Geary, Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World. Oxford: Oxford U. Press, 1988. ISBN 0195044584
- Patrick Geary, The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton U. Press, 2001. ISBN 0691114811
See also
- Franks (main history of Frankish kingdoms)
- List of Frankish Kings
- Members of the French Royal Families
- Kings of France family tree
- English Kings of France
- Bourbon family tree
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"List of French monarchs"