Editing Political history of France (section)

===Origins===
France originated as [[West Francia]] (''Francia Occidentalis''), the western half of the [[Carolingian Empire]], with the [[Treaty of Verdun]] (843). A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when [[Hugh Capet]] was elected king and founded the [[Capetian dynasty]]. The territory remained known as ''Francia'' and its ruler as ''rex Francorum'' ("king of the Franks") well into the [[High Middle Ages]]. The first king calling himself ''rex Francie'' ("King of France") was [[Philip II of France|Philip II]], in 1190, and officially from 1204. From then, France was continuously ruled by the Capetians and their [[Cadet branch|cadet lines]] under the [[House of Valois|Valois]] and [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] until the monarchy was abolished in 1792 during the [[French Revolution]]. The Kingdom of France was also ruled in [[personal union]] with the [[Kingdom of Navarre]] over two time periods, 1284–1328 and 1572–1620, after which the institutions of Navarre were abolished and it was fully annexed by France (though the King of France continued to use the title "King of Navarre" through the end of the monarchy).<ref name="Perry">{{Cite book |last1=Perry |first1=Marvin |title=Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society: To 1789 |last2=Jacob |first2=Margaret |date=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-5471-4742-0 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=XMKpq_nV0J8C&pg=PA235 235] |ol=23212578M |display-authors=1}}</ref>

[[France in the Middle Ages]] was a decentralised, [[Feudalism|feudal]] monarchy. In [[Duchy of Brittany|Brittany]] and [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]] (now a part of Spain), as well as [[Duchy of Aquitaine|Aquitaine]], the authority of the French king was barely felt. [[Duchy of Lorraine|Lorraine]] and [[Kingdom of Arles|Burgundy]] were states of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and not yet a part of France. West Frankish kings were initially elected by the secular and ecclesiastical magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established the principle of male [[primogeniture]], which became codified in the [[Salic law]].

During the [[Late Middle Ages]], rivalry between the Capetian dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of France and their vassals the [[House of Plantagenet]], who also ruled the [[Kingdom of England]] as part of their so-called competing [[Angevin Empire]], resulted in many armed struggles. The most notorious of them all are the series of conflicts known as the [[Hundred Years' War]] (1337–1453) in which the [[kings of England]] laid claim to the French throne. Emerging victorious from said conflicts, France subsequently sought to extend its influence into [[Italy]], but was defeated by [[Spain]] and the Holy Roman Empire in the ensuing [[Italian Wars]] (1494–1559).<ref name="Duby">{{Cite book |last=Duby |first=Georges |title=France in the Middle Ages 987–1460: From Hugh Capet to Joan of Arc |date=1993 |isbn=0-6311-7026-X |ol=1889049W}}</ref>