Editing History of France (section)

== State building into the Kingdom of France (987–1453) ==
{{Main|France in the Middle Ages}}

=== Strong princes ===
France was a very decentralised state during the [[Middle Ages]]. 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 like [[Normandy]], [[Flanders]] or [[Languedoc]] enjoyed a local authority comparable to kingdoms in all but name. The [[House of Capet|Capetians]], as they were descended from the [[Robertians]], were formerly powerful princes themselves who had successfully unseated the weak and unfortunate [[Carolingian]] kings.{{Sfnp|Duby|1993}} The Capetians, in a way, held a dual status of King and Prince; as king they held the [[Crown of Charlemagne]] and as [[Count of Paris]] they held their personal fiefdom, best known as [[Île-de-France]].{{Sfnp|Duby|1993}}

Some of the king's vassals would grow sufficiently powerful that they would become some of the strongest rulers of western Europe. The [[Normans]], the [[Plantagenets]], the [[Lusignans]], the [[Hautevilles]], the [[Ramnulfids]], and the House of [[Counts of Toulouse|Toulouse]] successfully carved lands outside France for themselves. The most important of these conquests for French history was the [[Norman Conquest]] by [[William the Conqueror]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carpenter |first=David |title=The Struggle for Mastery: Britain, 1066-1284 |series=[[Penguin History of Britain]] |page=91}}</ref>

An important part of the French aristocracy also involved itself in the crusades, and French knights founded and ruled the [[Crusader states]]. The French were also active in the Iberian [[Reconquista]] to Rechristianize Muslim Spain and Portugal. The Iberian reconquista made use of French knights and settlers to repopulate former Muslim settlements that were sacked by conquering Spanish or Portuguese Christians.<ref>[https://repositori.uji.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10234/190577/DT-SEHA%202004.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE RECONQUISTA (718-1492 AD): CONQUEST, REPOPULATION AND LAND DISTRIBUTION] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202095233/http://repositori.uji.es/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10234/190577/DT-SEHA%202004.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |date=2 December 2020 }} By: Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia, Alfonso Díez-Minguela, Julio Martínez-Galarraga, and Daniel A. Tirado Fabregat. '''Quote''': "In the cities, especially Zaragoza, the repopulation was supplemented with settlers from abroad, mainly of French origin, whose economic activity in many cases was crafted products and trade (Vicens Vives 1964, p.146)."(Page 14)</ref><ref>[https://publicaciones.defensa.gob.es/media/downloadable/files/links/t/h/the_french_presence_in_the_spanish_military.pdf The French Presence in the Spanish Military By: Benito Tauler Cid]</ref>

=== Rise of the monarchy ===
The monarchy overcame the powerful barons over ensuing centuries, and established absolute sovereignty over France in the 16th century.<ref name="google235">{{Cite book |last1=Perry |first1=Marvin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XMKpq_nV0J8C&pg=PA235 |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=235 |display-authors=1}}</ref> [[Hugh Capet]] in 987 became "King of the Franks" (Rex Francorum). He was recorded to be recognised king by the [[Gauls]], [[Bretons]], [[Danes (Germanic tribe)|Danes]], [[Aquitanians]], [[Goths]], Spanish and [[Gascons]].<ref name="autogenerated1995">{{Cite book |title=Medieval France: An Encyclopedia |date=1995 |editor-last=Kibler |editor-first=William W.}}</ref>

[[File:Clocher abbaye cluny 2.JPG|thumb|A view of the remains of the [[Cluny Abbey|Abbey of Cluny]], a [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] monastery that was the centre of monastic life revival in the [[Middle Ages]] and marked an important step in the cultural rebirth following the [[Early Middle Ages|Dark Ages]]]]
Hugh's son—[[Robert II of France|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, met [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Henry II]] in 1023 on the borderline. They agreed to end all claims over each other's realm, setting a new stage of Capetian and Ottonian relationships. The reign of Robert II was quite important because it involved the [[Peace and Truce of God]] (beginning in 989) and the [[Cluniac Reforms]].<ref name="autogenerated1995"/>

[[File:Godfrey of Bouillon, holding a pollaxe. (Manta Castle, Cuneo, Italy).jpg|thumb|upright=.7|[[Godfrey of Bouillon|Godefroy de Bouillon]], a French knight, leader of the [[First Crusade]] and founder of the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]]]]
Under [[Philip I of France|King Philip I]], the kingdom enjoyed a modest recovery during his extraordinarily long reign (1060–1108). His reign also saw the launch of the [[First Crusade]] to regain the [[Holy Land]].

It is from [[Louis VI of France|Louis VI]] (reigned 1108–37) 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. 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]]. Louis VI successfully defeated, both military and politically, many of the [[Robber baron (feudalism)|robber baron]]s. When Louis VI died in 1137, much progress had been made towards strengthening Capetian authority.<ref name="autogenerated1995"/>

Thanks to Abbot Suger's political advice, [[Louis VII of France|King Louis VII]] (junior king 1131–37, senior king 1137–80) enjoyed greater [[moral authority]] over France than his predecessors. Powerful vassals paid homage to the French king.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hallam |first=Elizabeth M. |title=Capetian France 987-1328 |date=1980 |publisher=Longman |isbn=978-0-5824-8909-7 |page=64 |quote=Then, in 1151, Henry Plantagenet paid homage for the duchy to Louis VII in Paris, homage he repeated as king of England in 1156.}}</ref> Abbot Suger arranged the 1137 marriage between Louis VII and [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]] in Bordeaux, which made Louis VII Duke of Aquitaine and gave him considerable power. The marriage was ultimately annulled and Eleanor soon married the Duke of Normandy — [[Henry II of England|Henry Fitzempress]], who would become King of England two years later.<ref name="autogenerated4">{{Cite book |last=Frankl |first=Paul |title=Gothic Architecture |date=2001}}</ref>

=== Late Capetians (1165–1328) ===
[[File:Bataille de Bouvines gagnee par Philippe Auguste.jpg|thumb|[[Philip II of France|Philip II]] victorious at [[Bouvines]], thus annexing [[Normandy]] and [[County of Anjou|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]].]]

The late direct Capetian kings were considerably more powerful and influential than the earliest ones. This period also saw the rise of a complex system of international alliances and conflicts opposing, through dynasties, kings of France and England and the Holy Roman Emperor. The reign of [[Philip II of France|Philip II Augustus]] (junior king 1179–80, senior king 1180–1223) 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 II spent an important part of his reign fighting the so-called [[Angevin Empire]].

During the first part of his reign Philip II allied himself with the Duke of Aquitaine and son of Henry II—[[Richard I of England|Richard Lionheart]]—and together they launched a decisive attack on Henry's home of [[Chinon]] and removed him from power. Richard replaced his father as King of England afterward. The two kings then went crusading during the [[Third Crusade]]; however, their alliance and friendship broke down during the crusade.
[[John of England|John Lackland]], Richard's successor, refused to come to the French court for a trial against the [[Lusignan]]s and, 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 decisive [[Battle of Bouvines]] (1214) resulted in complete failure. Philip II had annexed Normandy and Anjou, plus capturing the Counts of Boulogne and Flanders, although Aquitaine and Gascony remained loyal to the Plantagenet King.

[[Louis VIII of France|Prince Louis]] (the future Louis VIII, reigned 1223–26) was involved in the subsequent [[First Barons War|English civil war]] as 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 the [[Albigensian Crusade]]. Southern France was then largely absorbed in the royal domains.

France became a truly centralised kingdom under [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]] (reigned 1226–70). The kingdom was vulnerable: war was still going on in the County of Toulouse, and the royal army was occupied fighting resistance in Languedoc. [[Raymond VII of Toulouse|Count Raymond VII of Toulouse]] finally signed the [[Treaty of Paris (1229)|Treaty of Paris]] in 1229, in which he retained much of his lands for life, but his daughter, married to [[Alfonso, Count of Poitou|Count Alfonso of Poitou]], produced him no heir and so the County of Toulouse went to the King of France. [[Henry III of England|King Henry III of England]] had 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 at [[Saint-Malo]] with a massive force. This evolved into the [[Saintonge War]] (1242). Ultimately, Henry III was defeated and had to recognise Louis IX's overlordship, although the King of France did not seize Aquitaine. Louis IX was now the most important landowner of France. 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. The [[Conseil du Roi]], which would evolve into the [[Parlement]], was founded in these times. After his conflict with [[Henry III of England|King Henry III of England]], Louis established a cordial relation with the Plantagenet King.{{Sfnp|Hallam|1980|p=264}}

The Kingdom was involved in two crusades under Louis: the [[Seventh Crusade]] and the [[Eighth Crusade]]. Both proved to be complete failures for the French King. [[Philip III of France|Philip III]] became king when Saint Louis died in 1270 during the Eighth Crusade. 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: the [[Aragonese Crusade]], which cost him his life in 1285.
More administrative reforms were made by [[Philip IV of France|Philip IV]], also called Philip the Fair (reigned 1285–1314). This king was responsible for the end of the [[Knights Templar]], signed the [[Auld Alliance]], and established the [[Parlement|Parlement of Paris]]. Philip IV was so powerful that he could name popes and emperors, unlike the early Capetians. The papacy was moved to [[Avignon Papacy|Avignon]] and all the contemporary popes were French, such as Philip IV's puppet [[Pope Clement V|Bertrand de Goth, Pope Clement V]].

=== Early Valois Kings and the Hundred Years' War (1328–1453) ===
[[File:Capture Jean II.jpg|thumb|The capture of the French king [[John II of France|John II]] at [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Poitiers]] in 1356]]
{{Multiple image
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| image1            = BNF NAF 4811, folio 55 verso - couronnement de Charles VII.jpg
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| caption1          = Coronation of Charles VII as King of France in Reims 17 July 1429 [reign 21 October 1422 – 22 July 1461]
| image2            = Sacre Henry6 England-France 02.jpg
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| caption2          = Coronation of English King Henry VI as Henri II King of France in Paris 16 December 1431 [reign 21 October 1422-19 October 1453]
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The tensions between the Houses of [[Plantagenet]] and [[Capetian dynasty|Capet]] climaxed during the so-called [[Hundred 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 the [[Black Death in France]], as well as several devastating civil wars. In 1420, by the [[Treaty of Troyes]] [[Henry V of England|Henry V]] was made heir to Charles VI. 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){{Whom|date=January 2025}}. Although this is debatable, the Hundred Years' War is remembered more as a Franco-English war than as a succession of feudal struggles{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}. During this war, France evolved politically and militarily.

Although a Franco-Scottish army was successful at the [[Battle of Baugé]] (1421), the humiliating defeats of [[Battle of Poitiers (1356)|Poitiers]] (1356) and [[Battle of Agincourt|Agincourt]] (1415) forced the French nobility to realise they could not stand just as armoured knights without an organised army. [[Charles VII of France|Charles VII]] (reigned 1422–61) established the first French standing army, the [[Compagnies d'ordonnance]], and defeated the Plantagenets once at [[Battle of Patay|Patay]] (1429) and again, using cannons, at [[Battle of Formigny|Formigny]] (1450). The [[Battle of Castillon]] (1453) was the last engagement of this war; [[Calais]] and the [[Channel Islands]] remained ruled by the Plantagenets.