Editing History of France (section)

=== 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>