West Francia extended further north and south than modernmetropolitan France, but it did not extend as far east. It did not include such future French holdings asLorraine, theCounty andKingdom of Burgundy (theduchy was already a part of West Francia),Alsace andProvence in the east and southeast for example. It also did not include theBrittany peninsula in the west.
West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, and between 888 and 936 candidates from theCarolingian andRobertian houses were alternately chosen as monarchs.[3] By this time the power of the king became weaker and more nominal, as the regional dukes and nobles became more powerful in their semi-independent regions. The Robertians, after becoming counts of Paris and dukes of France, became kings themselves and established the Capetian dynasty after 987. Historians generally define this as the gradual transition toward the Kingdom of France.[4][5] By the 13th century, the termRegnum francorum had evolved intoRegnum Francia ("kingdom of France"),[6] although the demonym of "Franks" continued to be attested as late as the 18th century.[7]
Division of the Carolingian Empire after theTreaty of Verdun in 843
In August 843, after three years of civil war following the death ofLouis the Pious, theTreaty of Verdun was signed by his three sons and heirs. The youngest,Charles the Bald, received westernFrancia. The contemporary West FrankishAnnales Bertiniani describes Charles arriving at Verdun, "where the distribution of portions" took place. After describing the portions of his brothers,Lothair the Emperor (Middle Francia) andLouis the German (East Francia), he notes that "the rest as far as Spain they ceded to Charles".[8] TheAnnales Fuldenses of East Francia describe Charles as holding the western part after the kingdom was "divided in three".[9]
Since the death of KingPippin I of Aquitaine in 838, his son had been recognised by the Aquitainian nobility as KingPippin II of Aquitaine, although the succession had not been recognised by the emperor. Charles the Bald was at war with Pippin II from the start of his reign in 840, and the Treaty of Verdun ignored the claimant and assignedAquitaine to Charles.[10] Accordingly, in June 845, after several military defeats, Charles signed the Treaty ofBenoît-sur-Loire and recognised his nephew's rule. This agreement lasted until 25 March 848, when the Aquitainian barons recognised Charles as their king. Thereafter Charles's armies had the upper hand, and by 849 had secured most of Aquitaine.[11] In May, Charles had himself crowned "King of the Franks and Aquitainians" inOrléans. ArchbishopWenilo of Sens officiated at the coronation, which included the first instance ofroyal unction in West Francia. The idea of anointing Charles may be owed to ArchbishopHincmar of Reims, who composed no less than fourordines describing appropriate liturgies for a royal consecration. By the 858 Synod of Quierzy, Hincmar was claiming that Charles was anointed to the entire West Frankish kingdom.[12] With the 870Treaty of Meerssen, the western part ofLotharingia was added to West Francia. In 875 Charles the Bald was crowned Emperor of Rome.
The last record in theAnnales Bertiniani dates to 882, and so the only contemporary narrative source for the next 18 years in West Francia is theAnnales Vedastini. The next set of original annals from the West Frankish kingdom are those ofFlodoard, who began his account with the year 919.[13]
After the deathCarloman II in 884, the West Frankish nobles elected his uncle Charles the Fat, already king inEast Francia and theKingdom of Italy, as their king. He was probably crowned "King in Gaul" (rex in Gallia) on 20 May 885 atGrand.[14] His reign was the only time after the death ofLouis the Pious that all of Francia was re-united under one ruler. In his capacity as king of West Francia, he seems to have granted the royal title and perhaps regalia to the semi-independent ruler of Brittany,Alan I.[15] His handling of theViking siege of Paris in 885–86 greatly reduced his prestige. In November 887 his nephewArnulf of Carinthia revolted and assumed the title as King of the East Franks. Charles retired and soon died in 888.
In Aquitaine, DukeRanulf II may have had himself recognised as king, but he only lived another two years.[16] Although Aquitaine did not become a separate kingdom, it was largely outside the control of the West Frankish kings.[3]Odo, Count of Paris, was then elected by nobles as the new king of West Francia and was crowned the next month. At this point, West Francia was composed ofNeustria in the west and in the east by Francia proper, the region between theMeuse and theSeine.
After the 860s, Lotharingian nobleRobert the Strong became increasingly powerful as count ofAnjou,Touraine andMaine. Robert's brother Hugh, abbot of Saint-Denis, was given control overAustrasia by Charles the Bald. Robert's sonOdo was elected king in 888.[17] Odo's brotherRobert I ruled between 922 and 923 and was followed byRudolph from 923 until 936.Hugh the Great, son of Robert I, was elevated to the title "duke of the Franks" by KingLouis IV. In 987 Hugh's sonHugh Capet was elected king, and theCapetian dynasty began. At this point they controlled very little beyond theÎle-de-France.
The control of Carolingian kings had shrunk greatly by the 10th century (in yellow).Royal lands (in blue) by the end of the 10th century
The power of the kings continued to decline, together with their inability to resist the Vikings and to oppose the rise of regional nobles who were no longer appointed by the king but became hereditary local dukes. In 877Boso of Provence, brother-in-law of Charles the Bald, crowned himself as the king ofBurgundy andProvence. His sonLouis the Blind was king of Provence from 890 and emperor between 901 and 905.Rudolph II of Burgundy established theKingdom of Burgundy in 933.
After the death of East Francia's last Carolingian kingLouis the Child,Lotharingia switched allegiance to KingCharles the Simple of West Francia. After 911 theDuchy of Swabia extended westwards and added lands ofAlsace.Baldwin II of Flanders became increasingly powerful after the Odo's death in 898, gainingBoulogne andTernois from Charles. The territory over which Charles exercised actual control shrank considerably and was reduced to lands between Normandy and river Loire. The royal court usually stayed inRheims orLaon.[1]
Norsemen began settling inNormandy, and from 919Magyars invaded repeatedly. In the absence of strong royal power, invaders were engaged and defeated by local nobles, likeRichard of Burgundy and Robert of Neustria, who defeated Viking leaderRollo in 911 atChartres. The Norman threat was eventually ended, with the lastDanegeld paid in 926. Richard and Robert became increasingly opposed to Charles, and in 922 they deposed him and electedRobert I as king. After Robert's death in 923, nobles electedRudolf as king and kept Charles imprisoned until his death in 929. After the rule of King Charles the Simple, local dukes began issuing their own currency.
King Rudolf was supported by his brotherHugh the Black and son of Robert I,Hugh the Great. Dukes of Normandy refused to recognise Rudolf until 933. Rudolf had to move with his army against the southern nobles to receive their homage and loyalty, however, thecount of Barcelona managed to avoid this completely.
After 925 Rudolf was involved in a war against the rebelliousHerbert II, Count of Vermandois, who received support from kingsHenry the Fowler andOtto I of East Francia. The rebellion continued until Herbert's death in 943.
KingLouis IV and Duke Hugh the Great were married to sisters of Otto I, who after the deaths of their husbands managed Carolingian and Robertine rule together with their brotherBruno the Great, archbishop of Cologne, as regent. After further victories by Herbert II, Louis was rescued only with the help of the large nobles and Otto I. In 942 Louis gave up Lotharingia to Otto I. Succession conflict in Normandy led to war in which Louis was betrayed by Hugh the Great and captured by Danish prince Harald who eventually released him to the custody of Hugh, who freed Louis after receivingLaon as a compensation.[1]
Louis' widowGerberga of Saxony ruled asregent during the minority of their sonLothair in 954–959. The 13-year old Lothair inherited all the lands of his father. By this time they were so small that the Carolingian practice of dividing lands among the sons was not followed, and Lothair's brotherCharles received nothing. In 966 Lothair marriedEmma, stepdaughter of his maternal uncle Otto I. Despite this, in 978 Lothair attacked the old imperial capitalAachen.Otto II retaliated by attacking Paris but was defeated by the combined forces of King Lothair and nobles, and peace was signed in 980, ending theFranco-German war.
Lothair managed to increase his power, but this was reversed with the coming of age ofHugh Capet, who began forming new alliances of nobles and was elected as king in 987 after Lothair and his son and successorLouis V of France had both died prematurely, traditionally marking the end of the French branch of Carolingian dynasty as well as the end of West Francia as a kingdom. Hugh Capet would be the first ruler of a new royal house, theHouse of Capet, who would rule France through theHigh Middle Ages.
^AB a. 843:ubi distributis portionibus ...cetera usque ad Hispaniam Carolo cesserunt.
^AF a. 843:in tres partes diviso ... Karolus vero occidentalem tenuit.
^AF a. 843:Karolus Aquitaniam, quasi ad partem regni sui iure pertinentem, affectans ... ("Charles wanted Aquitaine, which belonged by right to a part of his kingdom").
Janet L. Nelson. "Kingship, Law and Liturgy in the Political Thought of Hincmar of Rheims".English Historical Review 92 (1977), 241–79. Reprinted inPolitics and Ritual in Early Medieval Europe (London: Hambledon, 1986), 133–72.
