The kings used the title "King of the Franks" (Latin:Rex Francorum) until the late twelfth century; the first to adopt the title of "King of France" (Latin:Rex Franciae;French:roi de France) wasPhilip II in 1190 (r. 1180–1223), after which the title "King of the Franks" gradually lost ground.[3] However,Francorum Rex continued to be sometimes used, for example byLouis XII in 1499, byFrancis I in 1515, and byHenry II in about 1550; it was also used on coins up to the eighteenth century.[4]
From the 14th century down to 1801, theEnglish (and later British) monarch claimed the throne of France, though such claim was purely nominal excepting a short period during theHundred Years' War whenHenry VI of England had control over most of Northern France, including Paris. By 1453, the English had been mostly expelled from France and Henry's claim has since been considered illegitimate; French historiography commonly does not recognize Henry VI of England among the kings of France.
Charlemagne was succeeded by his sonLouis the Pious (r. 814–840), who eventually divided the kingdom between his sons. His death, however, was followed by a three-year-long civil war that ended with theTreaty of Verdun, which dividedFrancia into three kingdoms, one of which (Middle Francia) was short-lived. Modern France developed fromWest Francia, whileEast Francia became theHoly Roman Empire and laterGermany. By this time, the eastern and western parts of the land had already developed different languages and cultures.[8][9]
839[h] – 13 January 888 (aged 48–49)King of East Francia since 876; crownedEmperor in 881. Last ruler to control all Frankish territories. Deposed by the nobility, later dying of natural causes[30]
The Capetian dynasty is named for Hugh Capet, aRobertian who served asDuke of the Franks and was elected King in 987. Except for the Bonaparte-led Empires, every monarch of France was a male-line descendant of Hugh Capet. The kingship passed through patrilineally from father to son until the 14th century, a period known asDirect Capetian rule. Afterwards, it passed to theHouse of Valois, a cadet branch that descended fromPhilip III. The Valois claim was disputed byEdward III, thePlantagenet king of England who claimed himself as the rightful king of France through his French motherIsabella. The two houses fought theHundred Years' War over the issue, and withHenry VI of England being fora time partially recognized as King of France.
5 October 1285[xxiii] – 29 November 1314 (29 years, 1 month and 24 days)
Son of Philip III
1268 – 29 November 1314 (aged 46)King of Navarre (asPhilip I) since 16 August 1284, following his marriage withJoan I. Remembered for hisstruggle with the Roman papacy and his consolidation of royal power, which helped to reduce the influence of feudal lords[59]
The two houses fought theHundred Years War to enforce their claims. The Valois were ultimately successful, and French historiography counts their leaders as rightful kings. One Plantagenet,Henry VI of England, enjoyedde jure control of the French throne following theTreaty of Troyes, which formed the basis for continued English claims to the throne of France until 1801. The Valois line ruled France until the line became extinct in 1589, in the backdrop of theFrench Wars of Religion. As Navarre did not have a tradition of male-only primogeniture, the Navarrese monarchy became distinct from the French withJoan II, a daughter of Louis X.
16 Sept 1380[xxx]– 21 October 1422 (42 years, 1 month and 5 days)
Son of Charles V
3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422 (aged 53)Ruled under the regency of his uncles until 1388. Suffered a long period of mental illness before dying of natural causes[70]
22 July 1461[xxxiii] – 30 August 1483 (22 years, 1 month and 8 days)
Son of Charles VII
3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483 (aged 60)His reign saw the strengthening and expansion of royal power. Nicknamed "the Universal Spider" for the numerous intrigues during his rule[73]
30 August 1483[xxxiv] – 7 April 1498 (14 years, 7 months and 8 days)
Son of Louis XI
30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498 (aged 27)Ruled under the regency of his sisterAnne until 1491. Started the long and unsuccessfulItalian Wars. Died after hitting his head on alintel[74]
10 July 1559[xxxviii] – 5 December 1560 (1 year, 4 months and 25 days)
Son of Henry II
20 January 1544 – 5 December 1560 (aged 16)King consort of Scotland since 24 April 1558. A weak and sick boy, he remained under the regency of theHouse of Guise until his premature death[78]
5 December 1560[xxxix] – 30 May 1574 (13 years, 5 months and 25 days)
Younger brother of Francis II
27 June 1550 – 30 May 1574 (aged 23)Ruled under the regency of his motherCatherine until 1563, but remained under her influence until his death. The Wars of Religion began under his reign (1562). Best remembered for theMassacre of Vassy[79]
The Valois line looked strong on the death ofHenry II, who left four male heirs. His first son,Francis II, died in his minority. His second son,Charles IX, had no legitimate sons to inherit. Following the premature death of his fourth sonHercule François and the assassination of his third son, the childlessHenry III, France was plunged into a succession crisis over which distant cousin of the king would inherit the throne. The best claimant, KingHenry III of Navarre, was a Protestant, and thus unacceptable to much of the French nobility.
Ultimately, after winning numerous battles in defence of his claim, Henry converted to Catholicism and was crowned as King Henry IV, founding the House of Bourbon. This marked the second time the thrones of Navarre and France were united under one monarch, as different inheritance laws had caused them to become separated during the events of the Hundred Years Wars. The House of Bourbon was overthrown during theFrench Revolution and replaced by a short-livedrepublic.
22 December 1523 – 9 May 1590 (aged 66)Imprisoned by Henry III on 23 December 1588; remained his entire "reign" in captivity. Died of natural causes[84]
The period known as the "long nineteenth century" was a tumultuous time in French politics. The period is generally considered to have begun with theFrench Revolution, which deposed and then executedLouis XVI. Royalists continued to recognize his son, the putative kingLouis XVII, as ruler of France. Louis was under arrest by the government of the Revolution and died in captivity having never ruled. The republican government went through several changes in form and constitution until France was declared an empire, following the ascension of theFirst ConsulNapoleon Bonaparte as Emperor Napoleon I. Napoleon was overthrown twice following military defeats during theNapoleonic Wars.
After the Napoleonic period followed two different royal governments, theBourbon Restoration, which was ruled successively by two younger brothers of Louis XVI, and theJuly Monarchy, ruled byLouis Philippe I, a distant cousin who claimed descent fromLouis XIII. TheFrench Revolution of 1848 brought an end to the monarchy again, instituting a briefSecond Republic that lasted four years, before its President declared himself EmperorNapoleon III, who was deposed and replaced by theThird Republic, and ending monarchic rule in France for good.
House of Bonaparte, First French Empire (1804–1814)
15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 (aged 51)Conquered most of Europe in a series ofsuccessful wars; remembered as one of the greatest military commanders in history. Deposedin absentia and forced to abdicate, then exiled to the island ofElba[92]
3 May 1814[xlvii] – 20 March 1815 (1st time; 10 months and 17 days)
Younger brother ofLouis XVI; proclaimed king in June 1795. Had his dynasty restored to the throne with the help of other European royal houses, which had dethroned Napoleon
17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824 (aged 68)Fled France on 21 June 1791, during theFlight to Varennes, and again in March 1815, after the return of Napoleon[93]
15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 (aged 51)Abdicated in favour of his son following his defeat at theBattle of Waterloo. Exiled to the island ofSaint Helena, where he later died of a stomach illness[92]
20 March 1811 – 22 July 1832 (aged 21)Unrecognized by the Coalition; remained his entire "reign" hidden inAustria, with his motherMarie Louise. Died of tuberculosis several years later[94][95]
The Bourbon Restoration came to an end with theJuly Revolution of 1830 which deposedCharles X and replaced him withLouis Philippe I, a distant cousin with more liberal politics. Charles X's son Louis signed a document renouncing his own right to the throne only after a 20-minute argument with his father. Because he was never crowned he is disputed as a genuine king of France. Louis's nephew Henry was likewise considered by some to be Henry V, but the new regime did not recognise his claim and he never ruled.
Charles X named Louis Philippe as Lieutenant général du royaume, a regent to the young Henry V, and charged him to announce his desire to have his grandson succeed him to theChamber of Deputies, the lower house of theFrench Parliament at the time, the French equivalent at the time of the UK House of Commons. Louis Philippe did not do this, in order to increase his own chances of succession. As a consequence, and because the French parliamentarians were aware of his liberal policies and of his popularity at the time with the French population, they proclaimed Louis Philippe as the new French king, displacing the senior branch of the House of Bourbon.
6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850 (aged 76)Styled asKing of the French. Formally deposed following the proclamation of theSecond Republic. Abdicated in favour of his grandson[101]
24 August 1838 – 8 September 1894 (aged 56) Chosen by Louis Philippe I to be his successor, however the National Assembly refused to recognize him as king and proclaimed theSecond Republic. LaterOrléanist pretender to the throne.[102]
House of Bonaparte, Second French Empire (1852–1870)
20 April 1808 – 9 January 1873 (aged 64)Captured by the German army on 2 September 1870; deposedin absentia following the proclamation of theThird Republic.[103]
Variouspretenders descended from the preceding monarchs have claimed to be the legitimate monarch of France, rejecting the claims of the president of France and of one another. These groups are:
Legitimist claimants to the throne of France: Descendants ofLouis XIV through the senior branch of the House of Bourbon, claiming precedence over the House of Bourbon-Orléans by virtue of primogeniture. In 1883, these were split into two factions asHenri V died without heirs, and his successor as head of the House of Bourbon would have a Spanish Bourbon. Earlier,King Philip V of Spain (also of the House of Bourbon) had earlier renounced the throne of France for himself and his descendants in thePeace of Utrecht. One faction were the Unionists, who recognized the Orléanist claimantPhilippe as the pretender to the throne of France and disqualifying the Spanish branch from succession; the other were theBlancs d'Espagne, who insisted that claimant to the throne would remain to be from the Spanish branch according to primogeniture, disregarding the Spanish renunciation.
Orléanist claimants to the throne of France: Descendants of Louis-Phillippe, himself descended from a junior line of the Bourbon dynasty, rejecting all heads of state since 1848. They argue that King Louis Philippe acquired legitimacy viapopular sovereignty when the representatives of the French people in theFrench Parliament recognized him as king, with the Bourbons having already been rejected and dethroned by the French people after two revolutions.
Bonapartist claimants to the throne of France: Descendants of Napoleon I and his brothers, rejecting all heads of state 1815–48 and since 1870. They argue that the Imperial throne needs to return to the House of Bonaparte, as the monarchs of this house had been chosen directly by the people through referendums, giving them legitimacy to reign viapopular sovereignty, and both the Bourbons and the Orléans were rejected and dethroned through revolutions and that the Bonapartes were only dethroned due the interference of foreign enemies, with no popular revolution taking place to overthrow the Bonapartes and that theThird Republic was originally intended to be a provisional regime to return the throne to an Orléans or Bourbon (that never happened).
^Louis the Pious andCharlemagne are both enumerated as "Louis I" and "Charles I" in the lists of Frenchand German monarchs.
^Older scholars give his birth as 15 May,[10] theides of May. However, ancient sources record his birth as 13 June, the ides of June.[11]
^Not to be confused withLouis II the German, son ofLouis the Pious and king ofEast Francia (Germany). Both French and German monarchs saw themselves as the successors ofCharlemagne, which is why many rulers share the same regnal name.
^Scholars give his death as either 3,[16] 4,[17] or 10 August,[18] but ancient sources clearly indicates 5 August.[19]
^Some modern sources give his death as "12 December", but this is a mistake.[21][22][23]
^This is the most accepted and cited date, although it is not entirely confirmed.[28][27]
^In older sources his birth was dated to 832, but nowadays 839 is the accepted date.[29]
^Odo's death is universally given as 1 January, as given by a late 13th century chronicle,[32] but the earliest source on the matter, from the early 11th century, records his death as 3 January.[33] Another source, from the 13th century, records his death as 2 January.[34]
^Some scholars give his death as 21 May, but contemporary sources give 22 May.[42]
^"Capet" (latin:Cappetus) was not actually a name, but a nickname adopted by later historians. It probably derived fromchappe, an ecclesiastical mantle wore at theAbbey of Saint Martin of Tours.[44]
^abBecause neither Hugh nor Philip were sole or senior king in their own lifetimes, they are not traditionally listed as kings of France and are not given ordinals.
^He lived from 15 to 19 November according to the continuator ofGuillaume de Nangis.[61] TheChronique Parisienne Anonyme de 1316 à 1339 gives 13 and 18 November.[62] Modern sources often give his lifespan as 15–20 November.[63]
^Humphreys, p. 16 gives 6 January, the same date of Philip IV's coronation. This is a confusion.[64]
^Sources give his birth date as 6, 16, 20 or 26 April.
^This is the date in which the last English holdout was expelled by the French, with the exception ofCalais.
^Henry III was elected on 15 May 1573.[80] He was crowned on 21 February 1574,[81] but was declared deposed a year later, on 12 May 1575.[82]
^Lower Navarre was integrated into France during his reign.
^Louis XVI's powers as king became obsolete following theMarch on Versailles on 5 October 1789, after which he became a hostage of the revolutionary forces.
^TheSénat proclaimed the depositionin absentia of Napoleon on 2 April, which was followed by theCorps législatif on 3 April. Napoleon wrote an act of abdication on 4 April renouncing the throne in favour of his son. However, this was not accepted by the Coalition, so he wrote an unconditional abdication on 6 April renouncing his rights and that of his family.[91]
^Although claimed as the shortest reigning monarch by theGuinness World Records,[97] this claim appears to be unsustained.[98] The exact circumstances of his "abdication" are unknown, as it was announced in a document firmed by both Charles X and Louis, who is only calledDauphin. He is said to have been "king" between his father's signature and his own, as he (allegedly) initially refused to sign the document.
^Louis III and Carloman II were crowned on September 879.[15]
^Louis III and Carloman II were crowned on September 879.[15]
^Charles the Fat was most likely crowned on 20 May 885.[26] He was alreadyking of East Francia since 28 August 876. He was also crowned emperor on 12 February 881.[27]
^Odo was crowned on 29 February 888 and then again on 13 November.[31]
^Charles III was crowned on 28 January 893, in opposition to Odo.[j]
^Hugh was elected and crowned king on 1 June 987, inNoyon. He was crowned again on 3 July inParis by thearchbishop of Reims. The latter date is usually regarded as the "official" start of theCapetian dynasty.[45]
^Richer (1845) [c. 995].Histoire de son temps (in French). Vol. IV. J. Renouard. p. 147.Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved14 March 2022.
Jacquin, Emmanuel (2000),Les Tuileries, Du Louvre à la Concorde, Editions du Patrimoine, Centres des Monuments Nationaux, Paris. (ISBN978-2-85822-296-4)
Brownell, Henry (1854)."The Rulers of France".The People's Book of Ancient and Modern History. Dayton & Wentworth.Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved14 March 2022.
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