Empire · 987–1792 · Europe
Kingdom of France
Also known as France
When the last Carolingian king of West Francia died in 987, the nobles elected Hugh Capet, whose family directly ruled only a small region around Paris. Over the next three centuries the Capetian kings steadily extended royal power over the great dukes and counts, and Philip II Augustus took Normandy and other lands from the English Angevin kings.
The Hundred Years War with England, from 1337, nearly broke the kingdom until Joan of Arc helped revive the cause of Charles VII and the English were expelled by 1453. Under the Bourbon dynasty France became Europe's leading power, and Louis XIV ruled as an absolute monarch from Versailles. Debt, inequality and Enlightenment ideas fuelled the Revolution of 1789, and the monarchy was abolished in 1792.
- Years
- 987–1792
- Capital
- Paris; Versailles 1682 – 1789
- Greatest extent
- 1789, about 530,000 km²
- Region
- Europe
Roughly modern mainland France plus Corsica
Legacy
The French monarchy built one of Europe's first centralised nation-states, and its overthrow launched the age of modern revolutions.
Rulers
- Hugh Capet 987 – 996
Founder of the Capetian dynasty
- Philip II Augustus 1180 – 1223
Took Normandy and other lands from the English kings
- Louis IX (Saint Louis) 1226 – 1270
Crusader king, later canonised
- Charles VII 1422 – 1461
With Joan of Arc's help, won the Hundred Years War
- Henry IV 1589 – 1610
First Bourbon king; ended the Wars of Religion
- Louis XIV 1643 – 1715
The Sun King, model of absolute monarchy
- Louis XVI 1774 – 1792
Last king before the Revolution; executed in 1793
Realms on the map
- Kingdom of France 990–1791
- Kingdom of France 990–1791
Wars
- Third Crusade May 1189 – 9 October 1192
- Hundred Years' War May 1337 – 19 October 1453
- Thirty Years' War 23 May 1618 – 24 October 1648
- Seven Years' War 17 May 1756 – 15 February 1763
- American Revolutionary War 19 April 1775 – 3 September 1783