France until 1337

France was ruled by the Capetian family from 987 AD until 1328 but that simple sentence does not explain the full situation. On the death of King Louis V, the princes in France elected Hugh Capet as king, not because he would be a good ruler but because they thought that they could control him! Hugh was cleverer than they expected and by political treaties got support to elect his son, Robert, as king in his place and the family ruled France for over 300 years. The Capetians were still not strong and William, Duke of Normandy, who became William I (the Conqueror) of England was more powerful than Philip I of France.

Philip's heir, Louis VI gained control of the Ile-de-France region around Paris and this became the base for the country from then until today. His son, Louis VII was brought up near Paris and his father arranged a marriage for him to Eleanor, heiress to the Aquitaine lands in south western France. These were far larger than Capetian lands and a great gain to France. Louis took Eleanor with him on a Crusade in 1147 which proved a great mistake. The two could not live together peacefully so obtained permission from the Pope in 1152 to divorce. Within two months, Eleanor had married Henry of Anjou who was also Duke of Normandy. In 1154, Henry became Henry II of England and controlled that country, Normandy and Aquitaine.

France in 1185

Louis VII's successor, Philip II Augustus, ruled from 1180 until 1223 and was much more successful. He acquired small states to extend his empire and was only briefly distracted by a crusade from 1190 until 1191. It was this crusade that occupied so much of Richard I (of England's) time and cost him his freedom.

Richard I was followed as King of England by John who married a princess already betrothed (or engaged) to one of Philip's knights. John was summoned to appear at Philip's court but refused three times. Because of this, Philip was able to claim his lands in France. In 1204, Philip invaded both Normandy and Anjou and, after ten years, took almost all the territory after defeating the combined armies of England and the Holy Roman Empire. By the end of Philip's reign, most of what we now know as France was brought under one rule. The English attempted to regain some of their lost lands in 1126 by supporting a revolt against the young king Louis IX but failed. For almost a hundred years, relations between the two countries remained peaceful and the French kings fought the Moors in Spain and the Holy Land. An interesting fact was that five French kings in a row went on Crusades and three died on them. In 1328, the last of the Capetian kings died without leaving a male heir.

The crown passed to Philip of Valois who reigned as Philip VI from 1328 - 1350. By marriage to a daughter of Philip IV, Edward II of England had inherited a distant claim to lands in France. Nothing happened about this until Edward III of England claimed Flanders and Philip VI supported Scotland against England. Edward claimed the French throne in 1337 and the Hundred Years War began.

How France was divided between Philip II
and Henry II of England.

France -

The Hundred Years War was really a series of campaigns with the English successful at Crecy and Calais early on. Throughout the second half of the 14th century, another even more devastating attacker arrived in the form of the Black Death which returned seven times after the first outbreak in 1348. France, like England, suffered the death of almost half its population and anarchy ruled many areas with bands of outlaws in control. With fewer taxes because so much land could not be farmed, the cost of the war was crippling France. In 1415, Henry V of England invaded France and defeated the French at the Battle of Agincourt, taking over huge areas in the north of the country. The French fought back under Charles VII whose armies were rallied by the peasant girl, Joan of Arc.

When Joan was thirteen years old, she believed that she heard voices from heaven. She thought that these voices belonged to St. Michael and early saints, and one message told her to help the Dauphin, later King Charles VII of France, to defeat the English who were claiming the throne. Joan convinced the Dauphin and the bishops that she was serious and she led the army which defeated the English. At Charles' coronation, she was given a place of honour. Despite her support for him, Charles wanted no more battles with the English so, in 1430, Joan led an army without his support.

Joan of Arc.
(Image taken from 'Grande Larousse').

Despite the peace, relations between the two countries have always been through difficult periods and even wars but France remained united from that time with a king and later an Emperor based in Paris.