France (Merveilles des Morte)
Kingdom of France Royaume de France | |
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Motto: Montjoie Saint Denis! | |
| Capital | Paris |
| Common languages | Breton, Franco-Provençal, Occitan, Norman, Picard, Champenois, Angevin, Gallo, Burgundian, Poitevin, Basque, Alsatian |
| Religion |
Roman Catholic (987-1521) |
| Government | Feudal absolute monarchy |
| King | |
• 987–996 | Hugh Capet |
• 1180–1223 | Philip II |
• 1364–1380 | Charles V |
• 1517-1544 | Jaromir |
| Establishment | |
| Historical era | Middle Ages |
• Start of Capetian dynasty | 3 July 987 |
| Currency | Livre, Livre parisis, Livre tournois, Denier, Sol/Sou, Franc, Écu, Louis d'or |
The Kingdom of France (Old French: Reaume de France, Middle French: Royaulme de France, French: Royaume de France) was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Western Europe. It was among the most powerful states in Europe and a great power since the High Middle Ages. It was also an early colonial power, with possessions around the world.
France originated as West Francia (Francia Occidentalis), the western half of the Carolingian Empire, with the Treaty of Verdun (843). A branch of the Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty. The territory remained known as Francia and its ruler as rex Francorum ("king of the Franks") well into the High Middle Ages. The first king to call himself Roi de France ("King of France") was Philip II, in 1190. France continued to be ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines until the death of Joan I in 1537, after which France was ruled by the Přemyslid Dynasty.
France in the Middle Ages was a de-centralised, feudal monarchy. In Brittany and Catalonia (now a part of Spain) the authority of the French king was barely felt. Lorraine and Provence were states of the Holy Roman Empire and not yet a part of France. Initially, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, but the regular coronation of the eldest son of the reigning king during his father's lifetime established the principle of male primogeniture, which became codified in the Salic law. During the Late Middle Ages, rivalry between the Capetian Dynasty, rulers of the Kingdom of France and their vassals the House of Plantagenet, who also ruled the Kingdom of England, resulted in many armed struggles. The most notorious of them all are the series of conflicts known as the Hundred Years' War in which the kings of England laid claim to the French throne.
History
Reign of William II (1477-1517)
William II, who reigned from 1477 to 1517, would become one of the most consequential kings of the early modern period, overseeing France’s emergence as a unified and powerful state, and ruling during the early years of the Protestant Reformation. Coming to the throne in 1477, William II’s early reign was characterized by frequent conflicts with the nobility, most notably William’s uncle Francis of Berry, and his foreign-backed faction the League of the Public Weal. William II was initially disinterested in administration and matters of war, instead showing a passion for the arts and entertainment, and was plagued by rumors regarding his sexuality and eccentric behavior. Nonetheless, following a fallout with Francis of Berry the king instituted widespread reforms hoping to centralize the nation and modernize its army, laying the groundwork for a larger and more efficient fighting force. By the middle of the 1480s William’s new army had begun to crack down on roaming mercenaries and independent-minded forces that threatened the nation’s integrity, growing the professional army from 6,000 to 20,000 strong, much to the chagrin of France’s historical enemies.
This military build up would lead to covert support for rebellion across France from the likes of the Swiss Confederacy and the Spanish. As the face of the League of the Public Weal and a potential claimant to the throne itself, Francis of Berry was accused of being a part of a conspiracy to overthrow William II. He would be imprisoned and died soon after, although a rebellion was sparked known as Berry’s Rebellion, largely led by Francis’ son Victor. The rebellion dramatically tested William’s new fighting force, expanding the French army to one of the most well equipped in terms of firearms and cannons, the latter becoming renowned across the continent. After the Battle of Rugles personally led by William the rebellion subsided, with many of the supporters of Victor of Berry being granted clemency. The discovery of Swiss intervention in the conflict, both indirectly and directly, worsened tensions with the Swiss. After the declaration of the Lenzburg-Premyslid War by Henry VIII the French also declared war on the Swiss.
The conflict with the Swiss Confederacy would see France face invasion from the Spanish as well as the Kingdom of Arles and the Kingdom of Lotharingia. Due in part to Spanish influence in the Papal States, William II would be excommunicated by the Pope, although this would not be the last time this would occur. The war would prove particularly devastating, although the French were largely successful. The Swiss would be repulsed from France and forced to flee into the interior of the Swiss Confederacy, allowing the French to successfully besiege and capture Geneva. The primary theatre for the French would be along the Franco-Spanish border, with the French eager to reclaim lost territory north of the Pyrenees. William proved an intelligent and inspiring commander much to the surprise of the nobility based on his feminine stereotypes. While personally leading soldiers on the frontline, William encountered numerous near death experiences, but his presence managed to propel the French army to victory across the south of the nation. When Spanish efforts caused a revolt near Bordeaux in 1490, the King personally rode up to one rebel army, unarmed and by himself, and shouted, “Here I am. Kill your King, if you wish.” Instead the soldiers responded, “Long live the King” and arrested their rebel lord instead.
Despite William’s heroisms, France found itself increasingly indebted, low on manpower, and highly strained by the conflict. His insistence on victory led many in France to abandon him, and prolonged warfare, especially in the south near the border with Spain, caused widespread devastation. At the start of 1489 the Kingdom of Lotharingia launched its offensive into northern France, despite initially signing a non-aggression pact with the French. This forced William to rush north with a portion of his army, leaving the Spanish border at a standstill. The crucial Battle of Compiègne defeated the Lotharingians and pushed them over the border, while their ill timed attempts to seize Aachen simultaneously only turned a coalition of German states against them. Thus the Lotharingian intervention accomplished little, and within a year Lotharingia was forced to make peace and relinquish Jülich and other minor territories. William made plans for a final offensive that year to push the Spanish behind the Pyrenees, but with France’s resources spent and the introduction of Portugal to the Spanish alliance, he finally settled with the annexation of only a part of Spain’s northern territories.
Following the war with Spain relations with the Papal States only deteriorated, beginning a decades long religious feud. Devastation brought on by the recent wars, and the feud with the papacy led to William II pursuing a policy of breaking from papal authority. A series of rebellions broke out throughout the 1490s, known collectively as the War for Peter’s Pence, which was directly brought about by William II’s taxation policies against Catholic properties and his feud with the papacy over ultimate religious authority in France. This corresponded with the proliferation of widespread humanist ideas; by the end of the century France had one of the most robust printing press industries, spurring the spread of religious and ideological treatises. A lapse in government authority broke out especially in the south, which coincided with the rise of discontent in the Catholic church. With the church embroiled in costly feuds elsewhere, most notably the Florentine Wars and the Henrician Civil War, Pope Pius III signed a truce with William II that lifted his many excommunications and allowed the king to appoint clergy and collect taxes and income from church lands, in what became known as the Concordat of Bologna. In exchange William II lifted support for rebels in the Italian peninsula, sent a small contingent of soldiers to aid in combating heretical sects in Thuringia, and allowed a multinational inquisition in southern France.
The treaty with the Papacy further consolidated control of the country under the king and helped to keep the nation financially afloat. The foundation would be laid for the Gallican Church, a Roman Catholic state church built on the theory that the power of monarchs was independent of the power of popes, and that the church of each country should be under the joint control of the pope and the monarch. Later in life following the commencement of the Protestant Reformation, William II sowed the seeds of a Jungist church in France, although he never claimed to be anything but Catholic himself. Under William II the French would also begin exploration and colonization of the wider world. In the early 1500s French merchants negotiated a favorable trade agreement with the nation of Mali, which eventually evolved into a limited alliance of opportunity against the Portuguese of Spanish. He also sponsored the first French voyages to the New World, making contact with the nation of Vinland, which became a de facto French puppet for a brief period after a war with the Celtic Confederacy and its allies.
William II would develop the military strategy which would dominate French foreign policy for the next two centuries. Following the Lenzburg-Premyslid War, which made France appear to be completely surrounded on all sides by the likes of Spain, Arles, Lotharingia, and England, France pursued a policy of aligning with the powerful Premyslid dynasty of Bohemia, who most often than not ruled as Holy Roman Emperor. This allowed most of France’s enemies to be surrounded themselves; Lotharingia would face the French to the west and the German states to the east after the Aachen Crisis, as would Arles and its territory in Burgundy, while the Spanish territories in Italy were effectively surrounded in the subsequent Italian Wars. This proved highly advantageous, allowing France to thwart future coalitions and expand eastward, most notably in the Amiens War.
As part of this strategy William had one of his close relatives, Joan of Berry, married to the grandson of Henry VIII, later known as Jaromir I, initially without much notice. However, William II never produced any heirs himself, and it soon became a real possibility that a personal union could emerge between Bohemia and France. After a brief and unhappy marriage to Beatrice of Savoy which lasted until 1490, William never again married and never had any children. With the near extinction of the House of Berry after their frequent rebellions, this seemingly left no remaining male heirs in the House of Capet, and as such William named his niece Joan of Berry as his heir. The last two decades of his life would be spent attempting to legitimize this in the eyes of the French nobility and the rest of Europe, to partial success. The French nobility would be forced to sign oaths pledging fealty to Joan prior to William’s death, while French laws were reexamined to permit such a succession. Jaromir adopted French customs and titles himself and spent years in France proper. It was settled that both would be crowned as ruling monarchs shortly before William II’s death.
Rise of the Přemyslids
Despite William II’s preparations, the succession of Joan and Jaromir as rulers of France did not go without opposition. The couple would face the Wars of the French Succession, which saw numerous rebellions in favor of most distant claimants to the French throne, such as Charles the Affable of La Marche, often with the support of Spain or other foreign powers. With Jaromir’s ascension to the Holy Roman Empire in 1522, he effectively became the most powerful monarch in Europe, ruling over France, Bohemia, and much of Germany. With this power came considerable difficulty and personal cost, and France became increasingly relied upon to quell various rebellions and fight wars across Europe. Jaromir I would champion the Catholic side during the early Reformation in an effort to keep the Holy Roman Empire and his authority intact, a strategy he inherited from his father Ottokar I. To this end he fought numerous wars against the newly formed Rätian Union. France’s interest in such affairs was lackluster, especially given Joan’s sympathy toward the Jungist cause. Following her death in 1537 the country was briefly ruled by Jaromir solely, although he relied almost completely on French ministers to govern the territory for him. With his abdication and later death in 1544 the thrones of Bohemia and France were split.
While Bohemia became ruled by Henry X, France came to be ruled by his younger brother Charles IV. During his reign the nation of France continued to become invested in the New World and the subjugation of Vinland. During a widespread Irish rebellion against the Celtic Confederacy, France sent a costly expedition to Ireland to aid in the rebellion, which proved unsuccessful. During the Kerpen War of 1541-1547, which saw a Catholic-backed theocracy in northern Germany ransack France’s ally the Hanseatic League, limited support was given against the forces of Henry von Kerpen. With the Roman Catholic Church subsequently becoming damaged and divided following the conflict, with an antipope in Germany being declared, the French Gallican Catholic Church grew considerably throughout the early 1500s, although the church soon became internally divided among Catholics and those wishing to reform the church further. In 1548 this would spill over into the Bishops’ War, a brief rebellion primarily in Occitania involving Catholic dissenters following the king’s acquiescence to the reformers.
The largest conflict of Charles IV’s reign would prove to be the Amiens War, which saw France invade the Kingdom of Arles-Burgundy. This created a diplomatic crisis in the House of Přemyslid, as Holy Roman Emperor Henry X did not approve of increased foreign invasion of the empire, but was hesitant to act against his brother. The war would ultimately see France make territorial gains at the expense of Burgundy, despite intervention on the part of Lotharingia and England. Henry X’s support for this outcome, as well as his support for antipope Zephyrinus II, would lead to a papal-backed election of an antiking in Leopold II of the Duchy of Habsburg, greatly harming the Franco-Bohemian side. Following the War of the Three Henrys, Bohemia effectively converted to Jungism in 1560.
The throne passed to Henry II in 1565, which saw France’s involvement in the ongoing Lotharingian Civil War increase. France became an early ally and defender of Belgica, the breakaway federal republic modeled after the reformed teachings of Richard Wagner. Henry II’s religious policy would see France adopt more Jungist teachings in the Gallican Church, fully severing ties to Catholicism in France. Despite this numerous Catholic rebellions would take place over the century, including the Bishops’ War of 1548, the Foix War of 1551-1553, the Wars of Religion of 1568-1576 and 1603. These wars became increasingly regionalized in southern France, where the last strongholds of Catholicism remained and where supply from Spain or Italy was most favorable.
Forty Years’ War
Footnotes
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