Kingdom of France

The **Kingdom of France** (; ; ) is the name given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages and modern times.  According to historians, three major events started the Kingdom of France: the advent of Clovis I in 481, the Treaty of Verdun and the election of Hugues Capet in 987.  The kingdom lasted until 1792 and was briefly restored in 1814 to 1815 and then from 1815 to 1848.

The King of the Franks, Clovis I, sealed the alliance of Frankish Kingdoms with the Catholic Church at his baptism.  That alliance was perpetuated in the Kingdom of France by the crowning of kings at Reims, which made them monarchs by divine right.  The first Capetians were anxious to crown their eldest son in their lifetime because their authority was limited in reality to the Ile de France.  It was not until Philippe Auguste that their official acts called it the Kingdom of France and that they are able to make a real act of authority throughout the kingdom.  Their territory was the feudal fiefs of which king of Western France had been the suzerain since the 843 division of the Carolingian Empire.

The gradual integration of the feudal fiefs into the royal domain required the establishment of a royal administration.  Louis IX attached the main importance to its role as justiciary.  The _parlement_, the high court of justice, was put in place.  The Hundred Years' War allowed Charles VII to establish an army and permanent taxes.  Richelieu and Louis XIV strengthened the royal authority in the provinces by bringing the local governors of the nobility under their stewardship and by delegating to them stewards appointed by the king.

The tendency of royalty to exercise more and more absolute power could be challenged in times of turmoil, civil wars and the reigns of minor kings.  The dispute took a more pronounced character on the occasion of the diffusion of the philosophy of enlightenment and of the values that it carried: government of reason, separation of powers, individual liberties.  The French Revolution led to the establishment of a French constitutional monarchy.  However, the different formulas experienced failure in 1792, 1830 and 1848, which ended the French monarchy.

## Infobox (former country)

- **native name**: _Royaume de France_
- **conventional long name**: Kingdom of France
- **common name**: France
- **image flag**: File:Royal Standard of the King of France.svg
- **flag caption**: The Royal Standard of France (1643 design)
- **image coat**:
- **symbol type**: National emblem of France, Coat of arms
(1589–1792)
- **image map**: File:Kingdom of France 1000.svg
- **image map caption**: The Kingdom of France in 1000
- **image map2**: File:Kingdom of France (1789).svg
- **map caption2**: The Kingdom of France in 1789
- **national motto**: _Montjoie Saint Denis!_
- **era**: France in the Middle Ages, Medieval / Early modern France, Early Modern
- **national anthem**:
(1590–1792, 1814–1830)
_Marche Henri IV_
("March of Henry IV")  <hr>(1830–1848)
_La Parisienne (song), La Parisienne_
("The Parisian")
- **life span**: 987–1792
1814–1815
1815–1848
- **event start**: Beginning of Capetian dynasty
- **year start**: 987
- **date end**: 24 February
- **date start**: 3 July
- **event1**: Hundred Years' War
- **date event1**: 1337–1453
- **event2**: French Wars of Religion
- **date event2**: 1562–1598
- **event3**: French Revolution
- **date event3**: 5 May 1789
- **event4**: Bourbon Restoration in France, Bourbon Restoration
- **date event4**: 6 April 1814
- **event5**: July Revolution
- **date event5**: 2 August 1830
- **event end**: French Revolution of 1848, July Monarchy deposed
- **year end**: 1848
- **p1**: West Francia
- **s1**: French First Republic
- **s2**: French Second Republic
- **title leader**: List of French monarchs, King
- **leader1**: Hugh Capet (first)
- **year leader1**: 987–996
- **leader2**: Louis Philippe II  (last)
- **year leader2**: 1848
- **title deputy**: List of Prime Ministers of France, Prime Minister
- **deputy1**: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand
- **year deputy1**: 1815
- **deputy2**: François Guizot
- **year deputy2**: 1847–1848
- **currency**: French livre, Livre, Livre parisis, Livre tournois, French denier, Denier, French sol, Sol/Sou, French franc, Franc, Écu, Louis d'or
- **royal anthem**:
(1686)
_Grand Dieu Sauve le Roi_ (unofficial)
("Almighty God Save the King")
- **demonym**: French
- **event pre**: Treaty of Verdun
- **date pre**: 10 August 843