FRENCH HISTORY

The Middle Ages

The descendents of Clovis who are known as the Merovingian dynasty, along with another Frank dynasty called the Carolingians, ruled from the fifth through to the tenth century. It was during their reign that the country started to be called ‘France’. One of the greatest rulers during this time was King Charlemagne who extended the country’s boundaries ruling over not only Gaul, but most of western Germany and Italy too.

Charlemagne’s empire was eradicated when Norse from Norway and Denmark seized the lower valleys of the Seine and turned the area into the Duchy of Normandy. Other invaders followed and soon castles and fortresses were being built all over France to stave off these constant invasions. One of these castles is the Château de Langeais in the Loire Valley. It is one of the many, many castles in this region open to the public today.

In 987, the Count of Paris, Hugh Capet, was crowned King and the Capetian dynasty, which would rule for the next eight hundred years, had begun.

When Hugh Capet became King, he had control of only the relatively small area of Paris and its surrounds (approx 3,000 square miles).  His royal territories were known called Ile-de-France (the island of France).  But from generation to generation of the Capetian rule, the power and authority of the King spread and by the mid-thirteenth century, the ruler of Paris was the most important king in all Europe.

It was also during this period in 1095 that Pope Urban II preached the First Crusade in Clermont-Ferrand. You can still visit many great cathedrals built during the Crusades. One lovely example is the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Chartres.