A Brief History of the French Monarchy.
A look to history from King Clovis of the Merovingians to Emperor Napoleon III
This article explores a section of the French monarchy and its development throughout history. Future articles will deal on more specific relating to other aspects of history, including more in-depth looks into specific branches like the Orleans and figures such as Eleanor of Aquitaine.
Gallia
What we know today as France really started with the Gauls, a Celtic tribe that habited France since around the 500 BC. These tribes maintained a rudimentary framework of governance, which did not go beyond tribal governance that was common in much of Europe beyond the Italian peninsula and Greece. Fast forward in time, Julius Caesar, in efforts of becoming the leading man in Rome between Pompey Magnus and Marcus Crassus, invaded “Gallia” as the Romans used to call this land.
Julius Caesar cohorts successfully invaded the Gauls and dominated the land. This was especially true after the defeat of Vercingetorix who tried to unite the Gauls under a united banner resisting the Roman legions. The famous painting by artist Lionel Royer in 1889 grasps an artistic sense of the surrendering by the famous Celtic king.
For the following three centuries, Gallia would be under the control of the Roman Empire. The Third century crisis, however, would hit the Gallia quite hard. This century led to hardships in the province, with depopulation and abandoning of towns and villages being quite common. This would pave the way to the mass settlement of the Franks in Gallia, a Germanic tribe that would set the foundation in France.
Frankia
The Franks were the Germanic tribe that settled in Northern France as part of the mass migration of Germanic tribes that took place in the 5th century. The Visigoths settled in the south, only to be later defeated by the Franks, and these extend their domination to the south. The Franks were a warrior tribe, renowned for their martial prowess. However, it would be with the Merovingian King Clovis that the country would turn to Christianity. The Merovingians Kings were barely noticeable, since the affairs of the realm were handled primarily by the castellans Martels, who would later become kings of France led by Charles “The Hammer” Martel. Charles Martel defeated the Muslim invasion at the battle of Tours in the year 732 AD and fought against the Saxon raiders that harassed the Frankish kingdom. However, the unity of the realm would be accomplished primarily by Charlemagne. Charlemagne would expand the territory of the realm to Central Europe, defeating the Germanic tribes, using the generalized term of “Saxons” to expand eastward. Charlemagne would lead the Franking realm into the Carolingian Renaissance, which led to a flourishing in the arts, law and noble etiquette and culture.
However, such renaissance was to be short lived. The hereditary system of the Carolingian was to divide the territory in the realm in equal parts between the male descendance, also known as the Salic law. This led to the fragmentation of the realm, in which France would have many struggles in keeping together the realm. This fragmentation weakened the French monarchy in Paris, as they would be constantly struggling with the nobility in Aquitaine, Burgundy and England. The house of Capet, the French kings until the 14th century, would struggle for centuries in keeping the English king out of France. Under Henry II, England controlled vast swathes of France, until being expulsed by the French in the 15th century.
However, with the Valois branch, which replaced the old Capet house, France started drifting towards a centralized crown. The Valois kings believed in a more active crown in foreign affairs, such as Charles VIII expeditions into Naples and Louis XII into Milan. Francis I would play a pivotal role in the Wars of religion in Central Europe, to the anguish of Phillip V of Austria. The French monarchy went on becoming more and more miliary and administratively powerful as time went on. However, Louis XIV of house of Bourbon would transform the French government in ways that no other realm did before.
Lois XIV, the Sun King, who uttered the famous phrase “Le Etat, Ce Moi”, was the most pivotal king in French history. Louis XIV came up with the “Departements”, offices of administrative bureaucrats that would execute the King’s prerogative on his behalf. These departments are essentially the modern-day administrative agencies, which are largely beholden to the executive branch in the execution of public policy. Louis XIV sought a state where the King had an inherent power over aspects of state craft, such as the pavement of roads, collection of taxes, the imposition of economic sanctions among others. Louis XIV went further in diminishing the power of the nobles, who spent most of their time in the luxuries of Versailles, both as entertainment and as a tactic by the King, keeping his enemies close.
This development of the Departments meant the employment of an educated class of men that could effectively execute the King’s prerogatives. Tied in with the nascent industrial revolution and the influences of the Glorious Revolution of 1689 in England, the rising classes of educated and wealthy elite paved the way for the eventual French revolution in 1789, especially its first phase.
The French revolution was long in the developments of French society. The bankruptcy of the French state due to the war of American Independence, the exemption of a decadent nobility of paying taxes and the proximity that French bishops had abetted the decadent lifestyle of the nobles and the king, Louis XVI, all played an important part. The extreme branch of the revolutionaries, led by Maximilian Robespierre, wrecked chaos in most parts of France, through the persecution of royalist, clergy and even other revolutionaries who were not radical enough. However, the revolution that Robespierre created would eventually swallow him as well, being executed in the Guillotine. During the post Robespierre era, France was led by the Directorate, who proved extremely unpopular and paved the way for the Napoleonic Era of France.
Much can be written about Napoleon. His favorites characters in history were Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great. He devoured The Gallic Wars yearly, and he even annotated a version of the Gallic wars while living in Saint Helena. Napoleon changed all of Europe, in both reactionary and revolutionary wars. He proclaimed himself “Emperor” wearing a roman Laurea and following a Roman style of leadership. He spread the Napoleonic Code throughout Europe, paving the way for much of Europe to codify their laws. Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire and paved the way for the formation of Germany. Napoleon also paved the way for the foundations of an Italian republic, which would eventually be formed by the Piedmontes, who were the most influence by France. The spread of French ideas to Eastern Europe sow the resistance to the Tsars and would be especially influential in anarchist and communist movements within Tsarist Russia as well as the Habsburg Empire. Much can be written about the Emperor of France, but to keep it short, Napoleon changed all of Europe, and his eventually downfall and replacement by the Bourbon monarchy proved a high standard to meet.
The bourbons were not able to meet these standards, and eventually deposed by the House of Bourbons-Orleans, whose king Phillipe I, who was backed by a conservative branch of French society. Phillipe I would also be overthrowed by Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon III would prove to be a popular monarch, and very interested in foreign military ventures. However, Napoleon III would be captured by Prussia and led to the abolition of French monarchy in France.
In conclusion, the French monarchy in its foundations stretches from Clovis of the Merovingian branch all the way to Napoleon III, of the Napoleonic branch. This is very brief history of French monarchical history, and following issues will focus more on individual kings, regions and departments that have so far marked French history.
References
Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts, 2014.
Lives of the Kings & Queens of France, Duc de Castries, 1979.
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome, Mary Beard, 2015.
A Brief History of the Western World, Thomas Greer, 1992.
A Short History of England, Simon Jenkings, 2012.
The Middle Kingdoms, Martyn Brady, 2023.
Habsburgs: The Fall and Rise of a World Power, Martyn Rady, 2020.
Russia and the Russians, Geoffrey Hoskings, 2001.