Kingdom of France

The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name given to the French monarchy during the medieval and early modern periods. It developed from West Francia, the western realm of the Carolingian Empire assigned to Charles the Bald by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. The Carolingian dynasty continued to rule until 987, when Hugh Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty. The realm was known as Francia well into the High Middle Ages. France was then ruled by the Capetians and their cadet lines, including the Valois and the Bourbon. In the medieval period, France was a decentralised feudal monarchy in which royal authority varied greatly across the kingdom. Powerful principalities such as Brittany, Normandy, Aquitaine, Lorraine, and.