There is no single starting date for "French" history. Some textbooks start with prehistory, others with the Roman conquest, others still with Clovis, Charlemagne or Hugh Capet (all mentioned below). While I usually begun with Hugh Capet in 987, I have started this list earlier to ensure broad coverage.
Conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar 58 – 50 BCE
Gaul was an ancient region which included France and parts of Belgium, West Germany and Italy. Having seized control of the Italian regions and a southern coastal strip in France, Rome sent Julius Caesar to conquer the region and bring it under control in 58 BCE, partly to stop Gallic raiders and German incursions. Between 58-50 BCE Caesar fought the Gallic tribes which united against him under Vercingetorix, who was beaten at the siege of Alésia. Assimilation into the Empire followed, and by the mid first century CE Gallic aristocrats could sit in the Roman Senate.Germans Settle in Gaul c.406 CE
In the early part of the fifth century groups of Germanic peoples crossed the Rhine and moved west into Gaul, where they were settled by the Romans as self-governing groups. The Franks settled in the north, the Burgundians in the south east and the Visigoths in the south west (although mainly in Spain). The extent to which the settlers Romanized or adopted Roman political/military structures is open to debate, but Rome soon lost control.Clovis Unites the Franks c.481 - 511
The Franks moved into Gaul during the later Roman Empire. Clovis inherited the kingship of the Salian Franks in the late fifth century, a kingdom based in northeast France and Belgium. By his death this kingdom had spread south and west over much of France, incorporating the rest of the Franks. His dynasty, the Merovingians, would rule the region for the next two centuries. Clovis selected Paris as his capital and is sometimes regarded as the founder of France.Battle of Tours/Poitiers 732
Fought somewhere, now precisely unknown, between Tours and Poitiers, an army of Franks and Burgundians under Charles Martel defeated the forces of the Umayyad Caliphate. Historians are much less certain now than they used to be that this battle alone stopped the military expansion of Islam into the region as a whole, but the result secured Frankish control of the area and Charles’ leadership of the Franks.Charlemagne Succeeds to the Throne 751
As the Merovingians declined, a line of nobility called Carolingians took their place. Charlemagne, which literally means Charles the Great, succeeded to the throne of a portion of the Frankish lands in 751. Two decades later he was sole ruler, and by 800 he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by the Pope on Christmas Day. Important to the history of both France and Germany, Charles is often labelled as Charles I in lists of French monarchs.Creation of West Francia 843
After a period of civil war, Charlemagne’s three grandsons agreed a division of the Empire in the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Part of this settlement was the creation of West Francia (Francia Occidentalis) under Charles II, a kingdom in the west of the Carolingian lands which covered much of the western part of modern France. Parts of eastern France came under the control of Emperor Lothar I in Francia Media.Hugh Capet becomes King 987
After a period of heavy fragmentation within the regions of modern France, the Capet family were rewarded with the title “Duke of the Franks”. In 987 Hugh Capet, son of the first Duke, ousted rival Charles of Lorraine and declared himself King of West Francia. It was this kingdom, notionally large but with a small power base, which would grow, slowly incorporating the neighbouring areas, into the powerful kingdom of France during the Middle Ages.Reign of Philip II 1180–1223
When the English crown inherited the Angevin lands, forming what has been called the “Angevin Empire” (although there was no emperor), they held more land in “France” than the French crown. Philip II changed this, winning back some of the English crown’s continental lands in an expansion of both France’s power and domain. Philip II (also called Philip Augustus) also changed the regal name, from King of the Franks to King of France.The Albigensian Crusade 1209 - 1229
During the twelfth century a non-canonical branch of Christianity called the Cathars took hold in the south of France. They were deemed heretics by the main church, and Pope Innocent III urged both the King of France and the Count of Toulouse to take action. After a papal legate investigating the Cathars was murdered in 1208, with the Count implicated, Innocent ordered a crusade against the region. Northern French nobles fought those of Toulouse and Provence, causing great destruction and damaging the Cather church greatly.The 100 Years War 1337 - 1453
A dispute over English holdings in France led to Edward III of England claiming the French throne; a century of related warfare followed. The French low point occurred when Henry V of England won a string of victories, conquered great chunks of the country and had himself recognised as heir to the French throne. However, a rally under the French claimant eventually led to the English being thrown out of the continent, with only Calais left of their holdings.
