History of France - Documentary

France a nation of monumental achievements some of which are rivaled by not for much of its history spending well over a thousand years France was a dominant player of European history and indeed in many ages the dominant player it was the home of many great empires the Empire of Charlemagne which laid a foundation for much of modern Western Europe the colonial empire of the Bourbons which spread French language culture and rule across the seas and the Empire of Napoleon which was inches away from total domination of the European continent and beyond just a little over two hundred years ago France is also the home of a number of major intellectual technological for the Safa chol cultural and political achievements as well many aspects of the modern world have their birthplace in France and today France remains a powerful and influential nation hello and welcome to fire of learning I'm Justin and today I would like to thank you all for joining us as we now add France to the list of nations and peoples whose history we have fully covered in our documentary series hello Madame I miss you Hansie [Music] before we begin I would like to thank Gordy in the third JL Maccabee Ryan v captain Supercow Charles Fong and Travis Simonson for being our most recent supporters on patreon they join these supporters who make these videos possible Europe the fifth century AD the Western Roman Empire is collapsing as the old order begins to falter in the West new peoples begin to move into the former lands of the Roman Empire to state their claims one such land was a place that the Romans called Galia Gaul the Romans had occupied Gaul for centuries though they were far from the first in ancient times in the south the Phoenicians and the Greeks were active one city Masoli a' founded by the greeks still stands to this day as the city of Marseille through much of modern France however it was the Celts who ruled there were scores of separate essentially independent Celtic tribes but Julius Caesar narrowed them down to two main groups the Gauls and the Belgae the aqua Thani who were not Celtic were an important presence in the southwest as well it was Caesar who subdued the region and brought it within the Roman Empire long ago now centuries later new landlords were arriving on the scene to the Romans these people were squabbling barbarians whose kingdoms paled in comparison to the once mighty empire to them their world was falling apart no one could have known what future was beginning with these new peoples following Rome's collapse Gaul was divided between a handful of Germanic tribes the Visigoths Burgundians and allamani were important players in the region in the north was what historians call the kingdom of swaths of a Roman rump state still holding out after the fall in 476 in the far left corner were the Breton's Celts from the island of Britain pushed out of their homeland by the Germanic English accent invaders however it is with one in particular that we begin our story the people called the Frankie the Franks the Franks were a pagan Germanic tribe already present in the region before 476 they had been living around modern Belgium and slowly expanding into and settling modern France as the Roman Empire collapsed like most Germanic peoples they were not united into one nation or even tribe but rather there were multiple different ones which at times worked cohesively the specific group and mention are the salient Franks currently under the rule of childerik the first son of the semi-legendary Frankish king Marivic who his name brings us the name of the Merovingian dynasty though Germanic barbarians these rulers were not necessarily always enemies at Rome but in certain circumstances allies it is quite likely that Marivic fought on the side of Rome at the Battle of the Catalonian plains against the Atilla and Huns as the Romans relied more and more on barbarian allies for the end of the West whether or not Marivic was a descendant of a germanic sea god well I leave that question up to the viewer Kings show the RIC would only live for a few more years but his son bold and ambitious had a long and eventful future ahead of him he was named motivic though we refer to him as Clovis Clovis became the king of the Sicilian Franks and 481 AD he was only 15 though this was old enough in the eyes of his people to lead he got right to work he had great plans and years later in 486 was able to enact them after assembling an army of around 6,000 men he invaded a kingdom of sloth saw at the Battle of sois saw Clovis and his allies defeated the enemy leader syagrius and annexed his territory pillaging it and reorganizing it Clovis is domain doubled in size the first of many victories to come he then moved his capital to this new territory from the city of Tornai to his city which we now know as Paris with his first great victory however came his first great obstacle as mentioned Clovis and his people were pagans they followed an ancient Germanic religion related to the one which the later Norse Vikings followed but they now found themselves in the domain of the Christians while the Western Roman Empire was gone the influence of Rome was certainly not I do not simply mean that the Empire still existed strongly in the east as it did nor do I simply mean that the Roman people still saw themselves as Romans this is also true but the Roman organization of the continent was still important to those who lived in it even after the Empire itself was gone Roman culture language and social structure lived on in the city of Rome the Senate still functioned as for the Roman people they did not believe that their empire was actually gone and it would be centuries before this was accepted furthermore the Roman religion and the Catholic Church which mandated it was not to be trifled with and Clovis would attempt to maintain positive relations with them his first step was to take a Catholic wife clotilda with his power base in the Roman land secure Clovis was able to bolster his ranks and better challenge his neighbors one of his primary goals was unification with the other Frankish groups he sought to bring them under one banner his he set out on a bloody campaign to unite his people killing enemy leaders many of whom were his relatives to ensure this unity as the Frankish people United he then turned his attention to the lens of his Germanic rivals and neighbors in Gaul his war against the allamani beginning around 496 the details and base of closes reign are not always clear is among the most famous and important of these conflicts they met at the Battle of Tobias here as the fighting raged on the battle was not going as expected the Franks were losing being driven back by the alimony according to the historical sources namely gregory of tour it was here where out of desperation Clovis turned not to his pagan gods but to the god of his wife Christian God praying to him for assistance as he did so the battle turned and the Franks won the day now to those of you who have seen my Rome and Byzantium documentaries this may sound familiar a very similar thing happened to the Emperor Constantine at the Battle of the Milvian bridge in 312 ad the Battle of Toby AK had a significant impact on Clovis he would take interest in this new God and indeed would come to be compared to Constantine Clovis would go on to defeat his own neighbors in battle most notably the Visigoths he undertook his campaign against them in 507 to liberate the Romans from the Aryans who ruled over them and prevented raiding to ensure that this remained a war of liberation in 507 he met them at the Battle of Bowie a driving them out of Gaul and obtaining much of Aquitaine for his successes military religious and illegal he was celebrated across Christendom and even received a title of some sort again it is not known exactly what from the byzantine emperor anastasius it is significant that Clovis was to become a Catholic I mentioned recently the area's arianism was a form of Christianity that was common among the Germanic peoples after and before the fall of Western Rome essentially Aryans held that Jesus was distinct from God they denied the concept of the Trinity ironically some sources state that the Romans viewed Arianism as worse than paganism as Arianism was outright heresy whereas paganism was viewed as understandable ignorant that their ancestors once suffered from as well Clovis may very well have converted to Arianism for a while before becoming a Catholic but he did end up with Catholicism much like Constantine he was baptized toward the end of his life on Christmas Day in 508 with this baptism historians say the French monarchy was born the French people regard Clovis as the founder of their nation however it would be some time before something like France would emerge in the modern sense Clovis died around the Year 511 which of his sons then succeeded him to the throne all four this is where things get messy in most monarchies throughout history not just in Europe but across the world when one leader dies the throne passes to a single child usually the oldest son with the Monarchs domain intact this is called primogeniture the Franks did not practice this they practice what is called portable and heritance the lands of the father were divided among all his sons after his death as if it were his personal property and basically that is how they saw it though Clovis is domain looked like the beginning of modern France and indeed it is these territories were to be split and rearranged and fought over by kings of the same people and family for centuries why did they do this a number of reasons but the best answer I think is that the modern concept of a state was a foreign concept it hadn't yet developed and was not the way of the Frankish people the Romans were the closest thing to it in the west of course the intention was not to create separate countries but to divide the lands of one people among different rulers they were supposed to get along but of course this did not always happen there is no shortage of the tales of sibling rivalry in the history of the world's monarchies here we have no exception the territory was divided and the manner shown here between Cote or Childebert claudemir and Theodoric it's worth noting though the boundaries of these four sub kingdoms were not well defined which furthered the problems these four brothers would fight with each other but would also invade other lands such as those of the Burgundians and as the ostrogothic kingdom fell to the Roman Emperor Justinian the area of Provence expanding the overall influence of the realm of the Franks a common pastime of the Frankish Kings was dying young Clovis was 45 when he died and two of his sons died before the age of fifty as well each without children when his shield abhart died the whole of the kingdom was seized by claude are the first and Frankia was fully reunited in 558 he died only a few years later however in 561 and well he had four sons well he had five but he had to kill one for being a rebel I'm an evil royal families that's the process we started the sibling wars would continue among close as grandsons undermining the power of the country though details of these events are quite limited with Clovis's grandsons a common template for future divisions began to be established for regions in particular Neustria Austrasia burgundy a' and Aquitaine though it's important to note that the borders would fluctuate and that the kingdom was not always divided between four individuals for example in 567 it was divided among three Seibert king of Austrasia died in 575 when he was assassinated under the order of his brother's wife but his wife Brunhilde outlived him and threw her retention of power became a more famous historical figure becoming the region of both Austrasia and burgundy by navigating the messy politics of the franks and holding three separate regencies in her long life she was a favorable ruler at first but later became hated for her plotting and cruelty in 613 she was defeated in battle by Clos tyre ii who once more reunited the Frankish realm she around the age of 70 was accused of the murder of 10 members of the royal family tortured and was executed by dismemberment cloak are the second thus assumed his rule and would rule until 629 he would be known as close are the young and close are the great though perhaps regarded as great it was under him that the me revenge and dynasty began to slowly enter into a period of decline for which he helped set the stage one decision which led to this was increasing the power the mayor of the palace or the my or Domo an office held by the Frankish Kings as a sort of Prime Minister though with much less power hitherto he made this a hereditary position held for life after his death in 629 the realm was divided between two of his sons the way for the Waffen they all the Idol or do-nothing Kings had been paved as the Merovingians lost power to their surrounding Nobles and the mayors of the palace in 639 this change was certainly more pronounced as the realm was further divided following the death of Dagobert - first in 680 Pepin of hairstyle became the Mayura domo Austrasia Pepin went to war against and defeated the forces of Neustria and burgundy at the Battle of tur tree and in the subsequent peace treaty four steam iron ore most of both kingdoms to resign he hence became the mayor of all three areas in 687 importantly it was here that Pepin took on the title Dukes at pink caps francorum Duke and Prince of the Franks a more appropriate regal title he held this position until his death in 714 in which time he expanded the power of the Franks further notably by pushing into Germany the Merovingians were becoming puppet kings and Pepin's dynasty of mayors of the palace what would become the Carolingians were on their way up in 714 Pepin died a civil war erupted afterward over power among the Franks but by 718 Pepin son Charles became the new Myra domo apart from consistent wars for the Germans of the East the majority of the problems that the Franks faced over the years was with each other they did not however exist in a vacuum other forces were at work throughout the world and a great new Empire would soon be on the doorstep of the Frankish Rome Charles would spend much of his career fighting and conquering the peoples of modern Germany and fighting more internal civil wars but he's best remembered for the fact that he would have to make a stand against this more powerful new Empire and the outcome of this dan would spell the future of not only France but indeed nearly all of Europe furthermore it would earn him the name Martel in the 7th century in the Middle East a new power arose that challenged the traditional powers of Rome and Persia the Islamic caliphates with unstoppable determination and religious zeal they expanded rapidly building an empire stretching from the borders of India into Spain toppling the kingdom of the Visigoths in forging one of the largest empires in world history now the Islamic conquerors were on the doorstep of the Frankish homeland in 718 that began expanding into Frankish territory in 721 they were met at the Battle of Toulouse by the ruler of Aquitaine which was semi independent at this time Duke odo the great so named as he was the first to defeat the advancing Muslims in Europe here they were crushed and forced to retreat but only temporarily they continued raiding and in 732 Abdul Rahman al Gough ikki a new commander of the Islamic forces set out to continue the conquest of Europe by seizing Gul Oda the great was unable to repel them this time and they began marching forward the Frankish army under Charles moved from the east to meet them odo was not exactly Charles's Ally he had resisted his rule and even fought against them but they were Franks with a mutual enemy and so he pledged his allegiance to Charles the two armies met near the city of Tor Abdulrahman was confident of victory the European kingdoms were weak and squabbled amongst themselves if they had taken down both Eastern Rome and Persia this should be a simple matter he was wrong he attacked on October 10th hoping to crush his enemies before the onset of winter but the Arabs were unable to break the Frankish forces it was a decisive defeat for them the franks lost around a thousand men the Umayyads lost over ten times this including Abdul Rahman himself the Muslims were forced to fall back into Iberia never again when their armies attempt to conquer France Charles was revered across christened him as a savior it is from this battle that he earned the title Martel the old French word for hammer Charles the hammer I could say and remain distinct from Charles's domain but Frankia had been saved he continued his rule and returned to fighting Germanic tribes such as the Friesians and Saxons in 737 king theodoric the fourth died and a new king was not appointed until a few years after Charles Martel's death in 741 he was the man behind the curtain but by this point the curtain was completely transparent and there wasn't really a need for a Merovingian King to sit on a throne so one wasn't appointed the days of the Merovingians were ending and they would soon be fully replaced by the Carolingians whose line would shine in European history Charles died in 741 his position as my Adamo was divided between his two sons carlomon and Pepin that year sure the wreck of the third was made the Merovingian puppet King in 743 in 747 carlomon resigned to pursue the life of a monk a choice which seems to have been voluntary this left Pepin known as Pepin the short in control of the Frankish Kingdom one might wonder why bother with this facade why were so many Merovingian Kings placed on the throne to sit there and look kingly but do nothing well there was a religious significance to the Kings it was not just about power in fact it is somewhat comparable to many modern Monarchs of Europe their power is extremely limited but their position is deemed to be of great importance to the state for a traditional religious and symbolic reasons this was perhaps even more so the case for the Frankish Kings of this era who could remove a figure of such importance as the king of the Franks well a figure of equal importance of course Pepin the short began discussing a situation with Pope Zacharias commenting on its irrationality the Pope agreed with Pepin on this issue and he had more than one motive for doing so which we will soon discuss Pepin used this agreement to justify his next actions sure the RIC was deposed in 751 his hair was cut and he was sent to live in a monastery where he ended his days the facade was ending and with a vote of the Frankish nobles Pepin was crowned king of the Franks the first of the Carolingian Kings one of Pepin's first acts was to pay the Pope back for his assistance as all this had been going on Pope Zacharias had died and was succeeded by Stephen the second the city of Rome was in serious trouble the Italian peninsula had been reconquered by the eastern Romans also known as the Byzantine Empire around two centuries prior by the affer mentioned Justinian it was under them that the Pope's had lived up to now however after the death of Justinian the Roman hold on Italy had become tenuous a Germanic group called the lombards had invaded the peninsula in the late sixth century and Italy became a patchwork of Byzantine and Lombard lands now Eastern Roman rule was deteriorating further the Pope was at risk of being under the long barbed thumb an outcome which seemed worse than being under the thumb of the borderline heretic Eastern Romans the Franks soon went to war against the lombards Pepin defeated them and Lombard King ISIL was forced to make concessions to the Franks and to the church it is from this that in 756 Pepin was able to make a donation often called the donation of Pepin to the church which would have a profound impact on history and though much reduced last to this very day a strip of land stretching from Ravenna in the Northeast to Rome in central Italy was granted at the church establishing the basis for the papal States this was the Pope's land Pepin would spend much of the rest of his reign in the west of his kingdom fighting the Islamic Iberian Zen trying to take control of Aquitaine from its rebellious leaders he died in 768 Pepin had established a new line and brought Frankia to a new height extending its influence into Italy beating back the Muslims expanding into Germany and bringing cohesion to Frankia itself such power however often attracts rivalry the Byzantine Empire in particular had taken offense to Frankish meddling in Italy and the Pope's decision to favor these barbarians over the traditional Roman Emperor the rivalry between these two powers or more broadly the Christian West and East was only just beginning but indeed the role of the Carolingians was just beginning after Pepin's death his son Carl Amon inherited the eastern portion of the kingdom and his son Charles the West the elder brother Charles was not content with this alone however he had great ambitions and his realization of many of those ambitions would lead him to be known as Charles the great careless Magnus Carl de graça or Charlemagne Charlemagne was likely in his mid-twenties when he came to the throne he no doubt showed intelligence ambition and fortitude from a young age his first opportunity to prove himself came with the war he inherited from his father trouble with of course Aquitaine and their ally a very ancient people of Europe the Basques Charlemagne was victorious here bringing Aquitaine firmly under his rule in 771 his younger brother carlomon died of illness and Charlemagne was able to inherit his territory to reunify the Frankish Kingdom now wielding the full might of Frankia the stage was set for a long and eventful career Charlemagne sought first and foremost to expand his domain in his career he would go to war with nearly all of his neighbors some of his earliest enemies were these Saxons and the long barns the war he waged on the Saxons starting in 772 was only just the beginning of a series of Wars it would last most of his reign until 804 his war is against their later leader V Duke end especially demanded an excessive amount of his attention his goal was to neutralize their rating habits into his territory to convert them by the sword to the new Christian religion and to take their territory it was also in 772 that Charlemagne went to war once more against the lombards they were causing problems for His Holiness Pope Adrian the first in 773 Charlemagne crossed the Alps to meet the Lombards in battle by the following year they were defeated Charlemagne then became the master of northern and central Italy and he displayed it by claiming the kingship of the lombards and crowning himself with their iron crown this was the first of his many great conquests it was a rather bold and Swift conquest especially relative to many of his later ones Charlemagne forged his Empire slowly piece by piece he would campaign nearly every year of his rule and was victorious on nearly every campaign he would settle each new territory with his people put them under the administration of counts which might have been overseen by his sons and retained what he had conquered along the borders of his territory he was set up marches territories which were governed by military leaders over the next few decades he would go to war with the Breton's the Basques the Islamic forces the Bavarians and other Germanic groups the avars the Slavs and others being successful on most occasions though he never could fully subdue the Baths also known as the Gaskins from the same etymology nor the Breton's he constructed a navy to combat Arab or Saracen Raiders who had been attacking the Mediterranean though he preoccupied himself with war it is important to note that Charlemagne was not simply a man of the sword it is in his rule that what historians refer to as the Carolingian Renaissance began this was one could say a period of spring weather during the winter of the Dark Ages he emphasized learning literature art and architecture it was under him that things such as question marks lowercase letters and spaces in between words became more commonplace in writing education and the Frankish Empire reached a new height for much of its history and most of Dark Age Europe up to this point literacy rates were about 1% most Kings couldn't even write it isn't clear whether or not Charlemagne was literate but he certainly tried historians often note that many classical works were likely preserved as solely because Charlemagne orchestrated their preservation it is an 800 ad that Charlemagne obtained his highest position on Christmas Day of that year Charlemagne was attending Mass in Rome as he knelt before the altar Pope Leo the 3rd placed a crown upon Charlemagne's head and proclaimed him Imperator Romanorum emperor of the Romans this was quite a title it was essentially claiming that Charlemagne had brought back the Western Roman Empire that he was the successor of romulus augustulus who had been deposed in 476 the title would one day evolve into the title of Holy Roman Emperor a line of which Charlemagne is often seen as the first it's not known whether or not Charlemagne wanted such a title nor is it clear that he even knew that it was coming to him though he and his people still preferred their Frankish identity to a Roman one he did use the title and enforced his claims to it against whom would he have to enforce these claims why the actual Romans of course the eastern Roman Emperor or rather Empress and with that we have another justification for a Charlemagne's coronation Irena Bothans had seized power and the Byzantine Empire becoming Empress after she blinded her own son which led to his death accordingly as the Pope did not recognize the legitimacy of a female Empress of Rome as there had never been one in history he felt that the position was vacant this would cause conflict between the Franks and Byzantines which would lead to war there was a significance to being Roman which is important it was not simply flowery symbolism the Roman Empire was the one true Empire of the earth which is the main reason that the title was contested a solution however was proposed Charlemagne was an emperor Irene was an empress can I make it any more obvious Charlemagne proposed marriage to her as a means of uniting the two empires Irene seemed to seriously consider this but was overthrown before such an arrangement was made partially because she did consider it in 806 war was waged between the Franks and Byzantines which ended in 8/10 and a truce Charlemagne was recognized as in Emperor but not Roman Emperor it was not long after this that in January of 814 Charlemagne became ill to us in hindsight it is quite clear that Charlemagne's accomplishments were some of the most remarkable of his era and his empire the greatest and largest that would be seen in Western Europe for quite some time he would later be known as pottre doro by the father of Europe indeed his Frankish Empire wish at the time of his death stretched from the edges of Spain to modern Western Poland laid the foundations for not only France but also Germany the lowlands and other states Charlemagne died later that month he had earned the title the great but the question was now to what extent could successors live up to it it was immensely difficult to rule such a vast empire in this age and it would take leaders of equal ability to maintain it furthermore as if domestic problems weren't enough not all of Charlemagne's business outside his empire had been settled enemies still lurked on the horizon one such enemy was a people to the north of the German Saxons a pagan people who had heard of the forced conversions of the Saxons and were returned by them these were the Danes a new age was beginning in Europe an age of Vikings they would threaten all that the Franks had established even the mighty Charlemagne was unwilling to break the traditional Germanic custom of portable inheritance furthermore he was reluctant to pass on the title of emperor of Rome because of the conflict it invited however fortunately for the integrity of his empire only one son had outlived him Louie who became known as Louie the pious or Louie the first Louie was a just ruler but as his moniker implied he was perhaps better suited for the life of a monk than an emperor he came to the throne in 814 after a near-death experience when a bridge collapsed under him he began preparing for his accession he too would honour dramatic inheritance laws but there would now be a twist his eldest son lotar was to be Emperor his brothers were to be kings of their respective territories but subordinate to the Imperator as the Frankish Empire had evolved into something more than it had once been before Charlemagne the need for a unity became more stressed oh but how old habits die hard though the Frankish Empire was still mighty Louie was not a military commander territory was slowly lost in his reign two Bulgarian invasion and Slavic uprisings however it would not be these which dealt a major blow to the Empire nor even the Vikings who increase their activity in the region at this time but rather these civil wars which would soon be erupting over the questions of succession civil wars broke out and Louie's later reign among his sons from 833 to 834 he was even temporarily deposed Louie died in 840 and his sons moved to secure their positions his third son Pepin had already died and so only lotar Louie and Charles were left to divide the Empire civil war erupted it again and then 843 they came to an agreement with the Treaty of their doom Louie who will become known as Louis the German would inherit East Frankie Oh Charles who would be known as Charles the bald would inherit West Frankia Letarte would inherit middle Frankia middle Frankie Oh as we will see does not last long it was basically a geographically implausible country a thin borderland separated by the Alps however East Frankia would lay the foundation for the future Holy Roman Empire or a Germany in West Frankia the foundations for the kingdom of France were made Charles the ball was not exactly a popular King his relations with his brothers were at first peaceable but his relations with others were less so the Breton's revolted against Frankish rule rebellions once Morris sprouted up in Aquitaine and worst of all the Vikings ravaged Frankia the West especially by navigating Europe's of waterways these pagan warrior raiders pounced on a fractured Empire was a terrible fury in 845 a Viking leader recorded as Regan Harris or Ragnar lothbrok sailed up the river sin laid siege to and sacked the city of Paris and a spring the norse terrified the Frankish people they sacrificed over a hundred of them to their god Odin during a siege Charles was forced to pay them off now keep in mind Vikings was a good show but not exactly the accurate history anyway for now though if the Vikings wanted to find some money they knew where to find someone who would give them to ransom these tributes would become frequent however Charles would make an effort to strengthen his army and his kingdom in response lotar died in 855 and his territory was divided among his sons into Italy motolinia Emperor vollis Lotharingia is the etymological origin of the word Lorraine not long after the death of Louis for the first fighting broke out between Charles and Louis over Austria Germany and France would fight over the region of what would become Alsace Lorraine until basically World War two by 870 middle Frankia had been divided between the two Kings with Italy going in its own direction Charles the bald died in 877 with the throne passing to his son Louis stemmer though he and Charles's other heirs died young as well the Empire was briefly reunited in 884 under charles ii fat though this was out of coincidence his essentially all the other heirs had died under his rule Paris was besieged again by the Norseman but the city's defenses held thanks in large part to count odo and on this occasion they were driven back Charles de fat would be overthrown in 887 and the Empire would not be reunited in this way ever again in 898 Charles's simple came to the throne of West Frankia this meant Charles II straightforward not Charles the it was under his rule that in the 900s in Norseman came back under the leader of the last siege of Paris named Rollo they besieged cities such as Paris and under immense pressure Charles's simple gave in this time however gold was not sufficient the Norseman were granted an area of land in the north of Frankia Rollo converted to Christianity was baptized and possibly married a Frankish princess the land would come to be known as the land of the Northman or an old French Normans becoming Normandy true to their nature the Norseman would not settle down to a quiet and simple life their role in history would continue to be important this did not solve the Viking problem however the Normans pledged to defend the king and as a part of their deal made efforts to ward off other Vikings the other enemies all around Frankia were consistent problems as well however Charles was overthrown any revolt led by Robert the first in 922 who was the son of the affirmation to count odo after his death a year later Robert's son Rudolf was elected to become King body Frankish noblemen not feeling any loyalty to the Monarchs whom they viewed as usurpers the Normans joined other Viking groups in raiding Frankia again the Franks would also have to face the wrath of the Magyars a nomadic steppe people who had migrated into Europe and the Islamic Saracens of the Mediterranean Rudolf died in 936 and was succeeded by Charles's simple son Louie the fourth who was intended to be a puppet monarch this is where the monarchy tends to change hands a bit there's a lot of characters involved but the essential point is that the Carolingians and a line which at this time was called the abortions those who follow drop of the first would be competing for power for some time much of Lu the fourth rain was spent securing that rain against you the great the son of rubber the first and the man who had tried to make him a puppet as well as fighting off foreign invaders and disputing the rain with his East Frankish counterparts now under the rule of all the great here the great was elevated to the title of Grand Duke of the Franks but did not become King and indeed he and Louie would bicker over what exactly this title meant in truth the position of King was once again becoming less and less important as was the case in other areas of Europe the nobility under the King were becoming a truly powerful ones across friends Louie the fourth died 954 and was succeeded by his son lotar who had the approval of Hugh the great as a part of his maneuvering lotar was only thirteen and Hugh was conveniently to be Regent he would die two years later though to be succeeded by his son in his position of Duke by Hugh Capay low towers power was more limited than what would have been expected by a king west Frankia was highly decentralized and fragmented at this point much of the country was led by local leaders often called princes ever since the death of Charlemagne these leaders had taken advantage of the distractions caused by invading foes namely the Vikings Magyars Saracens and so forth and the chaos surrounding the monarchy to gradually increase their own power practically to the point of Independence the power lotar did have was heavily influenced by others namely Duke he woke up a low tried to wrest control of power and secure his accession naming his son Louie his heir and Junior King in 979 however support for Hugh Capay became greater among the franks than for him motard died suddenly in 986 and was succeeded by his son lulu v but as fate would have it Louie died the year after his succession after falling off his horse the Frankish Nobles then came together and elected Hugh copay to be their king the line of the and kings of France had ended though there were some Carolingians still alive the way was now open for the capetians to rule this dynasty would one day extend outside of France and would be one of the most influential in European history Hugh co-pays initial situation was similar to that of his predecessors his vassals were uninterested in bowing to a central monarch at the cost their own power accordingly his direct Amane was limited to just this area around Paris known as the Ile de France and some other scattered territories shown here the king dictated religious matters but beyond this he held very little power and worked with the other princes of France as if they were foreign leaders not so much subordinates the princes insisted during his period on the right to elect their Kings and were sometimes successful in that aim modern French had certainly not yet developed and many different languages were spoken across France there wasn't a single currency either most regions use their own furthermore the authority of these local princes was also challenged by their subordinates as well making the issue of decentralization even worse cukup a would fail to a large extent to wield power over his vassals the process of centralizing the monarchy would take centuries however his line had been established and from its power base in Paris it would one day be achieved his son Robert followed him to the throne in 996 robert ii would also attempt to consolidate power focusing specifically on burgundy of which he did manage to eventually become duke robert the pious as he is known much like lua the pious faced discontent and rebellion led by his three sons he died in war against them in 1031 and was succeeded by his son henry and were the first henry would have another long reign 29 years but as was so often the case his abilities as king were limited he died in 1060 and was succeeded by his son Philippe Philips the first Philip would reign for 48 years until 1109 major history was perhaps being made less so by these two artisan by the Duke of the Duchy of Normandy to the north a man named Guillaume William William the bastard as he is known succeeded his father Robert the Magnificent as Duke in 1035 as he was only a child he had to contend for his position with rivals though he had gained the support of the King Henry the first in these battles and came out victorious as Williams power grew Henry the first would later be threatened by it and would become hostile the William would beat him back as well in the early 1050 s William conquered the County of Maine and later held influence across the whole north of modern France as an almost independent Kingdom meanwhile the king of England Edward the Confessor died in January of 1066 he had promised succession to multiple people in his life in order to win them over to his side including William of Normandy however when he died the anglo-saxon Harold Godwinson claimed the throne this to William was not acceptable later that year he invaded England and went to war with Harold Harold was killed and the resulting Battle of Hastings between the two all on October 14th of that year William who became William the Conqueror after this feat was now both Duke of Normandy and King of England this was the start of a new era not only for England but also for France William holding two titles would be problematic he was the duke of normandy a nominal subject to the king of france though he would continue to be at war with that came for some time but also King of England in independent country this would help lock the messy politics of both kingdoms together for centuries accordingly for the next few centuries we will be looking a bit at events in England alongside those of France as throughout the Middle Ages they were very closely intertwined if not essentially the same arena william died in 1087 with the norman presence in england secure with his successor however Normandy and England had been divided between his two sons it was during the reign of King Philip the first that they first Seyed was called in fact calls for began and friends though it was outside of Philips domain and he Duchy of Aquitaine Philip himself was unable to join it but a very large number of people in the First Crusade were Frenchman Philip died in 1108 and was succeeded by his son Louie who became Louis's sixth litter known as Louis a fighter or more commonly Lou the fact he reigned for 29 years and would spend that time quarreling and fighting with his neighbors namely the anglo-norman as well as corrupt officials in his own territory who mistreated the peasantry and exploited them Lou the six significance however was that he was more successful than his predecessors he was not a palace Prince this king of France was a respected warrior his war was Anglo normandy was more famous in 1106 the English King Henry the first sees Normandy from his brother in combat this reunited England and Normandy but importantly the perspective had changed England was not the property of the Duke of Normandy as it had once been but now rather Normandy was the property of the king of England Henry sees the French Fortress of diesel in 1108 the English and French met to negotiate the following year Louie challenged Henry to single combat over their dispute but Henry refused and this led to war they would fight on and off for much of their reigns he would also have to contend with Henry's Ally Heinrich v of Germany though Louis was able to draw support from much of France to repel him Henry the first of England's heir to the throne actually died in a drinking and sailing accident and in order to secure a succession his daughter Matilda married Geoffrey plantation a or a Plantagenet count of Anjou shown here in 11:28 which again was semi independent of the King of France Henry died in 1135 Louie would die in 1137 but in his final year would seize a major opportunity the Duke of Aquitaine had died and sought to make Louis the protector of his heiress his daughter Louise heir who became Louis seventh married the daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine named Eleanor thus bringing the Duchy of Aquitaine under the rule of the king though and this is important they were not joined they were held in a personal union via this marriage without saying being Eleanor's possession meanwhile in England the crown had been seized not by Geoffrey Plantagenet but by Henry the first nephew Stephen this led to his civil war between them in England and a period remembered as the anarchy Matilda died before it was really resolved but her son Henry of Anjou followed in her footsteps to continue the war in 1153 King Stephen and Henry came to an agreement Henry would succeed Stephen to be king of England after his death which he did the following year meanwhile in France Louis the sevenths marriage with Eleanor was strained by the difference in their personalities Louis was reserved and highly religious even though he embarked on his second crusade in 1147 the much more lively eleanor was bored by him declaring she married a monk not a king the frustration grew when she was unable to pursue her desire to have children likely because of Louise's sevens piety and was thus accused of barrenness it was not merely a desire though it was the duty of a queen throughout history across much of the world to have children and secure the monarchies continuity with the Second Crusade having drained the coffers of France and the Kingdom in trouble without a male heir the marriage between the two was annulled in 1152 on the basis that they were too closely related although in truth they really weren't this divorce provided Henry the second he's soon to be king of England was a fascinating opportunity he could marry Eleanor of Aquitaine and through this marriage claimed the Duchy of Aquitaine this marriage took place in 1152 thus when henry ii came to the throne his domain stretched from the north of England to Normandy to Anjou all the way through Aquitaine relevant to France he would also control part of Brittany later on historians call this the Alvin Empire from all jus Eleanor had five sons by Henry we remarried but still had not sired a male heir and henry ii ii placed his eyes on that situation as well a few years later henry ii proposed that his son with eleanor also named henry mary-louise daughter by another woman marrying your daughter with your new wife to your ex-wife's son with her new husband I say again ah medieval royal families his ambitions he would fail though as though he had his son by a third wife named Phillip who would become Phillip the second Augustus or Finney by boost after Louis died in 1180 Philip Augustus would be among one of France's greatest medieval kings Philippe Auguste aged only 15 began to build up his army and navy within a year of his coronation he went to war against his neighbors starting with the county of Flanders and later of course henry ii and his aunt of an empire his primary objective was to break the olive an empire apart nine years into his reign henry ii died a Meg conflict with his sons of her power in 1189 and was succeeded by his son Richard the first the Lionheart the rivalry between Philip Augustus and Henry's heir richard the lionheart was to continue but their war was interrupted by the Third Crusade which they both joined along with the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and so their dispute was limited to arrogant and spiteful remarks for the time being especially on the part of the lion-hearted the Third Crusade was a partial success upon return war between France and the ultra Benz resumed as time progressed more allies would join against a rising power of France including the Holy Romans now under Emperor Otto the fourth then the conflict was shaken up in 1199 when Richard a Lionheart died unexpectedly while fighting against a rebellious vassal in his French territory this brought the infamous John the 1st to the throne of England peace was temporarily agreed to by John and Philip but was in a few years the war was back on King John handled the war poorly and was in a few years normandy and much of the rest of the olive and domain in france was under Philips rule as the or progressed fearing the rising power of friends with the Pope's blessing many other states came to John's aid on July 27th 1214 French forces met the Holy Roman and allied forces at the Battle of Budin the French had around 7,000 men the Allies around 9,000 the French took the field crushing their enemy the Battle of bovine was a major turning point in European history John was so weakened by the defeat that he faced insurrection at home by his barons leading to the magna carta the power of the French monarchy meanwhile had grown considerably Philips rural and influence but across much of what is modern France especially in the north and center of the region France was becoming a more centralized Kingdom it didn't stop here however in the South of France other events were taking place a new religious order possibly spread to France from the east by the Crusaders had arisen in the Languedoc region over the course of the 12th century Kathir ISM the Cathars were a heretical branch of Christians which held a number of uncommon beliefs which rejected the material world by the 13th century they had finally gotten on the catholic church's last nerve the rulers of the region struggling to maintain their own power while being surrounded by other major powers were reluctant to challenge them on their own a crusade was called against them in 1209 by Pope Innocent of 3rd permed the Alba Jensen crusade philip ii was reluctant to participate but of the 10,000 troops that gathered in the all for this european crusade most were Frenchmen when Pope Innocent the 3rd however died in 1216 Philip was designated to be its new leader he instead delegated his task to his son Louie remembered as Louie Louie Louie the lion ultimately Philip successors would reap the benefits of this crusade Philip Augustus died in July of 12 23 he had brought the kingdom of France to a new height and helps to turn it into a major power centered around the monarchy he was succeeded by his Ephraim mention son Louis the 8th who continued both the Albert Jensen crusade and the war on the altar vents though he died young only having reigned for three years he was followed by his son Louis ix aged only 12 at the time his mother queen blush of Castile would rule as regent in the meantime the Alba Jensen crusade ended briefly in 1229 but conflict and Inquisition would continue on and off for another 20 years when new rebellions and resistances broke out the Crusaders laid waste in the region as many as a million people may have been killed following this Cather ism went into hiding and slowly died out what future a religion that discouraged reproduction really had anyway is unclear but what is clear are the political ramifications of these events as the Crusaders had been led by the French kings the influence of the French monarchy now spread to the south of the country Raymond the seventh count up to lose who had resisted the Crusaders agreed that upon his death which occurred in 1249 the lands he ruled would be turned over to the Capetian house lui the ninth had begun his adult rule somewhere around the Year 1234 under him the success of the capetians in acquiring land would continue forward in 1242 a major war came once again against England and its allied French sub kingdoms called the Sun town war the English King Henry the 3rd as was so common in this era intended to press his rights to the lands of the olivet Empire in July of 1240 to the Battle of tibor was thought it was another French victory deciding the war and leading to a five-year truce between England and France Louis welcome to peace treaty the French and all Germans had been at war on and off for the better part of a century and now there were other matters to attend to namely those Far East Louie was an especially pious and just leader and he felt that he had crusade in the East for the benefit of the church he would embark on - in his life he 7th and 8th Crusades and as mentioned had overseen the end of the Abba gentian crusade as well he did not simply show his piety through war however he was known for his generosity to the poor they often ate from the leftovers of his table he created a fairer legal system in which he revived an old Roman concept that people are innocent before they are proven to be guilty he built many hospitals SiC houses and the Sansha pail in Paris it is for his unusually pious behavior that he became the one and only Salah we st. Louis and today cities as far away as America bear his name his warmth toward his own people however was met with coldness to the out-group he viewed Cathars Jews and Muslims as threats to the welfare of his people prostitution gambling and usury which is the practice of loaning money with interests were banned and heretics were severely punished the east - which lure the ninth crusade it had been quite ruptured in recent decades with the Christian sack of Constantinople decades earlier both of his Crusades were failures these 7th Crusade led to his capture in which he was exchanged for a heavy ransom and the eighth was a failure after disease hit the crusading camp including Louis leading to his death in 1270 he was followed by his son Philip the third that year Philip the third did not live up to the example set by his father though in his reign territory including a territory of Navarre and Marne Spain was one he died in 1285 while fighting aragon sicily from dysentery the same disease which had taken his father he was succeeded by his son Philip the fourth called Philip the fair so called for his handsomeness in rule he was not quite so fair but rather fair which is French for iron he was no water fair the iron King indeed he was rather unscrupulous especially in comparison to his grandfather waiting war on England and Flanders which led to the formation of the Auld Alliance with Scotland against England these wars were marked with mixed results they were crushing defeats such as at the Battle of the golden Spurs but eventual gains as well another notable wines was the one which was offered to him by the Mongols against their common Muslim foe the Franco Mongol Alliance may be notable but not much came from it Philip the fourth and therefore France struggled with financial problems in debt for much of his rule partially accrued by his father but also by his regular Wars and lifestyle Philip the fourth attempted to resolve these issues by briefly devaluing the front currency by reducing its silver content the currency lost two-thirds of its value which ultimately hurt more than helped leading to social unrest and it's revaluation thus he felt compelled to resort to harsher measures to solve his financial problems in 1306 Philip expelled the Jews from France and took control of these Silverman's which they owned he argued with Pope Boniface the eighth over the right to tax church lands and would even place an embargo on the papacy over this issue the Pope called together a council to consider deposing Philip the fourth and in response Philip the fourth called together a council to condemn the Pope Philips Council is often regarded in French history as the beginning of lazy Taj in the hall the Estates General in 1302 this consisted of the meeting of three levels of French society the clergy the nobility and interestingly representatives of the common folk Pope Boniface the eighth issued the uno mas sanctum which declared papal supremacy over the politics of Europe although this would fail and Boniface was later essentially killed by Italian allies develop the next Pope restore relations in 1305 the French Borana clement v was elected pope because the city of rome was very tumultuous in this time period and because the semi-independent south of france suited the papacy and its interests he decided to remain in france leading to what is termed as the Avignon papacy a period in which the Pope's live in France eventually in his period the Pope would later own the city Philips next target was a seemingly unlikely but indeed wealthy group the Templar knights Philip the fourth owed the Templars a considerable amount of money influenced as well by other political and religious motives he and his ministers managed to plot against them accusing them of heresy usury sodomy and a whole host of other crimes many of which were very likely false accusations a number of Templars were arrested on Friday October 13 1307 they were tortured until they admitted to their crimes and the fact that they had to them was used in trials to justify burning them at the stake their Pope Clements the fist under the thumb of the King of France could do little the Grand Master of the order Jacques de Molay was burned the following spring according to legend because of the Kings treachery the date of Friday the 13th was to forever remain a curse a day though this association may not have arisen until much later regardless the curse was no doubt confirmed in the eyes of Europe when the Pope died a month later and King Philip died eight months later at the age of 46 Philip the fourth was followed by four short-lived kings his first two sons and grandsons died young and so the crown ended up with a third son Charles the fourth in 13 22 in this time tension with the nobility around France had arisen and relations with England especially had begun to boil as well much like his family King Charles the fourth died young in 1328 at the age of 33 with no male heir he was to be the last of the Capetian kings of France a question now fell upon the French people who was to succeed him two options appeared Philip from the House of Valois a cousin was a prominent choice however across the channel not everyone agreed the ambitious King Edward the third of England made an argument for his right to succession as king of both France and England this disagreement would be to war that would outlast both of them over 100 years of war in the next video we will discuss this Hundred Years War and how France pushed through it under the leadership of some unlikely heroes however as France emerges from this war we will watch as it becomes a modernized nation we will look at france's role in the colonization of the Americas Asia and Beyond and a supreme power of the Bourbon monarchy then we will watch as this monarchy Falls to revolution and then how this revolution Falls to an ambitious Corsican general until we reach modern France the next video will be titled the French empires and Republic or something like that anyway I hope you enjoyed this video if so I invite you to come check out the rest of fire of learning and to subscribe to see more videos like this in the future especially my history of Nations and people's documentary playlists we would appreciate donations on patreon to help with the cost of producing these videos the link to which you can find in the description you can support the channel with as little as a one dollar contribution however simply subscribing to our YouTube channel for free is also a large help a special thanks to our patreon supporters listed here we are also on Instagram Facebook and Twitter so come check us out there to mail see for watching

Channel: Fire of Learning

Views: 427,413

Rating: 4.8604336 out of 5

Keywords: France, History of, Documentary, Nations and Peoples, French, Kingdom, Valois, Charlemagne, Franks, Bourbons, Napoleon, Louis XIV, Louis IX, Phillip Augustus, Bouvines, Crecy

Id: jqTiI9UPIeY

Length: 63min 59sec (3839 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 18 2019