List of French monarchs

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Coronation of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile at Reims in 1223; a miniature from the Grandes Chroniques de France, painted in the 1450s, kept at the National Library of France

The monarchs of France ruled, first as kings and later as emperors, from the middle ages to 1848. There is some disagreement as to when France came into existence. The earliest date would be the establishment of the Merovingian Frankish kingdom by Clovis I in 486 with the defeat of Syagrius, the last Roman official in Gaul. That kingdom's rulers were deposed in the 8th century. The Treaty of Verdun established the Kingdom of Western Francia in 843. Another date favored by many medieval historians is 987, the beginning of the Capetian Dynasty.The Merovingians did not rule France per se but ruled lands that were continually fluctuating between modern day France and Germany.

However, the relevance of such traditional outlooks on the origins of modern nations is historically dubious (see below for recent studies). In light of these recent trends, this list begins with the creation in 843 of Charles the Bald's Kingdom of Western Francia, the state which would directly evolve into modern France. For earlier Frankish monarchs, see List of Frankish Kings.

In addition to the monarchs listed below, the Kings of England and Great Britain from 1422 to 1801 also claimed the title of King of France. For a short time this had some basis in fact - under the terms of the 1420 Treaty of Troyes, Charles VI had recognized his son-in-law Henry V of England as regent and heir. After the death of the two, Henry VI, succeeded his grandfather as King of France. Most of Northern France was under English control until 1435, but by 1453 the English had been expelled from all of France save Calais (and the Channel Islands), and Calais itself fell in 1558. Nevertheless, English monarchs continued to claim the title until the creation of the United Kingdom in 1801. Various English kings between 1337 and 1422 had also claimed the title of King of France, but only intermittently.

During the brief period when the French Constitution of 1791 was in effect (1791-1792), and after the July Revolution in 1830, the style "King of the French" was used instead of "King of France (and Navarre)". It was a constitutional innovation known as popular monarchy which linked the monarch's title to the people, not to the territory of France.

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Charles the Bald	843	October 6, 877
	Louis II	October 6, 877	April 10, 879
	Louis III	April 10, 879	August 5, 882
	Carloman	April 10, 879	December 6, 884
	Charles the Fat	885	January 13, 888
	Odo	February 29, 888	January 1, 898
	Charles the Simple	January 1, 898	June 30, 922
	Robert I	June 30, 922	June 15, 923
	Rudolph	July 13, 923	January 14, 936
	Louis IV	June 19, 936	September 10, 954
	Lothair	November 12, 954	March 2, 986
	Louis V	June 8, 986	May 22, 987

The Capetian Dynasty, the male-line descendants of Hugh Capet ruled France continuously from 987 to 1792 and again from 1814 to 1848. The branches of the dynasty which ruled after 1328, however, are generally given the specific branch names of Valois and Bourbon.

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Hugh Capet	July 3, 987	October 24, 996
	Robert II	October 24, 996	July 20, 1031
	Henry I	July 20, 1031	August 4, 1060
	Philip I	August 4, 1060	July 29, 1108
	Louis VI	July 29, 1108	August 1, 1137
	Louis VII	August 1, 1137	September 18, 1180
	Philip II	September 18, 1180	July 14, 1223
	Louis VIII	July 14, 1223	November 8, 1226
	Louis IX	November 8, 1226	August 25, 1270
	Philip III	August 25, 1270	October 5, 1285
	Philip IV	October 5, 1285	November 29, 1314
	Louis X	November 29, 1314	June 5, 1316
	John I	November 15, 1316	November 20, 1316
	Philip V	November 20, 1316	January 3, 1322
	Charles IV	January 3, 1322	February 1, 1328

Capetian Dynasty,

(

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Philip VI	February 1, 1328	August 22, 1350
	John II	August 22, 1350	April 8, 1364
	Charles V	April 8, 1364	September 16, 1380
	Charles VI	September 16, 1380	October 21, 1422
	Charles VII	October 21, 1422	July 22, 1461
	Louis XI	July 22, 1461	August 30, 1483
	Charles VIII	August 30, 1483	April 7, 1498

Valois-

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Louis XII	April 7, 1498	January 1, 1515

Valois-

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Francis I	January 1, 1515	July 31, 1547
	Henry II	July 31, 1547	July 10, 1559
	Francis II	July 10, 1559	December 5, 1560
	Charles IX	December 5, 1560	May 30, 1574
	Henry III	May 30, 1574	August 2, 1589

Capetian Dynasty,

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Henry IV	August 2, 1589	May 14, 1610
	Louis XIII	May 14, 1610	May 14, 1643
	Louis XIV	May 14, 1643	September 1, 1715
	Louis XV	September 1, 1715	May 10, 1774
	Louis XVI	May 10, 1774	August 10, 1792

Many people were monarchists at the time and consequently refused to recognise the overthrow of the monarchy, and considered Louis XVI's reign to have continued until his death in 1793, then his son Louis XVII to have reigned until his death in 1795, with Louis XVIII's reign then commencing, hence the numbering.

Picture	Name	Emperor From	Emperor Until
	Napoleon I	May 18, 1804	April 11, 1814 (and then again from March 20 to June 22, 1815)

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Louis XVIII	May 2, 1814	September 16, 1824 (except between March 13 and July 7, 1815)
	Charles X	September 16, 1824	August 2, 1830

Bourbon-

Picture	Name	King From	King Until
	Louis-Philippe, The Citizen King	August 9, 1830	February 24, 1848

The Second French Republic lasted from 1848 to 1852, when its president, Louis Napoleon, was declared Emperor.

Picture	Name	Emperor From	Emperor Until
-->	Napoleon III, Emperor (previously president of France from 1849 - 1852	December 2, 1852	September 4, 1870

The chronology continues on Presidents of France.

Notes