| Name |
Dates |
Comments |
| Merovingians |
420 - 751 |
Early rulers of what was to become France |
| Carolingians |
751 - 987 |
Includes Charlemagne, founder of the Holy Roman Empire |
| Capetians |
987 - 1328 |
Includes Philip the Fair (1285-1314) who strengthened the monarchy and
moved the Pope from Rome to Avignon. |
| Valois |
1328 - 1589 |
Now we start to have some kings whose castles we visited ... |
| Louis XII |
1498 - 1515 |
 One
of the first renaissance castle builders. His symbol is the crowned
porcupine. He married Anne de Bretagne whose symbol is the ermine. |
| François I |
1515 - 1547 |
 Second
son of Louis XII. The great renaissance ruler. Fought wars, built castles (look for his Salamander
crest), patron of the arts. |
| Henri II |
1547 - 1559 |
Son of François I. His crest was the letter H. He married
Catherine de Medici, but his life-long mistress was Diane de Poitiers. Her
"D" is often found in the same castle with his "H". |
| François II |
1559 -1560 |
Son of Henri II. Died at the age of sixteen. |
| Catherine de Medici |
Regent, 1560 - 1563 |
Wife of Henri II - Took over while Charles IX was a child.
First step: banish Diane de Poitiers. Her "C" is now found
entangled with Henri's "H". Unfortunately, the combination looks
like Diane's "D" again. |
| Charles IX |
1560 - 1574 |
Another son of Henri II. Died at the age of twenty four. |
| Henri III |
1574 - 1589 |
 A
third son of Henri II. Had the head of the Catholic League, the Duc de
Guise, assassinated to prevent a coup that would have favored the king of
Spain, Philip II (the guy who launched the Armada against England.) The
Catholic League then had the king assassinated. Rough times! |
| Henri IV |
1589 - 1610 |
 They ran out of Valois descendants at this point. Searching
the family tree, they came up with Henri, duc de Béarn and king of
Navarre, the first Bourbon king. This was great, except that he was a
protestant! The wars of religion were about to really heat up again when
Henri converted to Catholicism saying "Paris is well worth a
mass." He went on to become France's best-loved king. Assassinated 1n
1610. |
| Marie de Medici |
Regent, 1610 - 1617 |
Wife of Henri IV. These de Medici women were good at seizing
power. |
| Louis XIII |
1610 - 1643 |
Son of Henri IV |
| Louis XIV |
1643 - 1715 |
Son of Louis XIII. The Sun King. Built Versailles. Reduced
the power of the nobility and centralized all government in Paris. |
| Louis XV |
1715 - 1774 |
Great-grandson(!!) of Louis XIV. |
| Louis XVI |
1774 - 1792 |
Grandson of Louis XV. Brought new splendor to the French monarchy right up to the
revolution. Guillotined in 1793 along with his queen, Marie-Antoinette. |
| Napoleon I |
1804 - 1814 |
 Born
in Corsica. Was elected First Consul under the Directoire. Crowned himself Emperor. Conquered much of
Europe and parts of Africa. Lost an army in Russia. Defeated by a
British-Austrian-Prussian-Russian alliance at Waterloo. |
| Louis XVIII |
1814 - 1824 |
Brother of Louis XVI. Put on the throne by the allies
who defeated Napoleon. Actually, it took two tries to defeat Napoleon. |
| Charles X |
1824 - 1830 |
Another brother of Louis XVI. Thought that being a
constitutional monarch sucked. Was deposed. |
| Louis-Philippe |
1830 - 1848 |
The "Citizen-King". Did not learn from
history. Overthrown in another revolution. |
| Napoleon III |
1852 - 1871 |
 Nephew of Napoleon I. The second empire ended with the
Franco-Prussian war. France has been a republic ever since. |
