The precise style of French sovereigns varied over the years. Currently, there is no French sovereign; three distinct traditions (the Legitimist, the Orleanist, and the Bonapartist) exist, each claiming different forms of title.
The three styles laid claim to by pretenders to the French throne are:
Legitimist: "Most high, most potent and most excellent Prince, X, by the Grace of God, King of France and of Navarre, Most Christian Majesty." (Très haut, très puissant et très excellent Prince, X, par la grâce de Dieu, Roi de France et de Navarre, Roi Très-chrétien)
Orleanist: "X, by the Grace of God and by the constitutional law of the State, King of the French." (X, par la grâce de Dieu et par la loi constitutionnelle de l'État, Roi des Français)
Bonapartist: "X, By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French." (X, par la grâce de Dieu et les Constitutions de la République, Empereur des Français.)
Francorum Rex
The Latin term Francorum Rex was the official Latin title of the "King of the Franks" after the accession of the Carolingian dynasty (sometimes taking the form of Rex Francorum); this title was used in official documents until French replaced Latin as the formal language of legal documents, and remained used on coins until the 18th century. However, from as early as the 12th century, the form Franciae Rex ("King of France") was also used.
Most Christian King
This title Rex Christianissimus, or Roi Très-chrétien owed its origins to the long, and distinctive, relationship between the Catholic Church and the Franks. France was the first modern state recognised by the Church, and was known as the 'Eldest Daughter of the Church'; Clovis I, the king of the Franks, had been recognised by the papacy as a protector of Rome's interests. Accordingly, this title was frequently accorded to the French kings (although on a number of occasions kings of other realms would be addressed as such by the Church), and came into frequent use during the reign of Charles VI; under his son, Charles VII, it became recognised as a hereditary and exclusive title of the kings of France. Pope Julius II, allied between 1510 and 1513 with Henry VIII of England against Louis XII of France, considered transferring the title from the French monarch to the English monarch, drafting a papal brief to this effect; however, it was never issued. French kings thus continued to use the title, in particular on diplomatic documents, less frequently in France itself or in everyday parlance.
The use of the title rex christianissimus to refer to the French king was affirmed by medieval French thinkers including Jean Gerson and Nicole Oresme. Both of these men wrote about what they viewed as their king's unique position among the monarchs of Christendom. These philosophers believed that because he was rex christianissimus, the French king played a special role as protector of the Church.[1]
King of the French
With the French Revolution came the writing of a Constitution for France. As part of the reforms, the monarch ceased to be an absolute ruler of hereditary lands deriving power from God; instead, he became a constitutional ruler ruling by the will of the French people and for the good of the French people. By a decree on 12 October 1789, the king's title was thus changed from 'By the Grace of God, King of France and Navarre' to 'By the Grace of God and by the constitutional law of the State, King of the French' (French: Par la grâce de Dieu et par la loi constitutionnelle de l'État, Roi des Français), becoming official with the institution of the new constitution on 1 October 1791. The monarchy was abolished a year later, and the Bourbon supporters supported Louis XVI, and then Louis XVII and Louis XVIII, as King of France and Navarre rather than King of the French, under which title the Bourbons were restored in 1815. However, the constitutional monarchy was revived in 1830, with the Bourbon deposition. Although the Orleanist constitutional monarchy, the so-called "July Monarchy", was abolished in 1848, the heirs of Louis-Philippe continued to claim the title and legacy.
Emperor of the French
The Bonapartist legacy, the title was instituted in 1804 by Napoleon Bonaparte, who crowned himself emperor. It is the title to which the Bonapartists and their supporters continue to lay claim.
Distinct titles
In addition to the titles above, the kings of France at one point or another held others attached to the Crown.
Brittany
During the Middle Ages, the kings of France considered that the Duchy of Brittany was feudally a part of their Kingdom of France (i.e. it was within the traditional borders of the realm, and the king of France was deemed to be overlord of the Duchy). In fact, however, the Duchy of Brittany was a largely independent sovereign state. It was recognized as independently sovereign and lying outside the Kingdom of France by Louis IV, an ally of Alan II, Duke of Brittany. Subsequent kings of France sought to control Brittany in part because of the attempts of kings of England and Spain to control the duchy.
The independent sovereign nature of the duchy began to come to an end upon the death of Francis II of Brittany. The duchy was inherited by his daughter, Anne, but King Charles VIII of France was determined to bring the territory under royal control. Charles had her marriage annulled and then forced her to marry him in a series of actions that were acknowledged by the Pope. As a result, the Kingdom of France and the Duchy of Brittany were placed in the personal union of their marriage, and the king of France would also hold the title of Duke of Brittany jure uxoris. During their marriage, the Charles VIII prohibited Anne from using the title Duchess of Brittany and imposed a royal governor from the House of Penthievre on the duchy.
Legally, however, the duchy remained separate from France proper; the two titles were linked only by the marriage of the king and queen, and in 1498 when Charles VIII died childless, the title Duke of Brittany remained with Anne, rather than passing to the heir of France, Louis XII. Anne of Brittany returned to Brittany and began to re-establish an independent sovereign rule.
However, the new French king, Louis XII married Anne himself, and so the king was once more Duke of Brittany jure uxoris. Legally, Brittany still remained distinct, and its future remained dependent on the ducal bloodline, now held by the House of Montfort. When Anne died, Brittany passed to her daughter and heiress, Claude, rather than remaining with the king of France, her father.
Claude married the future king Francis I. By this marriage, and through the succession to the French crown, the king of France became Duke of Brittany jure uxoris once more.
Claude's death in 1524 separated the duchy from the crown once more, and ultimately, for the final time. Because Claude, like her mother, was sovereign Duchess, the title of 'Duke' did not remain with her husband, but instead passed to her son, Francis III of Brittany, who was also Dauphin of France. Legally, the Crown and duchy were again separate, but the Duke was a child, and the duchy had been governed as an integral part of France for years; the king had little trouble in maintaining royal control over the duchy. Breton independence was effectively ended when in 1532 the Estates of Brittany proclaimed the perpetual union of Brittany with the French crown. Legally, the duchy was now part of France.
Francis III remained Duke of Brittany but died without attaining the French crown in 1536. He was succeeded by his brother, the future Henry II of France. Henry was the French king to become Duke of Brittany in his own right. Any trace of Breton independence ended with the ascension of Henry to the French throne in 1547. The kingdom and duchy were now united by inheritance, and the merging of Brittany into France was thus completed. Notably, when Henry III (the last direct male from Claude of France) died, Brittany passed as part of the Crown to the next heir of France, Henry IV, rather than to Claude's most senior heirs (either Henry II, Duke of Lorraine or Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia of Spain).
The title Duke of Brittany largely ceased to be used as a title of the king of France after the death of Claude of France. When it appeared, the title was bestowed by the king of France to one of his direct descendants and was in any event titular in status.
Navarre was twice united with France: from 1314 to 1328 (effectively from 1284, upon the marriage of Philip IV of France to Joan I of Navarre), and from 1589 to the present.
In the first case, the union was merely that of the two crowns: although the relevant kings held both titles, the two kingdoms were legally distinct, bound only by the descent of the kings from the marriage between Joan and Philip. Accordingly, when their direct male descent died out, the two domains separated, France passing to Philip's nephew, Philip of Valois, and Navarre being inherited by the granddaughter (and senior heiress) of Joan and Philip, Joan II of Navarre. However, Joan's possessions within France, inherited from her forebears the Counts of Champagne, did not pass with Navarre to Joan's heirs; instead, by treaty, Joan exchanged them for other lands within France, Philip then merging the Champenois inheritance into the French crown.
By chance, France and Navarre were united again in 1589, in the person of Henry IV of France: his mother, Jeanne III of Navarre, had been the queen of Navarre (and senior heiress of Joan II), his father, Antoine de Bourbon, had been the senior-most heir after the House of Valois. He thus became 'King of France and Navarre'. He was also, by inheritance, a holder of other significant lands within France: Béarn, Donnezan and Andorra, which were, although a part of the feudal boundaries of France, were independent sovereignties; and, under crown jurisdiction, the duchies of Albret, Beaumont, Vendôme, and the counties of Foix, Armagnac, Comminges, Bigorre and Marle.
By established tradition, lands within the legal borders of France (thus, Henry's duchies and counties) would merge into the crown when the holder became king; independent lordships, whether they were or were not part of France's feudal borders, would remain distinct possessions. Henry, however, refused to follow this tradition: having no legitimate sons to pass his possessions onto, and forced to fight to secure his rule over France, he wanted to ensure that if he died without legitimate children, in the ensuing division of his inheritance, his sister Catherine would receive all of their parental inheritance (if he allowed his French lands to merge with the crown before dying without legitimate children, the merged lands would go as part of the crown to the next heir to the throne, his cousin Henri, Prince of Condé). Accordingly, by letters patent of 13 April 1590, he declared that his personal estates would remain separate from the crown, and not subject to Salic law; in Letters of 21 December 1596, he further stated that "our ancient domain, in our kingdom of Navarre and sovereign land of Béarn and Donazan, low countries of Flanders, as well as our duchies, counties, viscounties, lands, lordships in this our kingdom, be and remained disunited, disjoint and separate of our house of France not to be in any way included or merged unless it is by us otherwise ordered, or unless God bestows on us the grace of having children we desire to provide thereto." The Paris Parlement refused to register these Letters, stating that French public law did not allow the division of a monarch's public and private possessions; instead, Henry had them registered at the Parlements of Bordeaux and Toulouse. Thus, from 1589 to 1607, the King of France and Navarre was also the Lord of Béarn, Duke of Albret and Vendôme, Count of Foix, etc.
These acts were reversed in 1606–1607: Henry had a legitimate son, and the death of his sister without issue had nullified any need to share the Navarrese inheritance. By an Edict of 1607, the original ruling of the Paris Parlement that lands within France were automatically merged in the Crown was upheld, and the king ceased to be Duke of Albret and Vendôme, Count of Foix, etc. Because Navarre, Béarn, Andorre and Donazan were independent of France, however, the king remained separately the King of Navarre, and Lord of the other domains.
In October 1620, the merging of the Navarrese inheritance into France was furthered, when Louis XIII on 20 October had an Edict passed in Pau by the Sovereign Council of Navarre, to prevent "the misfortunes and inconveniences which would occur if, failing a male heir to our Royal House, said countries passed by inheritance to Foreign princes, thereby opening a door to enter into our Kingdom". By this "perpetual and irrevocable Edict", Navarre, Béarn, Andorra and Donezan were united and incorporated into the crown of France: although, as in the case of Scotland and England in 1707, whilst the Navarrese domains were politically and monarchically united with France, they retained their separate institutions—thus, they were bound irrevocably to France, but not merged into it. Unlike the British Act of Union, however, Navarre lost its independent judiciary, a fact the Navarrese resented for a long time afterwards. Nonetheless, in recognition of the separate nature of the Kingdom of Navarre (and the lordships of Béarn, Andorra and Donezan, which were considered attached to the Crown of Navarre), the Bourbon kings of France customarily used the title 'King of France and Navarre'.
In the troubles of 1789, Navarre—being a distinct kingdom—by order of the Navarrese estates refused to elect representatives to the Estates General of France, instead sending four representatives of the Estates to Versailles at the 'invitation' of the king; these representatives, arriving in July 1789, refused to sit with the National Assembly, and instead the Navarrese estates attempted to revoke the 1620 Union. This was denied, and by vote of the assembly the king's title was changed from 'King of France and Navarre' to 'King of the French' (thus denying the separation between the two kingdoms, and emphasising the—presumed—unity of the French people). By the constitution of 1791, this change was effected, and the merging of Navarre was completed—it lost all of its separate institutions, and was denied any recognition as a state separate from the French nation. Although the last Bourbons titled themselves 'King of France and Navarre' once more, it was a title only, 'Navarre' having ceased to exist as anything more than a name.
Other examples
The king of France was also at times ruler of lands outside France itself. If he would not or could not merge these lands into the French crown, and thus the French state, he would legally be sovereign of those lands separately to his role as French king. In such cases, the king's styles would be treated differently in the relevant territory. However, the title would be used only within the territory, or in documents relating to the territory; it would not be formally used as part of the king's title outside the relevant lands.
The Dauphiné: the area had been ceded to the king of France by the last Dauphin de Viennois in 1349, on the condition that the land and title always be used by the king's eldest son; because the territory was legally part of the Holy Roman Empire, rather than of France, the emperors legally forbade the region to be united with France. Nonetheless, when there was no Dauphin of France, the king would be personally sovereign over the Dauphiné. His title there, when there was no Dauphin of France, was par la grâce de Dieu roi de France, dauphin de Viennois, comte de Valentinois et de Diois ("By the Grace of God King of France, Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois").
Provence: The territory was ceded to Louis XI by Margaret of Anjou, the heiress, on 19 October 1480, and united to the crown in the following year; however, the Union was legally reversed by the 1486 Edict of Union, which stipulated that Provence and its accompanying territories would "in no way be subordinated to the crown or realm of France". Accordingly, the king of France was titled in relation to Provence, par la grâce de Dieu roi de France, comte de Provence, Forcalquier et terres adjacentes ("By the Grace of God King of France, Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent.")
Charles VIII used the title "King of Naples and Jerusalem" in relation to the Kingdom of Naples; his successor, Louis XII, titled himself Ludovicus Dei Gratia Francorum Neapolis et Hierusalem Rex Dux Mediolani ("Louis, By the Grace of God King of the Franks, of Naples and of Jerusalem, Duke of Milan"). He abandoned it by the treaty of Blois of 22 Oct 1505.
Francis I used the title roi de France, duc de Milan, comte d'Asti, seigneur de Gênes ("King of France, Duke of Milan, Count of Asti, Lord of Genoa") in relation to the Duchy of Milan.
In January 1641, Louis XIII of France was chosen by the Catalans as 'Count of Barcelona, Roussillon, and Cerdagne'; accordingly, official documents relating to the area between 1641 and 1652 described the king as Dei gratia Galliarum et Navarrae Rex, comes Barcinonae, Rossilionis et Ceritaniae ("By the Grace of God King of the Gauls and Navarra, Count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdagne"). Roussillon and Cerdagne were later ceded to France by Spain, but were merged directly into the crown.
In addition, Alsace requested that the king take the title "Landgrave of Upper and Lower Alsace" (German: Landgraf von Oberelsaß und Unterelsaß) in relation to the territory, but this did not happen.
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; King of Naples and Jerusalem, Duke of Milan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; Duke of Milan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France, Duke of Brittany; Duke of Milan, Count of Asti, Lord of Genoa; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Scotland; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, co-Prince of Andorra, Duke of Albret, Bourbon, Beaumont and Vendôme, Count of Foix, Armagnac, Comminges, Bigorre and Marle, Lord of Béarn, and Donezan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre, co-Prince of Andorra, Lord of Béarn, and Donezan; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Barcelona, Roussillon and Cerdagne; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God, Most Christian King of France and Navarre; Count of Provence, Forcalquier and the lands adjacent; Dauphin of Viennois, Count of Valentinois and of Diois
By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French (Napoléon, par la grâce de Dieu et les Constitutions de la République, Empereur des Français)
By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French, King of Italy (Napoléon, par la grâce de Dieu et les Constitutions de la République, Empereur des Français, Roi d'Italie)
By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine (Napoléon, par la grâce de Dieu et les Constitutions de la République, Empereur des Français, Roi d'Italie, Protecteur de la Confédération du Rhin)
By the Grace of God and the Constitutions of the Republic, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Mediator of the Helvetic Confederation (Napoléon, par la grâce de Dieu et les Constitutions de la République, Empereur des Français, Roi d'Italie, Protecteur de la Confédération du Rhin, Médiateur de la Confédération Helvétique)
The Capetian house of Valois was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans, Anjou, Burgundy, and Alençon.
Dauphin of France, originally Dauphin of Viennois, was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word dauphin is French for dolphin and was the hereditary title of the ruler of the Dauphiné of Viennois. While early heirs were granted these lands to rule, eventually only the title was granted.
Charles II, known as the Bad, was King of Navarre beginning in 1349, as well as Count of Évreux beginning in 1343, holding both titles until his death in 1387.
The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the English Channel to the north. It was also less definitively bordered by the river Loire to the south, and Normandy, and other French provinces, to the east. The Duchy was established after the expulsion of Viking armies from the region around 939. The Duchy, in the 10th and 11th centuries, was politically unstable, with the dukes holding only limited power outside their own personal lands. The Duchy had mixed relationships with the neighbouring Duchy of Normandy, sometimes allying itself with Normandy, and at other times, such as the Breton–Norman War, entering into open conflict.
Duke of Burgundy was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman Emperors and kings of Spain, who claimed Burgundy proper and ruled the Burgundian Netherlands.
The Duchy of Burgundy emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the Frankish Empire. Upon the 9th-century partitions, the French remnants of the Burgundian kingdom were reduced to a ducal rank by King Robert II of France in 1004. Robert II's son and heir, King Henry I of France, inherited the duchy but ceded it to his younger brother Robert in 1032.
The Duchy of Aquitaine was a historical fiefdom located in the western, central and southern areas of present-day France, south of the river Loire. Although the full extent of the duchy, as well as its name, fluctuated greatly over the centuries and at times comprised much of what is now southwestern (Gascony) and central France.
Anne of Brittany was reigning Duchess of Brittany from 1488 until her death, and Queen of France from 1491 to 1498 and from 1499 to her death. She was the only woman to have been queen consort of France twice. During the Italian Wars, Anne also became Queen of Naples, from 1501 to 1504, and Duchess of Milan, in 1499–1500 and from 1500 to 1512.
Lower Navarre is a traditional region of the present-day French département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques. It corresponds to the northernmost merindad of the Kingdom of Navarre during the Middle Ages. After the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre (1512–24), this merindad was restored to the rule of the native king, Henry II. Its capitals were Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Saint-Palais. In the extreme north there was the little sovereign Principality of Bidache, with an area of 1,284 km2 (496 sq mi) and a decreasing population of 44,450, 25,356.
The Kingdom of Navarre, originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a Basque kingdom that occupied lands on both sides of the western Pyrenees, with its northernmost areas originally reaching the Atlantic Ocean, between present-day Spain and France.
Duke of Bourbon is a title in the peerage of France. It was created in the first half of the 14th century for the eldest son of Robert of France, Count of Clermont, and Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of the lordship of Bourbon. In 1416, with the death of John of Valois, the Dukes of Bourbon were simultaneously Dukes of Auvergne.
Duke of Berry or Duchess of Berry was a title in the Peerage of France. The Duchy of Berry, centred on Bourges, was originally created as an appanage for junior members of the French royal family and was frequently granted to female royals. The style "Duke of Berry" was later granted by several Bourbon monarchs to their grandsons. The last official Duke of Berry was Charles Ferdinand of Artois, son of Charles X. The title Duke of Berry is currently being claimed through its usage as a courtesy title by Prince Alphonse de Bourbon, son of Prince Louis, Duke of Anjou, the Legitimist claimant to the French Throne.
The County of Foix was a medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern département of Ariège.
John III was jure uxoris King of Navarre from 1484 until his death, as husband and co-ruler of Queen Catherine.
The Viscounty, later Principalityof Béarn, was a medieval lordship in the far south of France, part of the Duchy of Gascony from the late ninth century. In 1347, the viscount declared Béarn an independent principality without feudal obligations. It later entered a personal union with the Kingdom of Navarre in 1479 and with France in 1589. In 1620, the prince formally incorporated Béarn as a province of France.
The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or domaine royal of France were the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. While the term eventually came to refer to a territorial unit, the royal domain originally referred to the network of "castles, villages and estates, forests, towns, religious houses and bishoprics, and the rights of justice, tolls and taxes" effectively held by the king or under his domination. In terms of territory, before the reign of Henry IV, the domaine royal did not encompass the entirety of the territory of the kingdom of France and for much of the Middle Ages significant portions of the kingdom were the direct possessions of other feudal lords.
The Spanish conquest of the Iberian part of Navarre was initiated by Ferdinand II of Aragon and completed by his grandson and successor Charles V in a series of military campaigns lasting from 1512 to 1524. Ferdinand was both the king of Aragon and regent of Castile in 1512. When Pope Julius II declared a Holy League against France in late 1511, Navarre attempted to remain neutral. Ferdinand used this as an excuse to attack Navarre, conquering it while its potential protector, France, was beset by England, Venice, and Ferdinand's own Italian armies.
The union of the Duchy of Brittany with the Crown of France was the culmination of a political process begun at the end of the 15th century in the wake of the Mad War. It resulted in the Edict of Union of 13 August 1532 and the incorporation of the duchy into the Crown lands of France, a critical step in the formation of modern-day France.
Succession to the French throne covers the mechanism by which the French crown passed from the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom in 486 to the fall of the Second French Empire in 1870.
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