Le Monde presents “The Great History of the Kings of France”. Find, in this prestigious collection, the most faithful portraits of the monarchs and the great royal dynasties who wrote history, for more than a millennium, and contributed to shaping Europe by drawing its borders. Relive the glorious hours, the hidden romances, the diplomatic dilemmas such as the great confrontations or the betrayals that marked the destiny of the country and the world. And if the kings of France still fascinate, it is undoubtedly because the influence of their past sheds light on our present.
A man of war, crowned emperor in 800, Charlemagne was also in love with culture. His reign will be marked by an artistic revival and an unprecedented development of education. Born at the court, this Carolingian renaissance will spread across the whole of Europe.
Throughout his personal reign, from 1661, Louis XIV reinforced his authority, driven by the trauma of the Fronde which, when he was a child, had rocked his throne. As an absolute monarch, closely framing society, imposing religious unity and a warlike policy, the Sun King nevertheless rationalized the institutions of the state and inspired the arts and a classicism followed throughout Europe.
Nothing really predestined the future Francis I to ascend the throne of France. Nothing, except the successive deaths of the sons of Louis XII which will make him the sovereign of the Renaissance. Upon his accession to the throne in 1515, Francis I intended to be the master.
At the birth of Saint Louis, if France barely existed, it was under the reign of a great king, Philippe Auguste. The latter is the grandfather of the future Louis IX: he will leave his grandson an enlarged estate, full coffers and the love of the people. Saint Louis will be able to rely on these three assets to establish its own reign.
The king who shouldn’t have reigned. Louis XVI succeeded his grandfather Louis XV, on the death of his elder brother and his father. Lacking experience in political affairs, from the start of his reign he came up against an aging France, steeped in the ideas of the Enlightenment.
When Clovis ascended the throne of the Francs Saliens, around 481, he was only about fifteen years old. The Western Roman Empire declines as the barbarian kingdoms grow in power. It is in this hostile and uncertain climate that Clovis must quickly learn to govern. In thirty years of reign, Clovis will lay the foundations of a royalty of divine right, will try to guarantee his succession and will make of Paris his capital, thus marking durably the history of France.
