List of heads of state of France

Monarchs ruled the Kingdom of France from the establishment of Francia in 481 to 1870, except for certain periods from 1792 to 1852. Since 1870, the head of state has been the President of France. Below is a list of all French heads of state. It includes the kings of the Franks, the monarchs of the Kingdom of France, emperors of the First and Second Empire and leaders of the five Republics.

Carolingian dynasty (843–888)

Main article: Carolingian dynasty

The Carolingians were a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The family consolidated its power in the 8th century, eventually making the offices of mayor of the palace and dux et princeps Francorum hereditary and becoming the real powers behind the Merovingian kings. The dynasty is named after one of these mayors of the palace, Charles Martel, whose son Pepin the Short dethroned the Merovingians in 751 and, with the consent of the Papacy and the aristocracy, was crowned King of the Franks. Under Charles the Great (r. 768–814), better known as "Charlemagne", the Frankish kingdom expanded deep into Central Europe, conquering Italy and most of modern Germany. He was succeeded by his son Louis the Pious (r. 814–840), who eventually divided the kingdom between his sons. His death, however, was followed by a 3-year-long civil war that ended with the Treaty of Verdun. Modern France developed from West Francia, while East Francia became the Holy Roman Empire and later Germany. Louis the Pious made many divisions of the Carolingian Empire during his lifetime. The final division, pronounced at Worms in 838, made Charles the Bald heir to the west, including Aquitaine, and Lothair heir to the east, including Italy and excluding Bavaria, which was left for Louis the German. However, following the emperor's death in 840, the empire was plunged into a civil war that lasted three years. The Frankish kingdom was then divided by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. Lothair was allowed to keep his imperial title and his kingdom of Italy, and granted the Middle Francia, a corridor of land stretching from Italy to the North Sea, and including the Low Countries, the Rhineland (including Aachen), Burgundy, and Provence. Charles was confirmed in Aquitaine, where Pepin I's son Pepin II was opposing him, and granted West Francia (modern France), the lands west of Lothair's Kingdom. Louis the German was confirmed in Bavaria and granted East Francia (modern Germany), the lands east of Lothair's kingdom.

Portrait	Name	Reign	Succession	Life details
File:Bibliothèque nationale de France - Bible de Vivien Ms. Latin 1 folio 423r détail Le comte Vivien offre le manuscrit de la Bible faite à l'abbaye de Saint-Martin de Tours à Charles le Chauve.jpg	Charles II   "the Bald"	c. 10 August 843 – 6 October 877 (34 years and 2 months)	Son of Louis the Pious and grandson of Charlemagne; recognized as king after the Treaty of Verdun	13 June 823 – 6 October 877 (aged 54) King of Aquitaine since 838. Crowned "Emperor of the Romans" on Christmas 875. Died of natural causes
File:Denier sous Louis II dit le Bègue.jpg	Louis II  "the Stammerer"	6 October 877 – 10 April 879 (1 year, 6 months and 4 days)	Son of Charles the Bald	1 November 846 – 10 April 879 (aged 32) King of Aquitaine since 867. Died of natural causes.
File:Denier sous Louis III.jpg	Louis III	10 April 879 – 5 August 882 (3 years, 3 months and 26 days)	Son of Louis the Stammerer	863 – 5 August 882 (aged 19) Ruled the North; died after hitting his head with a lintel while riding his horse.
File:Denier sous Carloman II.jpg	Carloman II	10 April 879 – 6 December 884 (5 years, 7 months and 26 days)	Son of Louis the Stammerer	866 – 6 December 884 (aged 18) Ruled the South; died after being accidentally stabbed by his servant.
File:Sceau de Charles le gros.jpg	Charles (III)  "the Fat"	6 December 884 – 11 November 887 (2 years, 11 months and 5 days)	Son of Louis II the German, king of East Francia, and grandson of Louis I	839 – 13 January 888 (aged 48–49) King of East Francia since 876; crowned Emperor in 881. Last ruler to control all Frankish territories. Deposed by the nobility, later dying of natural causes

Robertian dynasty (888–898)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|Robertian dynasty (888–898)}}

Carolingian dynasty (898–922)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|Carolingian dynasty (898–922)}}

Robertian dynasty (922–923)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|Robertian dynasty (922–923)}}

Bosonid dynasty (923–936)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|Bosonid dynasty (923–936)}}

Carolingian dynasty (936–987)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|Carolingian dynasty (936–987)}}

Capetian dynasty (987–1792)

Main article: Capetian dynasty

The Capetian dynasty is named for Hugh Capet, a Robertian who served as Duke of the Franks and was elected King in 987. Except for the Bonaparte-led Empires, every monarch of France was a male-line descendant of Hugh Capet. The kingship passed through patrilineally from father to son until the 14th century, a period known as Direct Capetian rule. Afterwards, it passed to the House of Valois, a cadet branch that descended from Philip III. The Valois claim was disputed by Edward III, the Plantagenet king of England who claimed himself as the rightful king of France through his French mother Isabella; the two houses fought the Hundred Years' War over the issue, and with Henry VI of England being for a time partially recognized as King of France. The Valois line died out in the late 16th century, during the French Wars of Religion, to be replaced by the distantly related House of Bourbon, which descended through the Direct Capetian Louis IX. The Bourbons would rule France until deposed in the French Revolution, though they would be restored to the throne after the fall of Napoleon. The last Capetian to rule would be Louis Philippe I, king of the July Monarchy (1830–1848), a member of the cadet House of Bourbon-Orléans.

House of Capet (987–1328)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Capet (987–1328)}}

House of Valois (1328–1589)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Valois (1328–1589)}}

House of Bourbon (1589–1792)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bourbon (1589–1792)}}

First Republic (1792–1804)

Main article: French First Republic

National Convention

Main article: National Convention

From 22 September 1792 to 2 November 1795, the French Republic was governed by the National Convention, whose president (elected from within for a 14-day term) may be considered as France's legitimate head of state during this period. Historians generally divide the Convention's activities into three periods, moderate, radical, and reaction, and the policies of presidents of the Convention reflect these distinctions. During the radical and reaction phases, some of the presidents were executed, most by guillotine, committed suicide, or were deported. In addition, some of the presidents were later deported during the Bourbon Restoration in 1815.

Moderate phase

{{#section-h:List of presidents of the National Convention|Moderate phase (1792–1793)}}

Radical phase

{{#section-h:List of presidents of the National Convention|Radical phase (1793–1794)}}

Reaction

{{#section-h:List of presidents of the National Convention|Reaction (1794–1795)}}

Directory

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Directory}}

Consulate

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Consulate}}

House of Bonaparte, First French Empire (1804–1814)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bonaparte, First French Empire (1804–1814)}}

House of Bourbon, First Restoration (1814–1815)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bourbon, First Restoration (1814–1815)}}

House of Bonaparte, Hundred Days (1815)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bonaparte, Hundred Days (1815)}}

House of Bourbon, Second Restoration (1815–1830)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bourbon, Second Restoration (1815–1830)}}

House of Bourbon-Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bourbon-Orléans, July Monarchy (1830–1848)}}

Second Republic (1848–1852)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Second Republic (1848–1852)}}

House of Bonaparte, Second Empire (1852–1870)

{{#section-h:List of French monarchs|House of Bonaparte, Second French Empire (1852–1870)}}

Third Republic (1870–1940)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Third Republic (1870–1940)}}

French State (1940–1944)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|French State (1940–1944)}}

Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Provisional Government of the French Republic (1944–1946)}}

Fourth Republic (1946–1958)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Fourth Republic (1946–1958)}}

Fifth Republic (1958–present)

{{#section-h:List of Presidents of France|Fifth Republic (1958–present)}}

Later pretenders

Various pretenders descended from the preceding monarchs have claimed to be the legitimate monarch of France, rejecting the claims of the President of France, and of each other. These groups are:

• Legitimist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of the Bourbons, rejecting all heads of state 1792–1814, 1815, and since 1830. Unionists recognized the Orléanist claimant after 1883.
• Legitimist-Anjou claimants to the throne of France: descendants of Louis XIV, claiming precedence over the House of Orléans by virtue of primogeniture
• Orléanist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of Louis-Phillippe, himself descended from a junior line of the Bourbon dynasty, rejecting all heads of state since 1848.
• Bonapartist claimants to the throne of France: descendants of Napoleon I and his brothers, rejecting all heads of state 1815–48, and since 1870.
• English claimants to the throne of France: Kings of England and later, of Great Britain (renounced by Hanoverian King George III upon union with Ireland)
• Jacobite claimants to the throne of France: senior heirs-general of King Edward III of England and thus his claim to the French throne, also claiming England, Scotland, and Ireland.

See also

• List of French monarchs
• List of presidents of the National Convention
• List of presidents of France
• Ministers of the French National Convention
• Representative on mission
• Full list of members of the Convention per department: List of members of the National Convention by Department (French)
• List of foreign ministers of France
• List of prime ministers of France
• President of France
• British claims to the French throne
• Kings of France family tree
• Style of the French sovereign

Notes, citations and sources

Sources

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• Alderson, Robert. This Bright Era of Happy Revolutions: French Consul. U. of South Carolina Press, 2008. OCLC 192109705
• Anchel, Robert (1911). "Convention, The National" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 07 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 46.
• Bachrach, Bernard S.; Bachrach, David S.; Leese, Michael (2018). Deeds of the Bishops of Cambrai, Translation and Commentary. Routledge. ISBN 9781317036210.
• Blanc, Louis (1848). France Under Louis Philippe. Translated by Walter Kelly.
• Bodin, Felix (1840). Resumé de l'histoire de France. London: Joseph Rickerby. p. 43.
• Bradford, James C. (2004). International Encyclopedia of Military History. Routledge. ISBN 9781135950347.
• Brownell, Henry (1854). "The Rulers of France". The People's Book of Ancient and Modern History. Dayton & Wentworth.
• Brunel, G. (2007). "Les cisterciens et Charles V". Société de l'histoire de France: 67–92. JSTOR 23408518.
• Castelot, André (1988). Charles X. Librairie Académique Perrin. ISBN 2-262-00545-1.
• Champion, Honoré (1976). Robert Ier et Raoul de Bourgogne. Slatkine. pp. 9–11.
• Cheynet, Pierre-Dominique. France: Members of the Executive Directory: 1792–1793, and 1793–1795. Archontology.org 2013, Accessed 19 February 2015.
• Curry, Anne (1993). The Hundred Years War. Macmillan. ISBN 9781349227112.
• de Wailly, E. (1838). "Liste Chronologique des rois de France". Eléments de paléographie. Vol. 1. Ghent University.
• Doyle, William. The Oxford History of the French Revolution. 2nd edition. Oxford University Press, 2002. OCLC 490913480
• (in French) Dupuy, Roger. La République jacobine. Terreur, guerre et gouvernement révolutionnaire (1792—1794). Paris, Le Seuil, 2005. ISBN 2-02-039818-4
• Dutton, Paul E. (1994). The Politics of Dreaming in the Carolingian Empire. University of Nebraska Press. p. 227. ISBN 9780803216532.
• Encyclopædia Britannica Online
• Furet, François. The French Revolution: 1770–1814. Oxford, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1996. OCLC 25094935
• Fleischmann, Hector, Behind the Scenes in the Terror, NY, Brentano's, 1915. OCLC 499613
• (in French) Garnier, Jean-Claude; Jean-Pierre Mohen. Cimetières autour du monde: Un désir d'éternité. Paris, Editions Errance. 2003. OCLC 417420035
• Greer, Donald. The Incidence of the Terror during the French Revolution: A Statistical Interpretation. Cambridge (United States C.A), Harvard University Press, 1951. OCLC 403511
• Havet, Julien (1891). "Les couronnements des rois Hugues et Robert". Revue historique. 45: 290–297. JSTOR 40939391.
• Holoman, D. Kern (2004). The Société Des Concerts Du Conservatoire, 1828–1967. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520236646.
• Humphreys, A.L. (1907). The Kings of France, their Wives and Mistresses. London. ASIN B004Z0M2K2. OCLC 1047511953.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Jackson, Richard A. (1995). Ordines Coronationis Franciae. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9781512821604. JSTOR j.ctt1kgqwvd.
• Linton, Marisa. Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship, and Authenticity in the French Revolution Oxford U.P., 2013. OCLC 829055558
• Knecht, Robert (2007). The Valois: Kings of France. A&C Black. ISBN 9781852855222.
• Knecht, Robert (2016). Hero or Tyrant? Henry III, King of France. Routledge. ISBN 9781317122142.
• McCarty, L. P. (1890). "France". The Annual Statistician and Economist. Harvard University: Pacific Press Publishing Company. pp. 327–332.
• McConville, Julia (2018). "Clovis III". In Nicholson, Oliver (ed.). The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity. Oxford University Press.
• McKitterick, Rosamond (1995). The New Cambridge Medieval History. Vol. 2. Cambridge University Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780521362924.
• MacLean, Simon (2003). Charles the Fat and the End of the Carolingian Empire. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139440295.
• Neeley, Sylvia. A Concise History of the French Revolution, Lanham, Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. OCLC 156874791
• Peignot, Gabriel (1819). Abrégé de l'histoire de France (in français). Harvard University.
• Popkin, Jeremy D. A Short History of the French Revolution. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, Pearson, 2009. OCLC 36739547
• Smitha, Frank E. Macrohistory: Fear, Overreaction and War (1792–93). 2009–2015 version. Accessed 21 April 2015.
• Thoison, E. (1888). "Table Chronologique". Les séjours des rois de France: 481–1789. Société historique et archéologique du Gâtinais. Bibliothèque nationale de France.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Thompson, J.M. The French Revolution. Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1959. OCLC 1052771
• Wellman, Kathleen (2013). Queens and Mistresses of Renaissance France. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300178852.