France in the Middle Ages

period of France

103 dated entries naming France in the Middle Ages, drawn from 90 separate years between 972 CE and 1477 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as France during the Middle Ages in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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10th century

972March 27 – Robert II (the Pious), king of France (died 1031)source

11th century

1003King Robert II (the Pious) invades Burgundy, but fails. After this fiasco Robert repudiates his second wife, Bertha of Burgundy, and marries Constance of Arles who becomes queen consort of France.source
1025September 17 – Hugh Magnus, king of France (born 1007)source
1027May 14 – King Robert II of France ("the Pious") sues for peace with his sons. Henry I is crowned co-king of France at Reims Cathedral, but has little power to rule (until 1031).source
1031July 20 – King Robert II (the Pious) dies at Melun, after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Henry I, who becomes the sole ruler of France. Henry's mother, Queen dowager Constance of Arles, prefers her third son, Robert, as heir to the throne and, with the help of Count Odo II, begins a war against Henry.source
1031July 20 – Robert II (the Pious), king of France (born 972)source
1052May 23 – Philip I ("the Amorous"), king of France (died 1108)source
1060August 4 – King Henry I of France (of the House of Capet) dies after a 29-year reign in Vitry-aux-Loges. He is succeeded by his 8-year-old son Philip I ("the Amorous") as king of France. Philip is too young to rule, and his mother, Queen Anne of Kiev becomes regent. France is administered by Count Baldwin V (one of Philip's uncles) who acts as co-regent.source
1060August 4 – Henry I, king of France (born 1008)source
1070Bertrade de Montfort, queen of France (died 1117)source
1092Adélaide de Maurienne, queen consort of France (died 1154)source
1096May – The Rhineland massacres: Members of the People's Crusade led by Count Emicho destroy most of the Jewish communities along the Rhine in a series of large pogroms in France and Germany. Thousands of Jews are massacred, driven to suicide, or forced to convert to Christianity. Estimates of the number of Jewish men, women and children murdered are 2,000 to 12,000.source

12th century

1107Autumn – King Sigurd I sails for the Holy Land with 60 ships (with some 5,000 men) on the first stage of the Norwegian Crusade to Palestine. Now 17, he is the first European king to support the Crusaders in the Levant. Sigurd leaves his older brother Eystein I to rule the kingdom in his absence – and visits England, France, Galicia and Sicily en route.source
1108July 29 – Philip I, king of Francesource
1115Clairvaux Abbey is founded by Bernard, French abbot and a major leader in the reform of Benedictine monasticism, in France.source
1116August 29 – Philip of France, king of France (died 1131)source
1120Louis VII (le Jeune), king of France (died 1180)source
1125May 23 – Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, dies of cancer in Utrecht after leading an expedition against King Louis VI ("the Fat") of France and then against the citizens of Worms. Having no legitimate children, Henry leaves his possessions to his nephew, Frederick II ("the One-Eyed"), duke of Swabia. At the Hoftag diet in Regensburg, Lothair, duke of Saxony, is elected King of Germany and crowned at Aachen on September 13.source
1128July 28 – William Clito dies as a result of a wound received at the siege of Aalst a fortnight earlier, leaving Thierry as sole claimant to the County of Flanders. He sets up his seat of government at Bruges and King Louis VI ("the Fat") of France agrees to his accession.source
1129April 14 – Following the Capetian tradition, King Louis VI (the Fat) has his eldest son Philip crowned as co-ruler of France at Rheims Cathedral. Louis himself becomes the national protector of all France.source
1131October 13 – The 15-year-old Philip, eldest son of King Louis VI (the Fat) of France, dies when his horse trips over a black pig that darts out of a dung heap unexpectedly at a market in Paris.source
1131October 13 – Philip, co-king of France (born 1116)source
1137April 9 – William X (the Saint), duke of Aquitaine, dies while on a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela (modern Spain). On his deathbed, he expresses his wish to see King Louis VI (the Fat) of France as protector of his 15-year-old daughter Eleanor, and to find her a suitable husband.source
1137August 1 – Louis VI (the Fat), king of France (born 1081)source
1138May – Earl Robert FitzRoy rebels against King Stephen, supporting Matilda (his step-sister) in her claim for the English throne. Matilda is given refuge by Earl William de Albini at Arundel Castle. Stephen builds siege works around the castle, but is unable to break the castle's defences. In France, Matilda's husband Duke Geoffrey V (the Fair) takes advantage of the situation by re-invading Normandy.source
1140Adela of Champagne, queen of France (died 1206)source
1142King Louis VII the Younger of France becomes involved in a civil war with Theobald II ("the Great"), count of Champagne, by permitting his cousin Ralph I of Vermandois (seneschal of France) to repudiate his wife, Theobald's sister Eleanor of Champagne, and to marry Petronilla of Aquitaine, who was the sister of King Louis VII’s wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine.source
1147June – A French expeditionary force (some 18,000 men) led by King Louis VII departs from Metz and travels through Bavaria. Louis is accompanied by the French nobility and his wife, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, heiress of France. At Regensburg, where the force arrives on June 29, the Crusaders journey peaceably for fifteen days through Hungary and reach the Byzantine frontier at the end of August.source
1158Summer – King Henry II of England travels to France to meet King Louis VII and propose a marriage between his three-year-old son Henry and Louis' daughter Margaret (less than a year old). She is shipped to England, as the future wife and queen. The Vexin region is promised to Margaret as dowry and is put under the care of the Knights Templar, until her future husband is old enough to take control of it.source
1160October 4 – Constance of Castile, queen of France (born 1141)source
1164November 2 – Thomas Becket, having contended with Henry II over the power of secular courts, is found guilty of contempt of court, and exiled to France.source
1165August 21 – Philip II, king of France (died 1223)source
1170April 5 – Isabella of Hainault, queen of France (died 1190)source
1170July 22 – Henry II and Thomas Becket meet near Fréteval, France, where they come to an agreement to end their differences. This results in Becket's partial restoration.source
1174Summer – French forces under King Louis VII, supported by Henry the Young King and Philip of Alsace, encircle Rouen. The city holds out against the war engines long enough for Henry II to arrive in the middle of August to stage a rescue. The besiegers are fearful that Henry will invade France and the siege is lifted.source
1174Ingeborg of Denmark, queen of France (died 1237)source
1179November 1 – The 14-year-old Philip II is crowned at Rheims by Archbishop William of the White Hands. He becomes joint ruler of France, together with his father King Louis VII.source
1180September 18 – Louis VII (the Younger), king of France (born 1120)source
1185July – Treaty of Boves: King Philip II of France signs a treaty to ensure his authority over his vassals, with Amiénois, Artois and other places in northern France passing to him. Philip is given the nickname "Augustus" by the monk Rigord for augmenting French lands.source
1188Spring – King Henry II and Philip II (Augustus) meet at Le Mans, with Archbishop Josias (or Joscius) in attendance. Both kings agree to peace terms, and to contribute to a joint Crusade. It is decided to raise a new tax to pay for the expedition. This tax, known as the Saladin Tithe, is imposed on the people of England and France to raise funds for the Third Crusade.source
1188March 4 – Blanche of Castile, queen and regent of France (died 1252)source
1189December – Richard I sets sail with a crusader army from Dover Castle to France. To ensure he has the allegiance of his brother John, Richard approves of his marriage to their cousin Isabella of Gloucester.source
1191July 31 – Philip II, accompanied by Conrad of Montferrat, departs to Tyre and returns to France. He leaves behind a French army (some 10,000 men) under the command of Hugh III, duke of Burgundy. Richard I is left in sole command of the Crusader forces in the Levant. Back in France, Philip schemes with Richard's brother, Prince John, to dispossess Richard of his French lands while he is still away, but the intervention of John's mother, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, foils the plan. Meanwhile, Richard rebuilds and strengthens the walls of Acre.source
1194May – Richard I calls for a council in Nottingham to raise funds for an expedition to France. On May 12, he leaves for Normandy with a large fleet (some 300 ships), to reclaim lands lost to King Philip II of France ("Augustus").source
1197King Richard I of England (the Lionheart) has Château Gaillard (Normandy) built on the Seine River as he fights to restore Angevin power in northern France (approximate date).source
1198John of England captures a party of 18 French knights and many men-at-arms, in the ongoing conflict against France. His brother, King Richard I (the Lionheart) introduces a new Great Seal – in an attempt to keep the war against France funded. The government proclaims that charters previously struck with the old seal are no longer valid and must be renewed with a fresh payment. The office of Lord Warden of the Stannaries is also introduced, to tax the produce of tin mines in Cornwall and Devon.source
1199March 26 – Richard I besieges the unarmed castle of Châlus-Chabrol, and is shot in the left shoulder with a crossbow, by the French boy Pierre Basile. The war between the kingdoms of England and France has become so brutal, that Hugh of Lincoln is warned that "nothing now is safe, neither the city to dwell in nor the highway for travel".source
1200Spring – Boniface I, Marquis of Montferrat, sends envoys to Venice, Genoa and other city-states to negotiate a contract for transport to the Levant. Meanwhile, Boniface and various nobles are mustering an expeditionary army (mainly forces from France and the Holy Roman Empire) at Paris. On February 23, Baldwin IX, count of Flanders and his brother Henry of Flanders take the cross at Bruges (modern Belgium), and agree to take part in the Fourth Crusade called by Pope Innocent III (see 1199).source

13th century

1201King John puts an embargo on wheat exported to Flanders, in an attempt to force an allegiance between the states. He also puts a levy of a fifteenth on the value of cargo exported to France and disallows the export of wool to France without a special license. The levies are enforced in each port by at least six men – including one churchman and one knight. John affirms that judgments made by the court of Westminster are as valid as those made "before the king himself or his chief justice".source
1202April–May – The bulk of the Crusader army gathers at Venice, although with far smaller numbers than expected: about 12,000 men (4–5,000 knights and 8,000 soldiers) instead of 33,500 men. Several contingents decide to make their own way to the Holy Land by different routes. A Crusader fleet, sailing from Flanders, carrying supplies for the Counts Baldwin IX and his brother Henry of Flanders, winters in Marseille, but is slowed by adverse weather. Later it sails on to the Middle East, along with other contingents from southern France.source
1206June 4 – Adela of Champagne, queen of France (born 1140)source
1208November 17 – Innocent III asks the nobles in Northern France to take military action (the so-called Albigensian Crusade) against the Cathars in Languedoc.source
1211Spring – Albigensian Crusade: Crusader forces led by Simon de Montfort conquer Toulouse and besiege Lavaur in southern France. On May 3, the city is retaken; on orders of Montfort the senior knights are hanged and some 400 Cathars are burned alive.source
1214April 25 – Louis IX ("the Saint"), king of France (died 1270)source
1219October – Al-Kamil sends two captive knights as envoys, to renew his former offers of an armistice. If the Crusaders evacuate Egypt, he will return the True Cross (lost in the Battle of Hattin) and they can have Jerusalem, all central Palestine and Galilee. John I advised its acceptance, along with the nobles from England, France and Germany. Pelagius again refuses the peace terms.source
1220In France the medical school of the University of Montpellier is granted its first statutes by the German cardinal-bishop Conrad of Urach.source
1221Margaret of Provence, queen consort of France (died 1295)source
1223July 14 – Philip II (Augustus), king of France (born 1165)source
1236July 29 – Ingeborg of Denmark, queen consort of France (born 1174)source
1237July 29 – Ingeborg of Denmark, queen of France (born 1174)source
1239King Louis IX of France ("the Saint") holds a parlement (or "court of law") at Paris, for the first time recorded in Ancien Régime France.source
1243April 27 – Treaty of Bordeaux: King Louis IX (the Saint) and King Henry III agree to a truce that ends the Saintonge War. The truce does not stop the on-going clashes (and further tensions) between France and England.source
1244October 5 – Innocent IV flees to France and travels to Lyon, where he arrives on November 29. Although the city is nominally subject to the Holy Roman Empire, Innocent falls under the protection of Louis IX.source
1245May 1 – Philip III (the Bold), king of France (died 1285)source
1247Isabella of Aragon, queen consort of France (died 1271) (approximate date)source
1249June 5 – Siege of Damietta: Louis IX lands with a Crusader force and captures Damietta, after a fierce battle at the edge of the sea. The onslaught of the knights of France and those of Outremer under John of Ibelin, force the Ayyubids back with heavy losses. At nightfall, Fakhr ad-Din withdraws his army over a bridge of boats to Damietta. Finding the population there in panic and the garrison wavering, Fakhr ad-Din decides to evacuate the city. On June 6, Louis marches triumphantly over the bridge into Damietta and builds a camp to attack Cairo.source
1254April 24 – Louis IX and his family sail from Acre to France. His boat is nearly wrecked off the coast of Cyprus and later nearly destroyed by fire. In July, the royal party arrives at Hyères in Provence.source
1254May 13 – Marie of Brabant, queen consort of France (died 1322)source
1255The Gothic cathedral at Bourges in central France, is completed (it will become a UNESCO World Heritage Site).source
1264June – Simon de Montfort summons Parliament in London to confirm new constitutional arrangements. Two knights are summoned for each county, and are allowed to comment on general matters of state – the first time this has occurred. In France, Queen Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III, makes plans for an invasion of England with the support of Louis IX OF France.source
1271January 28 – Isabella of Aragon, queen consort of France (born 1248)source
1275Spring – King Edward I of England ("Longshanks") demands a meeting with Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, prince of Wales, at Chester to pay homage, but Llywelyn refuses. In an attempt to stir up internal problems, Llywelyn seeks to marry 23-year-old Eleanor de Montfort, daughter of Simon de Montfort, but she is captured by English pirates (employed by Edward) on the journey from France to meet Llywelyn. She is held prisoner at Windsor Castle and used as a bargaining chip over the coming years in Edward's attempts to subjugate Llywelyn and Wales.source
1276King Edward I of England ("Longshanks") orders the people of Bayonne in Gascony (as part of the only English possessions in France) to provide Castile with warships "to resist the Saracens by sea", but excuses himself from personal participation against the Marinid invasion in Spain because of his wars in Wales and his plan to lead a Crusade to the Holy Land.source
1277March 7 – Condemnation of 1277: Pope John XXI instructs Étienne Tempier, bishop of Paris, to investigate the complaints of theologians in France. By order 219 propositions of philosophical and theological doctrines such as Averroism are prohibited from discussion in the University of Paris, under a decree promulgated by Tempier.source
1283King Philip III of France ("the Bold") outlaws Jews from residence in the small villages and rural localities of France, causing a mass migration.source
1285The County of Champagne is integrated into the kingdom of France; the region loses its haven characteristics for foreign merchants, and the Fairs of Troyes quickly dwindle into economic insignificance.source
1285October 5 – Philip III, king of France (House of Capet) (born 1245)source
1286January 6 – The 17-year-old Philip IV (the Fair) is crowned king of France at Reims. He settles the Aragonese conflict, and intensifies his predecessors' efforts to reform and rationalize the administration of the realm. Philip persists in reforms, which strengthen the monarchy's position in Europe. The gabelle – a tax on salt in the form of a state monopoly – will become immensely unpopular and grossly unequal, but persist until 1790.source
1287September – Rabban Bar Sauma arrives in Paris, and is received in an audience by King Philip IV (the Fair). He spends one month at the royal court, during his stay, Philip himself escorts him around the Sainte-Chapelle (or Holy Chapel) to see the collection of Passion relics by late King Louis IX (the Saint). Philip gives Bar Sauma many presents and sends one of his noblemen, Gobert de Helleville, to return with him to Mongol lands. In response, he attempts to form a military alliance with France and England.source
1289October 4 – Louis X (the Quarrelsome), king of France (died 1316)source
1295October 23 – The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance ("Old Alliance"), between Scotland and France against England, is signed in Paris by Kings John Balliol and Philip IV.source
1295December 20 – Margaret of Provence, queen consort of France (born 1221)source
1297April 14 – King Edward I of England makes an appeal outside Westminster Hall for support for the war against France. He apologizes for the high tax demands he has previously levied. Edward asks the Barons (some 1,500 knights) to swear allegiance to his 12-year-old son, Prince Edward of Caernarfon. Aware of the dangers of the opposition to his power, Edward appears before a large crowd and receives total loyalty.source
1299William Wallace accompanied by a Scottish retinue goes abroad to France on a diplomatic mission, evidently to canvas support for the kingship of John Balliol.source
1300May 8 – Franco-Flemish War: In Flanders (part of modern-day Belgium), the city of Ghent surrenders. By the time that Ypres surrenders on May 21, all of Flanders has been conquered. By the end of the month, all of Flanders is under French control, and several Flemish nobles (like Guy of Namur) are taken into captivity in France.source

14th century

1302April 10 – The first meeting of the Estates General in France is convened King Philip IV ("Philip the Fair") at the Notre-Dame in Paris. During the assembly, all three classes – the French nobles, clergy, and commons – discuss the conflict between Philip and Pope Boniface VIII over the papal legate, Bernard Saisset – who is accused to raise a rebellion of Occitan independence, associated with Navarre, under the banner of the County of Foix.source
1302April 10 – The first national assembly of the Estates General in France is convened King Philip IV at the Notre-Dame in Paris, to address a conflict with Pope Boniface VIII about the papal legate and charges of high treason against Bernard Saisset.source
1304February 9 – War of Scottish Independence: Scottish nobles led by Robert the Bruce and John Comyn ("John the Red"), negotiate a peace treaty with King Edward I of England ("Edward Longshanks"). His terms are accepted, and the Scots submit to English rule. In return, they are granted life and liberty under their old laws and freedom from the forfeiture of their lands. A few prominent nobles are singled out for temporary banishment – among them John de Soules, guardian of Scotland, who is exiled to France. No terms are offered to William Wallace, Edward's most wanted enemy, who remains defiantly at large despite every effort of Edward to capture him.source
1306July 22 – The Great Exile of 1306: King Philip IV of France turns his attentions to Italian bankers and orders the Jews to be exiled in France. The Jewish quarter in Paris is cleared and goods are confiscated – to regain money spent on expanding the domains of Flanders and Gascony. Meanwhile, rumors of a secret initiation ceremony of the Knights Templar create distrust, and Philip – while being deeply in debt to the Order for loans from his war against England, uses this distrust for political and religious motivations against the Templars.source
1307October 13 – King Philip IV of France orders the arrest of all members of the Knights Templar in France. The Templars, together with their Grand Master Jacques de Molay, are imprisoned, interrogated, and tortured into confessing heresy. In Paris, the king's inquisitors torture some 140 Templars, most of whom eventually make confessions. Many are subjected to "fire torture": their legs are fastened in an iron frame and the soles of their feet are greased with fat or butter. Unable to withstand these tortures, many Templars eventually confess.source
1308February 25 – Edward II is crowned at Westminster Abbey under the guidance of Henry Woodlock, bishop of Winchester. During the ceremony, Piers Gaveston is given the honour of carrying the crown. At the banquet that followed, Edward spends more time with Gaveston than with his wife Isabella of France. Isabella's family, who have travelled with her from France, leave to report back to Philip IV of Edward's favouritism for Gaveston over Isabella. As part of the coronation, Edward swears an oath to uphold "the rightful laws and customs which the community of the realm shall have chosen".source
1310May 12 – In France, 54 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for heresy at Paris, on orders of King Philip IV of France (Philip the Fair). Pope Clement V attempts to take control of the situation by issuing a papal bull, to assert the Church's authority over the matter and demands Philip turn over the Templars and their property to ecclesiastical officials, who will then try the Templars for charges themselves. (→ Trials of the Knights Templar)source
1315Spring – Great Famine of 1315–1317: A famine and pestilence sweeps over Europe, and exacts so frightful a toll of human life that the phenomenon is to be regarded as one of the most impressive features of the period. It covers almost the whole of Northern Europe; the current territory of Ireland, England, France, Netherlands, Germany and Poland. Heavy rains and unseasonably cold weather, the ensuing harvest failures and death of livestock from starvation, and the sharp rise in food prices cause an acute shortage of food that will last for two years. The famine causes millions of deaths (according to estimates, around 10 to 25% of the urban population dies). On August 10, King Edward II of England witnesses its extent in his realm when he and his entourage stop at St Albans and find bread and other food unavailable.source
1315May 20 – Bonne of Luxembourg, queen consort of France (died 1349)source
1316November 15 – John the Posthumous, King of France (died 1316)source
1319April 26 – John the Good, king of France (died 1364)source
1322January 3 – Philip V of France "the Tall", king of France (born c.1291)source
1323June 11 – Bertrand du Pouget, French papal legate, commanding a military campaign against the Ghibellines besieges Milan – but abandons the siege when Louis IV of Bavaria, King of the Romans, sends a relief army to Italy to aid the city and to protect his domains against the Kingdom of Naples, which is together with France the strongest ally of the Papal States.source
1324March 26 – Marie of Luxembourg, queen of France (born 1304)source
1324March 26 – Marie of Luxembourg, Queen of France, dies of injuries after falling from a carriage while she and King Charles IV are riding from Paris to Avignon. After her fall, she went into labor and gave birth prematurely to a child, who died shortly afterward.source
1326May 8 – Joan I, queen of France (House of Auvergne) (died 1360)source
1327March 31 – King Charles IV of France makes a peace treaty with England. He returns Aquitaine and Gascony to English rule. Charles receives 50,000 livres. The territories of Limousin, Quercy and Périgord county come under control of France.source

15th century

1477July 21 – The 1475 Treaty of Picquigny between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of France, is extended by agreement between England's King Edward IV and France's King Louis XI, with a provision that the cessation of hostilities will continue for one year after the death of one of the two monarchs.Louis.source