Paris in the Middle Ages: How the Capital of the Kingdom of France Was Born

The Early Middle Ages: 486-987

During the fifth century, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, and Gaul was conquered by the Frankish tribe, which gave France its name. The first king of the Frankish kingdom, Clovis, founded the Merovingian dynasty, which ruled large parts of modern-day France until 752.

During Merovingian rule, the kingdom was divided many times, and its kings fought each other constantly. The kings lived in the royal palace on Île de la Cité, though almost nothing survives of the original building.

Overall, almost nothing survives in Paris from this period, except for the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where several of the dynasty’s kings were buried. Another Merovingian legacy is the first version of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. King Dagobert I (629-639) was the first to be buried there, starting a tradition in which the kings of France were buried at the basilica (a tradition that officially ended in 1824, with the burial of Louis XVIII).

From the mid-seventh century on, the influence of the later Merovingian kings steadily declined. They became known as “the do-nothing kings” (les rois fainéants), spending their time mostly on pleasure and often dying young. Meanwhile, the palace stewards (maior domus) grew increasingly powerful and became the real rulers.

In 752, Pepin the Short, the palace steward, decided to take the crown formally. With the pope’s backing, he deposed the last Merovingian king, Childeric III, cut off his long hair (a symbol of royal status), and sent him to a monastery. The dynasty Pepin founded is called the Carolingian dynasty, named after his famous son, Charlemagne (768-814), and it ruled France until 987.

During the Carolingian period, Paris lost its standing, and the capital moved to Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle). During the ninth century, the city became a favorite target of Viking raids, which routinely destroyed and plundered the surrounding settlements. The Carolingian kings proved helpless against them.

In 885-886, the great Viking siege of Paris took place. Eudes, Count of Paris, managed to defend the city heroically, and as a result was crowned king of France (888-898). After his death, the Carolingians briefly returned to power. In 987, Louis V, the last Carolingian king, died, and Eudes’s descendant, Hugh Capet, was elected king of France. The Capetian dynasty he founded, through its various branches, ruled France almost continuously until 1848.

Episodes of “Once Upon a Time” on the Early Middle Ages

An excellent episode on the Merovingians and Carolingians:

And an episode on the Viking invasions:

The Late Middle Ages: 987-1483

In 987, when Hugh Capet rose to power, Paris was still a relatively small city. The Viking raids had caused the Left Bank to be abandoned, and the population concentrated on the fortified island, Île de la Cité. Still, since Paris was now the king’s capital city, its standing steadily grew, and within about a century it became the kingdom’s capital not just in name, but in practice.

The early Capetian kings were relatively weak and ruled directly only over the Paris region and its surroundings (“Île-de-France”). They were surrounded by powerful barons who posed a constant threat to their rule. The turning point came during the reign of Louis VI (“the Fat,” 1108-1137), when the standing of the kings of France began to strengthen.

Paris Takes Shape: The Great Capetian Kings

During Louis VI’s reign, the familiar division of Paris began to take shape: the Right Bank as a commercial center (with the growth of the Les Halles market, which operated until 1969), and the Left Bank as an intellectual center, with the founding of the first colleges that would later become the Sorbonne.

During the reign of his son, Louis VII (1137-1180), the Île de la Cité continued to develop, and construction began on Notre-Dame Cathedral. His son, Philip II “Augustus” (1180-1223), built Paris’s first wall, which surrounded both banks. Remnants of it can still be seen today in the Marais and behind the Panthéon.

Philip Augustus’s grandson, Louis IX (“Saint Louis,” 1226-1270), was responsible for building Sainte-Chapelle, a royal chapel known for its breathtaking stained glass. He built it to house the “Crown of Thorns” of Christ, a holy relic he had acquired during a crusade.

Paris During the Hundred Years’ War

Louis IX’s grandson was Philip IV (“the Fair,” 1285-1314). During his reign, the royal palace on Île de la Cité was rebuilt, along with the Conciergerie, which later became a notorious prison. Philip was also responsible for destroying the Knights Templar, a wealthy and powerful order of knights whose headquarters stood in the Marais (hence the street names in the area, like rue du Temple).

Philip, who coveted their wealth, had the order’s leaders arrested on Friday, October 13, 1307. After being charged with a series of fabricated crimes, they were burned at the stake in 1314. Legend has it that as he was led to the stake, the order’s grand master, Jacques de Molay, cursed King Philip and his descendants. Indeed, the king died that same year, and after him his three sons died one after another without a male heir: Louis X (1314-1316), Philip V (1316-1322), and Charles IV (1322-1328).

The death of the sons created a succession crisis. There were two main claimants to the throne: Philip, Duke of Valois, cousin of Charles IV, and Edward III, king of England, who was the last king’s nephew. Since Salic law did not allow women to inherit the French crown, the Duke of Valois was chosen as king of France under the name Philip VI (1328-1350).

But the king of England refused to accept this and invaded France in 1337. This began the Hundred Years’ War, which actually lasted 116 years (1337-1453) and during which Paris saw revolts, occupation, and great suffering.

During that period, Paris experienced one of the most important revolts in its history. In 1357, the head of the merchants’ guild, Étienne Marcel, broke into the royal palace and slaughtered the king’s advisers before the eyes of the regent, Charles (later Charles V), seeking to gain more rights for the city. The revolt was crushed a few years later, but it had two important consequences.

First, King Charles V, scarred by the experience, left the Palais de la Cité and moved to live at the Hôtel Saint-Pol in the Marais. This move turned the Marais into a fashionable, aristocratic neighborhood (the palace itself no longer exists). Second, the revolt opened a long Parisian tradition of popular uprisings, one that continues in some form to this day (as the yellow vest (gilets jaunes) protests reminded us).

Charles V is remembered not only as a wise king who defeated the English in many battles, but also as one of the great builders of medieval Paris. He was responsible for building the Château de Vincennes, the Bastille, expanding the Louvre, and building a new wall for Paris that stood until the time of Louis XIV.

After Charles V’s successful years on the throne, fortune once again turned against France. His heir, Charles VI (1380-1422), suffered from bouts of madness and was unfit to rule. In the political vacuum that followed, a bitter power struggle broke out between his brother, the Duke of Orléans, and his uncle, the Duke of Burgundy.

In 1407, the murder of the Duke of Orléans on rue Barbette sparked a bloody civil war, in which Paris sided with the Burgundian faction (the Tour Jean Sans Peur, on rue Étienne Marcel, survives today from the Duke of Burgundy’s palace). The English took advantage of the internal chaos, and after their victory at the Battle of Agincourt (1415), they managed to seize Paris and crown their young king, Henry VI, there.

At that point, it seemed that France was about to become an English kingdom. Charles VI’s son, the Dauphin Charles (later Charles VII, 1422-1461), ruled over only a small territory in the Loire Valley. Then Joan of Arc appeared, a young peasant girl who led the French army to victory at the siege of Orléans. She also tried to retake Paris but failed, was captured by the English, and was eventually burned at the stake.

Despite her tragic end, Joan of Arc’s intervention changed the course of the war. Over the following years, Charles VII managed to drive the English out of nearly all of France (except for the city of Calais). His son, Louis XI (1461-1483), continued the work of unifying the kingdom and strengthening Paris’s standing.

The Paris of Louis XI’s reign, the setting of “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame,” was, in the eyes of Victor Hugo, the most beautiful it had ever been. Sadly, only a few buildings survive from his era, chief among them the Hôtel de Cluny (today the Museum of the Middle Ages) and the Hôtel de Sens.

Recommended Media on the Late Middle Ages

Episodes of “Once Upon a Time”

An episode on the building of the Gothic cathedrals, Notre-Dame foremost among them:

And an episode on the Hundred Years’ War:

More Films and Series

I highly recommend a miniseries called “The Accursed Kings” (Les Rois Maudits), about Philip IV and his sons. Watching it will teach you not only history, but also reveal the historical inspiration behind “Game of Thrones.” Here’s the first episode (the rest are available on YouTube):

The film “Joan of Arc” (directed by Luc Besson, starring Milla Jovovich) tells the story of the girl who changed the history of France:

And finally, “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame” gives you a glimpse of 15th-century Paris. There are many film versions, but I recommend Disney’s animated one, which will also work well for kids traveling with you in Paris.

Want to Read More About the History of Paris?

You’re welcome to move on to the next chapter in the history of Paris series and learn about other eras in the story of the City of Light.

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