The Territorial Evolution of France

Pink means a loss of territory, green means a gain of a territory.

This beauty of a music is called "Impossible" by Two Steps From Hell

For those who want to learn more about French history, I highly recommend the following books:
- “Histoire de France” by Jacques Bainville. It is the best history book I know. Very clear, interesting and written like a novel.
- “Les rois maudits”, by Maurice Druon for the middle age and 100 years war. I heard it was one of the main influences used by the author of Game of Thrones
- "Les Trois Mousquetaires" by Alexandre Dumas for the Louis XIII era
- “Bonaparte” and “Napoléon” by André Castelot on the napoleonic wars
- "Mahomet et Charlemagne" by Henri Pirenne for the Frankish kingdoms and especially the Carolingians

Q&A:
1- When does the history of France starts?
There are 3 schools of thought. Some say that it started in 481(first Frankish kingdom, with 496 as the baptism of the king Clovis), some say 843 (the split of eastern Francia, Lotharingia and western Francia), and some others say 987 (the capetian takeover).
My opinion is that France starts in 481 because from 481 to 1789, the kings had the same title, ruling over the same people, with the same religion, same language, and almost the same territory. There was no foreign invasion or coup d'état that broke this continuity.

Regarding the treaty of Verdun (843): the state that was governed by Clovis in 481 is the exact same state that existed after 843, just with less territory. It is similar to Germany losing Prussia after WWII, the country was smaller but Germany remained Germany.
The Franks used to split the kingdom by tradition, and splitting it again in 843 was no exception to what the Merovingians had done for centuries. The only difference for 843 is that the eastern part started to become more autonomous with time, and later became its own country (Germany). But for the western part, it was the same dynasty ruling over the same people. Even the wordings "Eastern Francia" and "Western Francia" are anachronistic and were invented much after 843.

Regarding the Capetian takeover (987): it was just a change of dynasty. The country stayed exactly the same.

2- Brittany
I actually spent a lot of time researching this very topic, and I changed my mind several times, which you can see on my other videos “History of Europe” and “Timeline of the Rulers of France”. My conclusion is:
- Brittany was conquered by the Carolingians during the reign of Charlemagne (around 800)
- Brittany achieved independance in 851 under the reign of Erispoë, son of Nominoë
- Brittany was attacked by the Vikings and Normands in the early 900s
- Alain Barbetorte re-conquered Brittany with the help of France and was named Duke of Brittany. Duchy means that there was a vassality towards the king of France. And effectively, Alain paid homage to the king of France in 942.
- From 942 to 1530, the duke of Brittany paid homage mostly to the Capetian kings of France and sometimes to the Plantagenet kings of England. Homages could be an "Homage lige" (serious) or "Homage simple" (less serious). But in practice, it was still part of the kingdom of France, it's just their allegiance shifted towards different monarchs, mostly during the 100 years war. And even when the duke paid homage to the king of England, the duchy didn't became part of the English kingdom. It was just under the influence of the king of England.
From 942 to 1530, Brittany enjoyed a great deal of autonomy, having a different language (Breton) and a unique culture. But most provinces, like Aquitaine, Provence or Burgundy had a lot of autonomy as well, sometimes fighting against the king himself whilst always staying within the French Kingdom. That's what we call the Fiefs Mouvants (moving fiefs).
- The union of France and Brittany in 1530 put an end to all ambiguity regarding the status of Brittany.

Видео The Territorial Evolution of France канала Cottereau