Early Middle Ages (5th century10th century)

Main articles: Francia, Merovingian dynasty, and Carolingian dynasty

See also: List of French monarchs and France in the Middle Ages

Frankish expansion from 481 to 843/870.

At the end of the Antiquity period, ancient Gaul was divided into several Germanic kingdoms
and a remaining Gallo-Roman territory, known as the Kingdom of Syagrius.
Simultaneously, Celtic Britons, fleeing the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, settled the western
part of Armorica. As a result, the Armorican peninsula was renamed Brittany, Celtic culture was
revived and independent petty kingdoms arose in this region.

With Clovis' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the Frankish monarchy, electiveand secular until then,
became hereditary and of divine right.

The pagan Franks, from whom the ancient name of "Francie" was derived, originally settled
the north part of Gaul, but under Clovis I conquered most of the other kingdoms in northern
and central Gaul. In 498, Clovis I was the first Germanic conqueror after the fall of the
Roman Empire to convert to Catholic Christianity, rather than Arianism; thus France was
given the title "Eldest daughter of the Church" (French: La fille ane de l'glise) by the
papacy,[38] and French kings would be called "the Most Christian Kings of France" (Rex
Christianissimus).
The Franks embraced the Christian Gallo-Roman culture and ancient Gaul was eventually
renamed Francia ("Land of the Franks"). The Germanic Franks adopted Romanic languages,
except in northern Gaul where Roman settlements were less dense and where Germanic
languages emerged. Clovis made Paris his capital and established the Merovingian dynasty, but
his kingdom would not survive his death. The Franks treated land purely as a private
possession and divided it among their heirs, so four kingdoms emerged from Clovis's:
Paris, Orlans, Soissons, and Rheims. The last Merovingian kings lost power to their mayors of the
palace (head of household). One mayor of the palace, Charles Martel, defeated an Islamic
invasion of Gaul at the Battle of Tours (732) and earned respect and power within the
Frankish kingdoms. His son, Pepin the Short, seized the crown of Francia from the weakened
Merovingians and founded the Carolingian dynasty. Pepin's son, Charlemagne, reunited the
Frankish kingdoms and built a vast empire across Western and Central Europe.

Proclaimed Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III and thus establishing in earnest the French
government's longtime historical association with the Catholic Church,[39] Charlemagne tried to
revive the Western Roman Empire and its cultural grandeur. Charlemagne's son, Louis
I (emperor 814840), kept the empire united; however, this Carolingian Empire would not
survive his death. In 843, under the Treaty of Verdun, the empire was divided between Louis'
three sons, with East Francia going to Louis the German, Middle Francia to Lothair I, and West
Francia to Charles the Bald. West Francia approximated the area occupied by, and was the
precursor, to modern France.[40]