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West Francia or the West Frankish Kingdom was a short-lived kingdom encompassing the lands of the western part of the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiography term sometimes used to refer to the Francia under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany....
 that came under the undisputed control of Charlemagne's grandson, Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald

File:Charles le Chauve denier Bourges after 848.jpgCharles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith, daughter of Welf....
, as a result of the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun

In the Treaty of Verdun-sur-Meuse of 843 the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's grandsons, divided his territories, the Frankish Empire, into three kingdoms....
 of 843
843

Events...
.

The Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
, the great realm united by Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
 that consisted of a large part of Western Europe, was partitioned after a three-year-long civil war between his grandsons (840
840

Events...
-843
843

Events...
), during which Charles the Bald allied himself with his half-brother Louis the German
Louis the German

Louis the German , was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye....
 to dispute the inheritance of his brother Lothair I
Lothair I

Lothair I , king of Italy and crowned Carolingian Empire King of Italy, Emperor of the Romans and was Empire of the Franks .Lothair was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman of Hesbaye, duke of Hesbaye....
, the nominal Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 Emperor of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans (this had been Charlemagne's title, a title also used much later by the Holy Roman Emperors
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
 from Otto I and afterwards).

The Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiography term sometimes used to refer to the Francia under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany....
 of the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 founded by their grandfather lasted only one generation through their father Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks with his father, Charlemagne, from 813....
.






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West Francia or the West Frankish Kingdom was a short-lived kingdom encompassing the lands of the western part of the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiography term sometimes used to refer to the Francia under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany....
 that came under the undisputed control of Charlemagne's grandson, Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald

File:Charles le Chauve denier Bourges after 848.jpgCharles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith, daughter of Welf....
, as a result of the Treaty of Verdun
Treaty of Verdun

In the Treaty of Verdun-sur-Meuse of 843 the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, Charlemagne's grandsons, divided his territories, the Frankish Empire, into three kingdoms....
 of 843
843

Events...
.

The Frankish Empire
Frankish Empire

Francia or Frankia, later also called the Frankish Empire , Frankish Kingdom , Frankish Realm or occasionally Frankland, was the territory inhabited and ruled by the Franks from the 3rd to the 10th century....
, the great realm united by Charlemagne
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
 that consisted of a large part of Western Europe, was partitioned after a three-year-long civil war between his grandsons (840
840

Events...
-843
843

Events...
), during which Charles the Bald allied himself with his half-brother Louis the German
Louis the German

Louis the German , was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Holy Roman Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye....
 to dispute the inheritance of his brother Lothair I
Lothair I

Lothair I , king of Italy and crowned Carolingian Empire King of Italy, Emperor of the Romans and was Empire of the Franks .Lothair was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman of Hesbaye, duke of Hesbaye....
, the nominal Carolingian
Carolingian

File:Charlemagne denier Mayence 812 814.jpgThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with its origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century....
 Emperor of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans (this had been Charlemagne's title, a title also used much later by the Holy Roman Emperors
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
 from Otto I and afterwards).

The Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiography term sometimes used to refer to the Francia under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany....
 of the Franks
Franks

The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic ethnic group first identified in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River....
 founded by their grandfather lasted only one generation through their father Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781 and Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Franks with his father, Charlemagne, from 813....
. His realm, the great demesne which had covered most of Northern Italy
Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region....
 (Lombardy), France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 (excepting Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
), the Low Countries
Low Countries

The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the country on low-lying land around the river delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse River rivers....
, and most of modern Austria
Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west....
 and Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, was split after some skirmishing to little effect into East Francia, West Francia or the Western Realm, and Middle Francia
Middle Francia

Middle Francia designates the short-lived realm created for Holy Roman Emperor Lothair I wedged between East Francia and West Francia. A natural outcome of the Franks tradition of treating the res publica as private property, it was created in the partition of Louis the Pious' legacy that was embodied in the 843 Treaty of Verdun....
. The West Frankish Kingdom is however the precursor of both Medieval France and modern France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
, though West Francia would have to pass to the less quarrelsome House of Capet
House of Capet

For a full history of the Capetian family, see Capetian dynasty.The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty - itself a derivative dynasty from the...
 before it achieved steady growth and stability.

The western realm was divided into the following great fiefs: Aquitaine
Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain....
, Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
, Burgundy
Burgundy

Burgundy is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland....
, Catalonia
Catalonia

Catalonia , is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km? and has an official population of 7,210,508. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east ....
, Flanders
Flanders

Flanders is a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. Over the course of history, the geographical territory that was called "Flanders" has varied....
, Gascony
Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that constituted a Provinces of France prior to the French Revolution. In historic references dating from the beginning of the Roman era, it was part of Gaul and became part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the conquests of Clovis I ....
, Gothia
Gothia

Gothia is a name given to various places where the Goths lived during their migrations:* G?taland, the traditional original homeland of the Goths....
 (Septimania
Septimania

Septimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II....
), the Īle-de-France
Īle-de-France (province)

?le-de-France is one of the ancient provinces of France, and the one that has been the centre of power during most of History of France. It is centred on Paris....
, and Toulouse
Toulouse

Toulouse is a commune of France in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea....
.

The Carolingians were subsequently to share the fate of their predecessors: after an intermittent power struggle between the two families, the accession (987
987

EventsBy PlaceEurope* Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, is crowned King of France.Americas* Kukulcan conquers Chichen Itza....
) of Hugh Capet, Duke of France and Count of Paris, established the Capetian dynasty
Capetian dynasty

The Capetian dynasty is the largest European royal house. It includes any of the direct descendants of Hugh Capet of France. King Juan Carlos of Spain and Grand Duke Henri%2C_Grand_Duke_of_Luxembourg of Luxembourg are members of this family, both through the House of Bourbon of the dynasty....
 on the throne which with its Valois and Bourbon
House of Bourbon

The House of Bourbon is an important European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty. Bourbon kings first ruled Kingdom of Navarre and France in the 16th century....
 offshoots was to rule France for more than 800 years. After 987, the kingdom came to be known as France, as the new ruling dynasty (the Capetians
House of Capet

For a full history of the Capetian family, see Capetian dynasty.The House of Capet, or The Direct Capetian Dynasty, , also called The House of France , or simply the Capets, which ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328, was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty - itself a derivative dynasty from the...
) were originally dukes of Īle-de-France
Īle-de-France (province)

?le-de-France is one of the ancient provinces of France, and the one that has been the centre of power during most of History of France. It is centred on Paris....
, the region encompassing Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
.