France - Kingdom is used in Numista to differentiate coins minted under the livre, the predecessor of the decimalised Franc currency introduced after the first French Revolution in 1795, that was also used by the restored Kingdom of France between 1814/15 and 1830. Thus all coins under France - Kingdom are of the livre, and from before 1795. Similar coins minted under French influence in Europe and elsewhere (e.g. Brittany, French colonies, etc.) can be found under other issuers.
(left) Royal banner of France, used intermittently from the 11th century until the Revolution; (centre) State flag of France used from the late 16th century until the Revolution; (right) Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of France until 1789, representing the King's title as "King of France and Navarre"
History
The territory that is today France was first inhabited by Celtic peoples, with some Greek settlements in the south, until the Romans under Julius Caesar conquered the area now called "Gaul" in 50 BC. Roman rule lasted for four more centuries, until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD; when Germanic tribes, most prominently the Franks, moved into the area. The first noteworthy "King" of the unified Frankish tribes was Clovis I, who converted to Christianity in 496 AD. The Merovingian dynasty became rulers of the Kingdom of Francia, which covered areas of modern Germany as well as France until 754 AD, when the connected Carolingian dynasty came to power. The most significant of these early dynasties' rulers include Charles Martel, who defeated the Umayyad Caliphate at Tours in 732 AD, as well as his grandson Charlemagne (or Charles the Great), who ruled over the Carolingian Empire at it's height. Following Charlemagne's death in 814 AD, the Empire split up into Western, Middle and Eastern portions by his successors in the Treaty of Verdun (843), with the Western part going on to become the Kingdom of France. By 987 the Carolingian dynasty had died out, and a noble, Hugh Capet was chosen as successor.
Map of Francia (or the Carolingian Empire), split after the 843 Treaty of Verdun between Charlemagne's successors; the red part would go on to become France.
The Kingdom of France throughout the High Middle Ages was relatively decentralised, with many semi-autonomous dukes acting as de facto sovereigns, despite being a vassal of France. Examples include the Duchy of Normandy (whose rulers went on to invade Saxon England in 1066), absorbed into France in 1204, and the Duchy of Brittany, absorbed into France in 1532. It was from the former that lead to claims by the English Plantagenets on the French throne; as early as 1214, English forces had fought the French at the Battle of Bouvines and in the Saintonge War, where King John had lost most of the Angevin Empire's possessions in France. When Edward III of England claimed the throne of France, a series of intermittent conflicts between English monarchs and French monarchs from the House of Valois known as the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) broke out, with French defeats in the first two phases of the war.
Map of France at the height of English success in the Hundred Years' War, 1429; English occupied territories in red.
The conflict reignited under Henry V of England, who took the opportunity of a civil war between two factions (Armagnacs and Burgundians) in the court of "mad" King Charles VI; the English supported the latter and by 1420 controlled directly or indirectly large swathes of northern France. When Charles VI died, the English and Burgundians fought French forces under the Dauphin (later Charles VII); this phase of the war is famous for Jeanne d'Arc, the "Maid of Orléans", later executed by the English. Afterwards, the war turned against the English, as the Burgundians switched sides and a civil war of England's own (the Wars of the Roses) loomed at home. In 1453 the last English army was defeated at Castillon, and English France was reduced to Calais (lost in 1555) and the Channel Islands. The spirit that had emerged from the war centralised France, turning it from a feudal monarchy into a semi-modern state, with the Burgundians themselves being annexed to France in 1477.
Map of France in 1477 showing all the semi-autonomous duchies in France that would be annexed in an effort to centralise rule; notable are the Duchy of Brittany in the upper left, and Provence in the lower right.
England and France would fight again for centuries to come, but never again would it pose as mortal a threat as it had under Henry V. The House of Valois launched various wars in Italy (such as the War of the League of Cambrai) that would last until French claims were renounced in 1559. The Renaissance that had begun in France with the centralisation of authority after the Hundred Years War, now saw France became a formidable power in Europe, becoming a patron of the arts (da Vinci), and funding explorers to the New World. But this brief golden era ended when the Protestant Reformation reached France, and the French Wars of Religion broke out between Catholics and Protestants (Huguenots), which dominated the late 16th century. Stability returned with Henri IV, who issued the Edict of Nantes (1598) enshrining religious tolerance of Protestants, while converting to Catholicism and becoming the first Bourbon king of France.
Depiction of the Saint-Bartholomew's Day Massacre, in 1572; a crescendo of the French Wars of Religion. Henri IV, upon converting to Catholicism to become King at the end of this conflict is supposed to have famously said, "Paris vaut une messe" (Paris is worth a mass).
The assasination of Henri IV in 1610 lead to Louis XIII becoming King; heavily influenced by Cardinal Richelieu and later Cardinal Mazarin, both influential figures in French politics and diplomacy during the Thirty Years War (1618-48), which saw France support the Protestants against Habsburg Austria from 1635 onwards. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) saw France greatly extend it's influence eastwards, setting the stage for a new monarch, Louis XIV (le "Roi Soleil")'s conquests. Continued wars against the Habsburgs, rulers of Spain and Austria saw France's current Spanish border realised in 1659, while Lille and Flanders came under French rule after the War of Devolution (1668). The Dutch too were targets of the Sun King's conquests, who even took advantage of the Holy Roman Empire fighting the Ottomans at the gates of Vienna to expand France's own influence in Central Europe (Strasbourg was annexed in 1681).
Map of France in 1715; in orange are the conquests of Louis XIV since 1659.
Louis XIV concentrated the nobility at his new court in Versailles, ruling as an absolute monarch, with more control and authority than his predecessors had had over France; even revoking the Edict of Nantes in 1685, sending Huguenots emigrating from France. The last years of his reign saw a Grand Alliance against him in the Nine Years' War, a coalition of states fearing French hegemony; and the last war he fought, the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), saw him successful in placing a Bourbon king on the Spanish throne, but at the cost of Spain's non-Iberian territories, which went back to the Habsburgs. When he died in 1715, his great-grandson, the first in line to have outlived him, became Louis XV, and attempted to emulate his predecessor's glorious conquests once he came of age. The areas of Lorraine and Corsica came under French rule during his reign, but the end of the War of Austrian Succession (1740-48) left France with little gains.
Political cartoon from ~1790, representing the disparity in income, taxes and living standards between the first two privileged estates of Ancien Regime France, the clergy and nobility, and the third estate, commoners. Commonly cited as the chief reason for the popular discontent in France before 1789.
After that, Louis XV abandoned France's alliance with Prussia in favour of one with Austria, a traditional enemy of France; this dragged France into the Seven Years War (1756-63) when Prussia invaded Saxony, an Austrian ally. Prussia's new ally Britain also fought France in various theatres across the world; in North America, the Caribbean, and India. French forces initially did well, but a string of British victories in 1759 turned the tide in North America; and in 1763, France signed a disastrous peace treaty giving up almost all it's territories and influence in India and America to Britain. This war had bankrupted France, and yet his successor, Louis XVI jumped at the chance to get revenge on the British, and financed rebels in the War of American Independence (1777-83) on borrowed money, pushing French finances even further into the red. Between increased taxes, inflation and poor grain harvests pushing up the price of bread, discontent spread amongst the people of Paris, ultimately sparking the Storming of the Bastille on 14th July 1789, the seminal event that began the (first) French Revolution, ending the millennium long reign of the French monarchy.
Coinage
The coins catalogued in Numista under France - Kingdom span eleven centuries, from the first (relatively irregular) issues under the Merovingians in the 7th century AD, to the coins of the livre used on the eve of the first French Revolution. Coins used by the Gauls, Romans and other tribes in France are listed under other issuers. The key denomination of medieval French coinage is the "denier", a small silver coin issued since the 7th century; under Charlemagne, in 781 AD the "livre" (from Latin "libra" or "pound", also where the £ sign comes from) was established as a unit equal to 1 pound of silver. From then on, the livre was subdivided into 20 sous, each of which was subdivided into 12 deniers. This pre-decimal system, reflects also the similar pre-decimal currencies like that of England/Britain (the pound being subdivided into 20 shillings, each of which subdivided into 12 pence).
The first of those livres (known as the livre Carolingienne) had issues of silver deniers, with variations in diameter and weight (owing to unstandardised minting practices of the time). These deniers are generally very well sought after by numismatists, and even one in bad condition can expect to fetch at least 150€. After a while, currency debasement lead to the minting of other denominations, like the Obole (1/2 a Denier), and the Double (2 and 1/2 deniers). By the 12th century, inconsistencies in coinage production had lead to a differentiation between two regional mints; coins were referred to as "livre parisis" (Parisian Livre) or "livre tournois" (Tours Livre). This distinction is still used by medieval French numismatists today. The latter was considered to be more stable, and it became the standard currency under Philip II around 1200, eventually phasing out the livre parisis.
Up until this point sous and livres did not exist as coins, only as amounts, but in the mid-13th century higher denominations were minted in silver and gold, reflecting custom in other European countries like Venice as demand for larger monetary units grew; these new coins were called écu d'or (a gold coin equal to 1 livre tournois) and informally called "francs". In the Late Middle Ages, more denominations were introduced, such as the Liard (3 deniers), the Teston (10 Sols, or half a livre) and demi-teston (5 Sols, or a quarter livre).
(left) Author's own example of a humble Double Tournois (2 Deniers) coin from the reign of Louis XIII (1636), one of the last issues of this small denomination; minted shortly before the currency revaluation of 1641; (right) Author's own example of an early écu d'argent; issued under Louis XIV, 1649;
Those coins, based on the écu d'or, lasted until a currency reform in 1641 under Louis XIII, the écu was revalued and became a silver coin (écu d'argent) worth three livres, and a new gold coin, the Louis d'or, worth 10 livres, was also introduced. A whole new series of coins, based on the new silver écu, would be minted from then on until the Revolution, usually denominated in fractions of the écu (e.g. 1/20th écu). The value of the écu fluctuated greatly until 1726, when the écu d'argent was fixed at 6 livres, and the Louis d'or at 24 livres. This generation of post-1641 coins were also the first French coins to bear privy marks of the Chief Engraver of the Monnaie de Paris, a custom that lasts even today.
(left) Author's own example of an "écu d'argent aux branches d'olivier" of Louis XV, 1758; (right) Author's own example of a 5 livres "assignat" note issued in 1793, during the Revolution.
Summary of 1641-1794 livre tournois coins;
3 Deniers = 1 Liard
12 Deniers or 4 Liard = 1 Sous (or Sol)
240 Deniers or 80 Liard or 20 Sous = 1 Livre [Tournois]
1440 Deniers or 480 Liards or 120 Sous or 6 Livres = 1 Écu d'argent (from 1726)
5760 Deniers or 1920 Liards or 480 Sous or 24 Livres or 4 Écu = 1 Louis d'or (from 1726)
(The above chart can be used to make sense of the coins issued under the écu d'argent after the reforms of 1641; you can easily work out the values of the various fractional écu denominations based on those basics; for example my 1/10th écu coin pictured below, is worth 0.6 (or 3/5ths of) livres, which is 12 Sous, or 48 Liards, or 144 Deniers. )
(left) Author's own example of a "1/10ème d'écu à la Vielle Tête" (1/10th Écu d'argent, Old head variant); (centre)(right) Author's own example of a 12 Deniers coin, issued in 1791 with the modified title.
During the French Revolution, but before the abolition of the livre tournois and the franc's introduction at the rate of 1 franc = 1 livre and 3 deniers (in 1795), in 1791-94 coins were redesigned; the title of "ROI DE FRANCE ET NAVARE" (King of France and Navarre) became the more egalitarian "ROI DES FRANÇOIS" (King of the French); the coins themselves now bore their names in subunits, e.g. this coin was called the "24 livres" instead of a "Louis d'or", to step away from the pre-Revolution names.
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/france_royaume-1.html
