duchy · France and the Low Countries
Duchy of the Franks
Origins
The Robertian family had led the defence of Neustria against the Vikings since Robert the Strong in the 860s, and two of its members, Odo and Robert I, had briefly been kings. In 936 Hugh the Great helped restore the Carolingian Louis IV and was recognised as 'duke of the Franks', second only to the king.
Rule and society
Hugh the Great held counties and lay abbacies around Paris, Orléans and Tours, including Saint-Martin of Tours and Saint-Denis, giving him more land and men than the king. He controlled royal successions and dealt as an equal with the dukes of Normandy and Burgundy. His son Hugh Capet inherited the title in 956.
Decline and legacy
When the last Carolingian king, Louis V, died in 987, the magnates elected Hugh Capet king. The duchy's lands became the royal domain of the new Capetian Kingdom of France, which his descendants ruled for eight centuries.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Duchy of the Franks was a vassal of West Francia936 CE – 987 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of the Franks. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-the-franks
- MLA
- “Duchy of the Franks.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-the-franks. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of the Franks.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-the-franks.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of the Franks’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-the-franks (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻