kingdom · France and the Low Countries
West Francia
Origins
After civil war among the sons of Louis the Pious, the Treaty of Verdun in 843 gave Charles the Bald the lands west of the Scheldt, Meuse, Saône and Rhône. His realm took in Neustria, Aquitaine, Gascony and the Spanish March, though Brittany remained largely independent.
Rule and society
Royal power weakened under the pressure of Viking raids and of great regional magnates who turned their offices into hereditary principalities. Charles the Bald ordered fortified bridges in the Edict of Pîtres in 864. Count Odo of Paris defended the city against the Vikings in 885 to 886 and was elected king, beginning a rivalry between Carolingians and his Robertian family.
Decline and legacy
In 911 Charles the Simple granted Rollo the land that became the Duchy of Normandy. Kings alternated between the two families until the last Carolingian, Louis V, died in 987, when the magnates elected Hugh Capet, founding the Kingdom of France.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (10)
- County of Toulouse was a vassal of West Francia843 CE – 987 CE
- Kingdom of Brittany split from West Francia851 CE
- County of Flanders was a vassal of West Francia862 CE – 987 CE
- Kingdom of Lower Burgundy split from West Francia879 CE
- Duchy of Aquitaine was a vassal of West Francia893 CE – 987 CE
- County of Vermandois was a vassal of West Francia896 CE – 987 CE
- Duchy of Lotharingia was part of West Francia911 CE – 925 CE
- Duchy of Normandy was a vassal of West Francia911 CE – 987 CE
- Duchy of Burgundy was a vassal of West Francia918 CE – 987 CE
- Duchy of the Franks was a vassal of West Francia936 CE – 987 CE
More states of France and the Low Countries →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). West Francia. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-francia
- MLA
- “West Francia.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-francia. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “West Francia.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-francia.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘West Francia’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/west-francia (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻