Ask The History Doc: Queens of France

Dear History Doctor: Why don’t you ever write anything about the Queens of France? All I ever hear about are the Kings…Signed, How Come? Dear How Come, Well, there is actually a very good reason why you never hear anything about the “Queens of France.” There weren’t any. At least, there weren’t any in a technical sense. When you see “Queen of France,” most people would figure you mean someone female who ruled in France. And the sad fact is, France had no queens regnant. And why not, I hear you ask? Ahh, this requires just a bit of an explanation. When Europe was in the process of becoming Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, those areas that were developing into countries did not yet have a fixed way to decide who was up to bat next. In fact, in some cases they simply selected whichever warrior leader had the greatest, and therefore most dangerous, number of followers. Occasionally there was some consideration of the inheritance factor, but not usually. The good news about this type of arrangement was that it was stunningly democratic, at least in the sense that not even illegitimacy would serve as a bar to becoming ruler. William the Conqueror was born on the wrong side of the sheets, for instance. The bad news was that it produced untold chaos and conflict, especially since the early Middle Ages was a sort of might-makes-right period anyway. Conflict did not lead to stability, and as things began to settle down and more definite national boundaries began to emerge, the need for a more organized selection system became obvious. But, like peace in our time, it was easier to talk about than to accomplish. There were regional differences to consider, plus the very strong role of the nobles. So perhaps it was to be expected that not all countries would emerge with the same rules. Most of them, however, developed some sort of variation on the idea of inheritance, since that seemed the surest way to have, in advance, at least a bit of a clue about who would become the next ruler. Pretty quickly, thanks partly to ecclesiastical influences, illegitimate children became, for the most part, ineligible for the succession. This “rule” produced a certain degree of strain in many a royal marriage, since it meant that the wife, and only the wife, must produce an heir (or two, or three). Many of the other “rules,” however, were produced on the spot, as necessity demanded, because not all variations could be guessed at in advance. Take for instance the problem of daughters. What if the legitimate children were all girls? It was on this score that England separated itself from France, but not strictly for what today might be called chauvinistic reasons. You see, in 1314, Philip IV of France died, leaving three male heirs and a daughter, Isabella. His first two sons, Louis X and Philip V, finished their reigns without producing a male heir. When Philip V died in 1322, the two main contenders for the throne were Philip’s younger brother Charles and Edward of England. Edward was the grandson of Philip’s father, Philip IV. Stay with me here. Isabella had married Edward II of England and of course the English believed that young Edward’s claim to the throne of France as a grandson of Philip IV should supercede that of Charles, who was only a third son of Philip IV. The French barons did not see it that way. Since they had no wish to see France and England combined into one realm, they quickly came up with what later was called the Salic Law, stating that a woman could neither rule in France nor pass her right to rule on to her heirs. Edward, who felt he had been robbed, later invaded France to regain “his” country, and this squabble turned into a little encounter called the Hundred Years War. In any case, England went on to have several famous queens who actually ruled (Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria) but France did not. When you see “Queen of France,” it means that person was married to the King of France and not that she actually ruled in her own right. In defiance of logic, it became customary in France for the Queen Mother to be appointed regent during the minority of her son, and in that capacity she might as well have been queen regnant, at least until he attained his majority. Go figure! The History Doctor does not vouch for the accuracy of the questions asked. Or for the answers given either. Copyright © Paris New Media, LLC To learn more about this subject or plan a trip to France, order a book from Amazon.com.