Rise of the French monarchy--The new appanaged nobles and the
Hundred Years' War--Charles VII. expels the English--The
standing army and the permanent taille--Louis XI. humiliates
the nobles--Strength of the monarchy under Francis I.--Evil
results of the sale of offices--The wars of religion--Decline of
the royal power--Successes of Henry IV.--Victory of the crown
only partial--Independence of the nobles, the Huguenots, and
the sovereign courts--The minority of Louis XIII.--Greatness
of Richelieu's work--Difficulty of his biography.

THE history of France from the tenth to the close of
the eighteenth century is bound up with the history of
the French monarchy. Under the early Capets France
was a mere geographical expression; its kings were
little more than the titular chiefs among a number of
feudal nobles, and their practical authority was limited
to the Ile de France. From this powerless condition
the monarchy was gradually raised by the energy of
Louis VI., the prudence of Philip Augustus, and the
legislative ability and high personal character of Louis
IX. But the real founder of absolute monarchy in
France was Philip IV., who created that administrative
system which gradually extended itself over the whole
kingdom, and undermined the independent local institu-
tions of feudalism. Successful war and the extinction

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