This is a course on French history from the Vth century to the end of the 15^th. The period between the Xth and the XV th is studied in more details than the High Middle Ages. The main subjects are the following: the decline of the royal power during the last Carolingians, the rise of the peripheral principalities, the diffusion of power in the local level among the seigneurs of the castles, the so-called Gregorian Reformation of the Church, the Crusades, the gradual reinforcemnt of the kings, the constitution of the feudal pyramidal relationships, the reigns of Philippe August and Louis VII, the relations with the English kingdom, the crisis following the 100 Years War, the recovery during the reign of Charles VII, the concentration of power under Louis XI and the ensuing reaction of the nobility.

The main aim of the course is to help those who take it to create a mental map based on the conventional chronological order which could form the frame into which data about the French medieval civilization may find their proper place. Taking into account the fact that the course is offered in a Translation Department, we underlie the importance of understanding the historicity of terms referring to politics, public finance and economy.

Claude Gouvard, La France au Moyen Âge Ve-XVe siècles, Paris 2019

Jacques LeGoff-Jean Claude Schmitt, Dictionaire raisonné de l'Occident médiéval, Paris 2014

At the end of the semester, the students are required to take an oral exam.