Francia Occidentalis (West Francia, or France), Kingdom of

In medieval historiography, West Francia (Latin: Francia occidentalis) or the Kingdom of the West Franks (regnum Francorum occidentalium) forms the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about 840 until 987.

West Francia is formed out of the division of the Carolingian Empire after the death of Emperor Louis the Pious, but the east–west division gradually hardens into the establishment of what will become the separate kingdoms of Germany and France.West Francia extends further south than modern France, but it does not extend as far east, and does not include Lorraine and Provence.

In Brittany and Catalonia (now mostly a part of Spain), the authority of the West Frankish king is barely felt.

Initially, West Frankish kings are elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, and for the half-century between 888 and 938 they choose alternately from the houses of the Carolingian and the Robertians (ancestral to the Capets).

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