During the Middle Ages, the counts of Blois were among the most powerful vassals of the King of France.
Image: Arbor genealogiae regum Francorum Besançon ms 854 f 8 Robert le Fort
Image: Robert Ier roi des Francs
Image: Elias I of Maine Odo II Count of Blois
Image: Stepan Blois 1089
The crown lands, crown estate, royal domain or domaine royal of France were the lands, fiefs and rights directly possessed by the kings of France. While the term eventually came to refer to a territorial unit, the royal domain originally referred to the network of "castles, villages and estates, forests, towns, religious houses and bishoprics, and the rights of justice, tolls and taxes" effectively held by the king or under his domination. In terms of territory, before the reign of Henry IV, the domaine royal did not encompass the entirety of the territory of the kingdom of France and for much of the Middle Ages significant portions of the kingdom were the direct possessions of other feudal lords.
The Kingdom of France at the time of Hugh Capet. French royal domain in blue.