In medieval historiography, West Francia or the Kingdom of the West Franks constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the Treaty of Verdun in 843 to 987, the beginning of
Royal lands (in blue) by the end of the 10th century
The Kingdom of the Franks, also known as the Frankish Kingdom or Francia, was the largest post-Roman kingdom in Western Europe. It was established by the Franks, one of the Germanic peoples. Its found
West Francia
…following the death of Louis the Pious, the Treaty of Verdun was signed by his three sons and heirs. The youngest, Charles the Bald, received western Francia. The contemporary West Frankish Annales Bertiniani describes Charles arriving at Verdun, "where the distribution of portions" took place. After describing…
The partition of the Frankish kingdom among the four sons of Clovis with Clotilde presiding, Grandes Chroniques de France (Bibliothèque municipale de Toulouse)
The political divisions of Gaul at the inception of Clovis's career (481). Note that only the Burgundian kingdom and the province of Septimania remained unconquered at his death (511).
The division of the Frankish kingdom on Clovis's death (511). The kingdoms were not geographic unities because they were formed in an attempt to create equal-sized fiscs. The discrepancy in size reveals the concentration of Roman fiscal lands.
The division of Gaul on Chlothar I's death (561). Though more geographically unified realms were created out of the second fourfold division, the complex division of Provence created many problems for the rulers of Burgundy and Austrasia.