A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 2

In Short

This volume serves as a comprehensive, narrative-driven record of French history during the Middle Ages, spanning the height and decline of the Crusades through the tumultuous fourteenth century. It documents the evolution of the French monarchy, the rise of the urban communes, and the brutal collision of feudal obligations with early national identity. By grounding its account in the actions of kings like Philip Augustus and St. Louis, alongside the struggles of commoners and burghers, the work provides a vivid, balanced look at how institutional authority and grassroots defiance shaped a civilization. Its enduring value lies in its attempt to synthesize complex political maneuvers with the social realities of those who lived through them.

The Story

The narrative begins with the aftermath of the First Crusade, when the dream of a permanent Christian kingdom in the East seemed secured by leaders like Godfrey de Bouillon. However, the subsequent chapters chronicle the slow disintegration of these ambitions as shifting alliances, religious zeal, and the logistical failures of far-flung expeditions begin to drain the resources and focus of the French crown. As the focus shifts back to the domestic front, the reader observes the monarchy struggling to assert control over a stubborn feudal aristocracy.

Kings like Louis the Fat emerge as central figures, using their "long hands" to intervene in the local tyranny of countships and bishoprics. Simultaneously, a parallel movement unfolds: the rise of the communes. Across the landscape, burghers in towns like Laon fight for charters and local autonomy, leading to cycles of insurrection, royal intervention, and betrayal. These urban struggles reveal a society increasingly impatient with traditional vassalage.

The story takes a dark and transformative turn with the arrival of the Hundred Years' War. The delicate, often contentious relationship between the French and English crowns, epitomized by the homage paid by Edward III to Philip VI, descends into open conflict. The narrative details the ravages of famine, the desperation of besieged cities like Calais, and the emergence of "Grand Companies"—mercenary bands that terrorized the countryside. Amidst this chaos, social order fractures entirely; the plight of the common peasant, once ignored, explodes into the violent, desperate uprising known as the Jacquery.

Throughout these crises, the monarchy is tested by figures like the pious but naive King John the Good, whose capture by the English forces the nation to the brink of collapse. Yet, the arc of the narrative bends toward the stabilization offered by the reign of Charles V. Through the military genius of Bertrand du Guesclin, the crown begins to reclaim its territory and reassert its authority over the chaotic remnants of feudal warfare. The volume ends not with a resolution of all conflicts, but with the emergence of a more centralized, pragmatic state—a France that has weathered the "Babylonish captivity" of the papacy at Avignon and the internal strife of its own social classes to forge a stronger, more coherent national character.

How It Unfolds

The Crusading Ideal The account opens with the initial triumph of the First Crusade and the establishment of Christian principalities in the East, which were intended to be permanent outposts of European feudalism. It soon transitions to the inevitable decline of these ambitions as subsequent monarchs face the exhaustion of their treasuries and the reality of insurmountable distances.

The Rise of the Communes Focusing on domestic affairs, the narrative examines the persistent, often violent efforts of urban populations to secure self-governance. These accounts of the burghers of Laon and other towns highlight the constant tug-of-war between royal authority, clerical power, and the desire for local rights.

The Clash of Crowns The geopolitical narrative centers on the deepening rift between the English and French monarchies, framed by the complex, shifting nature of feudal homage. This section follows the escalation of conflict from diplomatic negotiations to the scorched-earth realities of the Hundred Years' War.

The Crisis of the People As the war drags on, the perspective shifts to the brutalized peasantry, whose suffering under the dual burden of noble taxation and marauding mercenaries leads to desperate revolts. These episodes illustrate the total failure of the feudal protection contract during the mid-fourteenth century.

Consolidation and Order The final movement follows the ascension of more tactical, administrative rulers who prioritize order over the romanticized chivalry of their predecessors. The narrative concludes with the strategic military successes of the professionalized French forces, signaling the transition from feudal chaos to a more stable, centralized kingdom.

The People

Philip Augustus stands as perhaps the most astute political operator in the text, a king who favors the "weapons of peace" and administrative reform over mere conquest. He navigates the treacherous waters of church relations and feudal uprisings with a calculated, steady hand. In contrast, St. Louis appears as a figure of profound moral contradiction; while his personal piety and commitment to justice set him apart from his peers, his obsession with the Crusade blinds him to the shifting political realities, leading to his eventual, tragic death in North Africa.

The peasant leader William Karle, or Cale, emerges as the chilling face of the Jacquery. Driven by the systemic abuse of the nobility, he organizes his fellow laborers into a force that turns the tables on their oppressors with shocking, indiscriminate violence. He represents the eruptive power of the disenfranchised when the social contract is utterly broken.

King John the Good serves as a tragic anchor for the narrative's middle section. Possessed of a traditional, knightly sense of honor that feels increasingly out of place in the shifting political landscape, he is a man of "knight-errant" ideals who ultimately serves as a pawn in the broader, more cynical game of European power. Finally, Bertrand du Guesclin acts as the pragmatic savior of the late-medieval crown. A tactician of the highest order, he is the instrumental force behind the professionalization of the French military. Unlike the chivalric figures before him, he is defined by his effectiveness in clearing the "vagabond armies" and restoring territorial integrity to a kingdom that had nearly been torn apart by internal and external enemies.

In Its Own Voice

“The Peasants resolved to Live according to their own Inclinations and their own Laws.”

This sentence introduces the fundamental, recurring tension between the common people and the rigid structure of feudal rule.

“The lords do us nought but ill; with them we have nor gain nor profit from our labors; every day is for us a day of suffering, of travail, and of fatigue.”

This poetic lament, quoted from a chronicler, captures the crushing despair that fueled the peasant uprisings across Northern France.

“If good faith were banished from the world, it ought to find an asylum in the hearts of kings.”

This remark, attributed to King John, highlights the king’s tragic, idealistic adherence to a code of chivalric honor that frequently conflicted with the demands of effective statecraft.

What It's Really About

At its core, this history examines the tension between the ideal of feudal order and the messy, violent reality of a society in transition. It asks a central, probing question: what happens when the traditional, paternalistic protection promised by the nobility fails to materialize? The book argues that the French state was not formed through a single grand event, but through a centuries-long, often agonizing process of negotiation, insurrection, and the gradual assertion of central authority over the local, fractured interests of lords and bishops. It explores the conflict between the "chivalric" world of the knight and the "administrative" world of the king, suggesting that the survival of the kingdom required the suppression of the former to enable the efficiency of the latter. Ultimately, it is a study of how local traditions, religious devotion, and economic necessity force a disparate collection of people into a unified national consciousness.

Why Read It Today

This book is intended for the reader who enjoys a dense, panoramic view of history rather than a modern, punchy overview. It feels like a nineteenth-century lecture series—earnest, scholarly, and deeply invested in the moral character of its historical figures. You will encounter a prose style that is formal and occasionally ornate, reflecting the author’s background as a statesman and historian of his era.

Modern readers may find the length and the sheer volume of names and places daunting, as the text rarely pauses to simplify the labyrinthine web of feudal titles and dynastic claims. Additionally, the narrative reflects the values of its time, often romanticizing the "goodness" of certain kings while occasionally treating the popular uprisings with a sense of distant, aristocratic alarm. However, if you are drawn to the grit of the Middle Ages—the sounds of the battlefield, the intrigue of the royal court, and the raw, desperate voices of the common people recorded in ancient chronicles—there is a richness here that is hard to find in condensed histories. It rewards those who are willing to pace themselves, offering a window into a world where power was shifting from the tip of a spear to the stroke of an administrative pen. Reading this is an act of immersion; you are not just learning facts, but observing the long, slow, and often painful construction of a nation.