The Valois ( , also , ; originally ''Pagus Valensis'') was a region in the valley of the Oise river in

Picardy Picardy (; Picard language, Picard and , , ) is a historical and cultural territory and a former regions of France, administrative region located in northern France. The first mentions of this province date back to the Middle Ages: it gained it ...

in the north of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was a fief in

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

and subsequently the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

until its counts furnished a line of kings, the

House of Valois The Capetian House of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. ...

, to succeed the

House of Capet The House of Capet () ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians and the Karlings. The direct line of the House of Capet came to an ...

in 1328. It was, along with the counties of

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

, the

Vexin Vexin () is a historical county of northern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south betw ...

, Vermandois, and

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...

, part of the "Oise line" of ''

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

s'' which were held often by one individual or an individual family as a string of defences against

Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

assault on Paris. The medieval county and

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

of Valois was located in northern France. It was included in the northeastern part of the government of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

, while being part of the province of

. Its capital was

Crépy-en-Valois Crépy-en-Valois (, ) is a commune located in the Oise department in northern France. It is located in the Paris Metropolitan Area, northeast of the center of Paris. History Crépy-en-Valois was founded in the tenth century by the count of ...

.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Valois". '' Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Springfield, MA:

Merriam-Webster Merriam-Webster, Incorporated is an list of companies of the United States by state, American company that publishes reference work, reference books and is mostly known for Webster's Dictionary, its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary pub ...

Inc., 1985. , (indexed), and (deluxe).

Counts of Valois

Carolingian counts

Pepin I, Count of Vermandois Pepin I (; c. 817–850) was Count of Vermandois, lord of Senlis, Péronne and Saint Quentin. He was son of King Bernard of Italy (a grandson of Charlemagne) and his wife, Cunigunda of Laon. He supported Emperor Lothar after the death of Empe ...

and Valois, son of Bernard, King of Italy. * ca. 886–893 Pepin II – son of previous, count of Vermandois and Valois. * ca. 893–895 Herbert I, Count of Vermandois – brother of previous, count of Vermandois.

Counts of disputed origin

* about 895–919 Ermenfroi, also count of

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

and the

* 915–926 Ralph I of Ostrevent, also count of Amiens and the Vexin, married daughter, Eldegarde, of preceding * 926–943 Ralph II, also count of Amiens and the Vexin, son of preceding * 943-after 992 Walter I, also count of Amiens and the Vexin, apparently brother or son of preceding * about 998-after 1017 Walter II the White, also count of Amiens and the Vexin, son of preceding *1017/24–1038 Ralph III of Valois *1025–1074 Ralph IV, also count of the Vexin and

after 1063, whose third wife was Anne of Kiev, dowager queen of France (that marriage was childless) *1074–1077 Simon de Crépy, also count of the Vexin and

, he became a monk, and his lands were dispersed, Valois going to his sister's husband * Adele of Valois – the sister of Simon

Vermandois Carolingian counts

* Herbert IV (−1080), Count of Vermandois, a descendant of Pepin II, became count of Valois by marriage with

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

, daughter of Ralph IV * Odo I the Insane (1080–1085), Count of Vermandois and of Valois, son of previous, he was disinheredited by the council of Barons of France and then he was lord of Saint-Simon by marriage. *

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

– sister of previous, countess of Vermandois and Valois, wife of Hugh.

Capetian counts

* Hugh I Magnus (the Great) (1085–1101), Count of Vermandois and of Valois, son of Henry I and Anne of Kiev. * Raoul I the Valiant (1102–1152), also known as ''Le Borgne'', Count of Vermandois and of Valois, son of previous. * * Raoul II (1152–1167), Count of Vermandois and of Valois, son of Raoul I and of Petronilla of Aquitaine. * Philip of Alsace (1167–1185),

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

(1168–1191), Count of Vermandois and of Valois by marriage To the ''royal domain'' by king Philip II * Blanche of Castile (1240–1252) * Jean-Tristan (1269–1270)

Valois counts

:''In royal domain'' * Charles I (1284–1325) * Philip I (1325–1328) :''in royal domain'' * Philip II (1344–1375) *''in royal domain'' *

Louis I Louis I may refer to: Cardinals * Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (1527–1578) Counts * Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158) * Louis I of Blois (1172–1205) * Louis I of Flanders (1304–1346) * Louis I of Châtillon (died 13 ...

(1386?–1406; later created Duke of Orléans and Valois in 1392)

Dukes of Valois

(1392–1406) * Charles d'Orléans (1406–1465) *

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

(1465–1498) :''in royal domain'' *

François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

(Duke 1498–1515, King of France as Francis I, 1515–1547) :''in royal domain'' but granted to several ladies of the royal house * Marguerite de Valois (1582–1615) :''in royal domain'' * Gaston (1626–1660) ** Jean Gaston d'Orléans (1650–1652) * Philippe de France (1660–1701) ** Philippe Charles d'Orléans (1664–1666) **Alexandre Louis d'Orléans (1673–1676) * Philippe d'Orléans (1701–1723) * Louis d'Orléans (1723–1752) * Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1752–1785) ** 1773–1785 Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1773–1850) * Philippe d'Orléans (1785–1793) * Louis Philippe d'Orléans (1773–1850) Thus the house of Valois is descended from Charles I, and has been divided into several lines, three of which have reigned in France. These are: # the direct line, beginning with Philip VI, which reigned from 1328 to 1498 # the Orléans branch, descended from

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

, from 1498 to 1515 # the Angoulême branch, descendants of John, Count of Angoulême, from 1515 to 1589. Other Valois branches are: the dukes of Alençon, descendants of Charles, a younger son of Charles I, count of Valois; the

Dukes of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by King Charles the Bald, Charles the Bald of West Francia in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the t ...

, descendants of Louis, the second son of King John II; and the

dukes of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

, descendants of Philip, the fourth son of the same king.

Notes

References

*Anselme, (Père), ''Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la Maison Royale de France, des pairs, grands officiers de la couronne & de la maison du Roy'', 1726. *Fouquier-Cholet, Eloi, Q.A. ''Histoire des comtes héréditaires de Vermandois'', Saint-Quentin, 1832. *Mabillon, Jean, ''Annales ord. Sancti Benedicti. Ticinense. Lucae'', 1739. *Moreri, Louis, ''Le Grand Dictionnaire Historique'', Paris, 1743–1749. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Counts And Dukes of Valois Valois Valois Valois