Pastlasby Oleh Voronko

State · 843 – 987

West Francia

A state of 843 – 987 — 144 years in Europe. It replaced Carolingian Empire and followed Francia. It was replaced by Kingdom of France. The atlas records 26 things within it — wars and battles 8 · treaties 3 · people 15. Its line of rulers holds 12 people.

For the full story, the article on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); this page holds what the record says of the state.

Stood
144 years
843 – 987
Rulers
12
the King of West Francia
Most ground
1.18 million km²
in 886
Within it
26
recorded rows
Map: West Francia in 886, its borders in gold among its neighbours
West Francia in 886, when it held the most ground the borders dataset draws for it: 1.18 million km². Its neighbours wear their tints, as on the atlas's own map. Borders from Cliopatria (CC BY 4.0), coast and rivers from Natural Earth, cities from Reba, Reitsma & Seto 2016 (CC BY 4.0), each city under the name it bore that year.
West Francia in 886, at its largest

886 · at its largest · 1.18 million km²

West Francia in 960, last mapped

960 · last mapped · 353,000 km²

The rise and the fall in one frame: the same ground at the years the borders dataset first maps it, maps it largest, and last maps it.

Where it sits in time

3000 BCE2000 BCE1000 BCE110002000Francia: 481 – 843Carolingian Empire: 800 – 887Kingdom of France: 987 – 1791West Francia: 843 – 987

Five thousand years, 3000 BCE to 2026; the state in gold, what it replaced or followed and what replaced or followed it in grey.

Before and after

The states the record files it as replacing or following, and those that replaced or followed it - Wikidata's own statements, each read from this state's side.

Before it

After it

Rulers

The line of King of West Francia - the office this state names as its head of state.

Charles the Bald · 843 – 877 · died in office of natural causesLouis the Stammerer · 877 – 879 · died in office, manner not recordedLouis III of France · 879 – 882 · died by accidentCarloman II · 879 – 884 · died by accidentCharles the Fat · 885 – 887 · left office aliveOdo of France · 888 – 898 · died in office, manner not recordedCharles the Simple · 898 – 922 · left office aliveRobert I of France · 922 – 923 · died in office, manner not recordedRudolph of France · 923 – 936 · died in office of natural causesLouis IV of France · 936 – 954 · died by accidentLothair of France · 954 – 986 · died in office, manner not recordedLouis V of France · 986 – 987 · died by accident850900950
died in officeleft alive by a regular roada second row: a reign that began before the last had ended — rival claimants, or a shared throne
RulerReignLengthHow it ended · sourceTo the ruler before
Charles the Bald843 – 87734 yearsdied in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of death
Louis the Stammerer877 – 8792 yearsdied in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alonechild
Louis III of France879 – 8823 yearsdied by accidentWikidata's manner of deathchild
Carloman II879 – 8845 yearsdied by accidentWikidata's manner of deathsibling
Charles the Fat885 – 8872 yearsleft office aliveread off the dates alone
Odo of France888 – 89810 yearsdied in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Charles the Simple898 – 92224 yearsleft office aliveread off the dates alone
Robert I of France922 – 9231 yeardied in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alone
Rudolph of France923 – 93613 yearsdied in office of natural causesWikidata's manner of deathin-law
Louis IV of France936 – 95418 yearsdied by accidentWikidata's manner of death
Lothair of France954 – 98632 yearsdied in office, manner not recordedread off the dates alonechild
Louis V of France986 – 9871 yeardied by accidentWikidata's manner of deathchild

12 rulers, 12 with terms dated as terms, covering 843 – 987. Median reign 7.5 years. 1 of 11 handovers irregular - a killing, a deposition, a rival claimant, a rising or a coup beside it. A blank in the last column means no kin on record, which is coverage, never “unrelated”.

Ground held, by year

km² inside its borders as the borders dataset draws them, measured on an equal-area grid; a step series, held between the years the dataset maps.

900950

424,800 km² in 853, 353,000 km² in 987; at its largest 1.17 million km² in 883. Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0.

What happened within it, by century

Every row the atlas hosts under this state, by the century it began in: wars and battles in red, risings, regime changes and massacres beside them, everything else in grey. A tall bar is a century the record is full for, which is partly a fact about Wikipedia.

800 – 899: 17 recorded — 6 wars and battles, 0 risings, regime changes and massacres, 11 other800900 – 999: 9 recorded — 2 wars and battles, 0 risings, regime changes and massacres, 7 other900

800 – 89917 rows · 6 wars and battles

and 9 more in the atlas.

900 – 9999 rows · 2 wars and battles

and 1 more in the atlas.

Among all states

Each measure against the states that carry it, never against all of them: a bar is the share of those states below this one.

  • How long it stood144 years

    stood longer than 54% of 3,187 states with a recorded end or still standing.

  • The most ground it held1,184,300 km²

    held more ground at its peak than 86% of 1,465 states with a border in Cliopatria.

  • Wars recorded per centurynone

    had more wars on record per century than 44% of 3,187 states, counting the wars the atlas hosts under each.

  • How long a reign lasted, at the median10 years

    had longer reigns, at the median, than 35% of 967 states whose dated line can carry a median.

  • Rulers on record12

    has more rulers on record than 84% of 1,968 states with a line of rulers.

What led to it, and what came of it

The investigation's own picture: 3 causes the record names and 2 results, the strongest six of each at their own years, joined to the state by the kind of claim - a recorded statement solid, the article's sentence dashed, a theory dash-dot.

Francia · Linked · 481 – 843FranciaCarolingian Empire · Linked · 800 – 887Carolingian EmpireLouis the Pious · In the article · 778 · “It was created from the division of the Carolingian Empire following the death of Louis the Pious, with its neighbor East Francia eventually evolving into the…”Louis the PiousWest Francia · 843 – 987West FranciaKingdom of France · Linked · 987 – 1791Kingdom of France50010001500
in the articlelinked

Open the investigation: every row with its evidence, the conditions at the time, the theories condition by condition, and the succession analysed.

Theories that apply to its ending

Of 3 theories of why states fall, 2 have every condition present at this ending; each is applied by its own logic, condition by condition, and whether its authors named this case is a footnote.

  • Dynastic cycle and the decay of group feeling

    Ibn Khaldun 1377 · Turchin & Nefedov 2009

    Applies by its own logic: the condition it names held here, and this is the kind of outcome it predicts — adverse regime change or the state's ending.

    • the state 90 to 160 years old — ageBand 144
  • Challenge, failed response and dissolution

    Toynbee 1934 · Toynbee & Somervell 1946

    Applies by its own logic: 2 of its 2 conditions held here (it needs all of them), and this is the kind of outcome it predicts — the state's ending.

    • territory shrank by 25% over the 100 y ending 25 y before — territory -38
    • unrest, adverse regime change or atrocity within 100 y in the state, or a war the state is fighting, still under way, or a war the state fought, ended within 50 y, or battle within 50 y in the state — prior

Open in the atlas

Wikidata Q46370 (CC0) · borders Cliopatria, CC BY 4.0 · coast and rivers Natural Earth · data built 2026-10-06 · Pastlas v2.9.1, by Oleh Voronko. The published atlas and its data are for non-commercial use.