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Home / Periods / Renaissance & Early Modern Europe / Early Modern France

Period

Early Modern France

1498–1789 CE

Early Modern France stretches from the end of the medieval Valois world to the opening of the French Revolution in 1789. It includes the Italian Wars, the Wars of Religion, the rise of the Bourbon dynasty, the ministries of Richelieu and Mazarin, and the long reign of Louis XIV. Across these centuries, royal government became more centralised while noble, religious, provincial and court interests continued to compete for power.

The period matters because France developed into one of Europe’s strongest monarchies while repeatedly confronting civil conflict, confessional division, war, taxation and resistance to royal authority. Paris and the royal court became major centres of politics and culture, but provincial cities, fortified ports, noble estates and borderlands remained essential to the kingdom. These tensions make the period useful for fiction about loyalty, patronage, conspiracy, military service and social ambition.

Alexandre Dumas’s d’Artagnan Romances move through several distinct parts of Early Modern France. The Three Musketeers uses the reign of Louis XIII and the Siege of La Rochelle; Twenty Years After moves into the Fronde; and The Vicomte de Bragelonne cycle follows the early rule of Louis XIV.

Related people for Early Modern France

Alexander VI1431–1503 Anne Boleyn1501–1536 Anne of Brittany1477–1514 Anne of Great Britain1665–1714 Cardinal Mazarin1602–1661 Cardinal Richelieu1585–1642 Catherine de’ Medici1519–1589 Catherine of Aragon1485–1536 Cesare Borgia1475–1507 Charles II of England1630–1685 Charles V1500–1558 Charles VIII of France1470–1498 Claude of France1499–1524 Diane de Poitiers1499–1566 Elizabeth I1533–1603 Ferdinand II of Aragon1452–1516 Francis, Duke of Guise1519–1563 Francis II of France1544–1560 Francis I of France1494–1547 Françoise d’Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon1635–1719 Gaston of Foix, Duke of Nemours1489–1512 Henry III of France1551–1589 Henry II of France1519–1559 Henry VIII1491–1547 Jane Seymour1508–1537 Leonardo da Vinci1452–1519 Louise de La Vallière1644–1710 Louise of Savoy1476–1531 Louis XII of France1462–1515 Louis XIV1638–1715 Louis XV of France1710–1774 Madame de Montespan1640–1707 Marguerite de Navarre1492–1549 Maria Theresa of Spain1638–1683 Mary, Queen of Scots1542–1587 Mary Boleyn1499–1543 Mary I1516–1558 Mary of Guise1515–1560 Mary Tudor, Queen of France1496–1533 Michelle de Saubonne1485–1549 Niccolò Machiavelli1469–1527 Renée of France1510–1574 Thomas Cromwell1485–1540 Thomas Wolsey1473–1530 William Careyc. 1490s–1528 William Stafford1508–1556

Series

Series about Early Modern France (3 series)

Anne of Brittany in Order

by Rozsa Gaston 4 books 4.3(2,190)

Rozsa Gaston’s four-volume Anne of Brittany sequence follows the last independently ruling Duchess of Brittany from her contested inheritance to her final years as queen of France. The novels move through the French–Breton conflict, Anne’s compelled marriage to Charles VIII, her restoration to ducal authority after his death…

d’Artagnan Romances in Order

by Alexandre Dumas 6 books 4.3(1,142)

The d’Artagnan Romances follow the seventeenth-century adventures of d’Artagnan, a fictionalised version of the real musketeer captain Charles de Batz-Castelmore d’Artagnan. Dumas drew heavily on the semi-fictional memoirs published by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras in 1700, combining real historical figures and events with adventure, intrigue and friendship.…

Dark Agnes de Chastillon in Order

2 books 3.7(281)

The Dark Agnes de Chastillon sequence follows Howard’s red-haired swordswoman through early sixteenth-century France. Sword Woman establishes Agnes by having her break from an imposed marriage and claim a life of danger, while Blades for France places her in a darker world of conspiracies, duels and political intrigue.…

Books

26 Best Novels About Early Modern France

Non-Fiction

2 Best Non-Fiction Books About Early Modern France

Histories, biographies and reference works are listed separately from the historical novels above.