European territories by the number of years spent as part of France
The map begins in 843 CE with the Treaty of Verdun, which split Charlemagne’s empire among his three grandsons. Charles the Bald received West Francia, a kingdom that historians often view as the starting point of France’s long development. Over the following centuries, the French crown expanded its authority from its heartland in the Paris region, gradually incorporating surrounding duchies and counties until the kingdom’s borders began to take the shape of modern France.