Ranking Every French King from Worst to Best

It's been a while. Here's a ranking of every French king from Pepin the Short to Napoleon III. Enjoy!

[bridel]

Imagine being a worse king than a baby that lived for 5 days

[jovindsouza]

I love how John I outranks 18 kings on this list despite only reigning and living for 5 days. Really goes to show how horrible some kings of France are.

[agatha]

The fact there are kings lower than the guys who's reigns saw the French Monarchy abolished and a FIVE DAY OLD BABY says a lot about the quality of some kings of France

[connorgolden]

Glad to see Phillip Augustus given some proper respect! The man’s impact on France can’t be understated. I don’t think it would exist without him. Not with how the Angevins ruled as much of France as he did. Countless reforms and victories over enemies both internal and external. England took a turn for the worst partly because of his wars and meddling.

[leaderofthebunch-deadbeat]

I personally think that Louis XIV was a lot like Diocletian in the fact that they both made sweeping reforms that made sense at the time but would greatly contribute to the downfall of their nation in the long run

[Duke_of_Lorraine]

Charles VII did not HAVE to be crowned in Reims, which was in the occupied area (150 km east of Paris). He chose to, to establish legitimacy. Ever since Clovis (3 centuries before the video starts), french kings are crowned in Reims. But the english usurper got himself crowned in Paris, which didn't follow the procedure. So Charles sent Joan of Arc to liberate Champagne so that he could get crowned as the rightful king.

[richmont]

I personally disagree with the ranking of Philip IV. It’s impossible to overlook the fact that he was one of the more terrifying despots in the medieval period, however he objectively left France in a far better position than before him and was very efficient in a blatantly tyrannical sort of way.

[eszterhedvignagy]

As a Hungarian, a ranking of Hungarian monarchs would be amazing! (Though I know Hungarian history is a bit messy)

[sibericusthefrosty]

It's always Christmas when Spectrum uploads.

[thattimestampguy]

*In Historical Timeline Order*

*Early Middle Ages, Medieval Kings*
14:09 Pepin The Short 751-768
17:42 Charlegmenge 786-814
9:00 Louis I The Pious 813-840
1:50 Charles III The Fat 884-887
4:05 Louis II The Stammerer 877-879
6:20 Louis III 879-884 & Carloman 879-884
5:21 Odo 888-898
3:49 Charles III The Simple 898-922
4:00 Robert 922-923
4:11 Louis IV from Overseas 936-954
5:28 Lothair 954-986
3:14 Louis V The Do-Nothing 986-987

*The Capet Dynasty that turned Frankia into Francia. Frankish Kingdom begins to be known as The French Kingdom*
7:04 Hugh Capet 987-996

*High Middle Ages Kings*
12:30 Robert II The Pious 996-1031
5:10 Henry I 1031-1060
8:47 Philip I The Amorous 1060-1108
9:52 Louis VII the Younger 1137-1180

*Notre Dame constructed, France Made Mighty*
19:53 Philip II = Philip Augustus 1180-1223
11:06 Louis VIII the Lion 1223-1226
13:21 Saint Louis IX 1226-1270
10:13 Phillip III the Bold 1270-1285

*Late Middle Ages Kings*
8:33 Philip IV the Fair 1285-1314
11:13 Louis X the Quarreler 1314-1316
6:06 John The Posthumous 1316
10:16 Philip V The Tall/The Compromiser 1316-1322

*The Hundred Years War Kings*
8:33 Charles IV the Fair 1322-1328
5:44 Philip IV the Fortunate 1328-1350
2:05 John The Good 1350-1364

12:39 Charles V the Wise 1364-1380
0:45 Charles VI the Mad 1380-1422
16:01 Charles VII the Victorious 1422-1461
6:47 Charles VIII the Affable 1483-1498
11:26 Louis XII the Father of The People 1498-1515

*Renaissance, Age of Exploration Kings*
11:45 Francis I the Father of Letters 1515-1547
10:34 Henry II 1547-1559
6:24 Francis II 1559-1560
7:19 Henry III 1574-1589
15:03 Henry IV the Great 1589-1610

*The Age of Absolutism*
10:55 Louis XIII the Just 1610-1643
16:51 Louis XIV the Sun King 1643-1715
2:25 Louis XV The Beloved 1715-1774

*The French Revolution*
4:23 Louis XVI 1774-1792
18:25 Napoleon Bonaparte 1804-1814, then 1815

*Post-Napoleon Kings*
4:57 Charles X 1824-1830
4:45 Louis Philippe I the Citizen King 1830-1848

*The 2nd French Empire*
12:05 Napoleon III 1852-1870

[JamesTobiasStewart]

Okay that was fun, with some well reasoned arguments.

I did wonder about Charles The Mad, especially after seeing him in 'The Last Duel' where we get to witness his utter glee at learning he still has the authority to declare a duel to the death and his almost childlike enthusiasm as he watches it take place, contrasted with the fear and sorrow of nearly everyone else and with Charles ignoring the obvious disgust of his Queen.

[TetsuShima]

Charles VI: "I attacked my own men and almost burned myself"
Caligula: "Really? I had *rgies with my sisters since we were 12 years old, made my horse consul and ordered my soldiers to attack the sea and collect shells from the beach..."
Charles VI: "You know? I think this is the beginning of a beautiful and lunatic friendship..."
Caligula: "Yeah. How about we have a game of cards with Elagabalus and Nebuchadnezzar II?
Charles VI: "Cool!"

[Duke_of_Lorraine]

Louis VI the Fat also was wise enough to know his limits, and delegated much of his work to the bishop of Saint Denis. That same bishop invented the "gothic" architecture (term coined by the Italians out of pure envy) while rebuilding his church, that serves as the burial place of french kings

[thomaslewandowski]

I’m french and i just want to say thank you to you for knowing Philipp August. So many foreigner just know Louis XIV and Napoleon.
Ps : your classement is very good, quite perfect

[steelydan]

Henry IV was an outstanding king for France. His efforts which arguably led France out of decades of civil conflict was truly remarkable imo

[JasonFilippou]

Pretty cool video! I would like to suggest that when you announce the names of the monarchs you also speak the dates, because some people like myself actually listen to these videos like they are podcasts while they cook or do other things. It would be helpful to also hear when the monarch was in charge . Thanks!

[elioshabbar]

Charles V, if he had a better heir, would've been hands down the best king of France ever. He was way ahead of time by thinking about his reign in an historical way, he is actually responsible for compiling much of french History and french laws. For example, he gave numerals to monarchs, is the one that brought back salic law, created the first national (royal) library with the biggest amount of books after the Vatican, had Du Guesclin under his command that reunited the kingdom by revolutioning guerilla warfare tactics, he cured the kingdom from exactions of mercenaries (and eventually settled down a civil war in Castille by doing so), created the first regular army, the first regular taxation - he was the first to successfuly convey the Estates General and eventually created the Franc, he made the Louvre a palace and not just a fort, basically made french regalia (like the scepter Louis XVI is holding on the portrait)... I could go on and on, this man is criminally underrated

[cdcdrr]

Glad to see Philip II get his due. Everyone knows Louis XIV, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charlemagne. But what sets him apart is that instead of starting from a strong position and rising from there, he was in a terrible position, and emerged as the most powerful king in Europe. Between Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and Richard the Lionheart, England could quite possibly have achieved what Henry V couldn't, and make England the new France. The fact that France would ultimately end up humiliating both King John and the Holy Roman Emperor in the same war, and getting both in a heap of trouble as a result is not something a bad king could have pulled off in his stead.

[Andy-rvpk]

"The good" doesn't mean he was good at his job, it means he was nice, sympathetic, liked for his personality

[Кинокультист]

I was pretty surprised seeing Philip iv this low. Sure, he was a tyrant, but why does this matter? He was doing a lot of succesful stuff directed towards decreacing power of nobility (And lack of centralisation later proved to be a big problem for France).