Francis I of France: Did you mean...?

A c. 1720 portrait of James II of England’s exiled son James Francis Edward Stuart (1688-1766), also known as the Old Pretender since he claimed the crown of Great Britain which had since passed on to the House of Hanover and George I of...

Major Francis Dade's death on 28 December 1835 during the Dade Massacre (also known as the Dade Battle), illustration from A History of the United States by Jesse Olney, 1836.

Marie Antoinette (l. 1755-1793) was the queen of France during the turbulent final years of the Ancien Régime and the subsequent French Revolution (1789-1799). With the ascension of her husband Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792), she became...

The Moroccan Crises were two international incidents, the first in 1905-6 and the second in 1911, when Imperial Germany, eager to expand its empire, threatened France's presence in Morocco. France's position was supported by Britain and Russia...

Mary, Queen of Scots was the queen of both Scotland (r. 1542-1567) and briefly, France (r. 1559-1560). Obliged to flee Scotland, the queen was imprisoned for 19 years by Elizabeth I of England (r. 1558-1603) and finally executed for treason...

The Thermidorian Reaction refers to the period of the French Revolution (1789-1799) between the fall of Maximilien Robespierre on 27-28 July 1794 and the establishment of the French Directory on 2 November 1795. The Thermidorians abandoned...

A portrait of James Stuart, son of James II of England. Known later as the Old Pretender because he claimed the throne abdicated by his father, James was born on 10 June 1688, and the arrival of a Catholic heir was one of the causes of the...

Jacques Necker (l. 1732-1804) was a Swiss banker and statesman who served as finance minister to King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792). He served in the king's ministry three separate times, tasked with navigating France through its dire...

The French Consulate was the government of the First French Republic from 10 November 1799 to 18 May 1804, spanning the last four years of the Republic's existence. Headed by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) as First Consul, the Consulate served...

Meeting between Isabella of France, Queen of England, and her brother, Charles IV of France, in 1325, illustration from Froissart's Chronicles, c. 1475. National Library of France, Paris.