Architecture / Empire / French

Merovingian

Merovingian architecture: Architecture of the first dynasty of Frankish Kings in Gaul (c.500-751/2), derived from Early Christian Roman prototypes, and usually taken to mean buildings of 5th to the end of 8th c…

Carolingian dynasty
Pippin III, the Short (mayor of the palace) 741–751
Pippin III, the Short (king of the Franks) 751–768
Carloman (king of the Franks) 768–771
Charlemagne (Charles I; king of the Franks) 771–800
Charlemagne (Charles I; Holy Roman emperor) 800–814

Carolingian architecture: The pre-Romanesque architecture of the late 8th and 9th century in France and Germany. So called after the emperor Charlemagne (768-814). The cathedral of Aachen is the best-known example.

Carolingian: The pre-Romanesque architecture of the late 8th and 9th century in France and Germany. So called after the emperor Charlemagne (768-814). The cathedral of Aachen is the best-known example.

Louis I, the Pious (emperor) 814–840
Lothar I (emperor) 840–855
Louis II, the German (king of the East Franks) 840–876
Charles II, the Bald (king of the West Franks) 843–875
Charles II, the Bald (Holy Roman emperor) 875–877
Louis II (emperor) 855–875
Charles III, the Fat (king of the East Franks) 876–887
Charles III, the Fat (Holy Roman emperor, king of the West Franks) 884–887
Louis II, the Stammerer (king of the West Franks) 877–879
Louis III (king of the West Franks) 879–882
Carloman (king of the West Franks) 879–884
Arnulf (king of the East Franks) 887–899
Capetian (Robertian) dynasty
Eudes (king of the West Franks) 888–898

Carolingian dynasty
Charles III, the Simple (king of the West Franks) 898–922
Louis IV, the Child (last king of the East Franks) 899–911
Capetian (Robertian) dynasty (king)
Robert I 922–923
Rudolf 923–936

Carolingian dynasty
Louis IV d’Outremer 936–954
Lothar 954–986
Louis V 986–987
Capetian dynasty
Hugh Capet 987–996
Robert II, the Pious 996–1031
Henry I 1031–60
Philip I 1060–1108
Louis VI 1108–37
Louis VII 1137–80
Philip II 1180–1223
Louis VIII 1223–26
Louis IX (St. Louis) 1226–70
Philip III 1270–85
Philip IV 1285–1314
Louis X 1314–16
John I 1316
Philip V 1316–22
Charles IV 1322–28

Valois dynasty
Philip VI 1328–50
John II, the Good 1350–64
Charles V 1364–80

bastile: A fortified tower. Le Bastile de la Porte S. Antoine is the chief state prison of France, built by Charles V.

Charles VI 1380–1422
Charles VII 1422–61
Louis XI 1461–83
Charles VIII 1483–98

Valois dynasty (Orléans branch)
Louis XII 1498–1515

Valois dynasty (Angoulême branch)

Photo of Francis I from St. Louis, Missouri, 2026.
Francis I 1515–47
Henry II 1547–59
Francis II 1559–60
Charles IX 1560–74
Henry III 1574–89

House of Bourbon
Henry IV 1589–1610

Henri IV style: The early phase of the Classical period of French architecture, named after Henry IV (1589-1610), preceding the architecture of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. It is particularly strong in domestic architecture and town-planning arrangements. The Place des Vosges in Paris is the outstanding example.

Henri Quatre: The early phase of the Classical period of French architecture, named after Henry IV (1589-1610), preceding the architecture of Louis XIII and Louis XIV. It is particularly strong in domestic architecture and town-planning arrangements. The Place des Vosges in Paris is the outstanding example.

Louis XIII 1610–43

French Baroque architecture: A form of Baroque architecture that evolved in France during the reigns of Louis XIII (1610-43), Louis XIV (1643-1714), and Louis XV (1714-74). French Baroque architecture melded traditional French architectural forms (such as steep roofs and irregular rooflines) with classical Italian elements (such as columns, porticos, and segmental pediments), and greatly influenced the non-religious architecture of 18th-century Europe.

Louis Treize: Style of French-Renaissance architecture coinciding with the reign of King Louis XIII, but continuing until the 1660s, as Le style Louis Quatorze did not really evolve until then. The best-known buildings of the period are the Luxemborg Palace and the west front of St-Gervais, both in Paris.

Photo of Louis XIV from St. Louis, Missouri. 2026.

Louis XIV 1643–1715

Louis Quatorze Architecture: The style of the high Classical period in France under the rule of Louis XIV (1643-1715) in architecture, decoration, and furniture, culminating in the building of Versailles.

Louis Quatorze: The style of the high Classical period in France under the rule of Louis XIV (1643-1715) in architecture, decoration, and furniture, culminating in the building of Versailles.

Louis XIV: The style of the high Classical period in France under the rule of Louis XIV (1643-1715) in architecture, decoration, and furniture, culminating in the building of Versailles.

Louis XV 1715–74

Louis Quinze Architecture: The Classical and Rococo style in France under the rule of Louis XV (1715-1774) in architecture, decoration, and furniture.

French Provincial: The term usually associated with simplified furniture of the Louis XV or Rococo style. However, plain furniture was made in the provinces in all times and styles, usually of walnut, oak, or fruitwood.

Louis Quinze: The Classical and Rococo style in France under the rule of Louis XV (1715-1774) in architecture, decoration, and furniture.

Louis XV: The Classical and Rococo style in France under the rule of Louis XV (1715-1774) in architecture, decoration, and furniture.

Régence: Restrained Classical style during the minority (c. 1715-23) of King Louis XV of France.

Regence style: The decorative and elegant Rococo style flourishing under the regency of Philip of Orleans (1715-1723) during the minority of Louis XV.

Regency: A period of French architectural style roughly corresponding to the term of 1715-1723, when Philip of Orleans was regent; a period of transition from the style of Louis XIV to that of Louis XV. In England the term covers the architecture of more than their Regency (1811-1820); it extended from 1800 to the early years of Victoria’s reign.

caserne: A barrack for troops – a building for the lodging of soldiers. The French term, rare in English; it is used, however, for those buildings of great architectural pretensions which are not uncommon in the cities of the continent. Of these one of the most noted is that facing the Champs de Mars, in Paris, which was built in the reign of Louis XV as a military school, and several others of the 18th century.

Rocaille: A scroll ornament of the 18th century, especially during the reign of Louis XV, combining forms apparently based on those of water-worn rocks, plants, and shells; characteristic of the Rococo period.

Louis XVI 1774–92

Bourbon architecture: The architecture of the reigns of the Bourbon kings of France, 1590-1789.

Louis Seize Architecture: The later Rococo and classicist phase of the 18th century in France under the rule of Louis XVI (1774-1792), terminated by the French Revolution.

Louis Seize: The later Rococo and classicist phase of the 18th century in France under the rule of Louis XVI (1774-1792), terminated by the French Revolution.

Louis XVI: The later Rococo and classicist phase of the 18th century in France under the rule of Louis XVI (1774-1792), terminated by the French Revolution.

style empire: In French, and always pronounced in French, the style of the Napoleonic empire; an elaboration of the style of the later part of the reign of Louis XVI. In which the severest and classically inspired design of about 1780 is overlaid by rather incongruous ornamentation, and loses much of its charm. This style had, however, so brief a reign that it is impossible to judge of what is development might have been. It is the last of the naturally developed styles of Western Europe, and has been succeeded by the chaos of modern times.

Louis (XVII) 1793–95

buhl: A form of decoration developed by Andre Charles Boule (1642-1732), in which woodwork was inlaid with metal or tortoise shell.

buhl work: A form of decoration developed by Andre Charles Boule (1642-1732), in which woodwork was inlaid with metal or tortoise shell.

First Republic (president)
National Convention 1792–95

Directory 1795–99
Consulate (Napoleon Bonaparte) 1799–1804

First Empire (emperor)
Napoleon I (Napoleon Bonaparte) 1804–14, 1815
Napoleon (II) 1815

Empire: Design of the period of the first French Empire, largely initiated by the architects Charles Percier and Pierre F.L. Fontaine.

Empire style: Design of the period of the first French Empire, largely initiated by the architects Charles Percier and Pierre F.L. Fontaine.

House of Bourbon (king)
Louis XVIII 1814, 1815–24
Charles X 1824–30

House of Orléans
Louis-Philippe 1830–48

Second Republic (president)
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte 1848–52

Second Empire (emperor)
Napoleon III (Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) 1852–70

Néo-Grec: Neo-Classical style of the Second Empire in France (1852-70) in which Graeco-Roman, Louis-Quinze, Louis-Seize, Pompeian, Adam, Egyptian-Revival, and other motifs were disposed in a richly eclectic polychrome mélange…

Third Republic (president)
Adolphe Thiers 1871–73
Patrice de Mac-Mahon 1873–79
Jules Grévy 1879–87
Sadi Carnot 1887–94
Jean Casimir-Périer 1894–95
Félix Faure 1895–99
Émile Loubet 1899–1906
Armand Fallières 1906–13
Raymond Poincaré 1913–20
Paul Deschanel 1920
Alexandre Millerand 1920–24
Gaston Doumergue 1924–31
Paul Doumer 1931–32
Albert Lebrun 1932–40

Vichy France (head of state)
Philippe Pétain 1940–44
Provisional government 1944–46

Fourth Republic (president)
Vincent Auriol 1947–54
René Coty 1954–59

Fifth Republic
Charles de Gaulle 1959–69
Georges Pompidou 1969–74
Valéry Giscard d’Estaing 1974–81
François Mitterrand 1981–95
Jacques Chirac 1995–2007
Nicolas Sarkozy 2007–12
François Hollande 2012–17
Emmanuel Macron 2017–

Also see Architecture index.