West Francia

In medieval historiography, West Francia (Latin: Francia occidentalis) or the Kingdom of the West Franks (regnum Francorum occidentalium) forms the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about 840 until 987. West Francia was formed out of the division of the Carolingian Empire after the death of Emperor Louis the Pious, but the east–west division "gradually hardened into the establishment of separate kingdoms".

West Francia extended further south than modern France, but it did not extend as far east, and did not include Lorraine and Provence. In Brittany and Catalonia (now mostly a part of Spain) the authority of the West Frankish king was barely felt. Initially, West Frankish kings were elected by the secular and ecclesiastic magnates, and for the half-century between 888 and 938 they chose alternatingly from the Carolingian and Robertian houses.