ABSTRACT
The areas which we call France and Germany although their frontiers have shifted considerably in the intervening centuries were the two most substantial of the segments into which the empire of Charlemagne became divided. This the Capetian kings could only do on a limited scale, since their influence over the Church was not strong outside the royal domain. Burgundy was much less extensive than Aquitaine which came to its height under William the Conqueror in the mid- and late eleventh century. The power of Anjou was established by Fulk. William was left to pursue his schemes unmolested, and Baldwin of Flanders ruled the royal domain on behalf of the boy-king Philip I. Paschal II at Saint-Denis had reminded Louis that he was Charlemagne's successor; and in his time the Chansons de Geste had their greatest popularity. Louis VII was commonly referred to by John of Salisbury and others of Thomas Becket's supporters.
