ABSTRACT
In 1515, when Francis I became king, France was still not a fully developed nation state. In the south, Dauphine and Provence were still not regarded as integral parts of the kingdom, as they were situated east of the Rhone: the king was obeyed as dauphin in the one and as count in the other. Within the kingdom, the process of unification was advanced in the first half of the sixteenth century by the annexation of the duchy of Brittany and the absorption of the Bourbon demesne. It is often assumed that Brittany became part of France in 1491 as a result of the marriage between King Charles VIII and the duchess Anne. France was largely self-sufficient in the basic necessities of life grain, wine, salt and textiles. In terms of value and tonnage, grain was her most important commodity. In the early sixteenth century people generally believed that a nation's wealth lay in its stock of bullion.
