After Childéric III was dethroned by Pépin le Bref ( translated by Pepin the Short ) in AD 751, the Carolingian dynasty took the crown of France. He had no claim to the throne so he needed the support of the Catholic Church which he won with the Pope Zacharie. Childéric died in the Saint-Denis Abbey in 768.
Pépin I the Short ( 715-768 ).
Carloman I, younger son of Pépin ( ~751-771).
Charles I ( 742-814 ), King of the Franks then King of the Lombard by right of conquest and sacred Emperor of Occident by the Pope Leon III. He is most know by the name of Charlemagne. He considerably increased the size of his lands with the domination of the Saxons, the Lombard and conquest against the Muslims in Spain. He was the oldest son of Pépin.
Louis I the Pious ( 778-840 ), son of Charlemagne from whom he inherited his titles .
Charles II the Bald ( 823-877 ), son of Louis I.
Louis II the Stammerer ( 846-879 ), son of Charles II.
Louis III ( 864-882 ) and Carloman II ( 866-884 ), sons of Louis II, were both crowned Kings at the same time. When Louis III died without any children, Carloman II became the only king before he also died without any children.
Charles the Fat ( 839-888 ), called to the regency when the last son of Louis II was too young. Fat and mad, he was apparently struggled by some servants and died without any children.
Eudes ( 860-898 ), when Charles the Fat died without an heir, Eudes was elected King. He was not a Carolingian but a Robertien ( a powerful family of France ). He declared Charles III, son of Louis II the Stammerer, his heir.
Charles III the Simple ( 879-929 ), son of Louis II the Stammerer, he inherited the throne from the Robertien Eudes whose brother Robert dethroned him in 922. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Soissons against Robert in 923. Charles III was a Carolingian.
Robert I ( 866-923 ), brother of the Robertien Eudes, he took the throne from Charles III and died in 923 at the battle of Soissons.
Raoul ( ~890-936 ), was a member of the Bosonide family. After the death of Robert I in battle, the nobles refused to give back the crown to Charles III and gave it to Raoul, Duke of Burgundy. He left no children.
Louis IV d’Outremer ( 921-954 ), son of Charles III accessed the throne at the death of Raoul. Louis was called d’Outremer ( meaning from overseas ) since him and his mother took refuge in England when Raoul was crowned. He died of a wound due to a horse fall. He is a Carolingian.
Lothaire ( 941-986 ), son of Louis IV.
Louis V the Lazy ( 967-987 ), son of Lothaire, ruled only for a year before he died of a hunt accident, childless.
After the death of Louis V the Lazy in 987, there was no Carolingian susceptible to access the throne. The grand-son of Robert I, was elected to be the true heir. It is the end of Carolingian dynasty and the beginning of the Capetian.
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