Contributed by a leading team of historians, each chapter in this volume in the Short Oxford History of France focuses on a key theme of the period, such as France's political culture and identity, rural economy and society, the Church, intellectual history, and France's relations with the outside world. Beginning in 900, the volume is able to trace the emergence of France as a country, and the people's sense of national identity. Encompassing every region of France and covering key events, such as the election of Hugh Capet as King in 987 and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, this volume provides a fully rounded and lively introduction to the history of France in the central middle ages.