Style of The French Sovereign - Most Christian King

Most Christian King

This title Rex Christianissimus, or Roi Très-chrétien owed its origins to the long, and distinctive, relationship between the Catholic Church and the Franks. France was the first modern state recognised by the Church, and was known as the 'Eldest Daughter of the Church'; Clovis, the King of the Franks, had been recognised by the Papacy as a protector of Rome's interests. Accordingly, this title was frequently accorded to the French Kings (although on a number of occasions Kings of other realms would be addressed as such by the Church), and came into frequent use during the reign of Charles VI; under his son, Charles VII, it became recognised as a hereditary and exclusive title of the Kings of France. Pope Julius II, allied between 1510 and 1513 with Henry VIII of England against Louis XII of France, considered transferring the title from the French monarch to the English monarch, drafting a Papal brief to this effect; however, it was never issued. French kings thus continued to use the title, in particular on diplomatic documents, less frequently in France itself or in everyday parlance.