When François I (1494–1547) was crowned its King in 1515, France was the most populous and most unified country in Europe. His great rivals for influence in world affairs were Charles V (1500–1558) of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire and Henry VIII (1491–1547) of England. Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands had taken the lead in colonial expansion and were becoming increasingly prosperous. Threatened from without and within by rival contenders for his throne, François I strengthened the powers of the Crown against the nobles and the Church of Rome. The close relationship that had existed between French kings and the Pope since the time of Clovis I (466–511) had deteriorated during the phase of the Italian wars known as the War of the League of Cambrai between 1508 and 1516; this conflict was marked by shifting alliances between the main protagonists: the Papal States, France and the Republic of Venice. In the year of his coronation, François was victorious at Marignano, retaking Milan for France; with the Concordat of Bologna (1516), he extorted from Pope Leo X the right to appoint Church officers in France – a lucrative concession.

François fostered nationalism by declaring French the administrative language of his kingdom in 1539. As an avid supporter of the Italian Renaissance, he became a major patron of the Arts and encouraged the use of French in literature.