France kept two kings' daughters off the throne, passed over Edward III, and later cited a Frankish land rule to justify it

The Salic law, a Frankish code compiled about 500 under Clovis, says in Title 59 that "of Salic land no portion of the inheritance shall come to a woman." It concerned land, not crowns. In 1316 Louis X died leaving a daughter and a pregnant wife. The child was a son who died within days. Louis's brother Philip took the throne as Philip V, and an assembly in 1317 declared that "women do not succeed in the kingdom of France." The Salic law was not cited. In 1328 Charles IV died without a son. His sister Isabella claimed the crown for her son, Edward III of England. The French rejected the claim, and Philip of Valois became Philip VI. Edward did homage to Philip for Gascony in 1329. On 26 January 1340, at Ghent, Edward proclaimed himself king of France. In 1358 the monk Richard Lescot cited the Salic law against another claimant, Charles of Navarre. The Treaty of Brétigny in 1360 traded Edward's claim for Gascony. The Treaty of Troyes in 1420 named Henry V heir to France. English and British kings kept the title "king of France" until George III dropped it in 1801.