A summer's evening under the cloak of darkness seven knights rode from Paris in search of a new life. The year was 814. King Charlemagne ruler of the Carolingian empire, which at the time spanned most of Western Europe, was fatally ill. The empire that was so successfully built by Charlemagne, was under serious threat. Paris, a city envied by all of Europe, faced attack from all sides. Normans had settled just south of the city on the banks of the Seine, and Viking longboats were charged and ready to attack from the North. Within the house of Charlemagne there was also unrest. Charlemagne’s son Louis was becoming ever more impatient of his father’s imminent demise. His father’s unfaltering determination to divide the regnum between his heirs, reducing Louis’ inheritance, was catalyst for Louis' increasingly devious plans to ensure the end of his father's rule.

Seven of King Charlemagne’s finest knights and closest allies were warned of the threats both from within the castle walls and from the waiting barbarian warlords. In an attempt to ensure their safety after his death, and to repay them for the loyalty they had shown him throughout his life, the king allocated each of them an adjoining areas of land in South West France, the size of a county, on which they could have autonomous rule as Dukes. The bequest was given in return for their allegiance should Paris fall under attack. This was the first time land had been split not directly through bloodline and a treaty was signed by King Charlemagne giving total power as rulers of the land to the knights.

Seven cities grew rapidly as the nomadic population of France went in search of safety, land to farm and the opportunity to start a new life. A peaceful existence was possible in such times of turmoil throughout the rest of France, with the respect and protection that the Dukes offered their neighbours.

Louis the Pious, King Charlemagne's son, eventually fulfilled his birth right and took the place of his father; however, his desire to regain the land his father had given away and continued unrest within his house left Louis vulnerable. Hugh Capet, the count of Paris, exploited this, and with force overthrew Louis in 987 ending the reign of the Charlemagne dynasty. The Capetians had new ideas as to how France would be ruled, which would not include the Dukes autonomy over their land. At the same time as the Capetians ruled Northern France vast areas of central France came under control of the Anglo-Norman Henri II due to his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Thankfully the feuding between Henri II and Hugh Capet gave the seven Dukes time to agree as to how they would protect their land from certain attack. An agreement was made to self proclaim themselves the monarchs of their own houses, and would rule their kingdoms with complete independence from either the Capetians or the Normans. Each of the seven kings had built strong defences around their cities and trained armies, creating a formidable force. Together they would be able to fend off any attack from the North. Their unity would be their strength and their only hope.