How did the unification of France take place?

After the collapse of Charles’ empire, the Frankish kingdom itself was going through hard times. At that time, kings were very weak, and some feudal lords, on the contrary, were very strong. Sometimes the possessions of the feudal lords were larger than that of the king himself. Nevertheless, the French kings, starting from the 11th century, began to unite the state and expand their possessions in every possible way, relying on small feudal lords. Philip played an important role in the unification of the kingdom on 2 August. He recaptured Normandy from England, and also annexed the County of Toulouse. Then, under Philip 4, the war between France and the Pope began. So France was able to seize the territories of Navarre, Flanders and Champagne. However, these territories were later lost. So at the beginning of the 14th century, the unification of France was essentially completed.