Unlike the English kings, who ruled over a more centralized structure, the French monarchs often granted vast, indivisible fiefs to secure the loyalty of powerful barons. This strategy, while effective in the short term, had profound long-term consequences. It meant that in times of turmoil, France fragmented into semi-autonomous duchies, each serving as a potential kingdom in its own right. The kingdom's unity was perpetually at risk, and yet it was precisely this fragmentation that would come to shape the nature of French power and governance.