Several counts and then royal dukes of Alençon, a French county in the Middle Ages, disputed between France and England during parts of the Hundred Years' War, have figured in French history. The title has been awarded to a younger brother of the French sovereign.
The Capetian House of Valois ( VAL-wah, also US: /vælˈwɑː, vɑːlˈwɑː/ va(h)l-WAH, French: [valwa]) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in Orléans, Anjou, Burgundy, and Alençon.
The Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philip III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian Salic law) which excluded females (Joan II of Navarre), as well as male descendants through the distaff side (Edward III of England), from the succession to the French throne.