Slavery in France

Slavery in France, and by extension, the French Empire, covers a wide range of disparate topics.

During the Middle Ages, chattel slavery was legal in France itself. In the early Merovingian Middle Ages, there was a trade in slaves from the British Isles to France. In the Frankish Middle Ages, France served as a middle station in the saqaliba slave trade of Pagan slaves from Northeastern Europe to al-Andalus in the Southwest, which were transported from Prague to the Caliphate of Cordoba via France.

Chattel slavery in France gradually transitioned to serfdom and was finally abolished in the 1310s, specifically with a decree in 1315. While chattel slavery was never again made legal in France itself, it was later allowed in the French colonies from the 17th century. During the French colonial empire, slavery was legal in the colonies while remaining banned in France itself. Despite being illegal, some Africans remained enslaved within France in practice. This was a common parallel system used in many European countries at the time. In 1793, slavery was abolished in the French colonies. Slavery was reintroduced in the colonies in 1802 and finally abolished in 1848.