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Hugh Capet [a] [b] (/ ˈ k æ p eɪ /; French: Hugues Capet [yɡ kapɛ]; c. 940 – 24 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet.
Hugh Capet was the king of France from 987 to 996, and the first of a direct line of 14 Capetian kings of that country. The Capetian dynasty derived its name from his nickname (Latin capa, “cape”). Hugh was the eldest son of Hugh the Great, duke of the Franks. On his father’s death in 956, Hugh.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
In 987, Hugh Capet was elected to succeed Louis V of the Carolingian dynasty that had ruled France for over three centuries. By a process of associating elder sons with them in the kingship, the early Capetians established the hereditary succession in their family and transformed a theoretically electoral kingship into a sacral one.
- He Was Born in 941 in The City of Noyon, France.
- He Had Two Brothers and Two Sisters.
- His Father Died When He Was 15 Years old.
- He Comes of Age as The Powerful Duke of The Franks.
- He Married Adelaide of Aquitaine.
- He Was Elected as King of The Franks in 987Ad.
- He Had Three children.
- He Made Paris His Capital.
- He Died at The Age of 56 in 996Ad.
- His Descendants Continued The Capetian Dynasty with Many branches.
It is believed that Hugh Capet was born on 3rd July, 941 in the royal town of Noyon in what had become West Francia after the death of King Charlemagne. His father was Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks, and his mother was Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German King Henry the Fowler. This was a family with deep roots in nobility and power with a...
Hugh was 2nd child but the eldest son in a family of 5 children. His siblings would go on to powerful positions themselves: 1. Béatrice, married to Frederick I, Count of Bar and Duke of Upper Lotharingia; 2. Emma, married to Richard I, Duke of Normandy; 3. Otto, Duke of Burgundy; 4. Eudes-Henri, Duke of Burgundy.
Hugh Capet’s father died when Hugh was 15 years old in 956AD, leaving him as his heir. At the same time on the throne was Lothair of France, the new king of the Franks, who had succeeded Louis IV in 954, at the age of 13. This left Hugh’s maternel uncle Otto I, King of Germany, in a position of power over much of West Francia (later France). Otto a...
Hugh’s uncle King Otto I died in 965 when Hugh was 24. Hugh and Lothair soon formed an alliance and began attacking Otto II, Otto I’s son and successor. They even managed to attack Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), the historic capital of Charlemagne. In 986, King Lothair died suddenly in Laon at the age of 44. Lothair’s 21-year-old-son, Louis V, died a fe...
In order to strengthen his position and forge vital alliances, Hugh Capet had married Adelaide of Aquitaine in 969. Adelaide was the daughter of William III, Duke of Aquitaine and Adele of Normandy, daughter of the powerful Viking Rollo of Normandy. (Rollo was also the common ancestor of a certain future William the Conqueror.)
In 987, upon the death of King Louis V, the throne of the Franks was available with Hugh Capet and his rival Charles of Lorraine, the Carolingian heir competing. The archbishop of Reims convened the most powerful lords of France at Senlisand denounced Charles of Lorraine being a vassal of emperor Otto II, and campaigned in favor of Hugh. Hugh Capet...
King Hugh Capet and Queen Adelaide had three children together: 1. Hedwig, Countess of Mons (or Hadevide, or Avoise) 2. Robert II, the future king of France. Crowned co-king in 987, in order to consolidate the new Capetian dynasty. 3. Gisèle, Countess of Ponthieu.
Following the footsteps of 5th century King Clovis, Hugh Capet returned to Paris to make that his powerbase, as opposed to Aachen or Reims. He returned to Ile de la Cité and turned the old fortress into a royal palace. The walls of Palais de la Cité (Conciergerie)were reinforced, gates constructed, and large halls added, as the palace became the se...
Hugh Capet died on 14 October 996 in Paris, and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica, the traditional burial site for French kings. His son Robert II continued to reign. Hugh Capet’s reign laid the foundation for the centralized authority of the French crown. It marked the establishment of a hereditary monarchy, consolidating power under the Ki...
The Bourbons, Orleans and Valois are all branches of the Capetian dynasty which is one of the oldest royal houses in Europe. The last King of the Capetian dynasty in France was King Charles X who died in exile in 1836. With so much intermarriage among the European royals however, Hugh Capet’s Bourbon descendants still sit on the thrones of Spain an...
Hugh Capet (c. 940 – October 24, 996) was the first King of France of the eponymous Capetian dynasty from his election to succeed the Carolingian Louis V in 987 until his death. Most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet.
Though Robert I’s son Hugh the Great restored the Carolingian dynasty in 936, his son Hugh Capet was elected king in 987, thus removing the Carolingians forever.
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Hugh Capet (kā´pĬt, kăp´Ĭt), c.938–996, king of France (987–96), first of the Capetians. He was the son of Hugh the Great, to whose vast territories he succeeded in 956. After the death of Louis V, last Carolingian king of France, the nobles and prelates elected him king, setting aside the last Carolingian claimant, Charles I of Lower Lorraine.
