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Hugh Capet[a] (c. 941 - 24 October 996), called in contemporary sources "Hugh the Great" (Latin: Hugo Magnus),[1] was the first "King of the Franks" of the eponymous Capetian dynasty from his election to succeed the Carolingian Louis V in 987 until his death. Descent and inheritance The son of Hugh the Great, Duke of France, and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler, Hugh was born in 941.[2] His paternal family, the Robertians, were powerful landowners in the Île-de-France.[3] His grandfather had been King Robert I.[3] His grandmother Beatrice was a Carolingian, a daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois.[2] This makes him the fifth great-grandson of Charlemagne through Pepin of Italy.[4] King Odo was his grand-uncle and King Rudolph the son-in-law of his grandfather, King Robert I.[5] Hugh was born into a well-connected and powerful family with many ties to the reigning nobility of Europe.[b] But for all this, Hugh's father was never king. When Rudolph died in 936, Hugh the Great organised the return of Louis d'Outremer, son of Charles the Simple, from his exile at the court of Athelstan of England.[6] Hugh's motives are unknown, but it is presumed that he acted to forestall Rudolph's brother and successor as Duke of Burgundy, Hugh the Black, from taking the French throne, or to prevent it from falling into the hands of Herbert II of Vermandois or Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy.[7] In 956, Hugh inherited his father's estates and became one of the most powerful nobles in the much-reduced West Frankish Realm.[8] However, as he was not yet an adult, his mother acted as his guardian.[9] Young Hugh's neighbours made the most of the opportunity. Theobald I of Blois, a former vassal of Hugh the Great, took the counties of Chartres and Châteaudun. Further south, on the border of the kingdom, Fulk II of Anjou, another former client of Hugh the Great, carved out a principality at Hugh's expense and that of the Bretons.[10] The realm in which Hugh grew up, and of which he would one day be king, bore no resemblance to modern France. Hugh's predecessors did not call themselves rois de France ("Kings of France"), and that title was not used until the time of his distant descendant Philip II Augustus. Kings ruled as rex Francorum ("King of the Franks") and the lands over which they ruled comprised only a very small part of the former Carolingian Empire. The eastern Frankish lands, the Holy Roman Empire, were ruled by the Ottonian dynasty, represented by Hugh's first cousin Otto II and then by Otto's son, Otto III. The lands south of the river Loire had largely ceased to be part of the West Frankish Realm in the years after Charles the Simple was deposed in 922. The Duchy of Normandy and the Duchy of Burgundy were largely independent, and Brittany entirely so, although from 956 Burgundy was ruled by Hugh's brothers Otto and Henry.[11] Election and extent of power From 977 to 986, Hugh Capet allied himself with the Holy Roman Emperors Otto II and Otto III and with Archbishop Adalberon of Reims to dominate the Carolingian king, Lothair. By 986, he was king in all but name. After Lothair's son Louis died in May 987, Adalberon and Gerbert of Aurillac convened an assembly of nobles to elect Hugh Capet as their king. In front of an electoral assembly at Senlis, Adalberon gave a stirring oration and pleaded to the nobles: Crown the Duke. He is most illustrious by his exploits, his nobility, his forces. The throne is not acquired by hereditary right; no one should be raised to it unless distinguished not only for nobility of birth, but for the goodness of his soul.[12] He was elected and crowned rex Francorum at Noyon in Picardy on 3 July 987, by the prelate of Reims, the first of the Capetian house. Immediately after his coronation, Hugh began to push for the coronation of his son Robert. Hugh's own claimed reason was that he was planning an expedition against the Moorish armies harassing Borrel II of Barcelona, an invasion which never occurred, and that the stability of the country necessitated two kings should he die while on expedition.[13] Ralph Glaber, however, attributes Hugh's request to his old age and inability to control the nobility.[14] Modern scholarship has largely imputed to Hugh the motive of establishing a dynasty against the pretension of electoral power on the part of the aristocracy, but this is not the typical view of contemporaries and even some modern scholars have been less sceptical of Hugh's "plan" to campaign in Spain.[14] Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December that same year. Hugh Capet possessed minor properties near Chartres and Angers. Between Paris and Orléans he possessed towns and estates amounting to approximately 400 square miles (1,000 km2). His authority ended there, and if he dared travel outside his small area, he risked being captured and held for ransom, though his life would be largely safe.[citation needed] Indeed, there was a plot in 993, masterminded by Adalberon, Bishop of Laon and Odo I of Blois, to deliver Hugh Capet into the custody of Otto III. The plot failed, but the fact that no one was punished illustrates how tenuous his hold on power was. Beyond his power base, in the rest of France, there were still as many codes of law as there were fiefdoms. The "country" operated with 150 different forms of currency and at least a dozen languages.[citation needed] Uniting all this into one cohesive unit was a formidable task and a constant struggle between those who wore the crown of France and its feudal lords. Therefore, Hugh Capet's reign was marked by numerous power struggles with the vassals on the borders of the Seine and the Loire. While Hugh Capet's military power was limited and he had to seek military aid from Richard I of Normandy, his unanimous election as king gave him great moral authority and influence. Adémar de Chabannes records, probably apocryphally, that during an argument with the Count of Auvergne, Hugh demanded of him: "Who made you count?" The count riposted: "Who made you king?".[15] Dispute with the papacy Hugh made Arnulf Archbishop of Reims in 988, even though Arnulf was the nephew of his bitter rival, Charles of Lorraine. Charles thereupon succeeded in capturing Reims and took the archbishop prisoner. Hugh, however, considered Arnulf a turncoat and demanded his deposition by Pope John XV. The turn of events outran the messages, when Hugh captured both Charles and Arnulf and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991 which obediently deposed Arnulf and chose as his successor Gerbert of Aurillac. These proceedings were repudiated by Rome, although a second synod had ratified the decrees issued at Reims. John XV summoned the French bishops to hold an independent synod outside the King's realm, at Aachen, to reconsider the case. When they refused, he called them to Rome, but they protested that the unsettled conditions en route and in Rome made that impossible. The Pope then sent a legate with instructions to call a council of French and German bishops at Mousson, where only the German bishops appeared, the French being stopped on the way by Hugh and Robert. Through the exertions of the legate, the deposition of Arnulf was finally pronounced illegal. After Hugh's death, Arnulf was released from his imprisonment and soon restored to all his dignities. Legacy Hugh Capet died on 24 October 996 in Paris and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica. His son Robert continued to reign. Most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet. This is because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power center. The monarch began a long process of exerting control of the rest of the country from there. He is regarded as the founder of the Capetian dynasty. The direct Capetians, or the House of Capet, ruled France from 987 to 1328; thereafter, the Kingdom was ruled by cadet branches of the dynasty. All French kings through Louis Philippe, and all royals since then, have belonged to the dynasty. Furthermore, cadet branches of the House continue to reign in Spain and Luxembourg. Marriage and issue Hugh Capet married Adelaide, daughter of William Towhead, Count of Poitou. Their children are as follows: Gisela, or Gisele, who married Hugh I, Count of Ponthieu Hedwig, or Hathui, who married Reginar IV, Count of Hainaut Robert II, who became king after the death of his father A number of other daughters are less reliably attested.[16] Notes Jump up ^ Capet is a byname of uncertain meaning distinguishing him from his father Hugh the Great. Folk etymology connects it with "cape." Other suggested etymologies derive it from terms for chief, mocker or big head. His father's byname is presumed to have been retrospective, meaning Hugh the Elder, this Hugh being Hugh the Younger, Capet being a 12th-century addition. See: James, The Origins of France, p. 183. Jump up ^ For a fuller explanation of the descent and relationships of Hugh, see the genealogical tables in Riché, The Carolingiens (1993), pp. 367-75. References Jump up ^ Jonathan Jarrett, “Sales, Swindles and Sanctions: Bishop Sal·la of Urgell and the Counts of Catalonia”, International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 11 July 2005, published in the Appendix, Pathways of Power in late-Carolingian Catalonia, PhD dissertation, Birkbeck College (2006), 300. ^ Jump up to: a b Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafeln 10, 11 ^ Jump up to: a b Jim Bradbury, The Capetians: Kings of France, 987-1328, (London: Hambledon Continuum, 2007), p. 69 Jump up ^ Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family Who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), pp. 371, 375 Jump up ^ Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family Who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 371 Jump up ^ The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916-966, eds & trans. Steven Fanning: Bernard S. Bachrach (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 28 Jump up ^ James, pp 183-184; Theis, pp 65-66. Jump up ^ Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family Who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 264 Jump up ^ Jules Michelet, History of France, Vol. I, trans. G. H. Smith (New York: D. Appleton, 1882), p. 146 Jump up ^ Theis, pp. 69-70. Jump up ^ James, pp. iii, 182-183; Gauvard, pp. 163-168; Riché, pp. 285 ff. Jump up ^ Harriet Harvey Wood, The Battle of Hastings: The Fall of Anglo-Saxon England, Atlantic, 2008, p. 46 Jump up ^ Lewis, 908. ^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, 914. Jump up ^ Bordenove, pp. 265-266 Jump up ^ Thus Gauvard, p. 531. Sources Bordenove, Georges. Les Rois qui ont fait la France: Hugues Capet, le Fondateur. Paris: Marabout, 1986. ISBN 2-501-01099-X Gauvard, Claude. La France au Moyen Âge du Ve au XVe siècle. Paris: PUF, 1996. 2-13-054205-0 James, Edward. The Origins of France: From Clovis to the Capetians 500-1000. London: Macmillan, 1982. ISBN 0-312-58862-3 Riché, Pierre. Les Carolingiens: Une famille qui fit l'Europe. Paris: Hachette, 1983. 2-012-78551-0 Theis, Laurent. Histoire du Moyen Âge français: Chronologie commentée 486-1453. Paris: Perrin, 1992. 2-87027-587-0 Lewis, Anthony W. "Anticipatory Association of the Heir in Early Capetian France." The American Historical Review, Vol. 83, No. 4. (Oct., 1978), pp 906-927. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Another version: Hugh, or Hugues, Capet, 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 Capet inherited vast estates in the regions of Paris and Orléans, extending in some places south of the Loire River. He thus became one of the most powerful vassals in the kingdom and a serious danger to the Carolingian king, Lothair. Hugh married Adelaide, daughter of William III, Duke of Aquitaine, in 970, but his efforts to extend his influence into that southwestern kingdom were unsuccessful. From 978 to 986 Hugh was allied with the German emperors Otto II and Otto III and with Adalbero, archbishop of Reims, in political intrigues against the Carolingian king. By 985 Hugh was actually the ruler in all but title; and, after the brief reign of Lothair's son, Louis V (986-987), Hugh was elected king of France in May 987 by the assembly of Frankish magnates. Adalbero was able to convince the magnates that the crown was elective rather than hereditary and that Charles of Lorraine, the only legitimate Carolingian contender, was unfit to rule. Hugh was crowned at Noyon on July 5, 987. Scholars are generally agreed that Hugh's election was not a revolutionary action. His grandfather Robert I, his great-uncle Eudes, and his uncle Rudolf (Raoul) had all earlier been non-Carolingian kings. Hugh's reign was marked by the unavailing efforts of Charles of Lorraine (imprisoned 991) to assert himself and by continual conflict between Eudes I, count of Blois, and Fulk Nerra of Anjou, whom Hugh later supported. In 993 Eudes was aided by the bishop of Laon in an unsuccessful conspiracy to deliver Hugh and his son Robert over to Otto III. That no one was punished for the incident indicated the weakness of the new Capetian dynasty. Hugh's crown was probably preserved by the inability of his enemies to coordinate their activities against him. The Capetian dynasty's subsequent rule for more than 300 years has invested Hugh Capet's reign with a greater significance than his actual achievements merit. Very soon after ascending the throne, Hugh Capet arranged the coronation (December 987) of his own son, Robert, who upon Hugh's death succeeded to the throne without difficulty. This practice of crowning the heir during the father's lifetime was continued by the Capetians until the time of Louis VII and undoubtedly contributed to the dynasty's stability and longevity. Encyclopædia Britannica 2006 Ultimate Reference Suite.
William B.
