Hugh Capet
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| Hugh Capet | |
|---|---|
Robertian dynasty Capet (founder) | |
| Father | Hugh the Great |
| Mother | Hedwige Liudolfing |
| Signature |  |
Hugh Capet
The dynasty he founded ruled France for nearly nine centuries: from 987 to 1328 in the senior line, and until 1848 via cadet branches (with an interruption from 1792 to 1814 and briefly in 1815).[6]
Descent and inheritance
Hugh was the son of
Through his mother, Hugh was the nephew of
His paternal family, the
Rise of the Robertians
After the end of the ninth century, the descendants of
Robert I, Hugh the Great's father, was succeeded as King of the Franks by his son-in-law,
This maneuver allowed Hugh to become the most powerful person in France in the first half of the tenth century. Once in power, Louis IV granted him the title of dux Francorum ("Duke of the Franks"). Louis also (perhaps under pressure) officially declared Hugh "the second after us in all our kingdoms". Hugh also gained power when Herbert II of Vermandois died in 943, because Herbert's powerful principality was then divided among his four sons.
Hugh the Great came to dominate a wide swath of central France, from Orléans and Senlis to Auxerre and Sens, while the king was rather confined to the area northeast of Paris (Compiègne, Laon, Soissons).
French monarchy in the 10th century
The realm in which Hugh grew up, and of which he would one day be king, bore little resemblance to modern France. Hugh's predecessors did not call themselves kings of France, and that title was not used by his successors until the time of his descendant
France under Ottonian influence
In 956, when his father Hugh the Great died, Hugh, the eldest son, was then about fifteen years old and had two younger brothers.
In 954, Otto I appointed his brother Bruno, Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lorraine, as guardian of Lothair and regent of the kingdom of France. In 956, Otto gave him the same role over Hugh and the Robertian principality. With these young princes under his control, Otto aimed to maintain the balance between Robertians, Carolingians, and Ottonians. In 960, Lothair agreed to grant to Hugh the legacy of his father, the margraviate of Neustria and the title of Duke of the Franks. But in return, Hugh had to accept the new independence gained by the counts of Neustria during Hugh's minority. Hugh's brother, Otto received only the duchy of Burgundy (by marriage). Andrew W. Lewis has sought to show that Hugh the Great had prepared a succession policy to ensure his eldest son much of his legacy, as did all the great families of that time.
The West was dominated by Otto I, who had
Hugh, Duke of the Franks
In 956, Hugh inherited his father's estates, in theory making him one of the most powerful nobles in the much-reduced kingdom of
The royal diplomas of the 960s show that the nobles were faithful not only to the Duke of the Franks, as in the days of Hugh the Great, but also to King Lothair. Indeed, some in the royal armies fought against the Duchy of Normandy on behalf of Lothair. Finally, even Hugh's position as second man in the kingdom seemed to slip. Two charters of the Montier-en-Der Abbey (968 and 980) refer to Herbert III, Count of Vermandois, while Count of Chateau-Thierry, Vitry and lay abbot of Saint-Médard of Soissons, bearing the title of "Count of the Franks" and even "count of the palace" in a charter of Lothair.
For his part, Lothair also lost power with the ascendance of the Ottonian monarchy. It waned by participating in the gathering of relatives and vassals of Otto I in 965. However, from the death of the emperor in 973, Lothair wanted to revive the policy of his grandfather to recover Lorraine. Otto's son and successor, Otto II, appointed his cousin,
In August 978, accompanied by the nobles of the kingdom, Lothair surprised and plundered Aachen, residence of Otto II, forcing the imperial family to flee. After occupying Aachen for five days, Lothair returned to France after symbolically disgracing the city. In September 978, Otto II retaliated against Lothair by invading France with the aid of Charles. He met with little resistance on French territory, devastating the land around Rheims, Soissons, and Laon. Otto II then had Charles crowned as King of France by Theodoric I, Bishop of Metz. Lothair then fled to the French capital of Paris where he was besieged by Otto II and Charles. Sickness among his troops brought on by winter, and a French relief army under Hugh Capet, forced Otto II and Charles to lift the siege on 30 November and return to Germany. On the journey back to Germany, Otto's rearguard, unable to cross the Aisne in flood at Soissons, was completely wiped out, "and more died by that wave than by the sword." This victory allowed Hugh Capet to regain his position as the first noble of the Frankish kingdom.
Hugh aids Archbishop of Reims
Until the end of the tenth century, Reims was the most important of the archiepiscopal seats of France. Situated in Carolingian lands, the archbishop claimed the primacy of Gaul and the privilege to crown kings and direct their chancery. Therefore, the Archbishop of Reims traditionally had supported the ruling family and had long been central to the royal policy. But the episcopal city was headed by Adalberon of Rheims, nephew of Adalberon of Metz (a faithful prelate to the Carolingians), elected by the King Lothair in 969, but who had family ties to the Ottonians. The Archbishop was assisted by one of the most advanced minds of his time, the schoolmaster and future Pope Sylvester II Gerbert of Aurillac. Adalberon and Gerbert worked for the restoration of a single dominant empire in Europe. King Lothair, 13 years old, was under the tutelage of his uncle Otto I. But upon reaching his majority, he became independent, which defeated their plans to bring the whole of Europe under a single crown. Therefore, they turned their support from Lothair to Hugh Capet.
Indeed, for the Ottonian to make France a vassal state of the empire, it was imperative that the Frankish king was not of the Carolingian dynasty, and not powerful enough to break the Ottonian tutelage. Hugh Capet was for them the ideal candidate, especially since he actively supported monastic reform in the abbeys while other contenders continued to distribute church revenues to their own partisans. Such conduct could only appeal to Reims, who was very close to the Cluniac movement.
Reign of Louis V
With the support of
In 979, Lothair sought to ensure his succession by associating his eldest son with the throne. Hugh Capet supported him and summoned the great nobles of the kingdom. The ceremony took place at Compiègne, in the presence of the king, of Arnulf (an illegitimate son of the king), and of Archbishop Adalberon, under Hugh's blessing. The congregation acclaimed Louis V, following the Carolingian custom, and the archbishop anointed the new king of the Franks.
The following year, Lothair, seeing the growing power of Hugh, decided to reconcile with the Emperor Otto II by agreeing to renounce
At the death of Otto II in 983, Lothair took advantage of the minority of Otto III and, after making an alliance with the Duke of Bavaria, decided to attack Lorraine. Hugh was careful not to join this expedition.
When the king took Verdun and imprisoned Godfrey (brother of the Archbishop of Reims), Adalberon and Gerbert sought the aid of the duke of the Franks. But Lothair's enterprises came to naught when he died in March 986.
Louis V, following Louis IV and Lothair, declared that he would take the counsels of the duke of the Franks for his policies. It seems the new king wished to launch an offensive against Reims and Laon because of their rapprochement with the empire. Sources are vague on Hugh's role at this time, but it would be his interest to limit the king's excessive pretensions. Louis summoned the archbishop of Reims at his palace at Compiègne to answer for his actions. But while hunting in the forest of Senlis, Louis was killed in a riding accident on 22 May 987.
Hugh elected King of Franks
.PNG)
In May 987, chroniclers, including Richerus and Gerbert of Aurillac, wrote that in Senlis "died the race of Charles". However, even if Louis died childless, there remained a Carolingian who could ascend the throne: Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, brother of Lothair, uncle of Louis V, first cousin of Hugh Capet through their mothers.
This was nothing extraordinary; it was not the first time that a Robertian would be competing with a Carolingian. In the time of Hugh the Great, the Robertians found it expedient to support the claim of a Carolingian. By 987, however, times had changed. For ten years, Hugh Capet had been openly competing against his king, and appeared to have subjected the great vassals. And his opponent Charles of Lorraine was accused of all evils: he wanted to usurp the crown (978), had allied himself with the emperor against his brother, and had defamed Queen Emma of Italy, his brother's wife. The archbishop of Reims convened the greatest lords of France at Senlis and denounced Charles of Lorraine for not maintaining his dignity, having made himself a vassal of the Emperor Otto II and marrying a woman from a lower class of nobility. Then he promoted the candidacy of Hugh Capet:
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.[22]
Hugh was crowned rex Francorum on 1 June, in
Election contested by Charles of Lorraine
Charles of Lorraine, the Carolingian heir, contested the succession. He drew support from the Count of Vermandois, a cadet of the Carolingian dynasty; and from the Count of Flanders, loyal to the Carolingian cause. Charles took Laon, the seat of Carolingian royalty. Hugh Capet and his son Robert besieged the city twice, but were compelled to withdraw each time. Hugh decided to make an alliance with Theophano (regent for her son Otto III), but she never replied.
When Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims, died, the archbishopric was contested by his right-hand man, Gerbert of Aurillac, and Arnulf, illegitimate son of King Lothair of France (and nephew of Charles of Lorraine). Choosing Arnulf to replace Adalberon seemed a great gamble, but Hugh made it anyway, and chose him as archbishop instead of Gerbert, in order to appease Carolingian sympathizers and the local populace. Following the customs of those times, he was made to invoke a curse upon himself if he should break his oath of fidelity to Hugh. Arnulf was duly installed, and was confirmed by the pope.
Yet to Arnulf the ties of blood with his uncle Charles was the stronger than the oath he had given Hugh. Gathering the nobles in his castle, Arnulf sent one of his agents and opened the gates of the city to Charles. Arnulf acted as if terrified, and took the nobles with him to a tower, which he had emptied out of supplies beforehand. Thus was the city of Reims compelled to surrender; to keep up appearances, Arnulf and Charles denounced each other, until Arnulf swore fealty to Charles.
Great was the predicament of Hugh, and he began doubting whether he could win the contest by force. Adalberon, bishop of Laon, whom Charles expelled when he took the city, had sought the protection of Hugh Capet. The bishop made overtures to Arnulf and Charles, to mediate a peace between them and Hugh Capet. Adalberon was received by Charles favorably, but was made to swear oaths that would bring curses upon himself if broken. Adalberon swore to them all, "I will observe my oaths, and if not, may I die the death of Judas." That night the bishop seized Charles and Arnulf in their sleep, and delivered them to Hugh. Charles was imprisoned in Orléans until his death. His sons, born in prison, were released.
Dispute with the papacy
After the loss of Reims by the betrayal of Arnulf, Hugh demanded his deposition by Pope John XV. But the pope was then embroiled in a conflict with the Roman aristocracy. After the capture of Charles and Arnulf, Hugh resorted to a domestic tribunal, and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991. There, Gerbert testified against Arnulf, which led to the archbishop's deposition and Gerbert being chosen as replacement.
Pope John XV rejected this procedure and wished to convene a new council in Aachen, but the French bishops refused and confirmed their decision in Chelles (winter 993–994). The pope then 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.
Gerbert, supported by other bishops, advocates for the independence of the churches vis-à-vis Rome (which is controlled by the German emperors). Through the exertions of the legate, the deposition of Arnulf was finally pronounced illegal. To avoid excommunication of the bishops who sat in the council of St. Basle, and thus a schism, Gerbert decided to let go. He abandoned the archdiocese and went to Italy. After Hugh's death, Arnulf was released from his imprisonment and soon restored to all his dignities. Under the auspices of the emperor, Gerbert eventually succeeded to the papacy as Pope Sylvester II, the first French pope.
Extent of power
Hugh Capet possessed minor properties near
While Hugh Capet's military power was limited and he had to seek military aid from
Legacy
Hugh Capet died on 24 October 996, and was interred in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.[27] His son Robert continued to reign.
Most historians regard the beginnings of modern France as having initiated with the coronation of Hugh Capet. This is because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power centre. 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.
All monarchs of the Kingdom of France from Hugh Capet to Philip II of France were titled 'King of the Franks'. Documents during Philip II's reign began using the title 'King of France' as dawn of the intimate unification of medieval French population even though Latin was the main language.
Marriage and issue
Hugh Capet married
A number of other daughters are less reliably attested.[29]
Prophecy
According to tradition, sometime in 981, Hugh Capet recovered the relics of
By the literal interpretation, Capetian kingship would thus have ended with
Reception
Italian poet
The myth of Capet's humble origins is another crucial component of Dante's representation of this historical figure in Purgatorio.[32] Though the notion that Capet was the son of a butcher is rightfully reported by critics to be untrue—he was the son of a duke—situating Capet in a lower social position is vital for Dante. This framing draws the Frankish king closer to Dante's own experience as a member of the lower aristocracy, and makes Capet's rise to power feel more extreme.[33] In penance for grasping so high above himself in life, Capet and the other avaricious souls of this terrace must lie face down into the rock. The souls inch slowly up the mountain where they lay, acting in moderation in purgatory, when on earth they moved through life guided by greed.[34]
Notes
- byname of uncertain meaning distinguishing him from his father Hugh the Great. Folk etymology connects it with "cape".[1] According to Pinoteau, the name "Capet" was first attributed to the dynasty by Ralph de Diceto writing in London in 1200, maybe because of the position of the early kings as lay abbots of St Martin of Tours, where part of the "cappa" of the saint was allegedly conserved. 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.[2]
- ^ Although called Hugo Magnus in at least one contemporary source, a charter of 995 (documented in Jonathan Jarrett,[3] the epithet "Hugh the Great" is generally reserved for his father the Duke of France (898–956).[4]
- ^ For a fuller explanation of the descent and relationships of Hugh, see the genealogical tables in Riché 1993, pp. 367–375.
- ^ Le Jan indicates Gisela married a Hugues avoue de St-Riquier.[28]
References
- ISBN 978-1566566063.
- ^ James, The Origins of France, p. 183.
- Birkbeck College(2006), page 295),
- OCLC 4277602.
- ^ "Hedwig". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia.
- ^ "Capetian dynasty | French history | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 24 January 2022.; "Major Rulers of France | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ Critical companion to Dante: "ca. 938"; The Rise of the Medieval World, 500–1300: "939"; Medieval France: An Encyclopedia: "940"; The Kings of France, their wives and mistresses: "941".
- ^ Medieval France: An Encyclopedia: "(ca. 940–996). The son of Hugues Le Grand, duke of Francia, Hugh Capet is traditionally considered the founder of the third dynasty of French Kings, the Capetians"
- ^ 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
- ^ a b Bradbury, Jim (2007). The Capetians: Kings of France, 987–1328. London: Hambledon Continuum. p. 69.
- ^ Riché, Pierre (1993). The Carolingians; A Family Who Forged Europe. Translated by Allen, Michael Idomir. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 371.
- ^ Riché 1993, pp. 371, 375.
- ^ James, pp 183–184; Theis, pp 65–66.
- ^ Fanning, Steven; Bachrach, Bernard S. (eds & trans.) The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916–966 (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 28
- OL 23187209M.
[...] Louis XII, 1499 [...] LVDOVIVS XII FRANCORUM REX MEDILANI DUX [...] Francis I, 1515 [...] FRANCISCUS REX FRANCORUM PRIMUS DOMINATOR ELVETIORUM [...] Henri II, 1550? [...] HENRICVS II FRANCORVM REX
- ^ James, pp. iii, 182–183; Gauvard, pp. 163–168; Riché 1993, pp. 285 ff
- ^ Riché 1993, p. 264.
- ^ Jules Michelet, History of France, Vol. I, trans. G. H. Smith (New York: D. Appleton, 1882), p. 146
- ^ Theis, pp. 69–70.
- ^ Harding, Samuel Bannister (1901). Essentials in Mediaeval History. New York American Book. p. 71. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- ^ Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Chalon-sur-Saône (1883). Mémoires, Tome VII. p. 272.
- ^ Harriet Harvey Wood, The Battle of Hastings: The Fall of Anglo-Saxon England, Atlantic, 2008, p. 46
- JSTOR 40939391.
- ^ Lewis, 908.
- ^ a b Lewis, 914.
- ISBN 2708403923, pp. 153–154.
- ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica ("Hugh Capet") gives his death as 14 October, but the obituary of Saint-Denis clearly records his death as 24 October. Obituaires de la province de Sens I, p. 343.
- ^ a b c d e Le Jan 2003, Tableau no 62.
- ^ Thus Gauvard, p. 531.
- ^ "Purgatorio 20 – Digital Dante". digitaldante.columbia.edu. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
- ISBN 978-0385508315.
- ^ S2CID 241582950.
- ^ Moleta, 216.
- ^ Moleta, 211.
Sources
- Gauvard, Claude. La France au Moyen Âge du Ve au XVe siècle. Paris: PUF, 1996. ISBN 2130542050
- Le Jan, Régine (2003). Famille et pouvoir dans le monde franc (VIIe–Xe siècle), Essai d'anthropologie sociale (in French). Éditions de la Sorbonne.
- James, Edward. The Origins of France: From Clovis to the Capetians 500–1000. London: Macmillan, 1982. ISBN 0312588623
- ISBN 978-0812213423
- Theis, Laurent. Histoire du Moyen Âge français: Chronologie commentée 486–1453. Paris: Perrin, 1992. ISBN 2870275870
- 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.
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