House of Capet
| House of Capet House of France |
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|---|---|
Arms of the King of France
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| Country | Kingdom of France |
| Estates | France, Navarre |
| Parent house | Robertians |
| Titles | |
| Founded | 987 |
| Founder | Hugh Capet |
| Final ruler | Charles IV of France |
| Dissolution | 1328 |
| Ethnicity | French |
| Cadet branches | |
The House of Capet or the Direct Capetians (French: Les Capétiens, la Maison capétienne), also called the House of France (la maison de France), or simply the Capets, ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians. Historians in the 19th century came to apply the name "Capetian" to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet. It was not a contemporary practice (see House of France). They were sometimes called "the third race of kings", the Merovingians being the first, and the Carolingians being the second. The name is derived from the nickname of Hugh, the first Capetian King, who was known as Hugh Capet. The direct succession of French kings, father to son, from 987 to 1316, of thirteen generations in almost 330 years, was unparallelled in recorded history.
The direct line of the House of Capet came to an end in 1328, when the three sons of Philip IV all failed to produce surviving male heirs to the French throne. With the death of Charles IV, the throne passed to the House of Valois, descended from a younger brother of Philip IV. It would later pass to another Capetian branch, the House of Bourbon, descended from Louis IX's youngest son, and to its cadet branch, the House of Orléans, always remaining in the hands of agnatic descendants of Hugh Capet.
The first Capetian monarch was Hugh Capet (c.940–996), a Frankish nobleman from the Île-de-France, who, following the death of Louis V of France (c.967–987) – the last Carolingian King – secured the throne of France by election. He then proceeded to make it hereditary in his family, by securing the election and coronation of his son, Robert II (972–1031), as co-King. The throne thus passed securely to Robert on his father's death, who followed the same custom – as did many of his early successors.
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