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 namesake Capetian dynasty from his election in 987 until his death; he succeeded the last Carolingian Louis V.
Robert II (27 March 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (French: le Pieux) or the Wise (French: le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine.
The Religous revival on its way at the dawn of the year 1000 favours anew the expression of art. Rising churches take up the basics elements of Caroligian Architecture such as extended naves, transepts, ect.
Henry I (4 May 1008 – 4 August 1060) was the King of the Franks from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians. This is not entirely agreed upon, however, as other historians regard him as a strong but realistic king, who was forced to conduct a policy mindful of the limitations of the French monarchy.
Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous,[2] was King of the Franks from 1060 to his death. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low it reached in the reign of his father and he added to the royal demesne the Vexin[3] and Bourges.
Despite the royal title, Hugh Capet and his first successors find it difficult to impose their rule. They are only average fuedal lords owning territorial possessions often smaller than their vassels. It is all the more after the ascension of William the Conqueror, heir to the Dutchy of Normandy, whose power is some to become a threat to the very existence of Capetien dynasty
The architectural revival expands throughout Europe owing to the power of the Church and in particular the power of monastic orders that deserve credit for this renaissance of architecture. Despite regional peculiarities, the revival finds its unity in the use of common elements such as semicircular arches, barrel vaulting, etc
Louis VI (1 December 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (French: le Gros), was King of the Franks from 1108 until his death (1137). Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".
Louis VII (called the Younger or the Young) (French: Louis le Jeune) (1120 – 18 September 1180) was King of the Franks from 1137 until his death. He was the son and successor of Louis VI (hence his nickname) and a member of the House of Capet. His rule was dominated by feudal struggles, particularly with the Angevin family, and marked the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. Construction on the Notre-Dame de Paris, the founding of the University of Paris, and the disastrous Second Crusade also occurred during his reign.
Louis VI le Gros and his son work at strengthening their authority on Ile-de-France. They manage to subdue the opposition of the squires, banditry and induces the nobility to enter the royal service. However, English power further strengthens on the continent as Eléonor of Aquitaine, divorced from Louis VII, remarries Henry Plantagenet, a great grandson of William the Conqueror, thus bringing half of France to the English Crown. The kingdom has Reached a turning point in its history. The preliminary military offensives led by first Louis VII and then by Philippe Auguste against Henry II and his sons Richard the Lionhearted and John Lackland mark a beginning of a long series of military campaigns that will oppose the two dynasties for nearly three centuries.
Philip II Augustus (French: Philippe Auguste; 21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223) was the King of France from 1180 to 1223, and the first to be called by that title. His predecessors had been known as Roi des Francs (King of the Franks) but from 1190 onward Philip was known as ''Roi de France'' (King of France). A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and of his third wife, Adela of Champagne. He was originally nicknamed Dieudonné ("God-given") because he was the first son of Louis VII late in his father's life.[1] Philip was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy. He broke up the great Angevin Empire and defeated a coalition of his rivals (German, Flemish and English) at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214. He reorganized the government, bringing financial stability to the country and thus making possible a sharp increase in prosperity. His reign was popular with ordinary people because he checked the power of the nobles and passed some of it on to the growing middle class
Height of Romanesque architecture and the commencement of Gothic architecture. Romanesque architecture conserves the attainments of the past century, but generalizes the cruciform plane and the construction of apsidal chapels. It extends side aisles of the ambulatories (In France St-Sernin in Toulouse, St-Trophime in Arles. Gartempe at St-Savin, Ste Madeleine at Vezelay, abbey-church at Cluny and St-Etienne in Caen. In Germany, the Cathedrals of Worms and Limburgh implanted The Gothic architecture in Ile-de-France around the 12th century is Characterized by cross-ribbed vault, the Gothic arch, and the flying buttress shortly cathedrals of Sens, Noyon, Laon Paris).
Louis VIII the Lion (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226) reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, the son of Philip II and Isabelle of Hainaut. He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226. It remained attached to the crown until 1237, when his son Louis IX gave the title in accordance with the will of his father to Louis IX's younger brother Robert on attaining his majority. While Louis VIII only briefly ruled as king for three years, he was an active leader in his years as crown prince during his father's wars against the Angevins under King John. His intervention with royal forces into the Albigensian Crusade in southern France decisively moved the conflict towards a conclusion.
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. He worked with the Parliament of Paris in order to improve the professionalism of his legal administration. He is the only canonized king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him, most notably St. Louis, Missouri; Île Saint-Louis in Paris; Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin and Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in the United States; São Luís do Maranhão, Brazil; and both the state and city of San Luis Potosí in Mexico
The Capetian dynasty works away at weakening the English hold, thus enabling itself to expand the royal domain and to launch France's unification process. With the seizure of Chateau-Gaillard (1204) and the victory of Philippe Auguste at Bouvines (1214), the Capets take over Normandy, Maine and Anjou. The successful crusade against the Albigensian enables Louis VIII to control the countship of Toulouse. The reigns of Saint Louis who acts as a political arbiter in Europe, and Philippe IV the beautiful who strives to reduce the Influence of feudal lords and the powerful clergy, demonstrate the influence and growing authority of the Capetian dynasty whose grip now extends as far as the Pyrénées and Languedoc.
Philip III (30 April 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (French: le Hardi),[1] was a Capetian King of France who reigned from 1270 to 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, came back to France to claim his throne and was anointed at Reims in 1271. Philip made numerous territorial acquisitions during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse which was annexed to the Crown lands of France in 1271. Following the Sicilian Vespers, a rebellion triggered by Peter III of Aragon against Philip's uncle Charles I of Naples, Philip led an unsuccessful Aragonese Crusade in support of his uncle. Philip was forced to retreat and died from dysentry in Perpignan in 1285. He was succeeded by his son Philip the Fair.
Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called the Fair (French: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 until his death. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also, as Philip I, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne from 1284 to 1305. Philip relied on skillful civil servants, such as Guillaume de Nogaret and Enguerrand de Marigny, to govern the kingdom rather than on his barons. Philip and his advisors were instrumental in the transformation of France from a feudal country to a centralized state. Philip, who sought an uncontested monarchy, compelled his vassals by wars and restricted feudal usages. His ambitions made him highly influential in European affairs. His goal was to place his relatives on thrones. Princes from his house ruled in Naples and Hungary. He tried and failed to make another relative the Holy Roman Emperor. He began the long advance of France eastward by taking control of scattered fiefs.[1] The most notable conflicts include a dispute with Edward I of England, who was also his vassal as the Duke of Aquitaine, and a war with the County of Flanders, which gained temporary autonomy following Philip’s embarrassing defeat at the battle of the Golden Spurs (1302). In 1306, Philip the Fair expelled the Jews from France and, in 1307, annihilated the order of the Knights Templar. Philip was in debt to both groups and saw them as a "state within the state". To further strengthen the monarchy, Philip tried to control the French clergy and entered in conflict with Pope Boniface VIII. This conflict led to the transfer of the papal court in the enclave of Avignon in 1309. His final year saw a scandal amongst the royal family, known as the Tour de Nesle Affair, during which the three daughters-in-law of Philip were accused of adultery. His three sons were successively kings of France, namely: Louis X, Philip V and Charles IV.
Thanks to the international foundations of the Church, the Gothic architecture spreads throughout Europe, covering it with cathedrals featuring recessed walls, immense naves where the art of the cathedral stained glass windows will be born. Some of the most beautiful works are found in the Cathedrals of Assisi in Italy, Burgos in Spain, Ulm in Germany and Lincoln in England. In France, transitional Gothic is followed by Lanceolate Gothic(Cathedrals of Chartres, Reims, Amiens), then by rayonnant Gothic (Ste-Chapelle in Paris).
Louis X (4 October 1289 – 5 June 1316), called the Quarreler, the Headstrong, or the Stubborn (French: le Hutin) was a monarch of the House of Capet who ruled as King of Navarre (as Louis I) and Count of Champagne from 1305 and King of France from 1314 until his death. Louis was the eldest son of Philip IV of France and Joan I of Navarre. His short reign as king of France was marked by the hostility of the nobility against fiscal and centralization reforms initiated by Enguerrand de Marigny, the Grand Chamberlain of France under the reign of his father. Louis’ uncle, Charles of Valois, leader of the feudalist party, managed to convince the king to execute Enguerrand de Marigny. Louis allowed serfs to buy their freedom, which was the first step towards the abolition of serfdom, abolished slavery and readmitted French Jews into the kingdom. In 1305, Louis had married Margaret of Burgundy with whom he had Joan II of Navarre. Margaret was later convicted of adultery and strangled in prison. In 1315, Louis married Clementia of Hungary who gave birth to John I of France a few months after the king’s death. John’s untimely death led to a disputed succession.
Philip V (c.1292/1293 – 3 January 1322), the Tall (French: Philippe le Long), was King of France, King of Navarre as Philip II, and Count of Champagne. He reigned from 1316 to his death and was the penultimate monarch of the main line of the House of Capet. As the second son of king Philip IV, Philip the Tall was made Count of Poitiers while his elder brother, Louis X, inherited the throne in 1314. When Louis died in 1316, his wife was pregnant and it was decided that Philip the Tall would act as regent until she gave birth to her child. She had a boy who was proclaimed king as John I, but the small king lived only for five days. Philip was immediately crowned at Reims as Philip V. However, his legitimacy was challenged by Joan of Navarre, Louis X’s daughter, who claimed the throne of France for herself. Philip V successfully contested her claims for a number of reasons, including her youth, doubts regarding her paternity (her mother was involved in the Tour de Nesle Affair), and the Estates General's determination that women should be excluded from the line of succession to the French throne, according to the ancient Salic law. Philip V restored somewhat good relations with the County of Flanders, which had entered into open rebellion during his father’s rule, but simultaneously his relations with Edward II of England worsened as the English king, who was also Duke of Guyenne, initially refused to pay him homage. A spontaneous and popular crusade started in Normandy in 1320 which aimed to liberate Iberia from the Moors. Instead the angry populace marched to the south attacking castles, royal officials, priests, lepers and Jews. Philip V engaged in a series of domestic reforms intended to improve the management of the kingdom. These reforms included the creation of an independent Court of Finances, the standardization of weights and measures, and the establishment of a single currency. Philip V died from dysentery in 1322 without a male heir and was succeeded by his younger brother Charles IV.
Charles IV (Clermont 18/19 June 1294 – Vincennes 1 February 1328), called the Fair (French: le Bel) was Count of Champagne, King of Navarre (as Charles I) and the last "direct" Capetian King of France from 1322 to his death. Charles was the third son of Philip IV; like his father, he was known as "the fair" or "the handsome".[1] From 1323, Charles was confronted to a peasant revolt in Flanders and, in 1324, he unsuccessfully bid the elective German monarchy. As duke of Guyenne, Edward II of England was Charles’s vassal but was reluctant to pay homage to another king. In retaliation, Charles conquered the Duchy of Guyenne in a conflict known as the War of Saint-Sardos (1324). In a peace agreement, Edward II accepted to swear allegiance to Charles and to pay a fine. In exchange, Guyenne was returned to Edward but with a much-reduced territory. When Charles IV died without male heir, the senior lineage of the House of Capet ended; he was succeeded by his cousin Philip of Valois, but the contested legitimacy was one factor of the Hundred Years' War.
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