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Capetian dynasty

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For the "Direct Capetians", who ruled France from 987 to 1328, see House of Capet.
Capetian dynasty
Parent houseRobertians
CountryFrance
Founded987
FounderHugh Capet
Current headLouis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou
Titles
Estate(s)France
Cadet branches

The Capetian dynasty (/[invalid input: 'icon']kəˈpiːʃ[invalid input: 'ⁱ']ən/), also known as the House of France, is the largest and oldest European royal house, consisting of the descendants of King Hugh Capet of France in the male line. Hugh Capet himself was a cognatic descendant of the Carolingians and the Merovingians[citation needed], earlier rulers of France. In contemporary times, both King Juan Carlos of Spain and Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg are members of this family, both through the Bourbon branch of the dynasty.

Name origins and usage

The name of the dynasty derives from its founder, Hugh, who was known as "Hugh Capet". The meaning of "Capet" (a nickname rather than a surname of the modern sort) is unknown. While folk etymology identifies it with "cape", other suggestions suggest it to be connected to the Latin word caput ("head"), and thus explain it as meaning "chief" or "big head". {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

Historians 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. The name "Capet" has also been used as a surname for French royals, particularly but not exclusively those of the House of Capet. One notable use was during the French Revolution, when the dethroned King Louis XVI (a member of the House of Bourbon, though a direct male-line descendant of Hugh Capet) and Queen Marie Antoinette (a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine) were referred to as "Louis and Antoinette Capet" (the queen being addressed as "the Widow Capet" after the execution of her husband).

The Robertians and before

Capetian dynasty Cadets
Main article: Robertians

The dynastic surname now used to describe Hugh Capet's family prior to his election as King of France is "Robertians" or "Robertines." The name is derived from the family's first certain ancestor, Robert the Strong (b. 820), the count of Paris. Robert was probably son of Robert III of Worms (b. 800) and grandson of Robert of Hesbaye (b. 770). The Robertians probably originated in the county Hesbaye, around Tongeren in modern-day Belgium.

The sons of Robert the Strong were Odo and Robert, who both ruled as king of Western Francia. The family became Counts of Paris under Odo and Dukes of the Franks under Robert, possessing large parts of Neustria.

The Carolingian dynasty ceased to rule France upon the death of Louis V. After the death of Louis V, the son of Hugh the Great, Hugh Capet, was elected by the nobility as king of France. Hugh was crowned at Noyon on 3 July 987 with the full support from Holy Roman Emperor Otto III. With Hugh's coronation, a new era began for France, and his descendants came to be named the Capetians, with the Capetian dynasty ruling France for more than 800 years (987–1848, with some interruptions[1]).

Robertian Family Branches

Capetians through history

Over the succeeding centuries, Capetians spread throughout Europe, ruling every form of provincial unit from kingdoms to manors.

Salic Law

Salic Law, reestablished during the Hundred Years' War from an ancient Frankish tradition, caused the French monarchy to permit only male (agnatic) descendants of Hugh to succeed to the throne of France.

Without Salic Law, upon the death of John I, the crown would have passed to his half-sister, Joan (later Joan II of Navarre). However, Joan's paternity was suspect due to her mother's adultery; the French magnates adopted Salic Law to avoid the succession of a possible bastard.

In 1328, King Charles IV of France died without male heirs, as his brothers did before him. At that time, the only living male heir of King Philip IV of France was King Edward III of England, son of Isabella of France, Philip's daughter. The French lords were opposed to the succession of an English monarch, and produced an addition to the Salic Law whereby a male heir cannot succeed to the throne through a female line.

Thus instead of the above succession, the French crown passed from the House of Capet after the death of Charles IV to Philip VI of France of the House of Valois, a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty,

  • then to Louis XII of Valois-Orléans, a cadet line of the Valois,
  • then to Francis of Angoulème (who became Francis I), belonging to a cadet line of the Valois-Orléans,
  • then to Henry of Navarre (who became Henry IV of France), from the House of Bourbon, a cadet line of the Capetian Dynasty.

This did not affect monarchies not under that law such as Portugal, Spain, Navarre, and various smaller duchies and counties. Therefore, many royal families appear and disappear in the French succession or become cadet branches upon marriage. A complete list of the senior-most line of Capetians is available below.

Capetian Cadet Branches

The Capetian Dynasty has been broken many times into (sometimes rival) cadet branches. A cadet branch is a line of descent from another line than the senior-most. This list of cadet branches shows most of the Capetian cadet lines and designating their royal French progenitor, although some sub-branches are not shown.

Descendants of Robert II of France

  • House of Burgundy (1032–1361)
    • Afonsine House of Burgundy (1109–1383)
      • House of Aviz (1385–1580) – illegitimate male-line descent from the Capetian Dynasty
        • House of Braganza (1442–present) – illegitimate male-line descent from the Capetian Dynasty

Descendants of Henry I of France

Descendants of Louis VI of France

Descendants of Louis VIII of France

  • House of Artois (1237–1472)
  • Elder House of Anjou (initially ruling house of Sicily, then of Naples, became ruling house of Hungary) (1247–1382)
    • Elder House of Anjou – Naples branch (1309–1343)
    • Elder House of Anjou – Taranto branch (1294–1374)
    • Elder House of Anjou – Durazzo branch (1309–1414)

Descendants of Louis IX of France

Descendants of Philip III of France

  • House of Valois (1293–1498)
    • House of Valois – Alençon branch (1325–1525)
    • Younger House of Anjou (1356–1481)
    • House of Valois-Burgundy (1364–1477)
      • House of Valois-Burgundy – Brabantine branch (1404–1430)
      • House of Valois-Burgundy – Nevers branch (1404–1491)
    • House of Valois – Orléans branch (1392–1515)
      • House of Valois – Orléans-Angoulême branch (1407–1589)
  • House of Évreux (1303–1400)
    • House of Évreux – Navarre branch (1328–1425)

Capetians and their domains

Illegitimate Descent

  • 20 Monarchs of Portugal
    • John I, The Good or The One of Happy Memory 1385 - 1433
    • Edward, The Philosopher or The Eloquent 1433 - 1438
    • Afonso V, The African 1438 - 1481
    • John II, The Perfect Prince 1481 - 1495
    • Manuel I, The Fortunate 1495 - 1521
    • John III, the Pious 1521 - 1557
    • Sebastian, the Desired 1557 - 1578
    • Henry, The Chaste 1578 - 1580
    • Anthony, Prior of Crato 1580 (disputed)
    • João IV (1640–1656)
    • Afonso VI (1656–1683)
    • Pedro II (1683–1706)
    • João V (1706–1750)
    • José I (1750–1777)
    • Pedro III (1777–1786)
    • Maria I (1777–1816)
    • João VI (1816–1826)
    • Pedro IV (1826)
    • Miguel I (1828–1834)
    • Maria II (1826–1853)
  • 8 Dukes of Braganza
    • Afonso, 8th Count of Barcelos, 1st Duke of Braganza (1442).
    • Ferdinand I, 2nd Duke of Braganza.
    • Ferdinand II, 3rd Duke of Braganza and 1st Duke of Guimarães (1475).
    • James (Jaime), 4th Duke of Braganza and 2nd Duke of Guimarães.
    • Teodosius I, 5th Duke of Braganza and 3rd Duke of Guimarães.
    • John I, 6th Duke of Braganza and 1st Duke of Barcelos (1562).
    • Teodosius II, 7th Duke of Braganza and 2nd Duke of Barcelos
    • John II, 8th Duke of Braganza and 3rd Duke of Barcelos.

Senior Capets

Throughout most of history, the Senior Capet and the King of France were synonymous terms. Only in the time before Hugh Capet took the crown for himself and after the reign of Charles X is the term necessary to identify which. However, since primogeniture and the Salic Law provided for the succession of the French throne for most of French history, here is a list of all the predecessors of the French monarchy, all the French kings from Hugh until Charles, and all the Legitimist pretenders thereafter. All dates are for seniority, not reign. It is important to note that historians class the predecessors of Hugh Capet as Robertians, not Capetians.

Noblemen in Neustria and their descendants (dates uncertain):

Count in the Upper Rhine Valley and Wormgau:

King of France:

Count of Paris:

King of France:

Count of Marnes:

Count of Chambord:

Count of Montizón:

Duke of Madrid:

Duke of Anjou and Madrid:

Duke of San Jaime:

King of Spain:

Duke of Anjou and Segovia:

Duke of Anjou and Cádiz:

Duke of Anjou:

The Capetian dynasty today

Many years have passed since the Capetian monarchs ruled a large part of Europe; however, they still remain as kings, as well as other titles. Currently two Capetian monarchs still rule in Spain and Luxembourg. In addition, seven pretenders represent exiled dynastic monarchies in Brazil, France, Spain, Portugal, Parma and Two Sicilies. The current legitimate, senior family member is Louis-Alphonse de Bourbon, known by his supporters as Duke of Anjou, who also holds the Legitimist (Blancs d'Espagne) claim to the French throne. Overall, dozens of branches of the Capetian dynasty still exist throughout Europe.

Except for the House of Braganza (founded by an illegitimate son of King John I, who was himself illegitimate), all current major Capetian branches are of the Bourbon cadet branch. Within the House of Bourbon, many of these lines are themselves well-defined cadet lines of the House.

Current Capetian rulers

Current Capetian pretenders

See also

References

  1. ^ Specific periods of reign are 888–898, 922–923, 987–1792, 1814–1815, and 1815–1848 – the more-than-800-year uninterrupted period 987–1792 forming the bulk.

Further reading

  • Ingmar Krause: Konflikt und Ritual im Herrschaftsbereich der frühen Capetinger – Untersuchungen zur Darstellung und Funktion symbolischen Verhaltens. Rhema-Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-930454-62-4
  • Fawtier, Robert. The Capetian Kings of France: Monarchy & Nation (987–1328). Macmillan, 1960. (translated from French edition of 1941)
  • Hallam, Elizabeth M. Capetian France 987–1328. Longman, 1980.
  • Le Hête, Thierry. Les Capetiens: Le Livre du Millenaire. Editions Christian, 1987.
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