Capétiens directs  The name Capétiens directs, comes from Hugues Capet, the first ruler in the dynasty.  It was a hereditary dynasty.  It succeeded the Carolingien Dynasty.  The direct 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.

Capétiens directs  Starting with Hugh Capet, French Kings were crowned at Reims Cathedral. This is where the French king, Clovis, was baptized.  At the end of the dynasty, the population of France was 15 million.  After the reign of Charles IV, the throne passed to the House of Valois who were the direct descendants of Charles of Valois and later to the House of Bourbon and the House of Orléans.

Hugues Capet  Known as “Hugh the Great”  Before he became king, he was the count of Paris and Duke of France.  His authority was quickly recognized in his kingdom.  He was devoted to the church.  He married Adelaide of Aquitaine who gave him four children including the future king of France, Robert II the Pious.

Robert II le Pieux  The only son of Hugues Capet, therefore he was the sole heir to the kingdom.  He had an arranged marriage to Rozala, she was 35 and he was 19. He divorced her.  Fell in love with his 3 rd cousin, Bertha of Burgundy. He was the godfather of one of her children. He married her against the wish of every one.  He did not divorce Bertha since the marriage was not recognized by the church but married again to Constance of Arles.  Robert was afraid of Constance.  The only positive thing about their marriage was that Constance gave Robert 6 children.

Henri 1er  Crowned by his father in Rheims.  The land of France reached its smallest size during his reign.  He is often seen as the weakness of the Capetiens dynasty, although some historians see him as a strong but realistic king.  He has 4 children with Anne of Kiev.  Anne of Kiev is Russian and she is the granddaughter of Vladimir the First, the founding saint of Russia.

Philippe 1er  Was crowned at age 7 by his father.  He was excommunicated by the Pope because of bigamy.  He had a 48 year reign which was the third longest reign in the history of France after that of Louis XIV ( ) and Louis XV ( ) who both reigned for over fifty years.

Louis VI le Gros  The first member of the House of Capet to make a lasting contribution to the centralizing institutions of royal power.  Almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign was spent fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris or the Norman kings of England for their continental possession of Normandy.  Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the division of the Carolingian Empire.  The Gothic style of architecture was introduced during his reign.

Louis VII le Jeune  Called Louis VII the young or younger.  His reign was dominated with feudal struggles particularly with the Angevin family. He also saw the start of a long feud between France and England.  His reign also saw the beginning of construction on Notre-Dame de Paris, the founding of the University of Paris and the disastrous Second Crusade.  He originally wanted to be a monk, but when his older brother(Philip) died in an accident, he was forced to become heir.

Philippe II Auguste  At the age of thirteen, he was separated from his companions during a royal hunt and became lost in the Forest of Compiegne. He was found by a peasant.  He was one of the most successful medieval French monarchs in expanding the royal demesne and the influence of the monarchy.  He was married 3 times; his first and third wives died and he annulled the marriage of his second wife.  He adopted the Fluer-de-lys.

Louis VIII le Lion  He was also count of Artois, as he inherited it from his mother, Isabelle of Hainaut.  On 1 November 1223, he issued an ordinance that prohibited his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, thus reversing the policies set by his father Philip II Augustus. Twenty-six barons accepted, but Theobald IV the powerful Count of Champagne, did not, since he had an agreement with the Jews that guaranteed him extra income through taxation.  Theobald IV would become a major opposition force to Capetian dominance.  He died of Dysentery.

Louis IX (Saint Louis)  He was revered as a saint.  He is the only canonised king of France; consequently, there are many places named after him, most notably St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States.  His younger brother Charles I of Sicily (1227–85) was created count of Anjou, thus founding the second Angevin dynasty.  He died of Bubonic Plague, which is what we believe to be the Black Plague.  He had 11 children.

Philippe III le Hardi  He accompanied his father(Louis IX) on the 8 crusade in Tunisia, which is where his father died of Bubonic Plague.  He was not intended to rule, but his older brother died in 1260 and Philippe became crown prince.  He was then fifteen years old and was not as skilled as his brother, being shy and versatile, he was almost crushed by the strong personalities of his parents.

Philippe IV le Bel  As Duke of Aquitaine, the English king Edward I was a vassal to Philip, and had to pay him homage. Following the Fall of Acre in 1291 however, the former allies started to show dissent  Philip arrested Jews so he could seize their assets to accommodate the inflated costs of modern warfare.  He expelled the Jews from France in  He suffered a cerebral ictus during a hunt at Pont- Sainte-Maxence (Forest of Halatte) and died a few weeks later in Fontainebleau, where he was born. He is buried in the Basilica of St Denis.

Louis X le Hutin  Louis was king of Navarre for eleven years and king of France for less than two years.  Louis' short reign saw the freeing of the French serfs and the readmittance of French Jews to the kingdom.  Louis was known as "the Quarreler" as the result of the tensions throughout his reign.  He married Margaret of Burgundy who he did not like and he requested the marriage annulled. She died suspiciously, possibly murdered.  Constructed the first modern indoor tennis courts.  He died of either pneumonia or pleurisy although there was also a suspicion of poison.

Jean 1er le Posthume 1316  Lived only five days.  He was never crowned.  He was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.  The Regent was proclaimed King of France under the name of Philippe V.  The logical successor to the throne was Jean’s half-sister who was five years old, Jeanne, who was daughter of Louis le Hutin and of Marguerite of Burgundy.  Some people think that his uncle Philippe V had him poisoned. Then, a strange history occurred decades later came launch the rumor that the King Jean was not dead. During the captivity of John II ( ), a man by the name of giannino baglioni claimed to be Jean I and therefore the heir to the Crown. He tried to assert his rights, but was taken prisoner in Provence, this man died in captivity in 1363.

Philippe V le Long  Was the regent of France until Jean 1er died.  He was the king of France and Navarre and the count of Champagne.  Before his accession to the throne, he held the title of Count of Poitou.  There was a lot of people who think that Philippe was responsible for Jean’s death.

Charles IV le Bel  The last king in the dynasty.  He was not intended to rule because he was the third son of Philippe le Bel.  He had been anxious to enforce justice.  Was married three times.  He failed to have a son which is why the dynasty ended with him.

Important Events  William the Conqueror, who was the Duke of Normandy, conquered England in 1066 at the battle of Hastings.  The First Crusade was led in 1096 by Godfrey of Bouillon.  In 1099, the crusaders took Jerusalem and it fell into the hands of the Turks and formed the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  During the third crusade to regain Jerusalem, it fell into the hands of the sultan of Egypt Saladin.

About the time period  The Capetien Directs line was during France in the Middle ages.  The Middle Ages and Medieval are synonyms.  The name Middle Ages refers to the time between the Ancient great times and Modern great times.

The First Crusade 1096–1099  The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem.  It was launched by Pope Urban II.  The First Crusade was part of the Christian response to the Muslim conquests, and was followed by the Second Crusade to the Ninth Crusade, but the gains made lasted for less than 200 years.  It was also the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

War of Bouvines  Some question calling it a war.  It was between the English King John Lackland and the French King Philippe II Auguste.  Origins for the struggle between the French Capetian kings and the kings of England can be traced to William the Conqueror and his conquest of England in  The most significant origins of the 'War' of Bouvines can be traced to the ascension of Henri I King of England, who was William the Conqueror’s son.  The battle of Bouvines brought all of the French lords together.

Battle of Bouvines 27 July 1214  A conclusive medieval battle ending the twelve year old War of Bouvines that was important to the early development of both the French state by confirming the French crown's sovereignty over the Angevin lands of Brittany and Normandy.  The French won very decisively.  Bouvines is located between Lille and Tournai which belonged to the count of Flanders, a vassal of the king of France, in the 13th century.

Resources   touch.com/French_History/history_the_capetie ns_direct_ htm touch.com/French_History/history_the_capetie ns_direct_ htm   philippe-v-of-france philippe-v-of-france  htm htm  f=IE8Activity&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fil-info- france.com%2F7_fr-histoir_1.htm f=IE8Activity&a=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fil-info- france.com%2F7_fr-histoir_1.htm