In 987 a little-known count was elected as the new king of France following the death of the last Carolingian, Lewis the Child. He had lands centred upon Paris and its immediate surrounds but was scarcely credible as the ruler of the kingdom of the West Franks. All around him were feudatories – counts and dukes – of much greater standing and the royal demesne was largely under the control of hereditary castellans. Hugh Capet’s main achievements were to stay out of trouble, keep his head down, live long and leave a son. No-one could have predicted that a new dynasty had begun that would expand and rule this territory in an unbroken line until its last monarch, Charles IV died without a male heir in 1328.
It owed its success to a variety of things and this course will explore the various contributing factors which explain the miracle of Capetian France. The longevity of its rulers and their biological success brought increasing stability. A carefully constructed and managed propaganda disguised its early weakness and the support of the church was for some time the only really concrete advantage that it enjoyed. Slowly and painstakingly the royal demesne was expanded and an embryonic government focussed upon the exercise of justice to win it respectability. A capital city of great beauty and repute, famous for its intellectual schools and sustained by a loyal merchant class cocooned the royal family. Inward looking duchies and counties – Normandy. Aquitaine, Brittany, Flanders – were gradually forced to recognise the new authority of a God-given king. Even the kings of England who at one point held most of the lands in western France were brought into line, forced to accept that in this land they were vassals not rulers.
A series of powerful and astute individuals took the lead in raising the profile of the kingdom. Philip Augustus added vast territories to the demesne; Louis IX raised the kingdom by his piety and law giving; and Philip IV laid claim to a kind of imperial authority the marked the pinnacle of French royal power. Equally a series of wealthy and powerful women such as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Blanche of Castile, played their part in the story of France.
This course will explore both the structures and the personalities that formed the basis of the kingdom. It will examine the judicial and financial developments and the military successes that made it great. Nevertheless, the crisis of 1328 will need to be assessed for the spin doctors of the 12th and 13th centuries could not disguise the remaining weaknesses that threatened to undo the kingdom in the 14th century.
