On May 22nd, 987 dies Louis V. In June, the assembly of large of the kingdom joined together in Senlis elects Hugues Capet, in preference to Carolingien Charles, uncle de Louis V.
The election and the sacring
Duke of the Francs, Hugues is lord of a field located between Orleans and Paris, with a control on some counties of Oise and the right to name powerful bishops (Rheims, Sens, Laon, Orleans, Paris). He also has a network of abbeys, of which Saint-Denis, Fleury, Saint Martin's day de Tours. Its nickname would come precisely from the cover of abbot of Saint Martin's day de Tours.
Its election is explained at the same time by its ascent (his/her father, Hugues the Large one, is son of a king of the Francs, Robert, and nephew of another, Eudes), by its relative weakness, which makes of it a not very dangerous candidate and by the support of the Church (Adalbiron archbishop of Rheims, uncle of the bishop of Laon, Adalbéron, played a decisive part in the change of dynasty). The Church crowns Hugues Capet on on July 3rd, 987 with Noyon: on this occasion, it renews a ceremonial of the Carolingian time. The sacring confers to the king his legitimacy, and makes of it a character except for, thanks to oiling.
Towards the recognition of the royal prerogative
Hugues Capet is far from being richest of the princes of the kingdom and it can by no means claim to impose its influence on the south of the Loire. “Impotent to reign, the king lives without glory”, notes into 991, according to the chronicler Richer, its more dangerous adversary, the count Eudes of Blois.
The abolition of the royal election
Undoubtedly conscious of his weaknesses, Hugues, of alive sound, chooses to associate with his throne his son Robert the Piles, crowned in Orleans on on December 25th, 987. The sacring of the oldest son of living of his father circumvents the principle of the royal election and protects the family reigning from any surprise: all the sovereigns will use about it thus until 1179.
The widening of the zone of influence
King of Francs and duke of Aquitanian (the titulature indicates the importance of the personal relations which founds the power of the sovereign), Hugues Capet and its first successors (Robert Piles, Guillaume the Large one) seek to make recognize the royal prerogative out of the Paris-Orleans-Senlis field, by multiplying forwardings towards the south and the east: Burgundy, following the campaigns of 1002 and 1016, is entrusted to Henri, to son of Robert the Piles, and a ducal dynasty capétienne settles there until 1361.
Capétiens rest largely on the royal bishoprics, from Amiens to Auxerre, Rheims with Langres, which widen the zone of direct influence of the royal field. This support of the Church is fundamental at the beginning of the history capétienne. On the other hand, the Church has the assistance of the secular power to apply the principles of the Gregorian reform, in particular in the field of the raising the moral standard of the social uses. Thus the kings impose truces and peace of God, affirming at the same time only holders of the kingly powers, of the judicial power which enables them to defend their rights and their goods.
The king at the top of the feudal hierarchy
In this company where only the bonds of man with man count, the kings place themselves at the top of the hierarchy of the powers and exploit with their profit the feudal structure. Hugues refused, before his election, to lend homage for his strongholds; on the contrary, it makes compulsory the oath of fidelity to the crown: all Capétiens imitate it. In addition, rich person of the only incomes of their own field, they endeavor to rationalize management of it. The company knows with X E and XI E centuries, in an atmosphere of disorders and wars, one period of deep economic reorganizations, marked by a real demographic rise, technological advances as regards agriculture and a first urban development.