Hugo Capet (Frans: Hugues Capet) (Parijs, ca. 940 - Les Juifs bij Chartres, 24 oktober 996) was koning van Frankrijk van 987 tot 996. Zijn bijnaam Capet betekent "een mantel dragend" en werd hem waarschijnlijk gegeven ter onderscheid van zijn vader Hugo de Grote.
Erfenis
Hugo de Grote was in zijn tijd de machtigste man van Frankrijk, zelfs machtiger dan de koning. Bij de dood van zijn vader erfde Hugo Capet de meeste van zijn bezittingen en titels: Hugo werd hertog van de Franken (Neustrië), graaf van Parijs, Orléans, Poitou, Tours, etc., en lekenabt van o.a. Saint-Martin te Tours, Saint-Germain te Auxerre, St. Aignan te Orléans, Saint-Quentin en Sint-Vaast. Zijn broer Otto werd bovendien hertog van Bourgondië. De paus noemde hem de glorierijke prins van de Franken. Omdat Hugo nog minderjarig was traden zijn moeder Hedwig van Saksen en zijn oom Bruno, aartsbisschop van Keulen, op als regent. Zij waren zuster en broer van keizer Otto I de Grote.
De machtige Franse edelen maakten gebruik van Hugo's minderjarigheid door hun positie ten koste van hem te versterken, bv: Willem III van Aquitanië die de Poitou tegen Hugo wist te behouden, Theobald I van Blois die Chartres en Châteaudun verwierf, en Fulco II van Anjou die de omgeving van Nantes in handen kreeg.
Hertog
Als hertog voerde Hugo een voorzichtig beleid waarbij hij twee doelen nastreefde:
het behoud van zijn eigen dominante positie binnen Frankrijk, waarbij hij gebruik maakte van de steun van de verwante Duitse keizers
het behoud van de onafhankelijkheid van Frankrijk ten opzichte van Duitsland.
Hierbij was Hugo een bondgenoot van aartsbisschop Adalbero van Reims, die bang was dat Frankrijk een vazalstaat van Duitsland zou worden.
Ca. 968 verbeterde Hugo zijn betrekkingen met Willem IV van Aquitanië door met diens zuster te trouwen. In 978 beschermde Hugo koning Lotharius van Frankrijk in Étampes en verdedigde Parijs tegen Otto II, nadat Lotharius een riskante plundertocht naar Aken had ondernomen. In 981 veroverde Hugo Montrieul, ook bezocht hij in dat jaar Otto II in Rome. In 986 klaagde Lotharius Adalbero aan wegens hoogverraad. Hugo bestormde de rechtszitting en de koning kwam daarbij om het leven. Dit bleef zonder gevolgen voor Hugo.
Koning
Na de onverwachte dood van Lotharius' zoon Lodewijk de Doeniet in 987, hij stierf kinderloos na een jachtongeval, werd Hugo op 3 juli 987 te Senlis tot koning gekozen. Adalbero steunde hem met de volgende argumentatie: Het koningschap krijgt men niet op grond van erfrecht; men moet slechts hem op de troon verheffen, die zich zowel door zijn lichamelijke welgeschapenheid als door zijn geestelijke wijsheid onderscheidt, die door het geloof gesterkt en door grootmoedigheid gesteund wordt.[1]. Hugo werd in Noyon of Reims gekroond en liet nog op 30 december 987 zijn zoon Robert II tot medekoning kronen, een poging om zijn opvolging te verzekeren.
Hoewel het eigenlijke grondbezit van Hugo veel kleiner was dan van zijn vader of van zijn belangrijke vazallen, had hij wel controle over Parijs, Orléans en een handvol kleinere steden, en over een aantal belangrijke abdijen en bisschopsbenoemingen in het noorden van Frankrijk. Zijn macht en rijkdom waren zo veel groter dan zijn grondbezit. Hij gebruikte de kerkelijke hervormingen, vooral de godsvredebeweging, om zijn gezag te vestigen en was goed bevriend met de abt van Cluny.
In 988 probeerde Karel van Neder-Lotharingen, een Karolinger en neef van Hugo, de troon te verwerven ten koste van Hugo. Karel veroverde Laon en liet zich tot koning kronen. Hugo belegerde de stad twee keer zonder resultaat. Hugo verbond zich met Odo I van Blois, in ruil voor het graafschap Dreux. In 991 kon Hugo Karel gevangennemen door verraad van de bisschop Arnulf van Laon (een neef van Karel maar benoemd door Hugo). Dit gaf overigens nog aanleiding tot heftige conflicten over diens positie, vooral binnen de kerk waarbij de bondgenoten van Hugo natuurlijk bisschop Arnulf steunen. Karel werd met zijn gezin gevangengezet in Orléans en zou daar overlijden.
Hugo verbond zich vervolgens met de graven van Normandië en Anjou, tegen Odo van Blois die Melun had geannexeerd. Melun werd heroverd maar Odo veroverde Nantes, dat weer werd terugveroverd. Toen Anjou weer teveel macht kreeg, viel dit bondgenootschap weer uiteen. De graaf van Barcelona (formeel deel van Frankrijk maar feitelijk al bijna 100 jaar onafhankelijk) deed een beroep op Hugo om steun tegen de Moren. Hugo wilde die verlenen in ruil voor erkenning als leenheer, maar uiteindelijk gebeurde er niets. In 993 werd een complot van Odo van Blois en de bisschop van Laon ontdekt, om Hugo te ontvoeren en over te dragen aan keizer Otto III. Dit bleef zonder gevolgen voor de betrokkenen. Na de dood van Odo in 996 weigerde Hugo een huwelijk van zijn zoon Robert met Odo's weduwe Bertha van Bourgondië. Hoewel Robert en Bertha oprecht van elkaar hielden (een bijzonderheid voor een koninklijk huwelijk in die tijd) en ondanks de grote voordelen (o.a. Bourgondië), gaf Hugo geen toestemming wegens bloedverwantschap. Hugo overleed aan de pokken en werd in Saint Denis begraven, voor het altaar van de heilige drie-eenheid naast zijn voorvader Odo I van Frankrijk. Robert verstootte prompt zijn vrouw en maakte Bertha zijn minnares en later ook zijn vrouw - en kreeg daarop grote problemen met de paus vanwege hun bloedverwantschap.
Hugh Capet[a] (c. 939 24 October 996), called in contemporary sources "Hugh the Great" (Latin: Hugo Magnus),[1] was the first "King of the Franks" of the eponymous Capetian dynasty from his election to succeed the Carolingian Louis V in 987 until his death.
Contents
Descent and inheritance
The son of Hugh the Great, Duke of France, and Hedwige of Saxony, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler, Hugh was born in 941.[2] His paternal family, the Robertians, were powerful landowners in the Île-de-France.[3] His grandfather had been King Robert I.[3] His grandmother Beatrice was a Carolingian, a daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois.[2] This makes him the fifth great-grandson of Charlemagne through Pepin of Italy.[4] King Odo was his grand-uncle and King Rudolph the son-in-law of his grandfather, King Robert I.[5] Hugh was born into a well-connected and powerful family with many ties to the reigning nobility of Europe.[b] But for all this, Hugh's father was never king. When Rudolph died in 936, Hugh the Great organised the return of Louis d'Outremer, son of Charles the Simple, from his exile at the court of Athelstan of England.[6] Hugh's motives are unknown, but it is presumed that he acted to forestall Rudolph's brother and successor as Duke of Burgundy, Hugh the Black, from taking the French throne, or to prevent it from falling into the grasping hands of Herbert II of Vermandois or Richard the Fearless, Duke of Normandy.[7]
In 956, Hugh inherited his father's estates and became one of the most powerful nobles in the much-reduced West Frankish kingdom.[8] However, as he was not yet an adult, his mother acted as his guardian.[9] Young Hugh's neighbours made the most of the opportunity. Theobald I of Blois, a former vassal of Hugh the Great, took the counties of Chartres and Châteaudun. Further south, on the border of the kingdom, Fulk II of Anjou, another former client of Hugh the Great, carved out a principality at Hugh's expense and that of the Bretons.[10]
A denier of Hugh Capet when he was Duke of France, calling him "duke by the grace of God" (Dux Dei Gratia). Minted at Paris (Parisi Civita)
The realm in which Hugh grew up, and of which he would one day be king, bore no resemblance to modern France. Hugh's predecessors did not call themselves rois de France ("Kings of France"), and that title was not used until the time of his distant descendant Philip II Augustus. Kings ruled as rex Francorum ("King of the Franks") and the lands over which they ruled comprised only a very small part of the former Carolingian Empire. The eastern Frankish lands, the Holy Roman Empire, were ruled by the Ottonian dynasty, represented by Hugh's first cousin Otto II and then by Otto's son, Otto III. The lands south of the river Loire had largely ceased to be part of the West Frankish kingdom in the years after Charles the Simple was deposed in 922. The Duchy of Normandy and the Duchy of Burgundy were largely independent, and Brittany entirely so, although from 956 Burgundy was ruled by Hugh's brothers Odo and Henry.[11]
Election and extent of power
From 977 to 986, Hugh Capet allied himself with the German emperors Otto II and Otto III and with Archbishop Adalberon of Reims to dominate the Carolingian king, Lothair. By 986, he was king in all but name. After Lothair's son Louis died in May 987, Adalberon and Gerbert of Aurillac convened an assembly of nobles to elect Hugh Capet as their king. In front of an electoral assembly at Senlis, Adalberon gave a stirring oration and pleaded to the nobles:
Crown the Duke. He is most illustrious by his exploits, his nobility, his forces. The throne is not acquired by hereditary right; no one should be raised to it unless distinguished not only for nobility of birth, but for the goodness of his soul.[12]
He was elected and crowned rex Francorum at Noyon in Picardy on 3 July 987, by the prelate of Reims, the first of the Capetian house. Immediately after his coronation, Hugh began to push for the coronation of his son Robert. Hugh's own claimed reason was that he was planning an expedition against the Moorish armies harassing Borrel II of Barcelona, an invasion which never occurred, and that the stability of the country necessitated two kings should he die while on expedition.[13] Ralph Glaber, however, attributes Hugh's request to his old age and inability to control the nobility.[14] Modern scholarship has largely imputed to Hugh the motive of establishing a dynasty against the pretension of electoral power on the part of the aristocracy, but this is not the typical view of contemporaries and even some modern scholars have been less sceptical of Hugh's "plan" to campaign in Spain.[14] Robert was eventually crowned on 25 December that same year.
Denier of Hugh Capet for Beauvais
Hugh Capet possessed minor properties near Chartres and Angers. Between Paris and Orléans he possessed towns and estates amounting to approximately 400 square miles (1,000 km2). His authority ended there, and if he dared travel outside his small area, he risked being captured and held for ransom, though his life would be largely safe.[citation needed] Indeed, there was a plot in 993, masterminded by Adalberon, Bishop of Laon and Odo I of Blois, to deliver Hugh Capet into the custody of Otto III. The plot failed, but the fact that no one was punished illustrates how tenuous his hold on power was. Beyond his power base, in the rest of France, there were still as many codes of law as there were fiefdoms. The "country" operated with 150 different forms of currency and at least a dozen languages.[citation needed] Uniting all this into one cohesive unit was a formidable task and a constant struggle between those who wore the crown of France and its feudal lords. Therefore, Hugh Capet's reign was marked by numerous power struggles with the vassals on the borders of the Seine and the Loire.
While Hugh Capet's military power was limited and he had to seek military aid from Richard I of Normandy, his unanimous election as king gave him great moral authority and influence. Adémar de Chabannes records, probably apocryphally, that during an argument with the Count of Auvergne, Hugh demanded of him: "Who made you count?" The count riposted: "Who made you king?".[15]
Dispute with the papacy
Hugh made Arnulf Archbishop of Reims in 988, even though Arnulf was the nephew of his bitter rival, Charles of Lorraine. Charles thereupon succeeded in capturing Reims and took the archbishop prisoner. Hugh, however, considered Arnulf a turncoat and demanded his deposition by Pope John XV. The turn of events outran the messages, when Hugh captured both Charles and Arnulf and convoked a synod at Reims in June 991 which obediently deposed Arnulf and chose as his successor Gerbert of Aurillac. These proceedings were repudiated by Rome, although a second synod had ratified the decrees issued at Reims. John XV summoned the French bishops to hold an independent synod outside the King's realm, at Aachen, to reconsider the case. When they refused, he called them to Rome, but they protested that the unsettled conditions en route and in Rome made that impossible. The Pope then sent a legate with instructions to call a council of French and German bishops at Mousson, where only the German bishops appeared, the French being stopped on the way by Hugh and Robert.
Through the exertions of the legate, the deposition of Arnulf was finally pronounced illegal. After Hugh's death, Arnulf was released from his imprisonment and soon restored to all his dignities.
Legacy
Hugh Capet died on 24 October 996 in Paris and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica. His son Robert continued to reign.
Most historians regard the beginnings of modern France with the coronation of Hugh Capet. This is because, as Count of Paris, he made the city his power centre. The monarch began a long process of exerting control of the rest of the country from there.
He is regarded as the founder of the Capetian dynasty. The direct Capetians, or the House of Capet, ruled France from 987 to 1328; thereafter, the Kingdom was ruled by cadet branches of the dynasty. All French kings through Louis Philippe, and all royals since then, have belonged to the dynasty. Furthermore, cadet branches of the House continue to reign in Spain and Luxembourg.
Hij is getrouwd met Adelheid van Aquitanië (ook: Poitiers).
Zij zijn getrouwd in het jaar 968, hij was toen 28 jaar oud.Bron 3
Kind(eren):
grootouders
ouders
broers/zussen
kinderen
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Capet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Capet
http://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-voorhaar/I5048.php en en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukes_of_Aquitaine_family_tree