Capetian France, 987-1328

509 Pages·2019·42.701 MB·English

by  Elizabeth M. Hallam, Charles West

CAPETIAN FRANCE 987–1328
Capetian France 987–1328 is an authoritative overview of the country’s develop-
ment across four centuries, with a focus on changes to the political, religious, social
and cultural climate during this period.
When Hugh Capet took the throne of France in 987, his powers were weak
and insignificant, but from an inauspicious beginning he founded a dynasty that
was to last over 300 years and that came to dominate western Europe. This care-
fully updated third edition draws extensively on new scholarship that has emerged
since the previous edition. It contains images, maps, family trees and a discussion of
key sources, allowing the reader to develop a strong contextual knowledge as well
as a greater connection with the material world of the period.
Maintaining a balance between a compelling narrative and an in-depth
examination of central themes of the age, Capetian France 987–1328 provides a
comprehensive account of this significant era within France’s history and is essen-
tial reading for all students of medieval France and Europe.
Elizabeth M. Hallam holds honorary academic appointments at the University of
East Anglia, UK, and the University of York, UK. Until 2016 she held the position
of Director of Information Services and Librarian at the House of Lords, and she
is now a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Research Fellow, currently working on the
architectural history of the Palace of Westminster.
Charles West has been teaching and researching at the University of Sheffield,
UK, since 2008, where he is a Reader in Medieval History. He has published widely
on medieval European history and sits on the editorial boards for Early Medieval
History and the History Workshop Journal.

CAPETIAN FRANCE
987–1328
Third Edition
Elizabeth M. Hallam and Charles West
Third edition published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Elizabeth M. Hallam and Charles West
The right of Elizabeth M. Hallam and Charles West to be identified as
authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
[First edition published by Pearson Education Limited 1980]
[Second edition published by Pearson Education Limited 2001]
[Second edition reprinted by Routledge 2013]
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hallam, Elizabeth M., author. | West, Charles, 1979- author.
Title: Capetian France, 987-1328 / Elizabeth M. Hallam and Charles West.
Description: Third edition. | London ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2019006786 (print) | LCCN 2019015929 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780429289828 (eBook) | ISBN 9781138887671 (hardback :
alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138887688 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: France—History—Capetians, 987-1328.
Classification: LCC DC82 (ebook) | LCC DC82 .H34 2019 (print) |
DDC 944/.021—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019006786
ISBN: 978-1-138-88767-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-88768-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-28982-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
CONTENTS
List of figures vii
List of maps viii
List of images ix
List of sources xii
Preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 French society in the tenth and eleventh centuries 1
Introduction 1
The French economy and society 6
The structure of power 14
Political developments of the tenth century 23
2 Politics and society: a regional view 33
Introduction 33
The principalities: north 36
The principalities: south 67
3 The early Capetians, 987–1108 80
Introduction 80
The kings and their reigns 83
The foundations of royal power 97
The kings and the church 121
4 The revival of royal power, 1108–1226 139
Introduction 139
The kings and their reigns 141
vi Contents
French society, 1108–1226 172
The growth in royal power, 1108–1226 192
The kings and the church 232
5 Louis IX: the consolidation of royal power, 1226–70 247
Introduction 247
The reign of Louis IX 255
French society in the thirteenth century 281
Louis IX and the church 292
The consolidation of royal power 302
6 The last Capetians, 1270–1328: the apogee of royal power 354
Introduction 354
The kings and their reigns 356
The French economy and society 372
The nature of royal power 384
The kings and the church 409
7 Epilogue 433
The succession and the Hundred Years War 433
Capetian kingship: some general perspectives 434
Art, culture and religious life in the French kingdom 438
Select bibliography 441
Index 464
FIGURES
2.1 Outline genealogy of the counts of Champagne 44
2.2 Outline genealogy of the Anglo-Norman royal house 59
4.1 Outline genealogy of the Capetian kings, 987–1226 142
5.1 Outline genealogy of the Capetian kings, 1226–1328 325
MAPS
1.1 Ecclesiastical provinces in medieval France 3
1.2 The Frankish expansion, 356–795 4
1.3 The Carolingian Empire 5
1.4 France in the mid-eleventh century 6
2.1 The duchy of Burgundy in the mid-eleventh century 37
2.2 The lands of Blois-Champagne in the later twelfth century 42
2.3 Normandy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries 52
2.4 The principalities of the south in the mid-eleventh century 67
2.5 The Toulouse principality in the eleventh century 76
3.1 The royal principality in the mid-eleventh century 99
3.2 Henry I’s secular domain 100
3.3 Henry I’s ecclesiastical domain 101
4.1 The lands of Henry II and Louis VII in the 1170s 156
4.2 The royal lands in 1223 170
4.3 Paris in the reign of Philip Augustus 176
5.1 The new town of Aigues-Mortes 269
5.2 Louis IX’s first crusade, 1249–50 270
5.3 France in 1259 277
6.1 France in 1328 355
IMAGES
1.1 Raid – probably apocryphal – by Viking marauders on the
abbey of Saint-Aubin, Angers 9
1.2 Viking longboats: the Norman invasion of England, 1066,
from the Bayeux Tapestry 10
1.3 A vassal swears an oath of homage to his lord, in this case a
representative of the French king 17
1.4 The St-Sever Beatus, map of western Europe’s known
world, c.1060 24
1.5 Page from the Histories of Richer of Reims 29
2.1 Count Henry the Liberal’s palace and chapel at Troyes,
engraved in 1837 49
2.2 Ruins of the Norman Romanesque abbey of Jumièges,
completed c.1067 57
2.3 Duke William in 1066 as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry,
embroidered probably in the 1070s 58
2.4 The great hall (échiquier) at Caen 61
2.5 High-status enamel tomb-effigy (gisant) of Geoffrey Plantagenet,
count of Anjou 66
2.6 Reliquary of Sainte-Foy at Conques 70
3.1 Signature of Queen Anne of Kiev in old Slavic letters on a
royal charter of 1063 91
3.2 Silver penny (denier) of Hugh Capet, minted at Beauvais jointly
with the bishop 103
3.3 From castellan threat to royal asset: the castle of Montlhéry,
rebuilt twelfth–thirteenth centuries 110