The Capetiens
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The Capetiens *
The painting depicts the baptism of Clovis, the first king of the Franks. © Gallica, BNF
About the dynastyThe Merovingians extend from a semi-legendary figure called Merovech (Mérovée). He was a chief of the Salian Franks, who were most likely allies or mercenaries of the Roman Empire which dominated the continent at the time. Childeric, said to be either Merovech’s son or grandson, was a Rex (king) under Roman law, and ruled over northern Gaul (Central and Northern France). Childeric’s son, Clovis, would become the famous first king of the Franks, transforming Gaul into a kingdom by converting to Christianity.
History with Myra
The Capetians
Three and a half centuries of one father-to-son line — with the two younger branches that would each become a royal dynasty of their own. Tap any name.
Dates on each card are reign years. The numbered badges give the order in which each man ruled France. Sons are set out left to right by seniority, so the elder always sits to the left; princes who never reigned carry no number.
♛ a celebrated queen⚭ principal consorttap a name for her story
The end of the line. Philip IV's three sons each took the throne in turn — Louis X, then Philip V, then Charles IV — and each died without a surviving son. Louis X's own heir, John I, was born five months after his father's death and lived five days. When Charles IV died in 1328 the direct line was finished, and the crown passed sideways to the Valois branch on the right.