The Capetian Kings of France: Monarchy and Nation 987-1328

by Robert Fawtier

1983 ST. MARTINS PRESS SOFTCOVER

Genres: History, Medieval History, France

Paperback

First published May 30, 1942

About the author

Medievalist. Worked in both France and Britain. Specialised in the reign of Philip IV.

Member of the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres in the Institut de France.

Reviews

[Jan-Maat]

I read this, and made surprisingly legible pencil comments on some pages, as a student sometimes I come across samples of my grandfather's handwriting and recognise with a sigh, that my own still has some way to go before it becomes completely illegible. It was the one book on our reading lists that came with the warning that we shouldn't read it at all or only cautiously and with scepticism though plainly a warning in such circumstances is effectively an invitation, particularly when the university bookshop stocked it. The caution was advised because the work had been completed in 1941 and was regarded to be coloured by Fawtier's experience of and reaction to the fall of France and the occupation, you can defeat France on the battlefield, but France will only strike back all the harder in its textbooks.

That rather raises the question if we should hold the author's personal history and the outlook and concerns of their times in our minds when reading any history - or indeed any book. Anyhow caveat emptor (unless you've borrowed the book from a library).

Some of that bias is subtle. The book is overly focused on France. A strange comment given the title but there is no sense of the European context and particularly the Capetian family context ruling families were so interrelated that one might regard outbreaks of warfare as particularly savage squabbles over who granny loved best which drove the politics and provided the breakout opportunity seizing Normandy from King John of England that Philip Augustus succeeded in taking advantage of. The frontiers of 1940 France shape Fawtier's narrative, but we might feel that those are more accidental than inevitable and from the perspective of 987 those borders were an awful long way away from areas in which the King was actually obeyed . A childless marriage here, a premature death there. It all adds up. And the Capetians were above all a lucky dynasty.

Caveats aside what I liked was its style, Hallam's book Capetian France read too much like a text book for my taste (although its probably the more sensible choice, and certainly more up to date), which is similar to that of Bloch's Feudal Society - written with a reader in mind who isn't a student (at least not formally).

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 5 out of 5]

En strålande genomgång av Capet-dynastins monarker, och de gemensamma dragen i dessas förvaltningspolitik. Det tydligaste anslaget, är beskrivningen av hur kungarna använde sina institutioner på ett legitimt och legitimistiskt sätt, vilket gav dem kraft att bygga inom institutionerna för att öka sitt inflytande. Det andra anslaget är effekten av korstågen, både som smakförändrare och som medel för att knyta den fattigare delen av aristokratin till konungarna. Jag rekommenderar denna bok varmt, både för historienördar, statsvetare och fantasy-entusiaster.

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written (though translated from the french) introduction to the capetian kings of france. Appears on "Cantors 150" list of books about the middle ages. Interesting to see how the practice of diplomacy, not the use of force, was critical in establishing the territorial boundaries of the french nation. Maybe our own leaders could benefit from reading this book? Loses a couple of "stars" for being overly schematic in organization and deadly dull.

Has some nice pull out maps of france in the middle ages.

[Michael Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourteen Capetian kings produced the founders of or heirs to most of the duchies and counties of France, so this well-written but nontechnical work in fact covers a lot of territory. Royal and noble marriages being political events, a fair amount of meaty genealogy appears throughout (and with the advantage of context). A good introduction for anyone considering the serious study of medieval France.

[Allen Lyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

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