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The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328
Following the demise of the Carolingian dynasty in 987 the French lords chose Hugh Capet as their king. He was the founder of a dynasty that lasted until 1328. Although for much of this time, the French kings were weak, and the kingdom of France was much smaller than it later became, the Capetians nevertheless had considerable achievements and also produced outstanding rulers, including Philip Augustus and St Louis. This wide-ranging book throws fascinating light on the history of Medieval France and the development of European monarchy.
362 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Jim Bradbury
20 books9 followersJim Bradbury (born 27 February 1937) is a British historian specialising in the military history of the Middle Ages. Bradbury lectured in history at Brunel University.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bra...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Bra...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 12, 2022
A bit slow but extremely detailed.
I quite enjoyed this.
I quite enjoyed this.
October 21, 2014
The Capetians: Kings of France, 987-1328
Jim Bradbury
Read it in cheap laminated hard cover at 338 pages including Index and Bibliography.
Jim Bradbury's The Capetians is a critical history of the books namesake, The Capetians of France who ruled successfully or at least continued until the end of the line in 1328, eventually giving away to house Valoise when they failed to have/produce any more candidates to the throne. It's interesting and Jim does a swell job covering the major contributions, issues, and history of the family during each of their reigns. Jim provides a general look at each ruler split into chapter groups to cover early, middle, rise, and eventually fall and gets the job done satisfactorily enough.
The general regard of the early and middle Capetians was that they were meek and had cobbled power from the remnants of greater Kings; however, Jim makes a compelling argument that in the unfortunate situation they excelled and held onto power despite having little actual power from their home demesne and the rise of both the Conqueror and then the Plantagenets. Jim is a little bias towards Phillip and it emerges pretty apparently in those sections, but otherwise an interesting read. I didn’t learn all that much in regards to the primary players in Capetian history but there are some really interesting and useful analysis on the early Capetians which is a pretty barren subject in English due to a lack of translated works. The extensive bibliography helps though and should lead to more pieces of candy.
An interesting and well put together critical history of the Capetians.
Jim Bradbury
Read it in cheap laminated hard cover at 338 pages including Index and Bibliography.
Jim Bradbury's The Capetians is a critical history of the books namesake, The Capetians of France who ruled successfully or at least continued until the end of the line in 1328, eventually giving away to house Valoise when they failed to have/produce any more candidates to the throne. It's interesting and Jim does a swell job covering the major contributions, issues, and history of the family during each of their reigns. Jim provides a general look at each ruler split into chapter groups to cover early, middle, rise, and eventually fall and gets the job done satisfactorily enough.
The general regard of the early and middle Capetians was that they were meek and had cobbled power from the remnants of greater Kings; however, Jim makes a compelling argument that in the unfortunate situation they excelled and held onto power despite having little actual power from their home demesne and the rise of both the Conqueror and then the Plantagenets. Jim is a little bias towards Phillip and it emerges pretty apparently in those sections, but otherwise an interesting read. I didn’t learn all that much in regards to the primary players in Capetian history but there are some really interesting and useful analysis on the early Capetians which is a pretty barren subject in English due to a lack of translated works. The extensive bibliography helps though and should lead to more pieces of candy.
An interesting and well put together critical history of the Capetians.
August 13, 2025
Przebrnąłem tylko przez ok. 1/3, ale chyba nie ma powodu żeby czytać dalej. Kiepsko napisana, jeszcze gorzej przetłumaczona i fatalnie wydana. Literalnie jedyny plus jaki jestem w stanie znaleźć to śliczna okładka.
January 25, 2018
Szkoda, że autor nie napisał książki wnikliwszej. Ale jako "krótka historia" Kapetyngów jest niezła.
November 27, 2015
It was great to read about my Capetian ancestors including Saint-Louis himself. This book is decent in giving a brief synopsis of the lead-up to the Capetian dynasty and the Capetian kings themselves. But it just seemed like a brief synopsis. It could have flushed out more details on the individuals and events. I guess I was expecting something along the lines of Dan Jones's "The Plantagenets" in terms of details and being an introduction to the people and events rather than just seeming like a synopsis of them.
A few more map illustrations would have helped as well. I'm glad it gave illustrations of the Merovingians, Carolingians, and Capetians lineage. However, it did need to be filled in more. Sometimes children of kings were referred to but not on the lineage illustrations.
Also, some parts could have been written more clearly. One king (sorry that I can't remember which one off the top of my head) had two wives by the same name. The two wives died 10-years apart. When they are first mentioned, there is no clarification that they are two different individuals just noted when the person with that name died. One starts to think that the author just had a minor typo until a few page later when the story is told a bit better... that the first wife died the one year, the king remarries and the second wife dies 10 years later.
I did enjoy how each king was divided up into sections depending on his reign: dealings with the Plantagenets, the papacy, economics, etc. I felt that events with the Plantagenets could have used more details as it was critical to events in Western Europe and to France itself... and the events with the papacy could have used the same.
A few more map illustrations would have helped as well. I'm glad it gave illustrations of the Merovingians, Carolingians, and Capetians lineage. However, it did need to be filled in more. Sometimes children of kings were referred to but not on the lineage illustrations.
Also, some parts could have been written more clearly. One king (sorry that I can't remember which one off the top of my head) had two wives by the same name. The two wives died 10-years apart. When they are first mentioned, there is no clarification that they are two different individuals just noted when the person with that name died. One starts to think that the author just had a minor typo until a few page later when the story is told a bit better... that the first wife died the one year, the king remarries and the second wife dies 10 years later.
I did enjoy how each king was divided up into sections depending on his reign: dealings with the Plantagenets, the papacy, economics, etc. I felt that events with the Plantagenets could have used more details as it was critical to events in Western Europe and to France itself... and the events with the papacy could have used the same.
August 29, 2012
Interesting to see things from the French perspective for historical events which are familiar from an English one, in particular the Angevin period and Third Crusade. Enjoyed it - leads nicely into the 100 years war.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews