France, again, became a great nation because of the
greatness of its rulers. Hugh Capet, who became the French king in 987 A.D.,
was fortunate in his descendants. The Capetian dynasty was long lived, and
for more than three centuries son followed father on the throne without a break
in the succession. [20] During this time the French sovereigns worked steadily
to exalt the royal power and to unite the feudal states of medieval France into
a real nation under a common government. Their success in this task made them,
at the close of the Middle Ages, the strongest monarchs in Europe.
[20] From 987 A.D. to 1328 A.D. France had only fourteen
kings. The average length of their reigns was, therefore, something more than
twenty- four years.
FRANCE AND ITS FIEFS
Hugh Capet's duchy—the original France—included only a
small stretch of inland country centering about Paris on the Seine and
Orléans on the Loire. His election to the kingship did not increase his
power over the great lords who ruled in Normandy, Brittany, Aquitaine,
Burgundy, and other parts of the country. They did homage to the king for their
fiefs and performed the usual feudal services, but otherwise regarded
themselves as independent in their own territories.
