Hugh Capet

A consecration at Noyon, on one of two possible days

On the chronology supported by Parisian and Sens sources, Archbishop Adalbero of Reims and other bishops consecrated and crowned Hugh Capet at Noyon on 3 July 987.

Two medieval source groups disagree. Richer and Gerbert support 1 June; the Parisian and Sens material supports 3 July. Jean-François Lemarignier judged the evidence on the two dates approximately equal and revived the possibility that Hugh underwent two ceremonies.

Modern scholarship accordingly gives 1 June, 3 July, or a coronation 'probably in July.'

Why Hugh and not Charles

Louis V had died childless in May, and the vacancy set the nearest Carolingian claim against the magnates' preference. Charles of Lower Lorraine, the dead king's paternal uncle, was passed over.

Richer's near-contemporary account portrays Adalbero arguing that kingship was not acquired by hereditary right, and recommending Hugh's character, nobility and military following.

The assembled magnates then acclaimed Hugh.

What the crown settled and what it left open

The ceremony converted the magnates' selection of Hugh, previously duke of the Franks, into a sacral kingship. The title he took was king of the Franks, not the later 'king of France.'

It did not eliminate Carolingian opposition. Charles remained a claimant, and Hugh's position was not definitively secured until Charles's defeat in 991.