In 1328 the Capetians ran out of direct male heirs. Unlike some other nations, France adhered to the ancient code of the SalianFranks, known as Salic law, which forbade any succession to the throne by or through a female. Therefore the peers of the kingdom elected a new king, Philippe of Valois, a nephew of Philip the Fair, marking the beginning of the Valois Dynasty.
CAPET, the name of a family to which, for nearly nine centuries, the kings of France, and many of the rulers of the most powerful fiefs in that country, belonged, and which mingled with several of the other royal races of Europe.
When Robert died in 9 23, he was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Rudolph, duke of Burgundy, and not by his son Hugh, who is known in history as Hugh the Great, duke of France and Burgundy, and whose domain extended from the Loire to the frontiers of Picardy.
In the 10th century the duchy of Burgundy fell into the hands of Hugh the Great, father of Hugh Capet, on whose death in 956 it passed to his son Otto, and, in 965, to his son Henry.
From 978 to 986, Hugh Capet allied himself with the German emperors Otto II and Otto III and with archbishop Adalberon of Reims to dominate the weak Carolingian king, Lothair.
Hugh Capet died on October 24, 996 in Paris, and was interred in the Saint Denis Basilica.
Hugh Capet married Adelaide of Aquitaine (952-1004), daughter of Duke William III of Aquitaine.
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