Hugh Capet, King of the Franks

Hugh Capet (/ˈkæpeɪ/; French: Hugues Capet [yɡ kapɛ]; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, he was elected as the successor of the last Carolingian king, Louis V. Hugh was descended from Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy through his mother and paternal grandmother, respectively, and was also a nephew of Otto the Great.

The dynasty he founded ruled France for nearly three and a half centuries from 987 to 1328 in the senior line, and until 1848 via cadet branches (with an interruption from 1792 to 1814)