Hugh Capet Elected King of France, Founding the Capetian Dynasty

Following the death of the Carolingian king Louis V in a hunting accident on May 22, 987, an assembly of Frankish magnates convened at Senlis. Archbishop Adalbero of Reims argued that the crown was elective rather than hereditary, blocking the claim of Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine. The assembly elected Hugh Capet, Duke of the Franks, who was crowned at Noyon on July 3, 987. This ended Carolingian rule in West Francia and established the Capetian dynasty, whose direct male line ruled France until 1328, with cadet branches continuing until the 19th century.