Hugh Capet called in contemporary sources "Hugh the Great" , was the first King of France of the eponymous Capetian dynasty

Capetian dynasty

The Capetian dynasty , also known as the House of France, is the largest and oldest European royal house, consisting of the descendants of King Hugh Capet of France in the male line. Hugh Capet himself was a cognatic descendant of the Carolingians and the Merovingians, earlier rulers of France...

 from his election to succeed the Carolingian

Carolingian

The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...

 Louis V

Louis V of France

Louis V , called the Indolent or the Sluggard , was the King of Western Francia from 986 until his early death...

 in 987 until his death.
The son of Hugh the Great

Hugh the Great

Hugh the Great or Hugues le Grand was duke of the Franks and count of Paris, son of King Robert I of France and nephew of King Odo. He was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France. His eldest son was Hugh Capet who became King of France in 987...

, Duke of France

Duke of France

Duke of France equivalent to the title dux Franciae, is a title of nobility that refers to the rulers of the Île de France, informally Francia...

, and Hedwige of Saxony

Hedwige of Saxony

Hedwige of Saxony was a daughter of Henry I the Fowler, and his wife Matilda of Ringelheim.She was a sister of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor; Henry I, Duke of Bavaria; Gerberga of Saxony; and Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne....

, daughter of the German king Henry the Fowler, Hugh was born in 939. His paternal family, the Robertians, were powerful landowners in the Île-de-France

Île-de-France (province)

The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...

. His grandfather had been King Robert I

Robert I of France

Robert I , King of Western Francia , was the younger son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, and the brother of Odo, who became king of the Western Franks in 888. West Francia evolved over time into France; under Odo, the capital was fixed on Paris, a large step in that direction...

 and his grandmother Beatrice

Béatrice of Vermandois

Béatrice of Vermandois was the wife of Robert I, King of France . She is sometimes stated to be the sister of Herbert II, Count of Vermandois. No contemporary source explicitly states that Heribert II and Beatrix were the children of Herbert I, and researchers are divided on the probablity of this...

 was a Carolingian, a daughter of Herbert I of Vermandois.