Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/762

 752 CAPETIANS CAPE TRAFALGAR a little head ; others that he had a big head ; others that he was " heady," or self-willed ; while others suppose that the name came from the capa, or hooded cope, which he was ac- customed to wear. The name Capet was officially assigned to Louis XVI. after the in- surrection of Aug. 10, 1792, in accordance with the law which ordered that all nobles should give up their feudal designation, and be known by the original name of their family. CAPETIANS, the third race of French kings, , beginning with Hugh Oapet (987). The origin of the Capets is usually traced back to Robert the Strong, a warrior of Saxon descent, who held in fief from Charles the Bald the county of Anjou and afterward the duchy of lle-de-France. He gained great popularity by his struggles against the Norman pirates who invaded France during the 9th century. Three of his descen- dants, Eudes, Robert, and Raoul, assumed the title of king in competition with the Carlovin- gian princes; but the crown was not firmly established in this family until the election of Hugh Capet. This appears to have been a kind of national protest on the part of the Gallo- French population against the descendants of Charlemagne, who then depended on German princes. The Capetians, several of whom were distinguished as able politicians or great war- riors, strengthened their position by close alli- ance with the clergy, and the assistance they received from the communes or municipal cities. They were 15 in number, and reigned from 987 to 1328, as follows: Hugh Capet, 987-'96; Robert II., the Pious, 996-1031; Henry I., 1031-'60; Philip I., 1060-1108; Louis VI., the Fat, 1108-'37; Louis VII., 1137-'80; Philip Augustus, 1180-1223; Louis VIII., 1223-'26; Louis IX., or Saint Louis, 1226-'70 ; Philip III., the Bold, 1270-'8o ; Philip IV., the Fair, 1285 -1314; Louis X., the Quarrelsome, 1314-'16; John I., 1316, a posthumous child, who died at the age of 8 days, and is therefore generally omitted from the list of French kings; Philip V., the Long, 1316-'22 ; Charles IV., the Fair, 1322-'28. From this main stock issued several collateral branches, the most important of which are the following : Robert, the grandson of Hugh Capet and brother of Henry I., in 1032 founded the first ducal house of Burgundy, which became extinct in 1361 ; Pierre, the eighth son of Louis VI., married Isabella de Courtenai, and had three descendants who reigned at Constan- tinople during the 13th century ; Charles, count of Anjou, the eighth brother of St. Louis, was the head of the first house of Anjou, which held the kingdom of Naples from 1266 to 1382. The sixth son of the holy king, Robert, count of Clermont, was the head of the house of Bourbon, which succeeded to the French throne in 1589 ; while his grandson, Charles, the brother of Philip the Fair, founded the house of Valois, which came into possession of the crown on the extinction of the direct Capetian line. CAPE TOWN, the capital of Cape Colony, S. Africa, situated at the bottom of Table bay, and at the foot of Table mountain, lat. 33 56' S., Ion. 18 28' E., about 32 m. N. of the Cape of Good Hope ; pop. in 1865, 28,457, of whom two thirds were whites. It is the seat of an Anglican bishop, who is the metropolitan of the Cape Town, from Table Bay. dioceses of S. Africa, and also of a Roman Catholic bishop. The town is well built and well laid out. There is a fortress near it of considerable strength. Table bay is capacious, but the anchorage is rendered uncertain by the heavy swell of the Atlantic. Cape Town is a station for astronomical observations, and Sir John Herschel passed two years at this place for the purpose of studying the heavens of the southern hemisphere. The chief public build- ings are the government house, the colonial office, the barracks, the exchange, the post office, the public library, three Anglican and four English dissenting churches, a Dutch Re- formed church capable of holding 2,000 per- sons, and a handsome Roman Catholic church. The streets are laid out at right angles. Most of the houses are built of brick, faced with stucco. There is a capacious public walk, be- tween the gardens of the government house and the botanical garden. CAPE TRAFALGAR. See TKAFALOAE.