properties similar to the Cradferae. Other species of Capparis are similarly employed in various localities, and
in some cases the fruit is pickled.CAPET, the name of a family, to which, for nearly nine centuries, belonged the kings of France and many of the rulers of the most powerful fiefs in that country, and which mingled with several of the other royal races of Europe.
The first of the Capets known in history was Robert the Strong, a Saxon who received from Charles the Bald the county of Anjou, and, later, in 861, the duchy of the He de France, and who gained popularity by his repulse of the marauding Normans. The most distin guished of his successors were Eudes, Robert ; Rudolph, who succeeded to the dukedom of Burgundy in 888, 922, and 923 respectively, and Hugh the Great, count of Paris and Orleans, duke of France and Burgundy, who held vast domains from the Loire to the frontiers of Picardy. His son, Hugh Capet (987-996), being sup ported by the Normans and by his brother, the duke of Burgundy, was, in 987, elected king by acclamation, and crowned at Rheims, in place of the Carlovingians, who were hated for their German manners and their desire to reconstruct the empire. The Capets, on the contrary, for some time avoided all such pretensions, and carefully maintained friendship with the church and the nobles, among whom they claimed to be no more than primi inter pares, and over whom they scarcely attempted to exert the slightest authority. By following this policy, they firmly established themselves on the throne, the influence of which they greatly extended by marriages, treaties, and conquests, and which the family continued to hold, after the failure of the direct royal line, at the death of Charles IV. in 1322, by the accession of the indirect lines of Valois, which reigned from 1322 to 1589, and of Bourbon, the last monarchical dynasty of France (see France).
The royal house of Valois was founded by Philip VI., eon of Charles de Valois, second son of Philip III. (see Valois) ; and the house of Bourbon (whose family rume was Capet) was connected with the Capets by the marriage, in 1272, of Robert, the sixth son of Louis IX., to Beatrice, the sole heiress of Agnes of Bourbon and the duke of Burgundy (see Bourbon).
Scarcely second in importance to the royal house is the branch to which belonged the dukes of Burgundy. In the 10th century Burgundy fell into the hands of Hugh the Great, father of Hugh Capet, who gave it, in 956, to his son Otho, and in 965 to his son Henry. In 1032 the second son of Robert the Pious, and grandson of Hugh Capet, founded the first ducal house, which ruled till 13G1. For two years the duchy was in the hands of the Crown, but in 1363, the second ducal house, also Capetian, was founded by Philip the Bold, son of king John (see Burgundy). This branch of the Capets is also distin guished by its union with the royal house of Austria, through the marriage of Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold of Burgundy, to Maximilian, the archduke.
Of great importance also was the house of Anjou, which was founded by Charles, brother of Louis IX., Anjou having been ceded, with other provinces, by John of England to Philip Augustus, the grandfather of Charles. For an account of the counts and dukes of Anjou see Anjou. Members of this family sat upon the thrones of three kingdoms. The counts of Anjou were also kings of Naples from 1226 to 1382; in 1309 Charles Robert of Anjou was elected king of Hungary, his claim being based upon the marriage of his ancestor with the daughter of Stephen IV. of Hungary; and, in 1445, Margaret, daughter of Duke Rene", married Henry VI. of England.
A third branch formed the house of Artois, which was founded, in 1226, by Robert the Illustrious, grandson of Philip Augustus, who gained possession of Artois by his marriage with Isabella of Hainault. This house merged in that of Valois, in 1383, by the marriage of Margaet of Artois with Philip the Hardy.
The throne of Navarre was also filled by the Capets. In 1284 its heiress, Jane, became the wife of Philip the Fair of France, and the two kingdoms were united till Philip of Valois ascended the French throne, when its queen, Jane, daughter of Louis X., married (1328) into the house of Evreux (see Navarre).
In the 13th century the throne of Constantinople was occupied by a branch of the Capets, Pierre, eighth son of Louis VI., having obtained that dignity as brother-in- law of Baldwin count of Flanders (who was appointed emperor by the Crusaders in 1204) and of his successor Henry. Pierre was succeeded by his two sons, Robert and Baldwin de Courtenai, from the latter of whom Constan tinople was recovered by the Greeks in 1261.
The counts of Dreux, for two centuries and a half (1132-1377), and the counts of Evreux, from 1307 to 1425, also belonged to the family of the Capets, other members of which worthy of mention are the Dunois and the Longuevilles, illegitimate branches of the nouse of Valois, which produced many famous warriors and cour tiers.
CAPGRAVE, John (1393-1464), an English historian, was born at Lynn in Norfolk, 21st April 1393. At an early age he was sent to one of the English universities, most probably Cambridge, and at a later period of his life he was connected with both. In his twenty-fourth year ho entered the priesthood, and subsequently he prosecuted his studies in London, where he was residing at the time of the birth of King Henry VI. At Oxford he graduated D.D., taught theology publicly in the schools, and lectured oil the Old. and New Testaments. Having become an Augus- tinian friar he settled down in the house belonging to that order in his native town, where, to quote Leland s expres sion, he " stuck to his books like a limpet to its rock. 1 The friary at Lynn was then a flourishing establishment. It possessed a large and valuable library, and afforded a home to no fewer than thirty priests, besides subdeacons and novices to the number of sixteen. It is highly pro bable that Capgrave became prior of this house, and it is certain that he was chosen provincial of his order in England. Most of his life was spent in the retirement of the cloister at Lynn, but he occasionally visited other Augustinian friaries, and once, at least, went to Rome. He died at Lynn 12th August 1464. Capgrave was justly regarded as one of the most learned men of his age. His works are chiefly theological, consisting of commentaries, sermons, and biographies of saints. To the last class be longs the Nova Legenda Anylice, printed in London by Wynkyn de Worde in 1516. Of his historical works the most important is The Chronicle of England, published in 1858 under the editorial supervision of the Rev. F. C. Hingeston, and forming one of the series of Chronicles and Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland. This " Chronicle," written in English, extends to the year 1417, the accounts of the reigns of the later kings being very full and valu able, and containing many original notices. Mr Hingeston also edited in the same year and for the same series Cap- grave s Liber de Illustribus Henricis, in the original Latin, accompanying it with an English translation in a separate volume. This curious work contains lives of King Henry VI. and other men of eminence who bore the name of Henry. Many other works by Capgrave are pre served in MS., including & Life of St Katherine in quaint English verse ; but it is believed that his life of his patron and friend, Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, is irrecoverably lost.
