Rethinking the aristocracy in Capetian France, 987–1328

Abstract This introduction explains the context for the following set of six articles. It first considers the meaning and use of the terms ‘France’, ‘Capetian’ and ‘aristocracy’ for historians of the Capetian period of French history (987–1328). It then outlines the historiography of the aristocracy of France in the central Middle Ages. In the second half of the twentieth century, much of the historiography in France concentrated upon holistic studies of regional societies rather than more specific studies of the aristocracy. In recent decades, however, there has been a revival of studies of landowning élites in France, and important work on this topic has long been carried out in other countries as well. The introduction concludes with an overview of the six articles in this collection.