The House of Capet (French: Maison capétienne) ruled the Kingdom of France from 987 to 1328. It was the most senior line of the Capetian dynasty – itself a derivative dynasty from the Robertians and the Karlings.

The direct line of the House of Capet came to an end in 1328, when the three sons of Philip IV (reigned 1285–1314) all failed to produce surviving male heirs to the French throne. With the death of Charles IV (reigned 1322–1328), the throne passed to the House of Valois, descended from a younger brother of Philip IV.

Royal power would pass on, in 1589, to another Capetian branch, the House of Bourbon, descended from the youngest son of Louis IX (reigned 1226–1270). From 1830 on it would go to a Bourbon cadet branch, the House of Orléans, always remaining in the hands of agnatic descendants of Hugh Capet, himself a descendant of Charlemagne, except for the reigns of Napoleon and Napoleon III.

The House of Capet (French: Maison capétienne) were also called the Direct Capetians (Capétiens directs), the House of France (la maison de France), or simply the Capets. Historians in the 19th century came to apply the name "Capetian" to both the ruling house of France and to the wider-spread male-line descendants of Hugh Capet (c. 941 – 996). Contemporaries did not use the name "Capetian" (see House of France). The Capets were sometimes called "the Third Race of Kings" (following the Merovingians and the Carolingians). The name "Capet" derives from the nickname (of uncertain meaning) given to Hugh, the first Capetian king.

The first Capetian monarch was Hugh Capet (c. 941–996), a Frankish nobleman from the Île-de-France, who, following the death of Louis V (c. 967–987) – the last Carolingian king – secured the throne of France by election. Hugh was a descendant of Charlemagne, through his son Pepin of Italy, and through them claimed descent from Constantine the Great. He then proceeded to make it hereditary in his family, by securing the election and coronation of his son, Robert II (972–1031), as co-king. The throne thus passed securely to Robert on his father's death, who followed the same custom – as did many of his early successors.

The Capetian kings were initially weak rulers of the kingdom – they directly ruled only small holdings in the Île-de-France and the Orléanais, all of which were plagued with disorder; the rest of France was controlled by potentates such as the duke of Normandy, the count of Blois, the duke of Burgundy (himself a Capetian after 1032) and the duke of Aquitaine (all of whom faced to a greater or lesser extent the same problems of controlling their subordinates). The House of Capet was, however, fortunate enough to have the support of the Church, and – with the exception of Philip I, Louis IX and the short-lived John I – were able to avoid the problems of underaged kingship.

Briefly, under Louis VII (1120–1180), the House of Capet rose in their power in France. Louis married Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122–1204) and so became duke – an advantage which had been eagerly grasped by his father, Louis VI (1081–1137), when Eleanor's father, William X, had asked of the king in his will to secure a good marriage for the young duchess. However, the marriage – and thus one avenue of Capetian aggrandisement – failed. The couple produced only two daughters, and suffered marital discord. Driven to secure the future of the house, Louis divorced Eleanor, who went on to marry Henry II of England (1133–1189). Louis married twice more before finally having a son, Philip II (1165–1223). Philip II started to break the power of the Plantagenets – the family of Eleanor and Henry II – in France.

Louis VIII (1187–1226) – the eldest son and heir of Philip Augustus – married Blanche of Castile (1188–1252), a granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II of England. In her name, he claimed the crown of England, invading at the invitation of the English barons, and briefly being acclaimed – though, it would later be stressed, not crowned – as king of England. However, the Capetians failed to establish themselves in England – Louis was forced to sign the Treaty of Lambeth, which legally decreed that he had never been king of England, and the prince reluctantly returned to his wife and father in France. More importantly for his dynasty, he would during his brief reign (1223–1226) conquer Poitou, and some of the lands of the Pays d'Oc, declared forfeit from their former owners by the pope as part of the Albigensian Crusade. These lands were added to the French crown, further empowering the Capetian family.