John Capet I, King of France ¹

  General Notes:

John I (15 \endash 20 November 1316), called the Posthumous (French: Jean Ier le Posthume, Occitan: Joan Ièr lo Postume), was King of France and Navarre, as the posthumous son and successor of Louis X, for the five days he lived in 1316. He is the youngest person to be king of France, the only one to have borne that title from birth, and the only one to hold the title for his entire life. His reign is the shortest of any French king.[note 1] Although considered a king today, his status was not recognized until chroniclers and historians in later centuries began numbering John II, thereby acknowledging John I's brief reign.[1]

John reigned for five days under the regency of his uncle, Philip V of France, until his death on 20 November 1316. His death ended the three centuries of father-to-son succession to the French throne. The infant king was buried in the Basilica of Saint-Denis. He was succeeded by his uncle, Philip, whose contested legitimacy led to the re-affirmation of the Salic law, which excluded women from the line of succession to the French throne.