Coronation of the French monarch of the nobility acted as representatives of the ancient lay peerages. Spiritual peers were also represented if their see is vacant or they are unable to attend (such as the bishops of Langres, Noyon and Beauvais, who were enemies of Charles VII during the Hundred Years' War). Since 987, the kings of France were all crowned in Reims Cathedral, with the exception of Hugh Capet, Robert II, Louis VI, John I, Henry IV and Louis XVIII. In July 3, 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France in the cathedral of Noyon. This marks the end of the Carolingian dynasty.
Painting of the Six Kings Betsy Williams of the Metropolitan Museum of Art suggested that the six figures are depicted in supplication, presumably towards the caliph who would be seated in the hall. Other scholars, including Arabic epigraphist Max van Berchem and architectural historian K. A. C. Creswell, argued that the six rulers are a representation of the defeated enemies of Islam. Iranologist and archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld argued that the painting is an Umayyad copy or version of the Sassanian "Kings of the Earth" located at Kermanshah, as recorded by Yaqut al-Hamawi in his work "Mu'jam al-Buldan" ("Dictionary of Countries"). Art historian Oleg Grabar interpreted