Louis VII of France
Louis VII (1120 - September 18, 1180) was King of France from 1137 to 1180.
A member of the Capetian Dynasty, Louis VII was born in 1120, the second son of Louis the Fat and Adélaide of Maurienne (c.1100-1154). Construction began on Notre-Dame de Paris in Paris during his reign.
In the same year he was crowned king of France, Louis VII was married on July 22, 1137 to Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122- March 31, 1204), heiress of William II, Duke of Aquitaine. Their marriage was annulled in 1152, but they had two daughters:
- Marie (1145 - March 11, 1198)
- Alix (1150 - 1197/1198)
In 1154 Louis VII married Constance of Castile (1140 - October 4,1160). Their children were:
- Marguerite
- Alys, Countess de Vexin
He was married again on November 13, 1160, to Adèle of Champagne (1140 - June 4, 1206). Their children were:
- Philippe II (August 21, 1165 - July 14, 1223)
- Agnès (c. 1171 - April 1240)
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As the younger of two sons, Louis had been raised to follow the ecclesial path. He became the heir to the throne of France after the accidental death of his brother, Philippe, in 1131. A devout man, Louis was better suited for life as a monk than that of a monarch.
In the first part of Louis VII’s reign he was vigorous and jealous of his prerogatives, but after his crusade his piety limited his ability to become an effective statesman. His accession was marked by no disturbances, save the uprisings of the burgesses of Orléans and of Poitiers, who wished to organize communes. But soon he came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II. The archbishopric of Bourges became vacant, and the king supported as candidate the chancellor Cadurc, against the pope's nominee Pierre de la Chatre, swearing upon relics that so long as he lived Pierre should never enter Bourges. This brought the interdict upon the king's lands.
Louis became involved in a war with Theobald II of Champagne, by permitting Rodolphe, Count of Vermandois and seneschal of France, to repudiate his wife, Theobald's niece, and to marry Petronille of Aquitaine, sister of the queen of France. Champagne also sided with the pope in the dispute over Bourges. The war lasted two years (1142-44) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry. More than a thousand people who had sought refuge in the church, died in the flames. Overcome with guilt, Louis declared on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges his intention of going on a crusade. Bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay (Easter 1146).
Meanwhile in 1144, Geoffrey the Handsome, count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy, threatening the royal domains. Louis VII by a clever manoeuvre threw his army on the Norman frontier and gained Gisors, one of the keys of Normandy.
In June 1147 Louis and his queen, Eleanor, set out from Metz, Lorraine, on the overland route to Syria. The expedition was disastrous, and Louis returned to France in 1149. The expedition came to a great cost to the royal treasury and military. It also precipitated a conflict with Eleanor, leading to the annullment of their marriage at the council of Beaugency (March 1152). The pretext of kinship was the basis for annullment. Its reasons had more to do with quarrels between Louis and Eleanor, her scandalous behavior during the Crusades, and the decreasing odds that their marriage would produce a male heir to the throne of France. Eleanor subsequently married Henry, Count of Anjou in the following May, which brought him the duchy of Aquitaine. Louis VII led an ineffective war against Henry for having married without the authorization of his suzerain; but in August 1154 gave up his rights over Aquitaine, and contented himself with an indemnity.
In 1154 Louis married Constance, daughter of Alfonso VII, king of Castile. As part of a peace process with Henry II of England, Louis imprudently pledged his daughter, Marguerite, in the treaty of Gisors (1158) to Henry, Henry's eldest son, promising as a dowry the Norman Vexin and Gisors.
Five weeks after the death of Constance, on the 4th of October 1160, Louis VII married Adele of Champagne. Henry II, to counterbalance the advantage this would give the king of France, had the marriage of their children celebrated at once. Louis VII understood the danger of the growing Angevin power, however, through indecision and lack of fiscal and military resources compared to Henry's, Louis failed to oppose Angevin hegemony effectively. One of the few military successes of Louis, in 1159, was his expedition in the south to aid Raymond V, Count of Toulouse who had been attacked by Henry II. At the same time the emperor Frederick I in the east was making good the imperial claims on Arles. When the schism broke out, Louis took the part of the pope, Alexander III, the enemy of Frederick, and after two comical failures of Frederick to meet Louis VII at Saint Jean de Losne (on the 29th of August and the 22nd of September 1162), Louis definitely gave himself up to the cause of Alexander, who lived at Sens from 1163 to 1165. Alexander gave the king, in return for his loyal support, the golden rose.
Louis VII received Thomas Becket and tried to reconcile him with King Henry II. He supported Henry's rebellious sons, but the rivalry between Henry's sons and Louis' own indecision contributed to the break up of the coalition (1173-1174). Finally in 1177 the pope intervened to bring the two kings to terms at Vitry.
His reign was a difficult and unfortunate one, from the point of view of royal territory and military power. Yet the royal authority made progress in the parts of France distant from the royal domains. More direct and more frequent connection was made with distant vassals, a result largely due to the alliance of the clergy with the crown. Louis thus reaped the reward for services rendered the church during the least successful portion of his reign. His greater accomplishments lie in the development of agriculture, population, commerce, the building of stone fortresses, as well as an intellectual renaissance. Considering the significant disparity of political leverage and financial resources between Louis and his Angevin rival, not to mention Henry's superior military skills, Louis should be credited with preserving the Capetian dynasty.
He was to be succeeded by his son by Adèle, Philip II Augustus and had him crowned at Reims in 1179. However, already stricken with paralysis, King Louis himself was not able to be present at the ceremony.
Louis VII died on September 18, 1180 at the Abbey at Saint-Pont, Allier and is interred in Saint Denis Basilica.
| Preceded by: Louis VI |
King of France | Succeeded by: Philip II |
| William X | Duke of Aquitaine with Eleanor |
Henry I and Eleanor |
| Raymond | Count of Poitiers with Eleanor |