!Louis VII, The Young, was the sixth generation Capetian King. Married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1137 and the marriage was disolved in 1152 after no children were conceived. She married a few months later to Henry who became the King of England in 1154 as Henry II (reigned 1154 to 1189). Louis VII married three times having a male heir in his third marriage.
Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. Louis VII, King of France (Louis the Young)
Louis VII, b. 1121, d. Sept. 18, 1180, the second son of Louis VI of France, became heir to the throne on the death (1131) of his elder brother. He succeeded his father in 1137, a few days after marrying ELEANOR OF AQUITAINE. Louis inherited not only a prosperous, well-pacified royal domain, but also two experienced counselors, Raoul of Vermandois and SUGER. His youth and inexperience led Louis into over-ambitious projects during the first 15 years of his reign. One of these was the Second CRUSADE (1147-49), which was a military disaster, although it enhanced the visibility, and hence the prestige, of the French crown.
In 1152, Louis had his marriage to Eleanor annulled, and she promptly married Henry, count of Anjou and duke of Normandy, who became HENRY II of England in 1154. The addition of Aquitaine to Henry's other possessions made him much more powerful than Louis, and he was a frequently hostile neighbor. With Suger and Raoul both dead by the end of 1152, Louis had to reconstruct his government around new advisors. He established close ties with the counts of Flanders and Champagne, collaborated with the church, encouraged the growing towns, and carefully managed the resources of the royal domain. To check Henry II and the Holy Roman emperor FREDERICK I, he reestablished strong royal influence in Burgundy and Languedoc. He also supported the intrigues of Henry's rebellious sons. In 1165, Louis's third wife, Adele of Champagne, gave birth to a long-desired male heir, who was to succeed to the throne as PHILIP II. Louis barely managed to hold his own against his rival, Henry II, with his vast holdings. He left to his son, Philip, however, a stronger and better-respected French monarchy than he had inherited.
John B. Henneman
Bibliography: Dunbabin, Jean, France in the Making, 843 to 1188 (1985); Fawtier, Robert, The Capetian Kings of France, trans. by Lionel Butler and R. J. Adam (1960); Petit-Dutaillis, Charles E., The Feudal Monarchy in France and England from the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century, trans. by E. D. Hunt (1936).
More About Louis Vii and Eleanore Aquitaine: Marriage: 1137, Marne, France.317
More About Louis Vii and Adele: Marriage: Abt. 1164, France.317
Louis Vii (b. Abt. 1121, d. September 17, 1180)
Notes for Louis Vii: