Louis VI of France

Louis VI
Louis VI's seal
King of the Franks (more...)
Reign	29 July 1108 – 1 August 1137
Coronation	3 August 1108, Orléans
Predecessor	Philip I
Successor	Louis VII
Co-king	Philip (1129–1131)
Born	late 1081 Paris, France
Died	1 August 1137 (aged 55–56) Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, France
Burial	Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France
Spouses	Lucienne of Rochefort Adélaide of Maurienne
Issue	Philip of France Louis VII of France Henry, Archbishop of Reims Robert I, Count of Dreux Constance, Countess of Toulouse Philip, Archdeacon of Paris Peter I, Lord of Courtenay
House	Capet
Father	Philip I of France
Mother	Bertha of Holland

Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat^[1] (French: le Gros) or the Fighter (French: le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137.^[2] Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member of the house of Capet to make a lasting contribution to centralizing the institutions of royal power.^[3] He spent almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris^[4] or the kings of England for their continental possession of Normandy. Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably and became one of the first strong kings of France since the death of Charlemagne in 814.

Louis was a warrior-king, but by his forties his weight had become so great that it was increasingly difficult for him to lead in the field (hence the epithet "le Gros"). Details about his life and person are preserved in the Vita Ludovici Grossi Regis, a panegyric composed by his loyal advisor, Suger, abbot of Saint Denis.