Louis VII of France

Louis VII
Effigy of Louis VII on his seal
King of the Franks (more...)
Reign	1 August 1137 – 18 September 1180
Coronation	25 October 1131, Reims 25 December 1137, Bourges
Predecessor	Louis VI
Successor	Philip II
Duke of Aquitaine (jure uxoris)
Reign	25 July 1137 – 21 March 1152
Predecessor	Eleanor
Successor	Eleanor
Serving with	Eleanor
Born	1120
Died	18 September 1180 (aged 59–60) Paris
Burial	Barbeau Abbey, then (1817) Saint-Denis Basilica
Spouses	Eleanor of Aquitaine ​ ​ (m. 1137; ann. 1152)​ Constance of Castile ​ ​ (m. 1154; died 1160)​ Adela of Champagne ​ (m. 1160)​
Issue Detail	Marie, Countess of Champagne Alix, Countess of Blois Margaret, Queen of England and Hungary Alys, Countess of Vexin Philip II, King of France Agnes, Byzantine Empress
House	Capet
Father	Louis VI of France
Mother	Adelaide of Maurienne

Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young (French: le Jeune) to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in western Europe. The marriage temporarily extended the Capetian lands to the Pyrenees.

Louis was the second son of Louis VI of France and Adelaide of Maurienne, and was initially prepared for a career in the Church. Following the death of his older brother, Philip, in 1131, Louis became heir apparent to the French throne and was crowned as his father's co-ruler. In 1137, he married Eleanor and shortly thereafter became sole king following his father's death. During his march, as part of the Second Crusade in 1147, Louis stayed at the court of King Géza II of Hungary on the way to Jerusalem. During his stay in the Holy Land, disagreements with Eleanor led to a deterioration in their marriage. She persuaded him to stay in Antioch but Louis instead wanted to fulfil his vows of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He was later involved in the failed siege of Damascus and eventually returned to France in 1149. Louis' reign saw the founding of the University of Paris. He and his counsellor, Abbot Suger, pushed for greater centralisation of the state and favoured the development of French Gothic architecture, notably the construction of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Louis' marriage to Eleanor was annulled in 1152 after the couple had produced two daughters, but no male heir. Immediately after their annulment, Eleanor married Henry, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine. Following Henry's accession as King Henry II of England, these territories formed the Angevin Empire. Later, Louis supported Henry and Eleanor's sons in their rebellion against their father to foment further disunity in the Angevin realms. His second marriage to Constance of Castile also produced two daughters, but his third wife, Adela of Champagne, gave birth to a son, Philip Augustus. Louis died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son, Philip II.