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
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), was King of France from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married 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.

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 his wife 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 was annulled in 1152 after no male heir was produced. Immediately after their annulment, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine, which following Henry's ascension to the throne created an Angevin Empire. Later, Louis supported Henry's rebellious sons to foment further disunity in the Angevin realms. Louis went on to marry his second cousin, Constance of Castile, but still failed to produce a male heir. Constance died in childbirth with their second daughter. His third marriage to Adela of Champagne, five weeks after Constance's death, was finally able to give him a son, Philip. Louis died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II.