Louis VII (1120?–1180), king of France, was the second son of Louis VI and Adélaïde de Maurienne. In 1131, after the death of his older brother, Louis was crowned as king-designate. A few days after his marriage in 1137 to Eleanor, the 15-year-old heiress of the vast duchy of Aquitaine, he succeeded his father.
Although the successful leaders of Louis VI's government, Suger, Abbot of St. Denis, and Raoul of Vermandois, remained influential until their deaths in the early 1150s, the first 15 years of Louis VII's reign were not happy ones. The King embarked on various grandiose projects that ended in failure. Influenced by Eleanor, Louis supported the marriage of her sister to Raoul, though some questioned whether his previous marriage had been legally dissolved. Louis also tried to have his chancellor installed as archbishop of Bourges. These efforts led to conflict with the church and with Thibaut IV, Count of Blois (Thibaut II, as Count of Champagne), whose niece had been Raoul's wife. While invading Champagne in 1143, royal troops burned the church at Vitry, killing hundreds of people inside. This tragedy caused Louis great remorse.
He became the first European king to take the cross and departed on the Second Crusade in 1147. The expedition failed, but it made the King an international figure and led to a royal presence in southern France for the first time in 250 years. During the Crusade, Louis quarreled with Eleanor, who was rumored to have been unfaithful. In 1152 their marriage was annulled, and Louis lost all rights to Aquitaine. Eleanor then married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry and Eleanor now reigned over a vast territory, the French part of which alone dwarfed Louis' domain.
Later Reign
Besides losing Eleanor, Louis was deprived of several major advisers who had recently died. Hence, the years 1152–1154 marked a complete changeover in his government. He named a new seneschal and chancellor and developed new policies. For the rest of his reign, he carefully built up the royal domain, acquiring rights and revenues whenever possible and rarely giving any away. He established closer relations with the French church and the papacy. He gave hospitality to Pope Alexander III and Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, when they were in exile. The emergent bourgeoisie was cultivated through grants of town charters. Louis became closely allied with the counts of Flanders and with Henry I, Count of Champagne and brother of the Count of Blois. He married Henry's sister, Adèle, as his third wife, and Henry married one of Louis' daughters. In 1165, Adèle bore Louis a long-desired male heir.
Louis VII was much less successful in his relations with Henry II of England, who occupied the Vexin, a strategic region on the Norman border, in 1160. Nevertheless, he held his own against this powerful rival, exploiting his feudal suzerainty over Henry and profiting from the rebellions of Henry's sons. Late in his reign, he made peace with Henry and was honorably received when he made a pilgrimage to Becket's tomb in 1179. Late in 1179, Louis suffered a stroke and had his son, the future Philip II Augustus, crowned as king-designate. Thereafter, Louis withdrew from active rule. He died in Paris on Sept. 18, 1180 (Henneman, John B. "Louis VII (France) (1120?–1180)." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 31 Jan. 2012)