King Louis VI France

Male 1081 - 1137  (55 years)


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  • Name Louis VI France 
    Prefix King 
    Born 01 Dec 1081  Paris, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Died 01 Aug 1137  Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • Source:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VI_of_France

      He was the son of of Philip I and his first wife, Bertha of Holland. Louis married Lucienne de Rochefort, a French crown princess, in 1104, but repudiated her three years later. They had no children.

      Louis married Adelaide of Maurienne, daughter of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, and niece of Pope Callixtus II. They had eight children. Adelaide was one of the most politically active of all France's medieval queens. Her name appears on 45 royal charters from the reign of Louis VI. During her tenure as queen, royal charters were dated with both her regnal year and that of the king.

      Louis was the first member of the House of Capet to make a lasting contribution to the centralizing institutions of royal power. He spent almost all of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued Paris or the Norman 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 division of the Carolingian Empire in 843.

      When Louis ascended the throne the Kingdom of France was a collection of feudal principalities. Beyond the Isle de France the French Kings had little authority over the great Dukes and Counts of the realm but slowly Louis began to change this and assert Capetian rights. This process would take two centuries to complete but began in the reign of Louis VI.

      The second great challenge facing Louis was to counter the rising power of the Anglo-Normans under their capable new King, Henry I of England. Louis was involved with a coalition of Norman and French seigneurs opposed to Henry. The plan was to drive the English King from Normandy and replace him.

      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.

      As Louis VI approached his end there seemed reasons for optimism. He made great strides in exercising his royal authority over his barons. William X, Duke of Aquitaine, on his deathbed, had appointed Louis VI guardian of his fifteen-year-old daughter and heiress, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Eleanor was suddenly the most eligible heiress in Europe and Louis wasted no time in marrying her to his own heir, the future Louis VII. At a stroke Louis had added one of the most powerful Duchies in France to the Capetian domains.

      Henry I of England was dead and Stephen of Blois had seized the English Crown, reneging on the oath he had sworn to support Empress Matilda. So England was in turmoil. That was not to last as Matilda married Geoffrey of Anjoy [ Plantagenet] and fought to regain the throne for her son, Henry II. Henry II married Eleanor of Aquitaine and added to the hostilities between France and England for Louis descendants.

      Source:

      GenealogieOnline. Coret Genealogie. http://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/

      Name: Louis VI France
      Gender: m (Male)
      Birth Date: 1 dec 1081
      Birth Place: Paris, France
      Death Date: 1 aug 1137
      Death Place: Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, France
      Death Age: 55
      Father: Philip I France
      Mother: Bertha Holland
      Spouse: Adelaide Maurienne
      Children: Louis VII France
      Robert I Dreux
      Peter Courtenay
      Constance France

    Person ID I35217  Master File
    Last Modified 9 Sep 2016 

    Father Philip I of the Franks, the Amorous,   b. 23 May 1052, Champagne-et-Fontaine, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 29 Jul 1108, Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 56 years) 
    Mother Bertha of Holland,   b. ABT. 1055, Vlaardingen, Netherlands Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jul 1093, Montreuil, Pas-de-Calais, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 38 years) 
    Family ID F14537  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Adelaide of Maurienne, de Savoy,   b. 1092, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Nov 1154, Abbey of Montmartre, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 62 years) 
    Children 
     1. King Louis VII of France,   b. 1120, Paris, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 18 Sep 1180, Saint-Pont, Auvergne, France Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 60 years)
     2. Pierre/Peter of France, de Courtenay,   b. Sep 1126, Reims, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Apr 1183, Acre, Holy Land Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 56 years)
    Last Modified 9 Sep 2016 
    Family ID F14536  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart