​​ Following the death of his father, Louis VI of France, on 1 August 1137, his son Louis VII was crowned King of France on Christmas Day of the same year, in the Cathedral of Bourges.1 Though he had previously been crowned 25 October 1131 at Reims Cathedral, as co-king (junior king alongside his father),2 at Bourges he was crowned as the sole king. His coronation marked the continuation of the Capetian dynasty, and his reign would be defined by both religious devotion and political struggle.

Shortly before his coronation, Louis married Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the most powerful heiresses in Europe. Through this marriage, the vast and wealthy Duchy of Aquitaine was added to the French crown’s influence, though it remained under Eleanor’s control.3 The union, however, was troubled from the start. The couple’s temperaments and ambitions often clashed, and despite their shared participation in the Second Crusade (1147–1149), the hardships of that campaign only deepened the rift between them.

Upon their return to France, the marriage deteriorated beyond repair, and in 1152, it was formally annulled on the grounds of consanguinity (being too closely related).4 Barely eight weeks later, Eleanor remarried, this time to Henry, Duke of Normandy, who would soon become Henry II, King of England.5 This new alliance drastically shifted the balance of power in Western Europe, as Henry’s dominion now included much of France’s western territory.

During his later reign, Louis VII maintained a strong relationship with the Church and became an ardent supporter of Thomas à Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, during Becket’s conflict with Henry II.6 Louis also provided refuge and encouragement to Henry’s rebellious sons in their struggles against their father, reflecting both his enduring rivalry with the English king and his skillful use of diplomacy in the ongoing contest between Capetian France and Plantagenet England.

• 1.
  
  Turner, Ralph V Eleanor Of Aquitaine: Queen Of France, Queen Of England New Haven and London Yale University Press 2011.

  p53.

• 2.
  
  Firnhaber-Baker, Justine House Of Lilies London Allen Lane 2024.

  83.

• 3.
  
  Turner, Ralph V Eleanor Of Aquitaine: Queen Of France, Queen Of England New Haven and London Yale University Press 2011.

  pp57-62.

• 4.
  
  Firnhaber-Baker, Justine House Of Lilies London Allen Lane 2024.

  p102.

• 5.
  
  Poole, Austin Lane From Domesday Book To Magna Carta The Oxford History Of England The Oxford History Of England Oxford Clarendon Press 1985.

  p163.

• 6.
  
  Poole, Austin Lane From Domesday Book To Magna Carta The Oxford History Of England The Oxford History Of England Oxford Clarendon Press 1985.

  p209-210.