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"It is difficult to say how Louis VII of France and Eleanor I, Duchess of Aquitaine reacted to the birth of their son in 1150. On one hand, the need for a heir to the French Throne was then lessened significantly, and the birth of a son did prove the Pope was right in his aims to aid the royal couple. On the other, neither Louis VII nor Eleanor of Aquitaine found much fulfillment in the marriage they had made, and with only two children over 13 years of marriage was not a great track record. Whatever their immediate feelings, the King and Queen of France were forced to reconcile for their son, who was given the name Louis.

It seems the Duchess of Aquitaine did not immediately adjust to the situation, instead continuing to privately appeal to Pope Eugene, in one message begging him to:


Look to reason, and set this foul union correct.

Despite her pleas, the Pope was firm that, as he had told the Queen when she had pleaded in person, the marriage was true and could not be dissolved under any pretext. Thus, Eleanor took a drastic measure, and fled Paris for Poitiers in late 1152, sending word that, if she must be married to the King, she would not live with him."

"Having lost his wife, the King of France was faced with a troubling situation. Advise from his court was overwhelming, ranging from demanding his own divorce, to having the Queen Consort forcibly escorted back to Paris and having her humiliated publicly as punishment. Ignoring the harsher ideas, instead Louis VII of France executed an action very atypical of himself as a young man and simply rode, in an act of chivalric romance that apparently did exactly what he hoped it would. It was in April of 1153, the King and Queen of France road into Paris side by side, having unknowingly conceived for a third time.

It was not smooth sailing during the pregnancy, however. Louis VII of France, having been warned it was the meddling of Petronilla of Aquitaine that had turned his wife against him, had measures taken against the young woman, and in June of that year the sister to the Duchess of Aquitaine was removed from the court during a time when Eleanor was ill and, having divorced Count Raoul I of Vermadois, remarried to Henry I, Count of Champagne, who she had been acquainted with at court, but had never been linked with. Petronilla was thus removed from the Queen's side through much of her pregnancy, having been moved with her husband out of court for the time. Furious at the move, the Queen of France was only held back by her pregnancy, and instead choose to keep herself scarce of her husband where possible.

They were brought back together to publicly mourn the death of Pope Eugene, who was celebrated as the saviour of the royal house. With the growth of her son, Eleanor paid for elaborate mourning ceremonies to be done throughout her holdings, and participated in the ceremonies that overtook Paris throughout much of July. Thus, she found a truce with her husband, made better by her sister's apparent happiness with her new husband. The birth of a second daughter, Aliénor of France, did much to further heal the relationship between the royal couple further, although things remained shaky throughout the marriage of the two."

"The two were present in 1155 when Henry II, Duke of Normandy married Adela of Champagne. Many have speculated that if the divorce Eleanor had demanded in 1153 had gone through, the bride of the Duke of Normandy might not have been Alice but Eleanor, who was rumoured to have had an affair with the Duke's father, a tale probably untrue and certainly not regularly said at the time. Instead, many spoke of the Duke of Normandy's affection to his young bride and the reunion of the Queen of France and the Countess of Champagne. The fact the Countess of Champagne was pregnant with her first child by her second husband was a secondary moment of the celebrations, but one noted by the King and Queen, who invited the couple to stay in Paris for a time.

Louis VII would, later in the year, leave his wife with his sister-in-law to lead French troops with Henry II, Duke of Normandy into England, with the aim of placing the Duke of Normandy on the throne, as a vassal of Louis VII. It seems the two had formed an alliance against King Stephen of England, who seems to have lost much of his steam for England, and after only two months of sieges by the combined French/Norman armies, agreed that, after his death, he would be succeeded by Henry II, Duke of Normandy, and as an added bonus, his unmarried daughter Marie would be married to the Count of Blois."

"During his time warring in England, Louis VII left France in his wife's hands, in a scenario that she did quite well at. Arriving back in Paris in early 1156, the Queen of France was heaped with praise by her husband, who make grand declarations of his wife's success. In his rush of good will for his wife, it seems the two found themselves drawn to each other more than ever before, as the Duchess of Aquitaine found herself pregnant a fourth time.

Giving birth in January of 1157, the child that was brought was another daughter, named Constance of France. The birth of Princess Constance was quickly followed by a fifth pregnancy, which seemed to shock both the court and the royal couple. Every pregnancy thus far had been followed by a gap in between, with five years between the Princess Marie and Prince Louis, then three years between Prince Louis and Princess Aliénor, then a further three years between Princess Aliénor and Princess Constance. On top of the issues with timing, the birth of the Princess Constance had been a tough one and the royal couple had actually been warned shortly after her birth to allow some time for the Duchess of Aquitaine to recover. However, the advice seems to have come to late and instead, Eleanor chose to ignore the warnings and spend three months toward April of that year travelling through Aquitaine, before returning to Paris.

The stress of the Aquitaine tour seems to have been harmful to the Queen's health, as shortly after returning to Paris, Eleanor was forced into serious bedrest until October, when she went into an early labour and gave birth to twin sons, named Robert and Philippe. Unfortunately, Prince Robert would die within two weeks, and Prince Philippe would be dead by Christmas. Thus, the royal family was thrown into mourning that had not been common over the past several decades."

"The mood of the royal family was, however, picked up in preparation for the marriage of Marie of France to Conan IV, Duke of Brittany. A match made after Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou made moves to invade Brittany, the match ensured French support against such an invasion, should it occur. Whatever the reasons for the marriage, it was the cause for much excitement within the Parisian Court, and the 12 year old Princess Marie was loaded with gifts and advice in the weeks and months prior to her wedding.

Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, at 19, cut a dashing figure at the royal court when he arrived in May of 1158, still quite young looking but handsome and charismatic, charming the royal family quite easily. His bride, the Princess Marie, who regrettably has escaped most records as an individual, seems to have been happy with their marriage, as the two never had any recorded spates like the Princess' parents. The Duke and Duchess of Brittany seem to have had a standard medieval marriage; a marriage that was obviously not the centre of any scandals and thus unnecessary to record."

"The sixth pregnancy of the King and Queen of France occurred in 1159, two years after the unfortunate disaster that was the Princes Robert and Philippe. Queen Eleanor, having returned from yet another trip to Poitiers, seems to have cut her trip short upon finding herself pregnant again. Thus, comfortable in Paris, the 38 year old Queen Consort and Duchess entered into an easy labour in July of 1160, giving birth to a final Princess, named Agnes of France.

It might have not been her final pregnancy by the King, if not for her husband's death in 1161 due to the surprise death of Louis VII of France in February of that year. Seemingly quite healthy and physically strong, the King of France died en route to Champagne with his wife, to visit her sister, who was pregnant for the second time by her second husband. However, after rumours of Bandits was brought to the King, he made the unwise decision to move with a group of soldier ahead of the travelling party to deal with the menace, and in the fight ended up seriously injured.

Hurried back to Paris, King Louis VII of France received the best care his court could provide, but despite all the effort put in, the wound became infected. Eleanor of Aquitaine received criticism later by many for the fact she did not act as a nurse to her dying husband, but these people fail to recognise the work she was doing instead. For, on the 18th of February, 1161, when Louis VII died, his son easily slid into power, with his mother acting as Regent.

It seems, while her husband lay dying, Eleanor recognised the need for a stable transition between her husband and her son. However, she also recognised that, under these circumstances, her son might fall into the hands of one of the King's brothers. Despite her good relationships with both men, Eleanor sidestepped both, sliding into the head of government, using the precedent of her regency of 5 months during the preparation for and subsequent invasion of England, which showed a woman could act as Regent. And, with her son aged 11, it was obvious it would not be a long Regency. Thus, despite having the ability to have a more forceful go at this, the young King's Uncle's gracefully accepted the situation, and for that were rewarded with key positions by Eleanor I, Duchess of Aquitaine's side."

"The first action of the new government was to have the King be married to an appropriate bride. At age 11, it was hardly likely Louis VIII of France would immediately begin to produce heirs of his own, but, having herself been married off young, Eleanor knew the need for a stable royal image. Thus, in November of 1161, Margaret of Flanders was welcomed to the still mourning court, and preparations began for a wedding, which would act as the first step in the Queen Mother's plan to bring in Flanders as a vassal of France. Thus, the Regency began with a wedding, and hope for the future."
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