Louis VII of France (The Kalmar Union)

Louis VII was King of France during the late 1100s.

While his father lay dying, Wessex was honouring its agreements with Normandy, landing an army on the continent to help subdue Maine. The Wessexian forces were extremely badly behaved however, becoming a nuisance to all sides in the conflict. Already riled by the intervention in his Francia and pushed by his nobles to take a hard line, Louis demanded compensation from Edmund III threatening to void any Wessexian claims over its presumed inheritance of Normandy. To hammer this home he took the cross in 1172 and quickly received the backing of the Papacy. Humiliated, Edmund III was forced to pay homage to Louis but Louis did not over-play his hand. Normandy's seizure of Maine was also confirmed however he made it clear this.

Slowly it seemed, Northern Francia was falling back into line. Champagne to the east was still largely intransigent, as was Flanders which was now firmly part of the Anglian realm. However in many other parts French authority was higher than it had been for centuries. The Royal Domain which Louis directly controlled was also growing richer thanks to a growing trade and an expansion in agriculture

Louis VII died 'suddenly', as the chroniclers put it, in early 1181. Having outlived all of his own children the throne would pass to his younger brother Charles.