Louis VI | |
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![]() Louis VI's seal | |
King of the Franks | |
Reign | 29 July 1108 – 1 August 1137 |
Coronation | 3 August 1108, Orléans |
Predecessor | Philip I |
Successor | Louis VII |
Co-king | Philip (1129–1131) |
Born | late 1081 Paris, France |
Died | 1 August 1137 (aged 55–56) Béthisy-Saint-Pierre, France |
Burial | Saint Denis Basilica, Paris, France |
Spouses | |
Issue | |
House | Capet |
Father | Philip I of France |
Mother | Bertha of Holland |
Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat[1] (French: le Gros) or the Fighter (French: le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137.[2] Like his father Philip I, Louis made a lasting contribution to centralizing the institutions of royal power.[3] He spent much of his twenty-nine-year reign fighting either the "robber barons" who plagued the Ile de France[4] or Henry I of England for his continental possession of Normandy. Nonetheless, Louis VI managed to reinforce his power considerably, often resorting to force to bring lawless knights to justice, and was the first member of the house of Capet to issue ordonnances applying to the whole of the kingdom of France.[5]
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 (hence the epithet "le Gros"). Details about his life and person are preserved in the Vita Ludovici Grossi Regis, a panegyric composed by his loyal advisor, Suger, abbot of Saint Denis.