Alix of France was the second daughter born to King Louis VII of France

Louis VII of France

Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...

 and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...

.

Childhood

The daughter of the King of France and the Duchess of Aquitaine, Alix was named after her aunt Petronilla of Aquitaine

Petronilla of Aquitaine

Petronilla of Aquitaine was the daughter of William X of Aquitaine and Aenor of Châtellerault. She was the sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was Queen consort of England...

, who was also called "Alix". The birth of a second daughter to Eleanor and Louis instead of a badly needed son was one of the final nails in the coffin of their marriage. Her parents' marriage was annulled in 1152, although the princesses were declared legitimate, and the custody of young Alix and her sister Marie was awarded to their father. Their mother Eleanor left the French court and married Henry II, Duke of Normandy

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

, who later became King of England. King Louis VII remarried twice.

Countess of Blois

Alix married Theobald V, Count of Blois

Theobald V, Count of Blois

Theobald V of Blois , also known as Theobald the Good , was Count of Blois from 1151 to 1191. He was son of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthia...

, in 1164. Her sister Marie married Theobald's brother Henry. Alix served as regent when her husband left for the East, and since their son was underage, she continued as regent for several years after Theobald's death in 1191. Alix and Theobald had seven children:

1. Theobald (d. 1182)
2. Louis I, Count of Blois
   Louis I, Count of Blois
   Louis I of Blois was count of Blois from 1191 to 1205. He was the son of Theobald V and Alix of France. His maternal grandparents were Louis VII of France and his first wife Eleanor of Aquitaine....
   
   , who died in Constantinople
   Constantinople
   Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
   
    in 1205
3. Henry (d. 1182)
4. Philip (d. 1202)
5. Margaret, Countess of Blois
   Margaret, Countess of Blois
   Margaret of Blois was countess of Blois from 1218 to 1230.She was daughter of Theobald V of Blois and Alix of France...
   
    (d. aft. 1230), who married (1) Otto I, Count of Burgundy
   Otto I, Count of Burgundy
   Otto I was Count of Burgundy from 1190 to his death and briefly Count of Luxembourg from 1196 to 1197...
   
   ; (2) Gauthier II, Seigneur of Avesnes
6. Isabella (1180–1247/1248), married (1) Sulpice of Amboise; (2) Jean de Montmirail
7. Alix, Abbess of Fontevrault

Ancestry

Sources

• Meade, Marion. Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1991
• Wheeler, Bonnie, and Parsons, John Carmi, eds. Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady, 2002