Adèle of Champagne

Adèle of Champagne
Queen consort of France
Tenure	1164–1180
Coronation	1164
Spouse	Louis VII of France
Issue
Philip II of France Agnes, Byzantine empress
House	House of Capet
Father	Theobald II of Champagne
Mother	Matilda of Carinthia
Born	c. 1140
Died	4 June 1206 (aged 65–66)

Adèle of Champagne (c. 1140 – 4 June 1206), also known as Adelaide and Alix, was the third wife of Louis VII of France (they married in November 1160, only five weeks after his previous wife Constance of Castile had died at childbirth) and the mother of his only male heir, the future Philip II. She was also the daughter of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthia.

She was active in the political life of the kingdom, along with her brothers Henry I of Champagne, Theobald V of Blois, and Guillaume aux Blanches Mains, archbishop of Reims. Henry and Theobald were married to daughters of Louis VII and his first wife, Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. She and her brothers felt their position threatened when the heiress of Artois, Isabelle of Hainaut, married Adèle's son Philip. Adèle formed an alliance with Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy and Count Philip of Flanders, and even tried to interest Frederick Barbarossa. War broke out in 1181, and relations became so bad that Philippe attempted to divorce Isabelle in 1184.

Although her power decreased after the accession of Philip in 1180, she acted as regent of the kingdom in 1190 while Philip was away on the Third Crusade. She returned to the shadows when he returned in 1192 but participated in the founding of many abbeys.

She died on 4 June 1206, and was buried in the church of Pontigny Abbey near Auxerre.

She had two children with Louis VII of France:

• Dieudonné, the future Philip Augustus (born 21 August 1165), Louis VII's only male heir
• Agnes of France (1171 – after 1207)

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Adèle of Champagne

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External links

• Women's Biography: Alix/Adela of Champagne, queen of France

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