'Alix of France' (summer
1151 –
1197/
1198) was the second daughter born to
Louis VII of France by his first wife
Eleanor of Aquitaine. She was named after her aunt
Petronilla of Aquitaine, 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 were soon divorced, 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 was remarried to King
Henry II of England. King Louis also remarried twice.
Alix was an older paternal half-sister to
Marguerite of France,
Alys, Countess of the Vexin,
Philip II of France and
Agnes of France. She was also an older maternal half-sister to
William, Count of Poitiers,
Henry the Young King,
Matilda of England,
Richard I of England,
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany,
Leonora of Aquitaine ,
Joan Plantagenet and
John of England.
She married
Theobald V of Blois 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:
# Theobald (d.
1182)
#
Louis I of Blois, who died in
Constantinople in
1205
# Henri (d.
1182)
# Philippe (d.
1202)
# Marguerite of Blois (d. aft.
1230), who married (1)
Otto I, Count of Burgundy; (2)
Gauthier II, Seigneur of Avesnes. (see
Margaret of Blois)
# Isabelle of Chartres (
1180–
1247/
1248), married (1) Sulpice of Amboise; (2) Jean de Montmirail
# Alix of Blois, abbess of
Fontevrault
Sources
★ Meade, Marion. ''Eleanor of Aquitaine'', 1991
★ Wheeler, Bonnie. ''Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady'', 2002