LUIGI IV, called the Fat, King of FRANCE. — Son of King Philip I of France, born in Paris probably in 1081, died on 10 Aug. 1137. According to the custom of the Capetians, he had been associated with the crown during his father’s lifetime, Philip I, around 1108. Nicknamed “the Fat” because of his obesity, he was also called “the Fighter” by feudal vassals, to whom he sought to impose respect for his authority as sovereign and lord.
The efforts of Louis VI, however, herald “the awakening of the kingdom” (Luchaire). He avails himself of the counsel of his friend Suger, abbot of St-Denis, frees himself from the tutelage of the great officers (seneschal, chancellor), stripping the ambitious of their functions. Louis VI disposed of a pacified and well-administered domain. The stewards of his lands recruited soldiers and administered justice. Louis VI punished the great lords given to brigandage, such as the lord of Coucy and the lord of Puiset, with the cooperation and aid of the peasants.
The king also secured the trust of the burghers of the towns within his domain and beyond, supporting, for example, the communal movement in Laon against Bishop Gaudry, and confirming charters of liberties, for example, in Beauvais (1115). The king could also count on the support of the clergy, whose reform he encouraged, and of the Pope, whom he backed in his struggle against the Empire. The prestige and authority of Louis VI were manifested in 1124, when all the barons rallied around him to resist the invasion of the kingdom by Emperor Henry V. BIBLICA.: A. Luchaire, Louis VI le Gros, Paris 1890; E. Lavisse, Hist. de France, II, 1, 1910, pp. 311-31; A. Longnon, La formation de l'unite française, 1912; H. Wauquet, La vie de Louis VI le Gros par Suger, 1912; C. Petit-Dutailis, La Monarchie féodale, 1913; id., Les Communes françaises, 1914; R. Fawtier, Les Capétiens et la France, 1914. Guglielmo Mollat