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- BIOGRAPHY
Marie was born in 1145, the elder daughter of Louis VII, king of France, and his first wife Eleanor de Poitou, duchesse d'Aquitaine. Her younger sister was Alice de France. Her parents' marriage was annulled in 1152, and the custody of Marie and her sister Alice was awarded to their father. Their mother married King Henry II of England, and so left France. In 1160, when her father married Alix de Blois, he betrothed both Marie and Alice to Alix's brothers. After her betrothal, Marie was sent to the abbey of Avenay in Champagne for her education.
In 1164 Marie married her stepmother Alix's eldest brother Henri I, comte de Champagne. Their two sons and two daughters would all have progeny.
Marie was left as regent for Champagne when Henri left on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. While her husband was gone, Marie's father died and her half-brother Philippe became king. He confiscated the dower lands of his mother Alix (also Marie's sister-in-law) and then married Isabelle van Vlaanderen, comtesse d'Artois, who had been previously betrothed to Marie's eldest son Henri II. This prompted Marie to join a party of disgruntled nobles - including Queen Alix and the archbishop of Reims - in plotting against Philippe. Eventually, relations between Marie and her royal brother improved. Her husband returned from the Holy Land, but died almost immediately. Now a widow with four young children, Marie considered marrying Philippe, count of Flanders, but the engagement was broken off suddenly for unknown reasons.
After Henri's death in 1181, Marie acted as regent from 1181 to 1187, when her son Henri II came of age. However Henri II left on crusade, and so Marie once again served as regent in his absence from 1190 to Henri's death in 1197. She retired to the nunnery of Fontaines-les-Nones near Meaux, and died there on 11 March 1198.
Marie is remembered today mainly for her role in the heresy that was the target of the Albigensian Crusade. She was also a patron of writers, including Andreas Capellanus, who served in her court, and Chrétien de Troyes. She was literate in French and Latin and maintained her own library.
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