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Louis VIII (September 5, 1187 – November 8, 1226), nicknamed The Lion was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As prince, he invaded England on May 21, 1216 and was excommunicated by a papal legate on May 29, 1216.

Born September 5, 1187, Louis was the son of King Philippe II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut. His mother died in 1190, but Louis was not formally invested as Count of Artois. Instead his father allowed him a nominal control over the county to learn about governance. In summer 1195, a marriage between Louis and Eleanor of Brittany, niece of King Richard I of England, was suggested for an alliance between Philippe II and Richard, but it failed.

On 23 May 1200, Louis was married to Infanta Blanche of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, sister to Kings Richard and John of England and the daughter of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The marriage could only be concluded after prolonged negotiations between King Philippe II and Blanche’s uncle John, King of England.

Pretender to the English throne

Arrival of Louis of France in England (from the Chronica Majora, Matthew Paris, c. 1236–1259)
In 1215, the English barons rebelled against the unpopular King John in the First Barons’ War. The barons, seeing Louis’ wife as a descendant of Henry II of England, offered the throne to him.

Louis landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on May 21, 1216. There was little resistance when the prince entered London, and he was proclaimed King Louis I of England at Old St Paul’s Cathedral with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Even though he was not crowned, many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland on behalf of his English possessions, gathered to give homage.

On June 2, 1216, Louis was proclaimed “King of England” by rebellious barons in London, though never crowned. He soon seized half the English kingdom but was eventually defeated by the English and after the Treaty of Lambeth, was paid 10,000 marks, pledged never to invade England again, and was absolved of his excommunication. At Winchester on May 29, 1216, while Louis prepared an army to press his claim to the English throne, a new papal legate, Cardinal Guala Bicchieri, who was traveling through France to England, condemned Louis’ plan, and excommunicated Louis and all his explicitly .

On June 14, 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. King John’s death in October 1216 caused many of the rebellious barons to desert Louis in favour of John’s nine-year-old son, King Henry III. Louis, undeterred by Henry’s reissuing of the Magna Carta, besieged and invested the castle of Hertford in December 1216.

By December 20, 1216, he received a proposal for a truce, from regent William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, lasting from Christmas until January 13. Louis accepted these terms and traveled back to London, on the way threatening to burn the abbey at St. Albans for the abbot’s refusal to recognize him as King of England.

After his army was beaten at the Battle of Lincoln on May 20, 1217 and his naval forces were defeated at the Battle of Sandwich on August 24, 1217, Louis was forced to make peace on English terms. The principal provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth were an amnesty for English rebels, a pledge from Louis not to attack England again, and 10,000 marks to be given to Louis. In return Louis’ excommunication was lifted.

King Louis VIII

Louis succeeded his father King Philippe II of France on July 14, 1223 as King Louis VIII of France; his coronation took place on August 6, of the same year in the cathedral at Reims. He gained the county of Toulouse after Amalric of Montfort ceded his claim in 1224. As King, he continued to seek revenge on the Angevins, seizing Poitou (in 1224) and Saintonge. While his campaign in 1226 captured numerous cities in Languedoc.

Policy on Jews

On November 1, 1223, Louis VIII issued an ordinance that prohibited his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, thus reversing the policies set by his father Philippe II. This removed any type of assistance for the Jews from the king or barons. Further, Christians would be required to repay only the principal of any loans owed to Jews. This caused a major impact on Jewish moneylenders and affected France so much that in 1225 Louis invited Lombard moneylenders to Paris.

Louis’ campaigns in 1224 and 1226 against the Angevin Empire gained him Poitou, Saintonge, Périgord and Angoumois as well as numerous cities in Languedoc, thus leaving the Angevin Kings of England with Gascony as their only remaining continental possession.

In 1223, Louis VIII received a letter from Pope Honorius III, entreating him to move against the Albigensians. Count Raymond VI of Toulouse had been suspected of ordering the assassination of Pierre de Castelnau, a Roman Catholic preacher who attempted to convert the Cathars.

In early 1226, following the excommunication of Count Raymond VII of Toulouse at the Council of Bourges and the promise of a tenth of clerical incomes towards the next crusade, Louis took the cross, stating his intention to crusade against the Albigensians.

In May 1226, Louis assembled his army at Bourges and moving quickly captured the towns of Béziers, Carcassonne, Beaucaire, and Marseille. However, Avignon resisted, refusing to open its gates to the French troops. Not wanting to storm the city, Louis settled in for a siege. A frontal assault that August was fiercely beaten back.

On September 9, 1226, the town surrendered, agreeing to pay 6,000 marks, handing over hostages, and destroying its walls. However, Louis’ army took heavy losses besieging Avignon. Finally arriving at Toulouse in October 1226, it was apparent his army was too tired and too weak to attack. Louis VIII chose to return to Paris with the plan to attack Count Raymond VII of Toulouse next season.

King Louis VIII died from dysentery on November 8, 1226 in the Château de Montpensier, Auvergne, while returning from the Albigensian Crusade, and was succeeded by his son, who became King Louis IX of France.

King Louis IX was 12 years old when his father died. He was crowned king within the month at Reims Cathedral. His mother, Blanche, ruled France as regent during his minority. Louis IX’s mother instilled in him her devout Christianity.

In 1229, when Louis IX was 15, his mother ended the Albigensian Crusade by signing an agreement with Count Raymond VII of Toulouse.