Louis VIII of France

Born 5 September 1187, Louis was the son of Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut.[2] His mother died in 1190, but Louis was not formally invested as Count of Artois.[3] Instead his father allowed him a nominal control over the county to learn about governance.[3] In summer 1195, a marriage between Louis and Eleanor of Brittany, niece of Richard I of England, was suggested for an alliance between Philip II and Richard, but it failed.[4]

On 23 May 1200, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England.[5] The marriage could only be concluded after prolonged negotiations between King Philip II of France and Blanche's uncle John, King of England.[6]

In 1213, Louis occupied two towns in Flanders, St. Omer and Aire,[7] which led to animosity between Louis' father, Philip II, and Count Renaud of Boulogne.[7] By 1214, Philip II of France, was facing an alliance consisting of King John of England, Emperor Otto IV, Count Renaud of Boulogne and Count Ferdinand of Flanders.[8] Facing a two front war, the first attack coming from Flanders led by Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by the Earl of Salisbury would march south-west, while the other attack from Poitou, under John, would march north-east towards Paris.[9]

Louis was given command of the front against John in Poitou. The first part of the campaign went well for the English, Louis being outmanuevered by John, and losing the city of Angers by the end of June.[10] When John besieged the castle of Roche-au-Moine, a key stronghold, Louis was forced give battle against John's army.[11] When faced against Louis' forces, the local Poitevin nobles refused to advance with the king; left at something of a disadvantage, John retreated back to La Rochelle.[11] Shortly afterwards, Philip won the hard-fought Battle of Bouvines in the north against Otto and John's other allies, bringing an end to John's hopes of retaking Normandy.[12]

Posthumous painting by Henri Lehmann, 1837

In April 1215, Louis, fulfilling his father's vow to crusade against the Albigensians, was cautioned by a papal legate not to impede the crusade.[13] At Narbonne, Louis ordered the destruction of the town's fortifications in response to the disagreement between Simon de Montfort and Arnaud Amaury, and forced the viscount and other authorities to swear loyalty to Simon.[13] While at Toulouse, he ordered the city officials to tear down their walls, fill in their moat, and to accept Simon de Montfort as the head of their government.[14] Louis' involvement in the crusade favored Simon de Montfort at every turn.[13]

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.[15] 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, explicitly condemned Louis' plan.[15]

Louis landed unopposed on the Isle of Thanet in eastern Kent, England, at the head of an army on 21 May 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.[16] 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.[17] At Winchester on 29 May 1216, Cardinal Bicchieri excommunicated Louis and all his followers.[15]

On 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom.[18] 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, Henry III.[19] Louis, undeterred by Henry's reissuing of the Magna Carta, besieged and invested the castle of Hertford in December 1216.[20] By 20 December 1216, he received a proposal for a truce, from regent William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, lasting from Christmas until 13 January.[21] 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.[21]

After his army was beaten at the Battle of Lincoln on 20 May 1217 and his naval forces were defeated at the Battle of Sandwich on 24 August 1217, Louis was forced to make peace on English terms.[22] 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.[23] In return Louis' excommunication was lifted.[24]

On 1 November 1223, Louis issued an ordinance that prohibited his officials from recording debts owed to Jews, thus reversing the policies set by his father Philip II Augustus.[28] This removed any type of assistance for the Jews from the king or barons.[28] Further, Christians would be required to repay only the principal of any loans owed to Jews.[29] This caused a major impact on Jewish moneylenders and affected France so much that in 1225 Louis invited Lombard moneylenders to Paris.[29]

Capture of Marmande by the future Louis VIII during the Albigensian Crusade in 1219. Manuscript by William of Tudela and anonymous continuator, Song of the Albigensian Crusade, ink drawing, France, 13th century.

In 1223, Louis received a letter from Pope Honorius III, entreating him to move against the Albigensians. In early 1226, following the excommunication of 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.[30]

In May 1226, Louis assembled his army at Bourges and moving quickly captured the towns of Béziers, Carcassonne, Beaucaire, and Marseille.[31][32] However, Avignon resisted, refusing to open its gates to the French troops.[33] Not wanting to storm the city, Louis settled in for a siege. A frontal assault that August was fiercely beaten back.[34] On 9 September 1226, the town surrendered, agreeing to pay 6,000 marks, handing over hostages, and destroying its walls.[35] However, Louis' army took heavy losses besieging Avignon.[36] Finally arriving at Toulouse in October 1226, it was apparent his army was too tired and too weak to attack.[lower-alpha 2][36] Louis chose to return to Paris with the plan to attack Raymond VII of Toulouse next season.[36]

While returning to Paris, King Louis VIII became ill with dysentery, and died on 8 November 1226 in the Château de Montpensier, Auvergne.[36]

The Saint Denis Basilica, just to the north of Paris, houses the tomb of Louis VIII.[37] His son, Louis IX (1226–70), succeeded him on the throne. Queen Blanche concluded the crusade in the south in 1229.