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Birth:          3 Sep 1187 Paris, France
Death:          8 Nov 1226 Chateau de Montpensier, Auvergne, France
Burial:         St. Denis, France

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VIII_of_France
Louis VIII the Lion (French: Louis VIII le Lion) (5 September 1187 – 8 November 1226) 
was King of France from 1223 to 1226. He also claimed the title King of England from 
1216 to 1217. Louis VIII was born in Paris, the son of King Philip II of France and 
Isabelle of Hainaut, from whom he inherited the County of Artois.

While Louis VIII only briefly reigned as king of France, he was an active leader in his 
years as crown prince. During the First Barons' War of 1215-17 against King John of 
England, his military prowess earned him the epithet the Lion. After his victory at the 
Battle of Roche-au-Moine in 1214, he invaded southern England and was proclaimed 
"King of England" by rebellious barons in London on the 2 June 1216. He was never 
crowned, however, and renounced his claim after being excommunicated and 
repelled.[1][2][3][4] In 1217, Louis started the conquest of Guyenne, leaving only a 
small region around Bordeaux to Henry III of England.

Louis's short reign was marked by an intervention using royal forces into the 
Albigensian Crusade in southern France that decisively moved the conflict towards a 
conclusion. He died in 1226 and was succeeded by his son Louis IX.
Prince Louis[edit]

Marriage[edit]

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. 
It is said that the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI opposed the marriage, and that its 
failure was a sign that Richard would name his brother John as heir to the English 
throne instead of Eleanor's younger brother Arthur of Brittany, whom Richard had 
designated earlier as heir presumptive. This led to a sudden deterioration in relations 
between Richard and Philip.[5]

On 23 May 1200, at the age of 12, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, daughter 
of King Alfonso VIII of Castile and Eleanor of England, the sister of King Richard I and 
King John of England. The marriage could only be concluded after prolonged 
negotiations between King Philip II of France and Blanche's uncle John.

Campaign of 1214[edit]

In 1214, King John of England began his final campaign to reclaim the Duchy of 
Normandy from Philip II. John was optimistic, as he had successfully built up alliances 
with Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV, Count Renaud of Boulogne and Count Ferdinand of 
Flanders.[6] John's plan was to split Philip's forces by pushing north-east from Poitou 
towards Paris, while Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by the Earl of Salisbury, 
marched south-west from Flanders.[7] Whereas Philip II took personal command of the 
northern front against the emperor and his allies, he gave his son Louis the command 
of the front against the Plantagenet possessions in middle France. The first part of the 
campaign went well for the English, with John outmanoeuvring the forces under the 
command of Prince Louis and retaking the county of Anjou by the end of June.[8][9] 
John besieged the castle of Roche-au-Moine, a key stronghold, forcing Louis to give 
battle against John's larger army.[10] The local Angevin 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]

Pretender to the English throne[edit]
In 1215, the English barons rebelled against the unpopular King John in the First 
Barons' War. The barons offered the throne to Prince Louis, who 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 Louis was 
proclaimed king 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 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the 
English kingdom.[13] But just when it seemed that England was his, 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.

With the Earl of Pembroke acting as regent, a call for the English "to defend our land" 
against the French led to a reversal of fortunes on the battlefield. 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. In 1216 and 1217, Prince Louis also tried to conquer Dover Castle, but 
without success.

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 for this payment, Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate king 
of England.

As King Louis VIII[edit]

Louis VIII succeeded his father on 14 July 1223; his coronation took place on 6 
August of the same year in the cathedral at Reims. As King, he continued to seek 
revenge on the Angevins, seizing Poitou and Saintonge from them.

Policy on Jews[edit]

On 1 November 1223, he issued an ordinance that prohibited his officials from 
recording debts owed to Jews, thus reversing the policies set by his father Philip II 
Augustus. Usury (lending money with interest) was illegal for Christians to practice; 
according to Church law it was seen as a vice in which people profited from others' 
misfortune (like gambling) and was punishable by excommunication, a severe 
punishment. Since Jews were not Christian, they could not be excommunicated and 
thus fell into a legal grey area that secular rulers would sometimes exploit by allowing 
(or requesting) Jews to provide usury services, often for personal gain to the secular 
ruler and to the discontent of the Church. Louis VIII's prohibition was one attempt at 
resolving this legal problem, which was a constant source of friction in Church and 
State courts.

Twenty-six barons accepted, but Theobald IV (1201–53), the powerful Count of 
Champagne, did not, since he had an agreement with the Jews that guaranteed him 
extra income through taxation. Theobald IV would become a major opposition force to 
Capetian dominance, and his hostility was manifest during the reign of Louis VIII. For 
example, during the siege of Avignon, he performed only the minimum service of 40 
days and left for home amid charges of treachery.

The Albigensian Crusade and Conquest of Languedoc[edit]

The Albigensian Crusade had begun in 1209, ostensibly against the Cathar heretics of 
southern France and Languedoc in particular, though it soon became a contest 
between lords of northern France and those of Occitania in the south. The first phase 
from 1209 to 1215 was quite successful for the northern forces, but this was followed 
by a series of local rebellions from 1215 to 1225 that undid many of these earlier 
gains. There followed the seizure of Avignon and Languedoc.

In 1225, the council of Bourges excommunicated the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII, 
and declared a renewed crusade against the southern barons. Louis happily renewed 
the conflict in order to enforce his royal rights. Roger Bernard the Great, Count of 
Foix, tried to keep the peace, but the king rejected his embassy and the counts of 
Foix and Toulouse took up arms against him. The king was largely successful, taking 
Avignon after a three-month siege, but he did not complete the conquest before his 
death.

Death[edit]

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

The Saint Denis Basilica houses the tomb of Louis VIII. His son, Louis IX (1226–70), 
succeeded him on the throne. Louis IX concluded the crusade in the south in 1229.

Marriage and Issue
On 23 May 1200, at the age of twelve, Louis married Blanche of Castile (4 March 1188 
– 26 November 1252). They had thirteen children:
1.Unnamed daughter [Blanche?] (1205 – died soon after).[14]
2.Philip (9 September 1209 – before July 1218), betrothed in July 1215 to Agnes of 
Donzy.
3.Alphonse (b. and d. Lorrez-le-Bocage, 26 January 1213), twin of John.
4.John (b. and d. Lorrez-le-Bocage, 26 January 1213), twin of Alphonse.
5.Louis IX (Poissy, 25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270, Tunis), King of France as 
successor to his father.
6.Robert (25 September 1216 – 9 February 1250, killed in battle, Mansoura, Egypt), 
Count of Artois.
7.Philip (20 February 1218 – 1220).[15]
8.John (21 July 1219 – 1232), Count of Anjou and Maine; betrothed in March 1227 to 
Yolande of Brittany.
9.Alphonse (Poissy, 11 November 1220 – 21 August 1271, Corneto), Count of Poitou 
and Auvergne, and by marriage, of Toulouse.
10.Philip Dagobert (20 February 1222 – 1232[16]).
11.Isabelle (March 1224[17] – 23 February 1270).
12.Etienne (end 1225[18] – early 1227[19]).
13.Charles (posthumously 21 March 1227 – 7 January 1285), Count of Anjou and 
Maine, by marriage Count of Provence and Forcalquier, and King of Sicily.


Parents
____ Philippe Auguste II (22 Aug 1165 - 14 Jul 1223)
DE HAINAUT ET FLANDRES Isabelle (5 Apr 1170 - 15 Mar 1190)

Siblings
____ Louis VIII "the Lion" (3 Sep 1187 - 8 Nov 1226)

Marriage To DE CASTILE Blanche (Blanca) Alphonsa (BEF 4 Mar 1188 - 27 Nov 1252)
    m. 23 May 1200 Abbey of Port-Mort, Bapaume, nr Pont-de-Audemer, Normandy

Notes

Parents
SANCHEZ Alfonso VIII "the Noble" (11 Nov 1155 - 5 Oct 1214)
____ Eleanor (13 Oct 1162 - 25 Oct 1214)

Children by DE CASTILE Blanche (Blanca) Alphonsa BEF 4 Mar 1188 - 27 Nov 1252
____ Louis IX "Saint Louis" (25 Apr 1215 - 25 Aug 1270)
____ Robert I (25 Sep 1216 - 9 Feb 1250)
____ Charles I (21 Mar 1227 - 7 Jan 1285)

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