Ralph de Diceto´s Abbreviationes Chronicorum record in 1187 that “Margarita regina Francorum” gave birth to “filium...Ludovicum”. He received Artois, the inheritance of his mother, 1209 but never bore the title Comte d'Artois. He was offered the throne of England in Autumn 1215 by the English barons who deposed King John. He boarded ship for England 21 May 1216, arriving in London 2 Jun 1216. He soon controlled south-east England, but when King John died 19 Oct 1216 the barons recognised the latter’s son Henry III as rightful king of England. Louis continued the war, but his army was defeated at Lincoln 20 May 1217, his fleet in Aug 1217. He negotiated a settlement with the English regents, and returned to France.
He succeeded his father in 1223 as LOUIS VIII "le Lion" King of France. He was consecrated 6 Aug 1223, at Notre-Dame de Reims. Amaury de Montfort ceded to Louis the rights to the county of Toulouse and the duchy of Narbonne in Feb 1224. The testament of Louis VIII King of France dated Jun 1225 bequeathes “terram Attrebatesii…quam ex parte matris nostre Elysabet possidemus” to “filius noster secundus”, “comitatum Andegavie et Cenomannie” to “tercius filius noster”, “comitatum Pictavie et totam Alverniam” to “quartus filius noster”, and requests that “quintus filius noster…et omnes alii qui post eum nascentur” become “clericus”.
The Annales Sancti Nicasii Remenses record the death in 1226 of "rex Lugdovicus" while returning from Avignon which he had captured and whose walls and fortifications he had destroyed. The Chronique de Guillaume de Nangis records the death in 1226 "à Montpensier en Auvergne…à l'octave de la Toussaint" of King Louis, returning from his campaign against the Albigeois, and his burial at "Saint-Denis en France". The necrology of Sainte-Chapelle records the death "VI Id Nov" of "domini regis Ludovici defuncti in Montepanceto". The necrology of the abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "VI Id Nov" of "Ludovicus rex Francorum, filius Philippi regis". The Annales Londonienses record the death "in Auvernia VI Id Nov" in 1226 of "Lodowicus rex Franciæ". He died from dysentery. 1
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BIOGRAPHY 2
Louis VIII, byname Louis The Lion, or The Lion-heart, French Louis Le Lion, or Louis Coeur-de-lion... Capetian king of France from 1223 who spent most of his short reign establishing royal power in Poitou and Languedoc.
On May 23, 1200, Louis married Blanche of Castile, daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, who effectively acted as regent after Louis’s death. In 1212 Louis seized Saint-Omer and Aire to prevent a powerful Flanders from being on the flank of his county of Artois. In 1216, after the barons rebelling against King John of England had offered the English throne to Louis in return for his aid, Louis went to England to aid the rebels. Initially he was successful, but eventually he was defeated at sea and suffered defections. In 1217, when peace was concluded at Kingston, Louis was secretly paid 10,000 marks. In 1224, now king, he seized Poitou and, in 1226, he launched a successful crusade against the Albigensian heretics, capturing the major fortress of Avignon before returning toward Paris because of illness.
Louis was the first Capetian to grant appanages on a large scale and to have a reversion clause that made alienation of royal property more difficult. Louis also developed other particular rights for the kingship, such as the concept that fealty was sworn not only to the individual king but also to the kingship. His eldest son, Louis IX (afterward St. Louis), peacefully succeeded him while his other sons received appanages.
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