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LOUIS VIII, King of France, and Blance of Castile

HUSBAND:
LOUIS VIII, King of France. King of the Franks. Count of Artois. The Lion. [CHART A1].
Born 5 September 1187 in Paris, France; son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut.


On 23 May 1200, at the age of 12, Louis was married to Blanche of Castile, following prolonged negotiations between Philip Augustus and Blanche's uncle John of England.

In 1216, the English barons rebelled in the First Barons' War against the unpopular King John of England (1199–1216) and offered the throne to Prince Louis. Louis and an army landed in England; he was proclaimed King in London in May 1216, although he was not crowned. There was little resistance when the prince entered London. At St Paul's Cathedral, Louis was accepted as ruler with great pomp and celebration in the presence of all of London. Many nobles, as well as King Alexander II of Scotland (1214–49), gathered to give homage. On 14 June 1216, Louis captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom.

After a year and a half of war, King John's death, and his replacement by a regency on behalf of the boy king Henry III (John's son), many of the rebellious barons deserted Louis. When his army was beaten at Lincoln, and his naval forces (led by Eustace the Monk) were defeated off the coast of Sandwich, he was forced to make peace under English terms.

The principal provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth were an amnesty for English rebels, Louis to undertake not to attack England again, and 10,000 marks to be given to Louis. The effect of the treaty was that Louis agreed he had never been the legitimate king of England.

He succeeded his father as king of France on 14 July 1223, and was officially coronated on 6 August 1223 in the cathedral at Reims.

He was also Count of Artois from 1190, inheriting the county from his mother.

As King, he continued to seek revenge on the Angevins and seized Poitou and Saintonge from them. There followed the seizure of Avignon and Languedoc.

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. However since Jews were not Christian, they could not be excommunicated, and thus fell in to a legal gray area which 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 home amid charges of treachery.

In 1225, the council of Bourges excommunicated the Count of Toulouse, Raymond VII, and declared a 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, but he did not complete the work before his death.

While returning to Paris, King Louis VIII became ill with dysentery, and died on 8 November 1226 in the chateau at Montpensier, Auvergne, France. He was just age 39. He was buried in the Basilica at Saint Denis. His son, Louis IX (1226–70), succeeded him on the throne.

WIFE:
Blanche of Castile. (Blanca de Castilla).
Born 4 March 1188 in Palencia, Castile, Spain; the thired daughter of ALFONSO VIII, King of Castile, and Leonora (Eleanor) of England.

In consequence of a treaty between Philip Augustus and John of England, Blanche's sister Urraca was betrothed to the former's son, Louis. Their grandmother Eleanor, upon getting acquainted with the two sisters, judged that Blanche's personality was more fit for a queen of France. In the spring of 1200 she brought her to France instead. On 22 May 1200 the treaty was finally signed, John ceding with his niece the fiefs of Issoudun and Gracay, together with those that André de Chauvigny, lord of Châteauroux, held in Berry, of the English crown. The marriage was celebrated the next day, at Portmort on the right bank of the Seine, in John's domains, as those of Philip lay under an interdict.

Blanche first displayed her great qualities in 1216, when Louis, who on the death of John claimed the English crown in her right, invaded England, only to find a united nation against him. Philip Augustus refused to help his son, and Blanche was his sole support. The queen established herself at Calais and organized two fleets, one of which was commanded by Eustace the Monk, and an army under Robert of Courtenay; but all her resolution and energy were in vain. Although it would seem that her masterful temper exercised a sensible influence upon her husband's gentler character, her role during his reign (1223-1226) is not well known.

Upon her husband's death in 1226 he left Blanche regent and guardian of his children. Of her twelve or thirteen children, six had died, and Louis, the heir – afterwards the sainted Louis IX – was but twelve years old.

The situation was critical, for the hard-won domains of the house of Capet seemed likely to fall to pieces during a minority. Blanche had to bear the whole burden of affairs alone, to break up a league of the barons (1226), and to repel the attack of the king of England (1230). But her energy and firmness overcame all dangers.

There was an end to the calumnies circulated against her, based on the poetical homage rendered her by Count Theobald IV of Champagne, a.k.a. King Theobald I of Navarre since 1234, and the prolonged stay in Paris of the papal legate, Romano Bonaventura, cardinal of Sant' Angelo. The nobles were awed by her warlike preparations or won over by adroit diplomacy, and their league was broken up. St Louis owed his realm to his mother, but he himself always remained somewhat under the spell of her imperious personality.

She did not have a good relationship her daughter-in-law Margaret of Provence, perhaps due to the strong relationship she had with her son, Louis IX. Louiss married Margaret of Provence in 1234. She was the daughter of Ramon, count of Provence, and Beatrice of Savoy. Jean de Joinville tells of the time when Queen Margaret was giving birth and Blanche entered the room telling her son to leave saying "Come ye hence, ye do naught here". Queen Margaret then allegedly fainted out of distress. When Queen Margaret was present in the royal household she did not like Margaret and Louis to be together "except when he went to lie with her".

In 1248 Blanche again became regent during Louis IX's absence on the crusade, a project which she had strongly opposed. In the disasters which followed she maintained peace, while draining the land of men and money to aid her son in the East.

At the last her strength failed her. She fell ill into a bale of hay at Melun in November 1252, and was taken to Paris, but lived only a few days. She died 26 November 1252 (aged 64) in Paris, France. She was buried at Maubuisson.

CHILDREN of LOUIS VIII, King of France, and Blance of Castile:
  1. Blanche. Born in 1205. She died in 1206.
  2. Agnes. Born and died in 1207.
  3. Philippe. Born on 9 September 1209. She was married (or only betrothed) in 1217 to Agnes of Donzy. She died in July 1218.
  4. Alphonse. a twin of John.
  5. John. He was born and died on 23 January 1213 at Lorrez-le-Bocage, twin of Alphonse.
  6. Louis IX, King of France. King of France as successor to his father. Born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy. He died on 25 August 1270 in Tunis.
  7. Robert I, Count of Artois. Born on 25 September 1216. He was killed in battle, Manssurah, Egypt on 9 February 1250.
  8. Philippe. Born on 2 January 1218. He died in 1220.
  9. John Tristan. Count of Anjou and Maine. Born on 21 July 1219. He died in 1232.
  10. Alphonse. Count of Poitou and Auvergne, and by marriage, of Toulouse. Born on 11 November 1220 at Poissy. He died on 21 August 1271 at Corneto.
  11. Philippe Dagobert. Born on 20 February 1222. He died on 1232.
  12. Isabel. (Saint Isabel of France). Born on 14 April 1225. She died on 23 February 1269.
  13. Charles Etienne. (Charles I of Sicily). Count of Anjou and Maine, by marriage Count of Provence and Folcalquier, and King of Sicily. Born on 21 March 1226. He died on 7 January 1285.


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