Louis VIII "the Lion" of France (5 September 1187-8 November 1226) was King of France from 14 July 1223 to 8 November 1226, succeeding Philip II of France and preceding Louis IX of France.
Biography[]
A painting of Louis VIII
Louis was born on 5 September 1187, the son of Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut. He inherited the County of Artois from his mother, and he was very active in campaigns against the Kingdom of England while he was crown prince, his best years. In 1214, Prince Louis defeated King John of England at the Battle of Roche-au-Moine during his father's campaigns in Normandy, and he decided to take advantage of the Second Barons' War to declare himself the new King of England. On 2 June 1216, Louis was proclaimed King of England by the rebellious barons in London, but he was never crowned, and he would be excommunicted and his army repelled by the English forces loyal to King John. In 1217, he conquered Guyenne (in the Aquitaine region) from King Henry III of England, and he also declared the Albigensian Crusade the next year, hoping to defeat the Cathars of Carcassone. The Papal legate Amaury order his men to, "kill them all; God will know his own," leading to massacres at Bezieres and Carcassone. The crusaders would be defeated at Toulouse when Simon IV de Montfort was slain on 25 June 1218, and he would not live to see the victory of the crusaders in 1229; he died in 1226.