Louis VIII. 
and 1X. 
A. D.1223 
al 
ry 
ef 
e 
4 wlohe, 
PES wt. 
d entered into a treaty with John, his. perfis 
ver. As soon as Richard recovered his’ free- 
turned his thoughts towards vengeance on Phi- 
t the latter gained several advantages over his 
opponent; and these two princes continued to harass 
each other, till the death of Richard; A. D..1199.. John, 
Guienne. FGI ge) MSHS ei) a4 bed be HOO r 
In 1213, Philip was chosen by the Pope to carry into 
meena ofa; dreadful eontest, the Pope persuaded 
John to hold his inions as a Sondasery abating tt 
with 
village 2 
amounting to upwards of 50,000 men, was met 
that of Philip, which was rather inferior. A dreadful 
was fought ; the Emperor and his allies were route 
|, and $0,000 Germans are said to have been slain. 
r this victory, Philip entered Paris in triumph; the 
Flanders and Boulogne, his prisoners, gracing 
Pa Peoraet odes iicenitiogy, the tats 
15, i total 
their liberties, their possessions; and their lives, in 
the ‘proceedings of John, offered the 
son. of Philip. Louis accepted 
3. but disgusted the people 
his own countrymen, so that, on the 
the Barons ing to acknowledge 
the authority of his son + Louis was to 
2 ary oa ra amen ee ilip 
aving the kingdom ‘rance twice'as) as he 
pec bs VILL reigned but abo ; os . 
is VILLI. rei, but about three years, the 
part of which was chiefly spent in a crusade against the 
Albigenses. He was succeeded, A. D. 1226, by his son 
Louis IX. called Saint Louis, then only 12 
FPR HL 
the 
by his partiality 
years of age. Blanche of Castile, the Queen-mother, had 
been shone J the minority of her 
son, she the ambition ofthe powerful and tur- 
bulent barons, by her and, firmness. . As Louis 
advanced to i character developed it- 
form, This turn of mind was strengthened by a dangers 
ous illness with which he was attacked ; or his heated 
' 
FRANCE. 
— 
547 
imagination made him fancy that he heard a voice ftom 
heaven, commanding him to:shed the blood of Infidels. 
Accordingly, he made a vow to take the cross, and spent 
four years in preparing for his expedition. He entrusted 
the government of the’kingdom tothe care ‘of: his mo- 
ther; and at;last, every thing being arranged’ A. D; 1248, 
‘he ‘sailed: for) Cyprus, accompanied» by “his “queen, « his 
three brothers, and almost all the knights) of France. 
From this island, he proceeded to Egypt, instead of go- 
ing directly. to the Holy Land ; and, in 1249, he landed 
with his army near the city of Damietta.. Soon after 
wards, having received a reinforcement from France, his 
‘army amounted to! 60,000 mens But this expedition 
-was as unfortunate as those which had preceded it.) Near- 
ly halfthe French troops fell a prey to sickness'and de+ 
-bauchery:, 'The rest were defeated by the Sultan’ of 
at Massoura; where’ Louis, two of his’ brothers, 
~ and all/his nobility, were taken’ prisoners ; his third bro- 
ther having been killed by his side: The Queen ‘of 
France had been left in Damietta; this place was besie~ 
ged, but it made a gallant defence, till.a treaty was con~ 
cluded with the Sultan, by which it was given up in con 
sideration of the 
the ransom of the r prisoners, Eouis,.notwithstand+ 
ing all chance of success had long been at’ am end, was 
History. 
> 
s 
His expedi- 
tion to 
Egypt, 
A, D. 1249. 
Battle of 
Massoura.- 
Kings liberty s.ahd a Jarge sum paid for* 
still so bent on fulfilling his vow, that he set outfor Pas 9»: 
lestine, where he remained four years, without being able 
to accomplish any thing. In the meantime, the affairs 
of France were in the greatest disorder, in consequence 
of a monk having; collected upwards of 100,000. men, 
under the pretence: of leading them to the assistance of 
their sovereign.. This) multitade robbed and _ pillaged 
wherever they came; nor |werethey di without: 
considerable difficulty. In’ 1258, the Queen-motherha- 
ving died, Louis returned to France, where» he ‘reps 
the evils occasioned by his absence, and atoned® for the 
folly of his crusade, by his zeal for justice, his wisé laws, 
and his: virtuous example. He established, ‘on ‘a ‘more’ 
solid basis than before, the®right of appeal to the royal 
judges ; prohibited’ private ‘wars; substituted juridical 
proofs, instead of those by duel; and rescued France 
from the exactions of Rome. In his transactions with 
other sovereigns, he was also highly praise- worthy, and 
Louis re- - 
turns to 
France, 
A, D. 1258. 
consulted the real interests of-his' own kingdom, while - 
he behaved with justice and moderation towards them: 
He ceded Rousillon and Catalonia to the King of Arra- 
gon, in exchange for the claims of that monarch to some 
3 
King of England to renounce all claim to» Normandy, 
Maine, and other forfeited provinces, by restoring to him 
Querci, Perigord, and the 
ration, that he was chosen, A. D. 1264, arbiter “between 
the King of England and his barons ; and his sentence, 
though rejected by Leicester and his 5 was undoubt-4 
edly that of justice as well as wisdom. In one instance 
he was deserted by his love of justice. He itted a 
crusade to be preached in France against the: King’ of 
Sicily, in behalf of his brother, who had no right to that 
throne. Soon after this, A.D. 1270, he prepared for 
another holy war. His object: was now the conquest’ of 
Tunis, or the violent conversion of its'sovereign to’Ohris- 
tianity» The. Infidel rejected, the: alternative: but the 
French army, soon after its landing, was seized with ‘an 
epidemic distemper, of which Louis himself, and one of 
his sons, as well as numbers of his:troops, were the yic- 
tims, A.D, 1271.. b Taibo at 
in Provence and Languedot, and persuaded’ the 
imosin, Such was his modes - 
