672 FRA 
reflore the eftates which had been confifcated during the 
former feign ; and that (he fliould releafe the prifoners of 
flare, particularly Ferdinand count of Flanders. 
Blanch, determined to preferve the dignity of the crown 
pure and immaculate, rejected their demands; and, until 
die could coiledt a well-difciplincd body of forces, (lie 
condefcended to employ every fpecies of art, and to exert 
the influence of her charms. The count of Champagne, 
in 1227, was rather allured to her fide, than awed by her 
power; the cotmtefs of Flanders was embarrafled by the 
releafe of her hufband, which decency compelled her to 
require, but interefl prompted her to dread; while Fer¬ 
dinand difplayed, with perfevering fidelity, his gratitude 
to his royal deliverer. By fo prudent a diflribution of 
favours, the minds of the confpirators were foothed and 
conciliated ; the ceremony of homage was acquiefced in; 
and the temped which had threatened to fubverj: the infant 
authority of Louis was for a time hufhed and appeafed. 
But this calm was only of (hort duration. Philip count 
of Bologne, who had fecretly nurfed the hopes of the con¬ 
fpirators, now' openly eredted the dandard of rebellion, 
and even afpired to mount the throne of France. Dif- 
appointed in his attempt to feize the perfon of the king, 
he endeavoured to delude the queen with a fmall and in¬ 
adequate force into the hofiile county of Brittany; but 
the fnare was difeovered to Blanch by the affedlion of 
the count of Champagne ; and when the confederates 
hoped to fecure their prize, their meafures were difeon- 
certed by the appearance of that nobleman at the head of 
a fuperior army. The queen feized the fuccefsful mo¬ 
ment to negociate with the count of Bologne ; die con¬ 
vinced him that his real interefl was to maintain the au¬ 
thority of the king, his nephew ; and he readily confented 
to exchange hi« vifionary hopes of a crown for the folid 
emoluments of a penfion. The policy of Blanch extended 
even to the court of London ; and the miniflers of Henry 
were, by fplendid prefents and artful gratifications, in¬ 
duced to fubferibe a truce for three years,’while the count 
of Brittany was humbled by the arms of the queen, and 
reluftantly fubmitted to the humiliating language of 
feigned penitence. In the lapfe of thefe various commo¬ 
tions, Louis had attained the age of nineteen years ; and 
at the command of his mother, in 1233, he bedowed his 
band on Margaret, daughter of the count of Provence. 
Thus, by the energy of mind and fuperior policy of this 
celebrated queen, her foil Louis IX. beheld himfelf peace¬ 
ably edablifiied on the throne, and inveded with the fame 
royal prerogative as his father Philip had pollened, in the 
fuliefl plenitude of his power. 
Two regulations proclaim the prudence and policy of 
Louis. The firlt, in 1242, under pretence of preventing 
Arangers from inheriting lands in France to the prejudice 
of the natives, precluded the nobles from marrying their 
daughters to foreigners, and redrained them from in- 
crealing their influence by connections and alliances with 
the neighbouring powers. The fecond, in 1246, com¬ 
pelled the Vidals of the crowns of France and of England, 
to determine to which fovereign they would yield homage; 
and finally aboliflied t!i« dangerous cuflom of adhering to 
either, as their caprice or interefl fuggeded. Even in 
this edict the humanity of Louis w’as Confpicuous; and 
his juflice indemnified thofe who adhered to him, for the 
lands that they forfeited by feceding from the king of 
England. 
A dangerous indifpofition, 1111247, which menaced the 
life of Louis, was productive of a fatal vow to march in 
perfon againd the infidels, whofe fuccefiive victories had 
overwhelmed the Chriflians of the eafi. Yet the blind 
zeal which induced him to defeend from his throne to 
feek the adventures of a fpiritual knight-errant did not 
prevent him from concerting his meafures with the ut- 
mofl prudence and forefight. To fecure the tranquillity 
of his kingdom during his abfence, he engaged the turbu¬ 
lent counts of March and Brittany to fliare with him the 
perils of the holy warfare. In conformity with the ge. 
N C E: 
neral practice, he publiflfed that he was ready to redrefs 
every injury he had offered ; and the king of England de¬ 
manded the duchy of Normandy, and the red of thofe 
territories in France, of which he had been unjuflly de- 
fpoiled. To the bifliops of that duchy the application 
was referred, and Henry confented to renew the truce 
between the two kingdoms; and the French monarch, 
after entrufling to his mother Blanch the reins of go¬ 
vernment, prepared for his departure, A. D. 1248. To 
furnifh the arduous enterprife, France was exhauded of 
her troops and treafures : the fea was whitened with 
eighteen hundred fails; and nine thoufand five hundred 
horfe, and one hundred and thirty thoufand foot, have 
been computed as tbe number of the martial pilgrims. 
Margaret (hared the dangers of her royal confort; and 
his two brothers, Robert count of Artois, and Charles 
count of Anjou, and afterwards king of Naples, were 
the companions of his toils. For the particulars of this 
fourth fruitlefs croifaae, fee the article Egypt, vol. vi. 
P- 3 2 5 - 
The death of Blanch, in 1234, and the remondrances 
of his fubjects, recalled Louis from Acre ; within the 
walls of which city, unable to reach Jerufalem, he had 
inglorioufiy waded four years. Yet he was received by 
the joyful acclamations of his people ; and the fuperior 
magnificence of the monarch was beheld with admiration 
in his reception of Henry III. of England, who embraced 
the opportunity of an expedition into Gafcony to vifit 
Paris. The fplendour of his entertainment was enhanced 
by the courteous manners of Louis; and the interview 
between the two kings was followed by a renewal of the 
former truce for two years longer; while the connections 
of the king of France were extended by the marriage of 
his daughter Ifabella with Thibaud II. king of Navarre, 
in i 2 55- 
The fame juflice with which Louis governed his own 
dominions, dtone with diflinguiflted luflre in every tranf- 
aftion with his neighbours. He conciliated the diderences 
between the dowager countefs of Provence, mother of 
his confort, and his own brother the count of Anjou. 
His decifion, which deprived the latter of certain caltles, 
the objett of their difpute, was rendered palatable to 
Charles by a liberal pecuniary compenfation from his own 
treafury. To Henry III. as an equivalent for Normandy, 
lie ceded the Limoftn, Q.uerci, and Perigord ; and the 
terms which he granted to the Englifh, when their go¬ 
vernment was didracted by the weaknefs of their king 
and the ambition of his minilter, the daring and enter- 
ptifing earl of Leiceder, might, even in a more profperous 
date of their affairs, have been deemed reafonable and ad : - 
vantageous. Between that miniderand his fovereign the 
king of France was chofen to mediate; and a reference fo 
honourable to his integrity was judified by his lenient 
counfels. To this arbitration fucceeded the concerns of 
his own family; and on the death of his elded fon, Louis 
negociated the marriage of his fecond fon Philip, with 
Ifabella princefs of Arragon, who had been engaged to 
the deceafed prince. 
Sixteen years of peace had obliterated from the mind 
of Louis the misfortunes of his former croifade ; the latent 
flame of enthufiafm which had been damped by his de¬ 
feat in Egypt, was not yet extinguiflied, and the oppor¬ 
tunity was only wanting to revive the dormant embers. 
The wifdom of his regulations had redored the tranquil¬ 
lity of his dominions; his coffers were recruited, his 
finances augmented, and his hopes enlarged. His filent 
preparations had been incedantly directed towards the 
fingle objett of his devout ambition ; the lofs of Antioch 
provoked the more immediate execution of his defigns. 
His example was followed by his three fons, Philip, John, 
and Peter^ by his nephew the count of Artois, and by the 
mod gallant knights of the court of France. The reins 
of government during his abfence were entruded to the 
vigilance of Matthew abbot of St. Denys, who derived 
•his lineage from the counts of Vendome ; and to Simon 
