Louis: The French Prince Who Invaded England (38 page)
Read Louis: The French Prince Who Invaded England Online
Authors: Catherine Hanley
| | Louis leaves London and embarks on a successful campaign in the south. He takes Winchester on 24 June. |
| | Death of Pope Innocent III; he is succeeded by Honorius III. |
| | Louis goes back to Dover. He starts a siege on 25 July. |
| | Homage of King Alexander of Scotland to Louis. |
| | Birth of Robert, son to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Death of King John of England. |
| | First coronation of Henry III, at Gloucester. |
| | A truce is agreed between Louis and William Marshal, from 25 December 1216 until 13 January 1217. Later the truce is extended to 16 April 1217. |
| | Louis goes back to France to ask his father for reinforcements. While he is away, the earls of Salisbury, Arundel and Warenne desert him for Henry, and William Marshal breaks the truce. |
| | Louis leaves Calais to go back to England; he arrives at Sandwich. |
| | On hearing news of other castles under siege, Louis makes a truce with Hubert de Burgh at Dover; he leaves Dover that evening and divides his army in two. |
| | Louis enters London; he leaves again on 12 May to go back to Dover. A fleet bringing help is prevented from landing. |
| | Battle of Lincoln; news of the defeat reaches Louis five days later. |
| | Another fleet arrives but does not bring many knights. Louis leaves for London, reaching it at the beginning of June. |
| | Representatives of Louis and William Marshal meet four prelates nominated by the pope to try and negotiate a peace. Guala exempts some clergy from the peace and Louis refuses the treaty. |
| | Louis writes to Philip Augustus and to Blanche. Philip Augustus is reluctant to help; Blanche faces up to him and gets some money from the royal treasury. She raises troops in Artois. |
| | A new fleet leaves Calais. It gets near to Dover but is then blown back to France by a storm. It sets off again, arriving on the night of 23–24 August. |
| | Battle of Sandwich; Louis’s fleet of reinforcements is defeated. |
| | Louis, in London, hears of the defeat at Sandwich. |
| | Louis meets William Marshal on an island in the Thames to agree terms. Several days of negotiation follow. |
| | Treaty of Lambeth ratifies the peace agreement. Among other conditions Louis is offered 10,000 marks of silver to leave. |
| | Peace is sworn at Merton by Louis, William Marshal, Isabelle of Angoulême and others. |
| | Louis leaves England. |
| | Pope Honorius lifts the excommunication on Louis and his followers. |
| | Pope Honorius asks Philip Augustus to help Amaury de Montfort in his crusade in Languedoc. |
| | Louis takes the cross, promising to fight the Albigensian heretics. |
| | Death of Philip, eldest son of Louis and Blanche. Their next surviving son, Louis, becomes heir. |
| | Honorius repeats his request to Philip Augustus for help with the Albigensian crusade. Philip Augustus does not want to go in person; Louis goes in his stead. |
| | Louis’s army takes Marmande. Massacre of the population afterwards. |
| | Louis’s expedition arrives at Toulouse and prepares for a siege. Many of Louis’s forces leave after their forty days’ service. Guérin heads back to Paris on 1 August. |
| | Birth of John, son to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Birth of Alfonso, son to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Birth of Philip-Dagobert, son to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Philip Augustus starts suffering bouts of a violent fever. |
| | Bishops in Paris are discussing the Albigensian question. |
| | Philip Augustus, who is at Pacy-sur-Eure, decides to try and travel to Paris for the discussions. |
| | Philip Augustus has to stop at Mantes after he is struck by another bout of fever. Death of Philip Augustus and accession to the throne of Louis as Louis VIII. |
| | Louis and Blanche leave Paris for Reims. They pass through Beauvais, Saint-Just-en-Chausée, Soissons, and arrive at Reims on 5 August. |
| | Coronation of Louis and Blanche in the cathedral at Reims. |
| | Louis and Blanche go back to Paris, where there are great celebrations for eight days. |
| | Louis and Blanche set off on a tour of his lands in Normandy, Anjou and Maine. |
| | A further trip for Louis and Blanche to Compiègne, Chauny, Saint-Quentin, Péronne, Arras. |
| | Birth of Isabelle, daughter to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Louis arrives at La Rochelle to campaign against the English. The siege begins on 15 July; La Rochelle surrenders on 3 August. |
| | Louis arrives in Poitiers and accepts submissions. |
| | Louis arrives back in Paris and is welcomed enthusiastically. |
| | Birth of Stephen, son to Louis and Blanche. |
| | Assembly at Paris, at which the excommunication of Raymond, count of Toulouse, is upheld; his lands are conferred on Amaury de Montfort, who cedes his rights to Louis. |
| | Louis’s army assembles at Bourges and marches south along the Rhône valley. |
| | Siege of Avignon by Louis and his forces. |
| | Death of Louis from dysentery at the castle at Montpensier, Auvergne. He is later buried in the Basilica of Saint Denis in Paris. Blanche is pregnant with their youngest son, Charles, who will be born posthumously. Louis’s eldest surviving son succeeds to the throne as Louis IX. |
A NOTE ON SOURCES
Primary sources
The primary sources that have been consulted for this book were, of course, originally handwritten manuscripts composed variously in Latin, Old French (or the Anglo-Norman dialect thereof) or Occitan. Modern historians and writers are indebted to the great scholars of the nineteenth century who transcribed, edited and published these works so they could be appreciated by a wider audience; in recent years many of the texts have also been made freely available on the internet.