In 1213, Philip was chosen by the Pope to carry into execution the sentence of excommunication pronounced against John ; and as a reward, he was to receive the re mission of all his sins, endless spiritual benefits, and the i:ingdom of England. Philip accordingly levied a great army, and prepared for the invasion of England. Nor was John idle or unprepared. But while Europe was in expectation of a dreadful contest, the Pope persuaded John to hold his dominions as a feudatory territory of the Church of Rome. Philip was enraged at being thus duped : his fleet put to sea, but it was utterly destroyed by that of England ; and John was strengthened by an alliance with the Emperor Otho IV. A.t Rouvenis, a small village be tween Lisle and Tournay, the Emperor's army, amounting to upwards of 50,000 men, was met by that of Philip, which was rather inferior. A dreadful battle was fought ; the Emperor and his allies were routed, and 30,000 Germans are said to have been slain. After this victory, Philip en aered Paris in triumph ; the Counts of Flanders and Bou logne, his prisoners, gracing the car of the conqueror.
In 1215, the Barons of England, dreading the total loss of their liberties, their possessions, and their lives, in con sequence of the proceedings of John, offered the crown to Louis, the eldest son of Philip. Louis accepted the offer ; landed in England ; but disgusted the people by his par tiality to his own countrymen, so that;on the death of John, and the Barons agreeing to acknowledge the authority of his son Henry 111. Louis was obliged to return to France. Soon after his return in 1223, Philip died, leaving the kingdom of France twice as large as he had received it.
Louis VIII. reigned but about three years, the greatest part of which was chiefly spent in a crusade against the Alhigenses. lie was succeeded, A. 1). 1226, by his son Louis IX. commonly called Saint Louis, then only 12 years of age. Blanche of Castile, the Qucen•mother, had been appointed regent ; and during the minority of her son, she repressed the ambition of the powerful and turbulent ba rons, by her prudence and firmness. As Louis advanced to manhood, his singular character developed itself. lie was infected with a mean and abject supei stition, yet en dowed with a large portion of courage and magnanimity. IIis justice and integrity was conspicuous; and where su perstition did not turn him aside from the bent of his natu ral inclination, he was' mild and humane. But the barba rous devotion of the times led him often astray. He fa voured the tribunal of the Inquisition, persecuted heretics, and considered a war against the Infidels as the most me ritorious action he could perform. This turn of mind was strengthened by a dangerous illness with which he was at tacked ; for his heated imagination made him fancy that he heard a voice from 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 expe dition. He entrusted the government of the kingdom to the care of his mother ; awl at last, every thing being ar ranged A. D. 1248, he sailed for Cypru.;, accompanied by his queen, his three brothers, and almost all the knights of France. From this island, he proceeded to Egypt, instead
of going directly to the Holy Land ; and in 1249, he land ed with his army near the city of Damietta. Soon after wards, having received a reinforcement from France, his army amounted to 60,000 men. But this expedition was as unfortunate as those which had preceded it. Nearly half the French troops fell a prey to sickness and debauche ry. The rest were defeated by the Sultan of Egypt at 1\Iassoura, where Louis, two of his brothers, and all his nobility, were taken prisoners ; his third brother having been killed by his side. The Queen of France had been left in Damietta ; this place was besieged, but it made a gallant defence, till a treaty was concluded with the Sultan, by which it was given up in consideration of the king's li berty ; and a large sum paid for the ransom of the other prisoners. Louis, notwithstanding all chance of success had long been at an end, was still so bent on fulfilling his vow, that he set out for Palestine, where he remained four years, without being able to accomplish any thing. In the mean time, the affairs of France were in the greatest dis order, 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 multitude robbed and pillaged wherever they came ; nor were they dispersed without considerable difficulty. In 1258, the Queen-mo ther hAing died, Louis returned to France, where he re paired the evils occasioned by his absence, and atoned for the folly of his crusade, by his zeal for justice, his wise 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 so vereigns, he was also highly praise-worthy, and 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 Arragon, in ex change for the claims of that monarch to some fiefs in Pro eence in Languedoc, and persuaded the King of England to renounce all claim to Normandy, la:ne, and other for feited provinces, by restoring to him Qucrci, Perigord, and the Limosin. Such was his moderation, that he was chosen, A. D. 1264, arbiter between the King of England and his barons; and his sentence, though rejected by Liecester and his party, was undoubtedly that of justice as well as wisdom. In one instance he was deserted by his love of justice. He permitted 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 so vereign to Christianity. The Infidel rejected the alterna tive : 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 victims, A. D. 1271.