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men beneath the walls of Avignon; but at the expiration of three months its inhabitants capitulated. This was the only resistance Louis experienced in Languedoc. All the principal towns opened their gates to him, and submitted to his rule. He was marching against Toulouse when he himself, and the chiefs of his army, were stricken by an epidemic, under the effects of which he expired at Montpensier, in Auvergne, leaving behind him five children, the eldest of which was St. Louis, who succeeded him on the throne.

CHAPTER V.

FROM THE ACCESSION OF ST. LOUIS, ΤΟ THAT OF

THE RACE OF VALOIS.

A.D. 1226-1328.

LOUIS IX.

LOUIS IX., who is usually denominated St. Louis, was only eleven years of age when he ascended the throne. At the date of his accession the nobles do not appear to have been reconciled to their new state of subordination. Indeed, they made an attempt to recover their influence; and as the mother of Louis Ix., Blanche of Castile, assumed the regency, against her the nobles directed their power.

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Blanche, however, was a woman of capacity and firmness, and she defeated the machinations and forces of all her foes. Peter, duke of Brittany, and Thibaud, count of Champagne, were enemies that gave her most trouble; but these were finally taught submission. A truce, which put an end to the civil war, was signed at Saint Aubin du Cormier, betwixt her, the barons, and her brother-in-law, A.D. 1231.

The termination of the war with the Albigenses and the acquisition of Languedoc was the chief act of the regency of Blanche. The war was so

vigorously supported by her after the death of Louis VIII. that Raymond VII. submitted to his enemies, and his dominions were united to the crown of France. This event occurred A.D. 1229, and the Inquisition was immediately established in these unhappy countries, from the calamities of which they have never since completely recovered.

At the age of nineteen, Louis Ix. married Margaret of Provence, who was only thirteen years of age. Queen Blanche, however, still kept her son under her tutelage, and the young king and queen were kept apart for six years after their marriage. Many dispositions might have rebelled against this irksome discipline; but Louis had been reared with almost monkish rigidity, both as regards the duties of religion and his conduct in life, and he therefore submitted patiently to the tutelage of his mother, even when he was of age to act for himself. It was the rigid principles and sentiments which he imbibed in childhood, and which he exhibited throughout his whole life, that obtained for him the title of Saint Louis.

A general peace was maintained by France from the truce of Saint Aubin du Cormier to the majority of the king, 1242. Louis, however, was soon after called upon to struggle with his great vassals and lords. The conflict began with the count of La Marche, who had married Isabel, widow of king John of England, and mother of Henry III.; for when Louis went to the county of Poitiers, and summoned his vassals of those regions to attend his court, and render the required homage, Isabel, mortified at being reduced to act a subject's part, instigated her husband to rebel; and the French king, who had reached

Poitiers in perfect confidence, was obliged to sign a disadvantageous treaty before he was allowed to escape. Elated by his success, the count La Marche renounced his allegiance to Louis, formed a league with some of the nobles, and called on Henry III. to support him. Louis advanced to chastise his refractory vassal, and Henry came with an army to his defence. The two kings met on the banks of the Charente, at a castle called Taillebourg, which commanded a bridge over the river. Some negotiations went forward; but the English, afraid of being surprised or betrayed, abandoned the post in a panic and fled. Louis pursued them on the day following to Saintes, where a battle ensued, in which Henry and La Marche were defeated. On the report of this victory all the great vassals of the king of France submitted to his rule, and peace was again established. The fruits of the victory to Louis were the town of Saintes, together with a portion of Saintonge, which were annexed to the crown by the treaty of Bordeaux.

In the year 1244, Louis had a dangerous illness at Pontoise. Some of his attendants thought him dead; but he recovered, and his first words were a vow to take the cross against the infidels. No entreaties could dissuade him from his pose; and he received, while yet on the bed of sickness, the cross from the bishop of Paris.

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At this period, Jerusalem was indeed "trodden under foot of the Gentiles," and might well have excited pity. The Khorasmians, a nation driven by the Moguls from the east of the Caspian, fleeing from their conquerors, entered Syria. The Saracens and the Christians of Syria leagued

against them; the disciples of the crescent and the cross for the first time fought in alliance. But their league proved unsuccessful; they were defeated by the Khorasmians on the plains of Gaza, and, more ruthless than Saladin, they destroyed nearly the whole of the Knights Templars and Hospitallers, and the Christians of Jerusalem. During these events in the east, Europe was convulsed with the quarrel betwixt pope Innocent and the emperor Frederic of Germany. The latter was eager to fly to the relief of the Holy Land; but the pontiff, bent on his own selfish views and aggrandisement, refused to listen to offers of accommodation. He even undertook a journey to France, for the purpose of drawing Louis into his party against the emperor; but conscience, not self-interest, was the moving principle of the actions of Louis, and he resolved not to neglect the vow he had taken, even for him whom he acknowledged as "the father of the faithful." To a gentle character, a pure and tender heart, and an enlightened intellect, he added an ardent, though too often unreasoning faith. Had he lived in the clearer light of the gospel days he would, we may hope, have been an ornament, at least to the outward profession of Christianity.

The mind of Louis was now absorbed in his designs, and he prepared to put them into execution. Due preparation being made, he took the pilgrim's staff and oriflamme at St. Denis, and in August, 1248, sailed from Aigues Mortes, a port that he himself had founded. He first directed his course to Cyprus, where he wintered, and formed plans for his future campaign.

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