Individual Details

Birth

He was also Count of Artois, inheriting the county from his mother, from 1190–1226. It remained attached to the crown until 1237, when his son Louis IX gave the title in accordance with the will of his father to Louis IX's younger brother Robert on attaining his majority.
While Louis VIII only briefly ruled as king for three years, he was an active leader his years as crown prince during his father's wars against the Angevins under King John. As king, his intervention of royal forces into the Albigensian Crusade in southern France decisively moved the conflict towards a conclusion.

Campaign of 1214
In 1214 King John of England began his final campaign to reclaim Normandy from Philip II August. John was optimistic, as he had successfully built up alliances with the Emperor Otto IV, Count Renaud of Boulogne and Count Ferdinand of Flanders. John's plan was to split Philip's forces by pushing north-east from Poitou towards Paris, whilst Otto, Renaud and Ferdinand, supported by William Longespée, marched south-west from Flanders. Whereas Philip II August took personal command of the northern front against the Emperor and his allies, he gave his son Louis the command of the front against the Plantagenet possessions in middle France. The first part of the campaign went well for the English, with John outmanoeuvring the forces under the command of Prince Louis and retaking the county of Anjou by the end of June. John besieged the castle of Roche-au-Moine, a key stronghold, forcing Louis to give battle against John's larger army. The local Angevin nobles refused to advance with the king; left at something of a disadvantage, John retreated back to La Rochelle. Shortly afterwards, Philip II August won the hard-fought battle of Bouvines in the north against Otto and John's other allies, bringing an end to John's hopes of retaking Normandy.