Louis VIII 1187 - 1226.

Carrying on where his father left off, (Philippe II had won back Normandy, Maine and Anjou from King John of England), Louis re-took the region of Piotou in mid southwest France and turned his attention to the Counts of Toulouse who had protected the Albegenses family by sending Simon de Montfort on the Albegensian Crusades.

On the death of King John of England, his nine-year-old son inherited all his fathers’ lands at home and abroad. So in 1216, Louis VIII of France headed a rebel army in England with the aim of claiming the throne through his wife, Blanche’s side of the family. She was a granddaughter of Henry II. The war, which lasted about a year, was no threat to Henry III and failed, but it did ensure the lasting hereditary line of succession.