Louis IX (25 April 1215 – 25 August 1270), commonly Saint Louis, was King of France

from 1226 to his death. He was also Count of Artois (as Louis II) from 1226 to 1237.
Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet and the son of King
Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile. He is the only canonised king of France and
consequently there are many places named after him.

Louis brought an end to the Albigensian Crusade in 1229 after signing an agreement with
Count Raymond VII of Toulouse that cleared his father of wrong-doing. Raymond VI had
been suspected of murdering a preacher on a mission to convert the Cathars.

Louis's piety and kindness towards the poor was much celebrated. He went on crusade
twice, in 1248 (Seventh Crusade) and then in 1270 (Eighth Crusade). Both crusades were
complete disasters; after initial success in his first attempt, Louis's army was met by
overwhelming resistance from the Egyptian army and people. Eventually, on April 13,
1250, Louis was defeated and taken prisoner in Mansoura, Egypt. Louis and his
companions were then released in return for the surrender of the French army and a large
ransom.

Following his release from Egyptian captivity, Louis spent four years in the crusader
Kingdoms of Acre, Caesarea, and Jaffe. Louis used his wealth to assist the crusaders in
rebuilding their defenses and conducting diplomacy with the Islamic powers of Syria and
Egypt. Upon his departure from Middle East Louis left a significant garrison in the city of
Acre for its defense against Islamic attacks. The historic presence of this French garrison
in the Middle East was later used as a justification for the French Mandate following the
end of the First World War.

Louis VII
Louis VII (ca. 1120-1180) was king of France from 1137 to 1180. He strengthened the
authority of the royal court, went on the Second Crusade, and repelled the aggressions of
Henry II of England.

Sixth Capetian king of France, Louis VII succeeded his father, Louis VI, in 1137. Louis
VII was a devout king with a passion for justice, but for many years one lacking in
political good sense. By maintaining order in the royal domain and assuring justice, his
court received on appeal many cases and earned respect for the Crown. Thanks to his
trusted adviser, Suger, Abbot of St-Denis, the administration of the kingdom became
more efficient and stronger and won increasing loyalty. Much of Louis's trouble arose
from his marriage in 1137 to Eleanor, the heiress of unruly Aquitaine, which she brought
to the King as her dowry.

A year after the fall of Edessa in 1144, Pope Eugenius III asked the King to organize a
new crusade. To overcome the widespread lack of enthusiasm, Louis invited Bernard of
Clairvaux to preach the crusade, and the eloquent Cistercian awakened fervor for the
project. Louis also won the support of the German Conrad III, who led a German army -
the first time the French and Germans had undertaken an enterprise in common. The
Second Crusade failed before the walls of Damascus in 1148.