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Historical person
1187–1226
Louis VIII of France was a Capetian king who reigned briefly after a long career as a prince and military commander. Before becoming king he invaded England during the baronial war; as king he campaigned against Plantagenet territories and led the royal phase of the Albigensian Crusade.
Louis VIII of France also held the offices or ranks of count and King of France. Louis VIII of France belonged to the Capetian dynasty. Louis VIII of France was born in Paris and died in Montpensier.
Richard Cullen’s Rebellion presents the future Louis VIII as Prince Louis, preparing to exploit King John’s weakness as English barons move towards open revolt. Robert Broomall’s Return of the Death’s Heads, Part I places Louis at the head of the 1216 invasion, forcing Roger of Huntley to sabotage a campaign he partly sympathises with in order to save a hostage. Return of the Death’s Heads, Part II continues the struggle after John’s death, when Louis still controls much of England but the royalist cause has rallied around the child Henry III. Alys Clare’s The Devil’s Cup uses the same invasion as the political crisis surrounding its final Hawkenlye mystery, with Louis’s rival claim dividing barons, families and local loyalties.
Periods
Series
The Roger of Huntley series follows a fugitive monk and crusader through the violence of the Third Crusade and the later crisis of King John’s reign. The early books place Roger among soldiers, pilgrims and rulers in the eastern Mediterranean, while the later novels return him to England…
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Chronicles of the Black Lion follows Estienne Wace from King John’s divided England into the wider conflicts and military cultures of the early thirteenth century. Rebellion places the orphaned squire in William Marshal’s household as baronial opposition and Prince Louis of France threaten the crown. Crusade carries him…
All books in this series
The Hawkenlye Mysteries follow Abbess Helewise and French knight Sir Josse d’Acquin as murder and private secrets disturb a fictional religious house in the Weald of Kent. Beginning in 1189 under Richard I, the sequence moves through the ransom years and King John’s troubled reign to civil war…
All books in this series
