Events from the year 1215 in France
Incumbents
Monarch – Philip II
Events
January 8 – Simon de Montfort, 5th Earl of Leicester, is elected lord of Languedoc in a council at Montpellier, after his campaign against the Cathar heretics during the Albigensian Crusade. The Crusaders capture Château de Castelnaud-la-Chapelle and enter Toulouse; the town pays an indemnity of 30,000 marks and is gifted to Montfort.Peter of les Vaux de Cernay (1998). The History of the Albigensian Crusade, pp. 554–559. Suffolk, UK: Boydell & Brewer. . April – Louis VIII of France, fulfilling his father's vow to crusade against the Albigensians, is cautioned by a papal legate not to impede the crusade. At Narbonne, Louis VIII of France ordered the destruction of the town's fortifications in response to a disagreement between Simon de Montfort and Arnaud Amalric and forced the viscount of Narbonne Aimery III of Narbonne and other authorities to swear loyalty to Simon. October – First Barons' War: The Barons offer the English crown to Prince Louis VIII of France and invite him to England. November – First Barons' War: Louis VIII of France sends the barons a contingent of knights to protect London. Louis agrees to an open invasion, despite the discouragement from his father King Philip II of France and from Pope Innocent III.
Date unknown Using revenue form the royal demesne, King Philip II of France is the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. In 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men.
Births
Date unknown John I, French nobleman and knight (d. 1249)
Deaths
Date unknown
Bertran de Born, French nobleman, poet and troubadour (c. 1140)Gérard Gouiran (ed. and trans.), L’Amour et la Guerre: L’Oeuvre de Bertran de Born, 2 vols. (Aix en Provence & Marseille, 1985). Esclarmonde of Foix, French noblewoman and Cathar Giraut de Bornelh (or de Borneil), French troubadour (b. 1138)Sharman, Ruth V. (1989). The Cansos and Sirventes of the Troubadour Giraut de Borneil. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. .
References