L'invasion oubliée : l’expédition anglaise de Louis de France (1215-1217)

In May 1216, almost two years after the great victory at Bouvines, Louis, son of Philip Augustus, set sail for England with several thousand men, responding to the call of the barons who had revolted against King John. Louis's failure, the unofficial nature of his expedition—which was condemned by the papacy—and the relative disappearance of this episode from collective memory help to explain the scant attention it has received since the 19^th century. Yet this event raises important questions about the history of medieval Europe in the first quarter of the 13^th century, and challenges the binary view of a confrontation between the Plantagenets and the Capetians, a perspective long perpetuated by historiography. The contributions brought together in this volume provide a detailed analysis of the expedition and its context, from a transregional perspective on the realignment of power in north-western Europe: the methods of recruitment for Louis's army, the political context of relations on both sides of the Channel – exemplified by the honour and the county of Boulogne – and the maritime and port context are examined using previously unpublished research.