Summary

The Anglo-French war of 1213-1214 was a war between the kingdom of France and the kingdom of England. It took place mainly in Normandy, where John Lackland, king of England fought against Philip Augustus. At the battle of Bouvines, Philip defeated England and its allies, which marked the end of the war.

Normandy, which had been a land of conflict between Richard the Lionhearted and Philip Augustus, became one of the hotspots of the wars that the king of England as duke of Normandy had to wage to defend his territory near Paris. When John without Land came to the throne, he had to fight to extend his empire. During the French invasion of Normandy, ending with the battle of the siege of Château-Gaillard in 1203-1204; the Anglo-Norman army retreated to the castle, holding its positions. But eventually Philip ordered his men to take the castle, which was done through the toilet chutes. Jean sans Terre lost a lot of territory.

In 1214, Pope Innocent III gathered an alliance of states against France, the allies met near Bouvines. The battle of Bouvines saw Philippe Auguste win with a weaker army. The victory of France continues with the conquest of Flanders. Jean sans Terre then stopped all attempts to reconquer the lost territories.

This conflict is only one episode in the long conflicts between France and England over the possessions of the English monarchy in France that began with Henry II of England and his accession to the throne of England in 1154 and his conflict with Louis VII the Younger, and ended with the decisive victory of Louis IX over Henry III of England at the Battle of Taillebourg in 1242.

After the wars in France, the king of England became increasingly unpopular in England which provoked a civil war the First Baronial War; the lords were helped by the kingdom of Scotland and France. On June 14, 1216, Louis VIII the Lion captured Winchester and soon controlled over half of the English kingdom. But just when it seemed that England was his, the death of King John in October 1216 caused many of the rebellious barons to desert Louis in favor of Henry III, the nine-year-old son of John.

William the Marshal, acting as regent, called on the English "to defend our land" against the French; this led to a reversal of fortune on the battlefield. After his army was defeated at Lincoln on May 20, 1217, and his naval forces (led by Eustace the Monk) defeated off the coast of Sandwich on August 24, 1217, Louis was forced to make peace.

One of the main provisions of the Treaty of Lambeth was an amnesty for the English rebels, promising Louis not to attack England again, and in exchange for 10,000 marks that he would never again claim the title of legitimate king of England.

Sources

1. Anglo-French War (1213–1214)
2. Guerre franco-anglaise de 1213-1214
3. ^ Alan Harding (1993), England in the Thirteenth Century (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 10. According to L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal Louis became "master of the country".