Editing Eighth Crusade (section)

===Louis IX again takes the cross===
The years after Louis IX left the Holy Land saw an escalation of the military threat posed by the Mamluks with their capturing a number of Frankish towns and fortifications and subjected Acre to frequent attack. The unthinkable––the complete loss of the kingdom––became a distinct possibility, reviving long-dormant plans for a new Crusade. The [[Second Barons' War]] was all but over with the defeat of [[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] and his rebellious barons by [[Edward I|Edward I of England]] at the [[Battle of Evesham]] in 1265. The victory of Louis' brother [[Charles I of Anjou]] in the [[Battle of Benevento]] in 1266 brought the [[Kingdom of Sicily#Angevin Sicily|Kingdom of Sicily]] under [[Capetian dynasty|Capetian]] control, finally freeing up French fighting forces. This encouraged [[Pope Clement IV|Clement IV]] to revive the plans for a Crusade begun on 1263 under Urban IV, proclaiming a new expedition to the Holy Land in January 1266. According to the ''Chronica minor auctore Minorita Erphordiensi'':<blockquote>
In the year of our Lord 1266, Pope Clement sent out letters throughout the kingdom of Germany commanding the Dominicans and Franciscans to preach the cross faithfully and urgently against the Sultan of Babylon, who is the Pharaoh of Egypt, and against the Saracens overseas, so that the suffering of the Christians [there] might be alleviated and for the support of the Holy Land.<ref name=":0">Morton, Nicholas (2011). "[https://www.academia.edu/5224524/_In_Subsidium_The_declining_contribution_of_Germany_and_Eastern_Europe_to_the_crusades_to_the_Holy_Land_1187_1291_German_Historical_Institute_Bulletin_2011_33_66 ''In subsidium'': The Declining Contribution of Germany and Eastern Europe to the Crusades to the Holy Land, 1221–1291]". ''German Historical Institute London Bulletin''. '''33''' (1): 38–66</ref>
</blockquote>
[[File:Primat-StDenis.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Primat of Saint-Denis]] writing the ''Roman des rois'', from the ''Grandes Chroniques de France'', BnF, MS fr. 2813, folio 265v (c.1375×c.1380)]]
By September 1266, Louis IX had decided to take the cross once more, to lead what he hoped would be an international effort.  He always hoped to set out again on a Crusade, but the needs of France were pressing. The next year, weary and ill, Louis felt able to prepare for his second Crusade and he began making the necessary arrangements, collecting the funds needed. At the [[Feast of the Annunciation]] and before the relics housed in the [[Sainte-Chapelle|Sainte Chapelle]], Louis IX and most of the great nobles of France once again took the cross. The date was 25 March 1267.{{sfn|Strayer|1969|pp=508–518|loc=The Crusade of Louis IX to Tunis}}

A second ceremony took place on 5 June 1267 before a papal legate in [[Notre-Dame de Paris]]. Louis' son-in-law, [[Theobald II of Navarre]], who had also taken the cross, was also present. The response was less enthusiastic than to his calling of the Seventh Crusade in 1248, although its unpopularity may have been exaggerated by his chronicler [[Jean de Joinville]], who was personally opposed to the venture. Unlike Louis' first Crusade which was documented extensively by Joinville, the primary chronicler of his second Crusade was [[Primat of Saint-Denis]]. The ''[[Templar of Tyre|Gestes des Chiprois]]'' and works by [[Guillaume de Nangis]], [[Matthew Paris]], [[Fidentius of Padua]] and [[Al-Maqrizi|al-Makrizi]] also form the basis of the history of the expedition.{{sfn|Riley-Smith|2005|pp=207–212|loc=The Second Crusade of Louis}}