Eighth Crusade in the context of "King Louis IX"

Roman Carthage was an important city in ancient Rome, located in modern-day Tunisia. Approximately 100 years after the destruction of Punic Carthage in 146 BC, a new city of the same name (Latin Carthāgō) was built on the same land by the Romans in the period from 49 to 44 BC. By the 3rd century, Carthage had developed into one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, with a population of several hundred thousand. It was the center of the Roman province of Africa, which was a major breadbasket of the empire. Carthage briefly became the capital of a usurper, Domitius Alexander, in 308–311. Conquered by the Vandals in 439, Carthage served as the capital of the Vandal Kingdom for a century. Re-conquered by the Eastern Roman Empire in 533–534, it continued to serve as a Roman regional center, as the seat of the praetorian prefecture of Africa (after 590 the Exarchate of Africa).

The city was sacked and destroyed by Umayyad Arab forces after the Battle of Carthage in 698 to prevent it from being reconquered by the Byzantine Empire. A fortress on the site was garrisoned by Muslim forces until the Hafsid period, when it was captured by Crusaders during the Eighth Crusade. After the withdrawal of the Crusaders, the Hafsids decided to destroy the fortress to prevent any future use by a hostile power. Roman Carthage was used as a source of building materials for Kairouan and Tunis in the 8th century.

Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VIII, he was crowned in Reims at the age of 12. His mother, Blanche of Castile, effectively ruled the kingdom as regent until he came of age, and continued to serve as his trusted adviser until her death. During his formative years, Blanche successfully confronted rebellious vassals and championed the Capetian cause in the Albigensian Crusade, which had been ongoing for the past two decades.

As an adult, Louis IX grappled with persistent conflicts involving some of the most influential nobles in his kingdom, including Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter I of Brittany. Concurrently, England's Henry III sought to reclaim the Angevin continental holdings, only to be decisively defeated at the Battle of Taillebourg. Louis expanded his territory by annexing several provinces, including parts of Aquitaine, Maine, and Provence. Keeping a promise he made while praying for recovery from a grave illness, Louis led the ill-fated Seventh and Eighth Crusades against the Muslim dynasties that controlled North Africa, Egypt, and the Holy Land. He was captured and ransomed during the Seventh Crusade, and later succumbed to dysentery during the Eighth Crusade. His son, Philip III, succeeded him.

The Seventh Crusade (1248–1254) was the first of the two Crusades led by Louis IX of France. Also known as the Crusade of Louis IX to the Holy Land, it aimed to reclaim the Holy Land by attacking Egypt, the main seat of Muslim power in the Near East. The Crusade was conducted in response to setbacks in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, beginning with the loss of the Holy City in 1244, and was preached by Innocent IV in conjunction with a crusade against emperor Frederick II, Baltic rebellions and Mongol incursions. After initial success, the crusade ended in defeat, with most of the army – including the king – captured by the Muslims.

Following his release, Louis stayed in the Holy Land for four years, doing what he could towards the re-establishment of the kingdom. The struggle between the papacy and Holy Roman Empire paralyzed Europe, with few answering Louis' calls for help following his capture and ransoming. The one answer was the Shepherds’ Crusade, started to rescue the king and meeting with disaster. In 1254, Louis returned to France having concluded some important treaties. The second of Louis' Crusades was his equally unsuccessful 1270 expedition to Tunis, the Eighth Crusade, where he died of dysentery shortly after the campaign landed.

Philip III (1 May 1245 – 5 October 1285), called the Bold (French: le Hardi), was King of France from 1270 until his death in 1285. His father, Louis IX, died in Tunis during the Eighth Crusade. Philip, who was accompanying him, returned to France and was anointed king at Reims in 1271.

Philip inherited numerous territorial lands during his reign, the most notable being the County of Toulouse, which was annexed to the royal domain in 1271. With the Treaty of Orléans, he expanded French influence into the Kingdom of Navarre and following the death of his brother Peter during the war of the Sicilian Vespers, the County of Alençon was returned to the crown lands.

Lord Edward's Crusade, sometimes called the Ninth Crusade, was a military expedition to the Holy Land under the command of Edward Longshanks, later king of England, in 1271–1272. In practice an extension of the Eighth Crusade, it was the last of the Crusades to reach the Holy Land before the fall of Acre in 1291 brought an end to the permanent crusader presence there.

The crusade saw Edward clash with the Egyptian Mamluk sultan Baibars, with both achieving limited victories. The Crusaders were ultimately forced to withdraw since Edward had pressing concerns at home and felt unable to resolve the internal conflicts within the remnant Outremer territories. It also foreshadowed the imminent collapse of the last remaining crusader strongholds along the Mediterranean coast.

Simon of Kéza (Hungarian: Kézai Simon) was the most famous Hungarian chronicler of the 13th century. He was a priest in the royal court of king Ladislaus IV of Hungary.

In 1270–1271, bearing the title "master" (magister), Simon was part of a diplomatic mission led by Sixtus of Esztergom. Andrew of Hungary was also a part of this mission. Sent by King Stephen V of Hungary to congratulate King Charles I of Sicily on the latter's return from the Eighth Crusade, the delegation travelled via Naples to Catona and Messina in December and January, then back with Charles to Rome in February.

Muhammad I al-Mustansir (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد المستنصر, romanized: Abu Abd Allah Muhammad al-Mustansir ibn Yahya; c. 1228–1277) was the second Sultan of Ifriqiya of the Hafsid dynasty and the first to claim the title of Khalif. Al-Mustansir concluded a peace agreement to end the Eighth Crusade launched by Louis IX of France in 1270. Muhammad I al-Mustansir had been a vassal of the Kingdom of Sicily, but had shaken off his allegiance when King Manfred was overthrown by King Charles I.